Fort William Mk III

Inspiration

For many people, the rugged scenery of the West Highlands of Scotland has always been an attractive setting. It was within that region that the West Highland Railway (WHR) was constructed from Glasgow to Fort William and with an extension on to the small fishing port of Mallaig. The route features a variety of beautiful scenery running across rugged moorland, around picturesque lochs and along a rocky coastline. As a potential setting for a model railway this stunning scenery is only part of the attraction, as the area has played host to a number of industries and, as a result, the tracks have seen a variety of rolling stock – both passenger and freight.

My two previous attempts to capture the atmosphere of the WHR were built to the scale of 4mm = 1foot, with a track gauge of 18.83mm and this Mk III version is no exception. What makes this rendering different is that it is built within a dedicated train room approx.3.7m x 4.2m in dimension and which is (most importantly) dry, reasonably dustproof, fully insulated and, as a result, is cosy all year round.

Design

I wrestled long and hard with the design of the layout and tried desperately to shoehorn a continuous oval track into the available space, but with no luck. Firstly, it would have meant either a lifting flap or a duck-under across the entrance – neither of which I was keen on. Secondly, to achieve the reasonable curves required within the confines of the space available, the mainline track became egg-shaped, which in turn would have meant compulsory curved platforms and over-tight turnouts into the yards. As can be seen on the accompanying track plan, I eventually decided to punch a hole through one wall and then locate a cassette system out in the garage. This cassette-cum-fiddle-yard represents the line south to Glasgow and thus allows the train room to be devoted solely to the productive running of trains and not have any space wasted with storage areas.

 

 

This entry and exit to the layout from the cassette is disguised by a road overbridge spanning the small station of Corpach. Only one half of the length of the platform is modelled; the other half pretends to be hidden by the bridge (Photo 1). This incoming main line itself continues straight ahead, through the junction leading to Fort William, and then disappears under another road-bridge. However, this time it is a dummy exit, which will be explained later.

 

Figure 1 - A Class 156 DMU is stopping at Corpach station en route to Fort William, having entered the layout under a road bridge marking the exit to the cassette / fiddle-yard.

 

As I mentioned earlier, the prototype Fort William area plays host to a number of rail-served industries and this fact plays right into my hands, as I have a distinct preference to operation and the shunting of freight trains. To this end, I designed the layout with a number of industrial sidings, all of which allow me to shunt to my heart’s content. Yes, I do run the occasional DMU passenger train but, like the prototype, they tend to get in the way of the freight trains! That last remark may give you a clue to the 1980 - 1985 era that the layout is set in, as I much prefer the BR Corporate Blue diesels and the colourful Railfreight and Speedlink livery of the freight wagons.

 

 

Figure 2 - The main repair shed at the Wagon Repair Depot was assembled from twelve Airfix/Dapol engine sheds.  The other structures are scratch-built or kit-bashed.

 

Before going any further, I should make it clear that the track plan bears absolutely no resemblance to the prototype Fort William, but I have tried to capture the flavour of the region by incorporating buildings and scenery that can (or could) be seen there. I must also confess to slightly warping history by adopting a failed 19^th century scheme that hoped for a direct line from Glasgow via Fort Augustus and up the Great Glen to Inverness. This would have meant that the terminus at Fort William would have been at the end of a short branch-line and this is what I have modelled.  

 

Construction and Scenery

I decided to paint the back-scene before starting any serious carpentry, as previous attempts with other layouts had demonstrated the real problems accompanying the ungainly stretching over wide baseboards. Thus, some forward planning was required to marry the background into the proposed track plan and the other major foreground scenery items. But, as this is mainly comprised of rolling hills and mountains, it was not too difficult. First a coat of graduated sky-blue colour was applied, followed by the hilly terrain - painted a bluey, greenish, greyish colour and which eventually was easily melded into the foreground landscape on the baseboards (Photos 1, 3 & 6).

 

Figure 3 - A busy scene at the Fort William quay, with the High Street in the background and a Clyde Puffer tied up alongside.

 

When the paint was dry, I made a start on the baseboards themselves - track-bed 16mm thick MDF supported by L-Girder framework. A curved fascia board neatens the edges and a pelmet hides the fluorescent strip lighting.

All the point-work was built off‑site over Templot printouts, using ply and rivet construction. For the plain track, I did start out with the same ply and rivet method, but eventually caved‑in and resorted to C&L plastic track-bases for the remainder. All of the track-work is laid over 1/8” thick closed-cell foam strip (as used to lag pipes) and which was sourced from a plumbers hardware supply shop.

The buildings are either scratch-built or heavily kit-bashed, using a variety of materials (Photo 2). Most of the larger industrial buildings have provision for wagons to be shunted into or through them. In these cases, they are made removable to allow the recovery of errant wagons. In fact, wherever possible, I tend not to fix down any delicate items that are close to the track-work, as they can then be easily removed to aid track-cleaning, dusting or for the inevitable repair and maintenance job.    

Control and Operation

The layout was designed for DCC control and runs with a NCE PowerCab, assisted by a Cab06. The points and signals are operated from lever frames, with actuation via a wire in a tube. Reflecting the prototype era, the layout depicts a mixture of semaphore and colour light signals. The trains themselves are run to a sequence timetable and only when one arrives at the destination does the next one proceed. Shunting takes place between the individual trains and progresses at the pace of the individual operator. No pressure! 

