[attachment=:name]Just joined the group & keen get info on the 'Sligo'. Am building a 7mm scale, 36.75mm gauge model of the once proposed line into the Arigna coal mining area - mainly to enable a terminus fiddle yard set up, rather than end to end.
Currently ok for coaches, wagons [mostly] & buildings, thanks to the Alphagraphix kits, which am using as colour plans to scratchbuild the actual models. Likewise have two of the Northstar kits of the small 0-6-4Ts, plus a J26 0-6-0T. What
Arigna Town is about to embark on a series of exhibition dates, starting with the three day show at York over Easter. Hence thought it might be of interest to record my experiences in the coming weeks & months as, after York, there is Epsom [25/6 April], Gravesend [May], Bexhill [Aug], Worthing [sept], Beckenham [Oct] and Tolworth [Nov]. York will be the layout’s 4th outing &, as usual, following the previous one at Orpington in January, there is a list of things to attend to.
Howev
Arigna Town's second outing is coming up in a few week's time - at Uckfield Model Railway Exhibition in Sussex on weekend of 18/19 October. Come and say hello if you can make it. The new 'sliding & rotating' fiddle yard will get its first full test, allowing more stock & greater flexibility of its use. First time out too for 'Lark' my latest loco - a Tyrconnel kit of St Molaga the T&C 0-4-2T.
Sadly, doesn't look like my new rake of coal empties will be there as am still waiting for
As it has been a while, thought I'd bring you up to date on what is happening on the layout. Much has been covered in the workbench section, but these notes will try to bring it all together.
The layout is effectively complete, as far as scenery goes, so work since the summer has concentrated on stock and operation. For the latter, new LED lighting strips have been fitted, cutting power consumption down from 480 watts to 150, with [i think] sharper light too. A fair bit less heat as well! The
I really enjoy exhibiting, especially when things go well. Guess it is the teacher [bit of a show off?] in me. However, I also find the process both tiring and a bit stressful at times & with my layout fast approaching its exhibition debut, these notes are as much a reminder to myself about final preparation as a window to any reader about how I go about things.
I’ve been exhibiting since 1987, with over 50 shows in that time. When displaying my models, I am always conscious of the fact th
The Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway opened in 1882 & ran from Carrignat Junction, near Sligo, to Enniskillen. Broad gauge, it remained independent until closure in 1957. While no additions were made, there were proposals for branchlines to Swalinbar [from Florencecourt in 1883] and Arigna. The latter would have left the mainline at Dromahair and run via Drumkeeran, where there had been ironworks in the 18th century, then down the western shore of Lough Allen to Arigna. Here th
With the signals now complete, work on Arigna Town again enters a new phase.
An audit of rolling stock shows I already have more than enough to be going on with for the layout's exhibition debut in June, so now have the opportunity of some bonus time to try and built my second Sligo 'Small Tank'. As mentioned earlier, can't think why I would want to only have the one, as really want to avoid handling stock in the fiddle yard if I can help it. Hence the building of this will feature in my Workb
Casting my mind forward to June & Arigna Town's hopeful debut, started thinking about operational sequences. When planning the layout, deliberately went for a turntable fiddle yard because this complimented the on scene loco turntable and would minimise handling of stock. Initially thought all was well, but then found that could only fit in 4 roads, not 5, so the railbus & railcar would have to share a track. Again, this seemed ok, but then realised that Railcar B does not need turning,
The main problem with the Chatham Show is that however fired up with new ideas/new toys one might be, it generally represents the start of the summer too & that is never a productive time for model making for me. When I was working full time in education, the summer term was always the most manic & we not so much reached the holidays as fell off work into the welcome stupor of a bit of R&R. These days, we try to go on holiday before the schools break up – simply because it is cheaper
The last few weeks have been all about the buildings at the ‘country’ end of the layout. The general scenario is that trains appear/disappear through a hole in the sky that is masked by a combination of a garage, tree and large, Georgian house. Immediately after is a level crossing, with signal box and cottage. Behind the signal box is an end terraced house and then come a couple of low relief buildings before the goods yard is reached. At the planning stage, it was envisaged that all these buil
The Festival of Railway modelling at Alexandra Palace was its usual enjoyable event, made better by seeing Paul Green's fine S scale Irish layout. Some superb stock there Paul, especially the Achill bogie...
A feature of Allypally is the sheer range of scale, gauge and prototype on show. One that stood out for me was Orange County and 'FS3' model. For that read 1:15 scale, so 3' gauge on 45mm track. BIG, in other words - am sure whole layouts have been built in one of their stockboxes!.
Love
Spent a couple of weeks in France, so not much time for modelling. However, did take some maps and ref books with me to finally try and nail down a precise location and name for the project. Details below:
Arigna Town [sLNCR]
Opened in 1882, the Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway remained independent until its closure in 1957. Built & run on a shoestring, it never expanded beyond its 42 mile ‘mail line’ from Sligo to Enniskillen. However, at the end of the 19th century, the
These are the cranes I mentioned at the Dockyard & which the late Ted McIlroy made fully working 7mm scale models of. See Mayner's blog/thread on the Fenit branch.
As for exhibiting...
