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Portchullin will be appearing at Epsom (April 2010), see http://www.trainweb.org/eemrc/exhibition.htm and DEMU at Burton on Trent (June 2010), see http://www.demu.org.uk/showcase.htm
Unfortunately, I will not now be able to go to Guildford this year. |
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Its August 1974………………
It’s a good time for The Three Degrees as they are at No 1 with When Will I see You Again and also for Carlisle United as they are at the top of the entire football league. Not such a good time if you are a Greek Cypriot (Turkey had recently invaded Cypress) or if you were President Nixon (he resigns after a spot of whitewashing). However, it is also a great time for the Kyle Line; finally, after facing closure intermittently for 20 years (and with a closure notice pending for the last 4), it is granted a permanent reprieve by the then transport minister.
It was also a good time for two young boys; we were on a family holiday in the west coast of Scotland and instead of witnessing the swansong of this line, we were seeing the beginnings of its rejuvenation and in the process beginning to plant the seeds of this layout. In the early 1970’s the railways of the highlands had hardly changed since the 19th Century. Sure steam had gone and everything was in the BR corporate blue, but that was about it; the lines were still fully signalled, due to terrible competing roads there was still a healthy freight traffic, short loco hauled trains were the norm, many of which were mixed, and the lines remained single so there was the adventure of regular passing procedures.
Young boys grow up and one at least carries the passion for the trains of the west coast of Scotland. Whilst this early seventies era is not my first choice interest and I can hardly claim to be a major producer of layouts, the combination of the D&E Challenge and these characteristics has proved irresistible.
Portchullin is a real place and is right next to the Kyle Line but it now only has a couple of houses; however, historically there was a bigger community and it could also have served a series of small villages inland from the loch. It does not take too much history rewriting to make it sufficiently important to merit a station. All I have done is move another station, Stromeferry which is in reality only a mile away, sufficiently far to justify a separate station at Portchullin to serve these communities – the excuse for a layout is born!
So that’s the rationale for Portchullin, an imaginary station but very much based on the real examples on the line – I hope it will “feel” like the former Highland Railway’s route to the west and that many of you can recognise some of your youth in it.
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| 1 | PICT0001.JPG.jpg |
A busy moment at Portchullin. | At Scaleforum 27 & 28 September 2008 | (1080) |
| 2 | PICT0003.JPG.jpg |
I think the footbridge is the signature of the layout. It has been made from a Lochgorm Models kit - not easy but worth it. | At Scaleforum 27 & 28 September 2008 | (818) |
| 3 | PICT0004.JPG.jpg |
Another view of 26 046, as she pulls away from the station. | At Scaleforum 27 & 28 September 2008 | (723) |
| 4 | PICT0015.JPG |
With three timetabled trains a day in each direction, we are seeing a third of the daily activity at one moment! | At Scaleforum 27 & 28 September 2008 | (709) |
| 5 | PICT0009.JPG |
The stone embankment got a lot of comments. It is made from various size chippings. The trick is to look how the prototype really looked. Start with the bigger chippings, nearer the base and work up with finer chippings. It actually was quite easy to do. | At Scaleforum 27 & 28 September 2008 | (695) |
| 6 | Portchullin_5114_26046-1.jpg |
A class 24/1, no 5114, waits in the down platform as 26 046 comes in with a train for Inverness. Once the Inverness's train has surrendered its token, 5114 can be given right of way for the final part of the journey to Kyle of Lochalsh. Photograph with thanks to Tim Easter. | At Scaleforum 27 & 28 September 2008 | (694) |
| 7 | PICT0005.JPG |
27 005 gets the right of way from the up starter and pulls off towards the next station which will be Strome Ferry. | At Scaleforum 27 & 28 September 2008 | (685) |
| 8 | PICT0020.JPG |
The characteristic scottish cottages are called butt n bens. This has been scratchbuilt with Wills sheet and paper slates. | At Scaleforum 27 & 28 September 2008 | (636) |
| 9 | PICT0017.JPG |
In real life it would be another 3 - 4 hours before the next train comes along - make yourself comfortable or maybe take a dram in the Portchullin Hotel? | At Scaleforum 27 & 28 September 2008 | (602) |
| 10 | Portchullin_27005_bridge.jpg |
The class 27's were rare visitors to the Kyle line but did occassionally get there. This is 27 005 at the head of a train of TTA's running through the up platform. Photograph with thanks to Tim Easter. | At Scaleforum 27 & 28 September 2008 | (571) |
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 | 2nd Mar 2007 | Under Construction March 2007
Early days, the boards are under construction and the layout plan has been laid out. this was subsequently changed to delete the headshunt as this was not very "highland".
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 | 1st Jul 2007 | Under Construction 1 July 2007
Trackwork beginning to be laid to the west running line and loop, boards complete but little else has been done.
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 | 24th Aug 2007 | Portchullin the real location
Portchullin is a real place, about a mile to the west of Strome Ferry and four miles to the east of Plockton. Here are some photographs of the real place.
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 | 21st Sep 2007 | Under Construction 21 September 2007
Track beginning to go down to the running line and loop, nothing working though!
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 | 9th May 2008 | At the Highland Railway Society Meeting - May 2008
Its first outing......................having spent the whole week wiring it, it did actually go moderately well. We did not have hte fiddle yards complete, nor any couplings so locos merely wondered up and down the loops......but it worked!
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 | 1st Aug 2008 | Under Construction 30 August 2008
All of the loop and running line track now laid, along with the up siding. Limited ground work done but many of the buildigns now complete. We now have some correct stock too...........!
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 | 27th Sep 2008
to 28th Sep 2008 | At Scaleforum 27 & 28 September 2008
A selection of photographs taken at the competition's conclusion, at Scaleforum 2008 in Leatherhead. Each visitor to the exhibition was given a voting sheet and the winning layout was selected from the publics vote. Portchullin won, narrowly beating another cracking layout - Wheal Elizabeth.
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 | 12th Oct 2008 | Layout Information
The story behind the layout, trackplans and exhibition manager's information.
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 | 17th May 2009 | Leytonstone 2009
A Selection of Pictures From the Leytonstone Show, May 16 - sorry a couple are not well focus; new lights and inadequate photographer!
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A surveyor by trade, it has been 25 years since I really started and certainly finished a layout. I was provoked by the Scalefour Society's D&E challenge to build a layout that was transportable by two people in a family car and had to feature at least 75% diesel or electric traction.
Whilst I had no prior interest in diesels, I succombed to the challenge and submitted Portchullin. Whilst Portchullin is firmly on the Highland Railway's Line to Kyle of Lochalsh, it is an imaginary station but I have drawn inspiration and real examples of features & buildings from the other stations on the line. I found making models of an era that I knew limited amounts about really liberating - I have no idea if I have done it wrong or not!
The competition culminated in Scaleforum September 2008 and Portchullin was voted as being the winner by the visiting audience.
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