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Kyle of Lochalsh - N Gauge

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Kyle of Lochalsh - N Gauge

N Gauge Model Railway build 🪚
Kyle of Lochalsh, Scotland UK 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
Based in late 80s, early 90s 📆
DCC and Traincontroller Automation 💻

07/07/2025

How low can you go.

Class 37s are lowered and look far better for it.

Once you notice how tall the factory 37s are you can’t un-see it. Following the brilliant modification instructions from did the trick though. Weathering next…

28/05/2025

Platform bases installed! Looking forward to making these look realistic over time.

The platform is mostly straight, but I used the class 158 (my longest piece of rolling stock) to check clearances.

24/05/2025

TrainController Demo Setup

A fun day out demonstrating how TrainController software works to automate a model railway. I use TC Gold on The Kyle of Lochalsh layout, and this is a specific demo layout where all the wires are on the top of the baseboard to help understand how it all works.

Thanks to Friends of March Railway Station for having me. And brilliant to see Great Eastern Models there too!

10/01/2025

I was challenged to get the track laid by Christmas 2024. Missed the deadline but completed it by the start of 2025 with 3 hours to spare!

Slow and steady was the way here; getting the track laid correctly is key to trains running well.

Woodland Scenics Track-Bed was laid first. It’s great at keeping the running noise low, and provides a good initial shoulder for the ballast to sit on.

Many dropper wires were added as I’m using current detection with multiple detectors per block. The Finescale track is only 50cm max so lots of lengths needed laying.

For joints across baseboards I used tiny brass screws, then a razor saw to cut the track. It left only the tiniest of cuts.

07/01/2025

Baseboard time.

Having mocked up the layout I finally knew how much space I needed. Tim Horn Lasercutting makes fab laser cut baseboards in modular section and kindly customised one of his standard design for me.

The right-hand side of this board was left open to give the impression of a wide open space once the trains have reached Kyle of Lochalsh. The left-hand end is enclosed as expected, as the train will wind through a rocky cutting and off to an external fiddle yard.

I customised the right-most board further to create the quayside. It took some nerve to take a saw to the brand new boards but the mod was well worth completing.

14/12/2024

Proof of Concept time.

Planning track in Anyrail software is one thing, but I wanted to make certain Kyle of Lochalsh looked right too.

I raided my recycling bin to mock up the station and surrounding area. It was great to get my first visual on how the finished layout might look. It was immediately dubbed ‘Kyle of Cardboard’ by Rachael 😆

It was also the perfect time to choose which lengths of British Finescale point to use, having printed a selection out first and laying them within the PoC until it all looked right and balanced.

04/12/2024

The plan was devised in AnyRail (a brilliant app). Total size is 9' x 1'6", over 3 baseboard. Each baseboard is 36" x 18".

The plan is pretty simple and is true to Kyle of Lochalsh's track layout today. Some compression was applied, but I still feel a sense I can convey a good sense of what's there now.

18/08/2024

Kyle of Lochalsh is such a distinctive station set in a beautiful location and I finally got to visit it in 2024. In creating a model of it, I feel there are a few key aspects that must be captured.

1. The location; right on the edge of the coast. This really is the end of the line.
2. The stone-clad ramp connecting platforms with the rest of the town.
3. The run-around loop on platform 1 will allow the recreation of the 80s and 90s Class 37-hauled trains moving from one end of the coaches to the other.
4. The gentle right-hand bend as the trains arrive in Kyle, where the track steadily splits and steadily diverges into multiple sidings.

Much of my inspiration is from Soi Buakhao on Youtube. They captured the tourist trains beautifully in the 90s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHKiz0KmcdA

15/08/2024

It started back in 2018. I bought the Graham Farish Highlander digital N Gauge train set and bloody loved it.

The way the digital trains moved with their built-in momentum was so realistic. The only thing giving it away was they were 148 times smaller than the real thing.

Googling the numbers on the side of the loco lead me to seeing these locos and coaches in action some 30 years ago. As soon as I saw Kyle of Lochalsh station for the first time I knew I wanted to build a model of it.

Kyle is such a beautiful location in the northwest of Scotland; the gateway to the Isle of Skye. Rail passengers would change here for a ferry service to the island. Ferry services have ceased since the road bridge opened in the 90s.

Chickpeas for scale.

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Kyle Of Lochalsh
IV40 8

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