Dornoch Water Tower

DORNOCH Station was opened in 1902 and was the terminus of the Dornoch Light Railway. The Dornoch light railway was a link to the main line which unfortunately, due to the wishes of the landowner and his funding, bypassed Dornoch. The branch line was the solution to this problem till it closed in 1960. The station survives (modified somewhat) and hosts a local business. This model reflects the nearby Water Tower in the railway’s operating days. The model complements the Dornoch Station and Dornoch Engine Shed kits.

This bespoke 1 x A5 laser cut 3mm plywood sheet model (detail in 0.8mm ply) has been designed (in 1/76.2 scale) to capture this addition to the Dornoch Station set. (available separately two other kits: Dornoch Station and Dornoch Engine shed too.)

The base size of this OO model when assembled  is approx  70 x 47 mm (to help with designs of rail model plans).

Photos of the made up water tower and single Dornoch engine shed courtesy of Mr. Richard Doake of Thurso.  He made the models up and appropriately rendered/textured them. Photos used with his permission.

The building requires glue. Choose a glue that allows at least a minute before setting to allow adjustments to be made during the build. Always test the build before using glue.

For finishing, we recommend first priming the surface, then painting with any acrylic or model paint of your choice. The material is etched, so any engraved detail such as brickwork or roof tiles will be visible after painting.

Important information about railway scaling: 

All kits are designed in OO Gauge on 3mm plywood, so there are a few considerations to be made when scaling the digital files to other Gauges. The instructions provided will be the OO version as the build order is the same at different scales.

O Gauge Orders: When scaling to O gauge, there are manual modifications that may need to be made when assembling the kit. This is due to the thickness of the plywood when scaling the kit from the OO gauge material of 3mm to the O gauge 5.25mm material that would be needed. As this thickness of ply does not exist, we undersize the material to the closest thickness we have of 4mm plywood and recommend dry fitting the build first so that any joints that need to be sanded for a flush finish can be noted.

N Gauge Orders: Scaling to N gauge works well and has no extra modifications needed due to material thickness. Some parts will be very fine, so take care when removing them from the frame. If some window pieces are particularly fine, they can be reinforced by soaking them in glue before assembly.

TT Gauge Orders: Scaling to TT requires slightly more modifications of the designs before cutting, so please contact us if you’re interested in a kit, and we can provide you a quote at info@popupdesigns.co.uk.

Any other questions, tips or enquiries please don’t hesitate to contact us via our email address or contact form. 

This kit is designed by Iain Ross and sold by PopUp Designs with his permission.