Here’s a copy of the revised trackplan as promised… it’s got the right angled bend in it to make it take up less space in the loft, whilst still retaining the feel of the curvy design.
Click here for a larger copy to look at
Now that this if finalised, just to plan the construction of the baseboards now… woodwork, not something that I get on with too well!
Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while may have heard me refer to the Lochaber Railway which ran from the pier at Fort William up around the edges of Ben Nevis and Aonach Mor to Loch Treig.
I’ve recently returned from a holiday in the highlands, and have had a lot of inspiration for the layout. It has not made me change the trackplan for PnC in any way from the last revision, but has given me ideas of specific buildings to use of the layout. One thing that I did decide to do whilst there was to give the layout a sense of place, a location better than ‘somewhere in the Scottish Highlands’.
To do this I’ve decided to locate it on the edge of the Lochaber region, and give some subtle hints to this within the layout, and the history that will accompany it. In Fort William I purchased a very helpful book of historic photos of the Lochaber region:
Source: www.alibris.co.uk
From reading through this book I’ve decided to give hints to the region, such as having the local store named ‘Nether Lochaber Stores’ which had a branch in Onich run by John Mackinnon. It is highly possible that Mr. Mackinnon could have opened another branch of the Nether Lochaber stores at Port na Cailliche.
The Nether Lochaber Stores, Onich - Source: www.theoldstore.co.uk
Road signs and busses to Fort William (the largest town in the Lochaber Region) will also help to give the layout a better sense of place.
What was also interesting was to get a better understanding of the narrow gauge railways that existed in the Loch Leven area whilst staying there. The two that I looked at were the Kinlochleven Railway that ran through the village of Kinlochleven, and the quarry line at Ballachulish.
The Kinlochleven line was built to carry bauxite and other materials to the plant, and then aluminium to ships at the loch. It was operated by electric locos in it’s final years.
Route of the Kinlochleven Railway since closure - Source: http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk
Kinlochleven Aluminium Works Pipe Line - Source: www.grough.co.uk
The Lochaber area accounted for about a third of the world’s aluminium production in the early 1900’s, so a third plant in close proximity is feasible. I’d like to have one of these plants located somewhere on the railway network attached to PnC, and given that PnC is supposed to be relatively close to Fort William it is feasible.
I’m going back to Scotland in September, so hopefully I can try and walk the route of the railway if time permits.
I know very little about the Ballachuilish line, other than there was a small narrow gauge line built to carry slate from the nearby quarry to the Caledonian branch from Oban. I will investigate this further in the future for personal interest.
Ballachulish Quarry - Source: www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk
I was suprised to see a structure that has mainly Welsh narrow gauge associations though: a quarry incline made of slate! I’d not noticed it before, but will go for more of a wander around it when I’m there in September if possible.
Ballachuilish incline – Source: www.flickr.com
I think given that both a quarry and an aluminium plant existed in the area anyway, to add more of the same onto my line wouldn’t seem out of place for the area. However, I don’t want to have slate trains, I think i’d rather have something more associated with Scotland than slate is… granite perhaps?
Finally, on the way home from Scotland we stopped in the Lake District. Whilst there we rode on the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway. I’ve always had a soft spot for their logo, so i’m tempted to adapt it for my line. I’ve got an idea, but need to draw it out a bit more presentably before showing it online!
Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway emblem
