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Fabulous stuff. The times I spent staring at that panelling on the carriage bulkhead in between frantically scrabbling down homework due that day….,

Apart from Castlerackrent and possibly Dave Walkers Killaney layouts, I am not aware of other modular Irish outline layouts. Locally the "One Track Minds" group on the South Island built a number of single tracked modular layouts with realistically modelled & distinctive New Zealand scenery, buildings and structures. The "15 Inch Group" featured in a series of articles in Model Railways magazine applied a similar approach to Great Western branchline modelling based on a 15" wide baseboard with a standardised baseboard endprofile, rail and electrical interface, as far as I recall the group exhibited a layout which featured 3 single track country stations Richard Chown working for BR had the advantage of a 100'? covered footbridge as a home for Castlerackrent, before re-locating to the large basement of his purpose built home. Killanney was apparrently intended to connect to Castlerackrent at exhibitions. Castlerackrent featured its origonal self contained branch line terminus layout and several through stations, (based on ex-WLWR prototypes) and a self contained almost cameo port layout https://highlandmiscellany.com/tag/castle-rackrent/. I was luckly enough to see the (orignal) Castlerackrent at a small exhibition near Perth while living in Stirling in 93. Yes I think modular layouts have an advantage for people who do not have the space or time to be involved in the construction and operation of a larger layout. I am almost in the opposition position to Patrick, for several years I have had the space to build my ideal Irish Broad gauge layout, even installing baseboards over 10 years ago!, but not the time (work/family committments). Now in my late 60s with failing eyesight and shaky hands I will probabably need to take a more pragmatic approach if I am ever to get anything running.

Do you see a plan crystallising, Patrick ?

Waterford too - ish

Quite a bit has taken place in the past few weeks, with 80 class 69 now in the final stages of its restoration: https://www.downrail.co.uk/2025/10/80-class-restoration-update-reupholstered-seats-installed/

Innovation and improvisation. Name of the game. And if it works, it ain’t wrong.

Didnt hear but Bangor line was shut a good chunk of the afternoon

Yes and no. My own recollections, and those of others, are of all-over spray. I certainly saw H vans, palvans, and also on one occasion one of those outside-horizontal-planked GSR vans newly painted, and they had brown roofs. However photo evidence shows up very clearly what is one of three possible things: 1. Wagon resprayed brown, but not the roof. Unlikely but possible. 2. Some wagons WITH grey roofs - though a lot darker than in the artists' impression of the model. 3. Possibly painted brown, but weathered so badly (like CIE grey or CIE green steam engines, red CDR loco domes and blue GNR domes) that it was impossible to tell what actual paint colour was under the dirt. (2) and (3) are the most likely, but all-brown was very definitelt there too - I saw it myself. I'll be ordering some, as they look amazing. When I do, I will take a very deep breath and try to pluck up courage to get them weathered. The roof will be first! IN traffic, the rich brown tended to "flatten" quite quickly. The heavy marine ply the sides were made of didn't take well to weathering.

Well Done! Turned out great! Love some budget modelling!

I appear to have gotten the points done quicker than I expected- out sick today so I decided to have at it and ended up with all 4 points wired up (wire in tube that is) and the second board with track laid. So, how did I bodge the “wire-in-tube” system, possibly one or two people are asking? Well, I did it with garden wire, staples and two pairs of pliers. It’s dodgy and bodgy and needs to be operated carefully otherwise the wire will get caught in the slot I dremelled through the board, or the staple ( connecting the wire and the stud on the outside of the stretcher bar) will bend or snap or come off, but I did it! And once I have the hang of it it all works really nicely, and as far as I can tell carries power. I cannot tell you how proud I am of this! But an update on mechanics is not complete without photos and videos, so here’s a few. First, all the points operating (you can see better here the wire-and-staple mechanism): eca0f00e-1c55-46cb-80aa-779004477db7.mov Some of the over-centre springs have been damaged or gummed up by my careless ballasting so there is some force needed on one or two points! Here’s a view of the wires going back and forth underneath: 8c07d3a9-bbdd-4819-9f9c-d9b2419e13a9.mov (Pretty poor quality but I was using my other hand to operate the levers) And a picture of the underside: If you squint you can see the wires! You’ll notice the point at the station throat is operated with a wire on top of the board; this will be hidden under a large bridge so I went for the easier option of having it on top. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my brief lesson on how not to do point control, and look forward to me learning that the hard way. Happy modelling!