 

 

To assist with the shunting, all the rolling-stock is equipped with Kadee couplers, which I think do not look out of place on modern-image stock but, most importantly, they work!

 

Figure 4 - Departmental Laboratory Car No. 20 at the renewed portion of the main line to the North.

 

A large feature of the layout is the Corpach Wagon Repair Depot (WRD), which is perceived to receive wagons for repair from all over the region. This means that a variety of freight rolling stock can be seen running on the layout, many of which would not normally be seen or be required at the other local industries. The WRD accepts wagons for Heavy, Light or Chassis repair classification, but they are first put through the Wash Station for systematic cleaning before they are shunted into the appropriate section of the Repair Shed and, if required,  moved to the Paint Shop before being finally dispatched back into service.

 

Wagon Cards and Waybills

I initially adopted a card system to facilitate the movement of all the individual wagons around the layout, from the cassette system, via the Reception Sidings, and on to all the various industries. Each wagon is assigned its own Wagon Card (75mm x 50mm), which is equipped with a small pocket. This pocket enables a range of paper slips (waybills) to be inserted, which in turn directs the wagons to the appropriate industries for loading or unloading. The fascia board was equipped with special pockets to hold these wagon cards - indicating those that were ready for ‘Pick-Up’, ‘Set-Out’ or ‘Hold ‘. However, whilst this system worked well, in practice I found that it became a bit cumbersome for an operator to hold a sheaf of these cards, as well as the hand-controller, an uncoupling tool and also to manipulate the lever-frame. It therefore really needed a number of small flat desk areas to lay out the cards and to sort them into the various category piles required for the next shunt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 5 - The small ex-steam shed is host to a refueling Class 37 and one of the Class 20 allocated to this remote but busy outpost of the NBR.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 6 - The Corpach Station car park is well filled with tourists and, after viewing the statue of the local hero, they can take refreshments at the adjacent Corpach Inn.

 

 

To try and overcome this problem, I have recently implemented a computer software package that does the same job as the Wagon Cards. This does not mean that I have broken my golden rule of not allowing a computer into the train room! All I have to do before each operating session is to print out a single sheet for each freight train that will run in the next session. These sheets list all the wagons that are to run in the freight trains, where these wagons are presently located and the destination they are to be shunted to. Thus, to carry out their job, each freight train operator is simply equipped with a single sheet of paper and a pencil behind the ear.

 

Figure 7 - Class 156 DMU at Fort William Station platform.

 

Apart from the dedicated industrial sidings (Photo 3) that are scattered around the layout and that can accept only the appropriate wagons and their loads, there is one other section of track that is busy all the time. You will note that the main line exits the cassette (from Glasgow) and heads directly north and vanishes into a cutting and finally disappears under a road bridge. This portion of track, from the junction to the road bridge, is regarded as being “under repair” and within the control of the District Engineer. (Photo 4) Operationally, it means that this section of the main line is regarded simply as a siding and, as such, is just another industry that requires wagonloads of spoil, ballast, sleepers, rails, etc.

Stock Control

For what is a compact layout, the locomotive roster is not huge and, in practice the WHR played host to a limited range of classes. The freight trains are assigned to either a Class 26/27 or Class 37, whilst a Class 20 handles local shunting and trip workings. (Photo 5) The WRD has its own dedicated Class 08.

Passengers are accommodated in a Class 156 DMU, which trundles back and forth between the cassette and the Fort William platform and generally tries to get in the way of the freight trains! (Photo 7) Most of the above equipment is from the LIMA stable, but an upgrade program is under way and they are gradually being replaced with suitable Bachmann or Heljan products. At this point in time, they are all fitted with NCE decoders.

The bulk of the freight stock is RTR Bachmann or Hornby  - suitably re-wheeled - but I have added a number of kits and a few scratch-built ones as well. (Photo 8) The majority of the 4‑wheeled stock is compensated, but in recent times I have been fitting wire-sprung W-Irons, sourced from Bill Bedford or Masokits .

 

Figure 8 - Among the freight wagons on the layout are several scratch-built examples.  Shown in the reception sidings is a TOPS FFA container flat, JSA curtain-hooded bogie steel carrier and PRA clay hopper.  The other wagons are proprietary RTR.

 

All the Open wagons can be equipped with easily removable loads, so that only suitable goods are seen to be loaded at the appropriate industry. Obviously, they are removed to allow the wagon to run empty, especially if they are deemed to be heading to or from a session in the repair shop.

Job Satisfaction

So, the layout is my wee part of Scotland that I have attempted to create on this side of the world and which allows me to relax and to operate a variety of trains in a leisurely but methodical manner and, if need be, with invited fellow operators.

 

All that remains is for me to mention those who have assisted me over the four years of the construction. I will not embarrass them by mentioning them by name , but they are mainly members of the BRMA Canberra Area Group. Thanks to all who helped with such things as creating the Templot track plan, the huge WRD Workshop building, various trees of assorted shapes and sizes, gluing down and colouring acres of carpet underfelt to create the grassed areas, soldering the hundreds of electrical droppers and by generally providing constructive criticism as the layout progressed. Without their assistance, construction would have taken a lot longer but, as somebody once remarked, “Och aye, it is not the arriving but the journey that is important!”

 

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