The amount of other stuff that the exhibitor needs to take with him/her is considerable and no doubt I am not alone in being neurotic about leaving something vital behind when I go to a show. So, along with the baseboards, trestles or other supports, plus lighting and pelmets, what else needs to go?
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Here are a few pics of the backscene to my SLNCR layout. The low resolution photos make them appear a bit flat to me, but like any sort of proof reading, it is useful to get a different perspective!
Either way, the backscene still needs some work, but will probably not do that until after I've got the scenic and ground cover done. That way it should be easier to blend the 2D and 3D aspects together more easily.
For me, especially in 7mm scale, it is essential to have s
As you can see from the Models section, my SLNCR railbus is almost complete. It still needs a bit of paint touching up & plus some weathering, but is now looking the part I hope.
Its initial trial run was a bit dodgy, to say the least, but then I realised the wheels hadn't been cleaned, nor the chassis oiled. No surprise that it couldn't pull its trailer and the [undriven] front wheels weren't turning round... However, a bit of fettling and it proved capable of trundling round the layout,
The scenic work has proceeded well & must admit to being pleased with the outcome thus far. Indeed, the layout is now fully covered - though that does not mean finished, as there is a lot of detail work to do. However, will have to wait till after Christmas to add wild flowers, rushes etc [the latter along the ditch] as supplies of coloured scatter are out. So, what next?
At the Reading Trade Show last week, got various castings, including street lamps [s&D models], plus a range of W i
Was thinking about this the other day, when preparing some notes for a magazine article and the answer is not easy to fathom, other than the obvious delights and the fact that it makes a very satisfying alternative to the conventional 'terminus-fiddle yard' concept.
I started off in 4mm scale, EM gauge, modelling Light Railway practice. The Colonel Stephen's railways have always fascinated me & we do share a name [my surname, being his Christian one]. After a couple of layouts, one of whic
Though sort of retired, I still do a lot of consultancy work in schools and after a decent spell of quality modelling, spare time is suddenly at a premium again. Typical, when things were going rather well...
However, as mentioned before, one can have too much of a good thing and driving around from one place to another can give a bit of thinking time. Also, while I can't speak for everyone else, one of the great attractions of this hobby is the variety it affords & must admit I'm starting
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Tyrconnel kits are marketed in the Alphagraphix catalogue and as well as the E class include Cork, Bandon & South Coast Railway 4-6-0Ts and several highly individual small Irish locomotives including a Fairburn 2-2-2T and two Timoleague and Courtmacsherry Tramway locos.
The E Class 0-6-0Ts were introduced between 1891 & 1894 by Martin Atcock & built in Britain by Kitson & Sharp Stewart. Originally numbered 106-117 by the MGW, they became 551-562 under t
The Christmas period has traditionally been a productive time for me. Generally, there is little on TV [though Mrs Brown 's new year episode was eye wateringly funny, to me at least], the days are short, the weather miserable, so best to stay in and make things.
Initially, got on with casting van sides - three sets of GNRI 9 tonners, plus two sets of what appear to be either SLNCR 'semis' or early Guinness vans. These were then made up into the relevant vehicles, using ABS castings for W irons
Here are a few notes on the two turntables in last weeks 'photos' section.
The loco turntable is a much adapted Dapol [ex Airfix] kit. Very cheap [about a fiver] and reasonably cheerful too. Turned the whole thing inside out & upside down, so it is now an underhung table. The plastic bearing surface is fairly robust, so the outer wheels are really only cosmetic. The design is influenced by the SLNCR's one at Enniskillen, though the well has turned out somewhat deeper at a scale 4'.
Th
Recently been working on some GNRI vans, from drawings found via the website. These are 9 ton versions & were made from my own resin castings. A picture of the master is also shown.
As I've mentioned before, there is nothing difficult about making your own castings and there has been a regular advert in Railway Modeller for the all important materials. however, have found that the silicon mould material has a definite shelf life & the stuff I used was a bit too viscous, resulting in so
As Fermanagh approaches completion, looking at my journal, it will be my 54th locomotive, only 8 of which were bought ready made and all but two of these were substantially altered as well. Of the other 46, 13 were scratch built, though in earlier days some of these were my own bodywork on commercial chassis. 12 were 4mm scale, one HO ( a Bachmann Shay - long story), and the rest 7mm scale, 13 of which were narrow gauge. There have ten layouts in all, with Arigna being the seventh one to be exhi
There are ten shows booked for this year, so will again try to record what transpires.
St Albans went pretty well two weeks ago, with those lovely photos from Tony Wright. These have generated an invite to do an article for British Railway Modelling. Since then invite to Manchester in December has been accepted, but Eurospoor in Holland will have to wait for another year, as it is just before Cultra.
Pontefract was a good weekend, though a long way to drive on my own - particularly coming h
It is a long time since I started this and not being a regular contributor, it occurred to me that to do a blog properly is to provide an on-going commentary on the project. Beat me round the head and I get there -eventually...
Anyway, with luck I will endeavour to do something here once a fortnight or so, which should mean I can usually report on something new. So, maybe I should backtrack a little.
My SLNCR project began towards the end of 2011. I'd long been tempted to do an Irish line, h
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