Hi All, just a quick update, progress has been slow with the layout due to a house move and life, but the baseboard is built and track should be down by the weekend. I had to shorten the baseboard to 4ft by 18 inches, and have set it circa 2002-2008, now being the stub of the former kingscourt branch. Stocklist has been wittled down too, now mainly locos with some per way stock. I'll upload pictures over the weekend.

Three whole years between application and permission. I can see it now: the day before the objection window closes, someone in the depths of Donegal will lodge an objection on some spurious grounds. I hope I'm wrong!

Hey all, Sorry if this is a bit of a beginner question or something that’s been asked before — I’ve had a look around but haven’t found a clear answer, so here goes. I’m trying to figure out how many torpedo vents were on the all-first coaches of the Clogher Valley Railway, and how they were spaced. The best photos I’ve come across are on pages 33, 89, and 151 of the Patterson edition of The Clogher Valley Railway. From what I can tell, it looks like there are five or maybe six vents — which is more than the all-thirds and the first/third composites (it seem to be weldocumented those had just three). Also, there seems to be an extra one mounted on a rectangular plinth above the balcony at one end — maybe even both ends? Would love to hear any thoughts or insights if anyone has looked into this before. Thanks!

Which is exactly the excuse I use for Northport Quay. Go for early 1900s and you can add WL&WR too.

Modified Oxford Diecast Land Rover using thin plasticard. Still need to add outer mesh screen to windscreen and touch in head and tail lamps - plus number plates. Cheers Darius

Seen a DD set being shunted at York Today about 11 Think there was a bus sub 2!

Hi all, i have a few items im looking to sell in order to fund other projects. IRM Corrugated wagons pack €75 IRM Tara Ore Wagons x2 €60 each or €100 for the two packs Pm if interested.

To sum up this week (so far) Monday: 0650 ex Dublin failed in Newry, 0740, 0850 & 0950 ex Dublin all terminated at Dundalk with buses to Belfast. 072 was sent to Newry to haul the failed set back to Dublin. 216 was also sent Light Engine to Newry but 072 had reached Newry first and so 216 was sent back to Belfast. The 1000 & 1100 ex Belfast were CAFs to Newry. Tuesday: The 1050 ex Dublin failed at Portadown, resulting in the 1200 ex Belfast (CAF) being terminated at Portadown and ran back to Belfast as the 1050. The DD set then worked the 1200 ex Belfast (from Portadown), 1450 ex Dublin, 1800 ex Belfast and 2050 ex Dublin. 1850 ex Dublin over 60 late into Belfast. Wednesday: 1000 ex Belfast, 1250 ex Dublin & 1600 ex Belfast worked by ICR off 0740. DD off 0650 failed and worked 1100. A CAF set worked the 1850. Today: 0600/0800 ex Belfast and 0850/1050 ex Dublin 3 car CAFs

Ballisodare would offer a fair amount of through traffic going interesting places, but with a simple track plan - the actual junctions were at Carrignagat. MGWR, WLWR and SLNC traffic all passed through. Would be a fairly kaleidoscopic display of liveries if modelled pre 1925.

I quite like the idea of a junction station layout/module - trains can call and then go off on two/three/four different route options. Claremorris had five exits at its peak....

Thank the lord

Macmine would be an amazing one!!

Conventional timber framed coaches built 1954 onwards including. CIE began a coach building problem in 1951 initial coaches were on conventional welded steel underframes with GSR pattern bogies, changing to Bulleid Triangulated underframe with Commonwealth Bogies from 1954 onwards, examples of the Side Corridor & Buffet Cars appeared with both types of underframe and bogies, B4 replaced GSR bogies on Buffet Cars during the 60s. (a) Side Corridor Second Class Coaches (b) Buffet Car/Kitchen and Dining Cars (C) TPOs (Travelling Post Office. (C) Bogie Luggage/Brake Vans The Silver Fox CIE 1951-53 Stock are based on coaches with conventional underframes and GSR bogies. Apart from a Bogie Heating Van the Buffet Car is probably the biggest gap in terms of modelling a 70-80s Intercity set made up of conventional coaches

Feels like we could do with some HOBS autoballasters alright, as our grey 071's don't have much to haul. The last couple of years of IRM / Accurascale Irish releases have leaned more towards the steam / early diesel era... With IRM / Accurascale 22000's probably due next year, HOBS would seem appropriate to run alongside them. Perfect cross-merchandising!

Well done to all involved - one (very big) step closer!