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Hi guys, a "few" pictures of my layout. I started building it around 2013/14?, after looking at Johnathan and Barry's wonderful picture of Gort station, in their book 'rails through the west'. The initial plan was to try and build a 1970's Gort station,but as always with this hobby I got carried away, and it got bigger and bigger. So it is basically a fantasy Irish railway from the 60's, 70's and 80's. I really tried to stay ' supertrain', but I couldn't resist the Crossley A classes, and grey 121. It's hard to know if it will ever be finished, because I have chopped and changed a fair bit since I started building it. The terminus is the latest endeavor, so fingers crossed to see how that goes.? Paul.

800 is almost complete. Window frames, name and numberplate added along with the long process of lining. Whistle, Tender chassis and cab interior remain to be finished. Gloss varnish worked nicely to clear the 3d printed window frames. She runs quite nicely on the 6x4 test track, clearing its tight curves with ease. The green paint is from vinny byrnes, RBS381 Mid Brunswick green in gloss. Took a while to find the right match but I think this is pretty much bang on to my eye.

Hi everyone, We've been known to "throw the kitchen sink" into models in our range, and the term can become quite literal with our coaches. Those familiar with our Enterprise Mark 2 coaches will attest to this, and now our Park Royals can boast the same with their snack car conversions. Showing our fully decorated interiors against our integral interior lighting just sets these classic CIE coaches off a treat. Pre-ordered yours yet? Our order book is filling up fast, so we recommend you get your n pre-order in fast to avoid disappointment! PRE-ORDER NOW: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/park-royal-coaches Cheers! Fran

I used Neill’s Hill, just over 2 miles out from Queen’s Quay on the BCDR main line through East Belfast, as the basis for a model of a country station building for this layout. The original building is long since demolished though a number of photographs exist. It had a fairly typical BCDR look but with less of the special brickwork on station buildings like Cultra or Carnalea which make them trickier to model well. It's not a slavish copy of Neill's Hill, more a nod in that direction. The pics are self-explanatory I hope. Brickwork is Slater’s English Bond plasticard, windows, doors and roof tiles came from York Modelmaking and the chimney pots are 3D prints from ModelU. Paint was applied, removed and re-applied so many times in the course of trying to get the effect I wanted that I reckon the brickwork genuinely is weathered.

My Belfast and County Down stable has been quietly growing to the extent that it’s getting a bit crowded at Loughan Quay. I’ve been toying with the idea for a while now of building a small layout for this stuff to run on, something fairly simple that could conceivably be taken out to exhibitions. What I have in mind is a typical BCDR country through station with a goods siding. I don’t plan to model an actual location - that’s too constraining (actually too difficult if I’m honest) but places like Tullymurry, Ballygowan and Ballygrainey are the sources of inspiration. The intention would be to select features from various places and bring them together in one layout. Here’s a rough sketch of the likely track plan. Templot it ain’t but it’s fairly simple. I wanted the scenic area to be a single board but the minimum length needed for the track plan ended up 15 cm too long to fit in the car so it’s now two boards and that being the case, I’ve taken the opportunity to stretch it out to 2 metres. I’ve made a start on the boards, aiming to make them as light as possible, using plywood in various thicknesses (3.6mm, 5.5mm & 12mm) and MDF for the track bed, all largely assembled with wood glue. The strength of the design lies in the twin longitudinal L-beams on which everything is mounted. As far as I can gather, this approach to construction is fairly common but it’s the first time I’ve tried it. The end product is probably lighter than a traditional flat top with whitewood framing and it’s also considerably more rigid. We’ll see how well it stands up to handling. Landscape profiling from cardboard and cereal packet. I've parked work on the boards now to concentrate on some of the building and structures. I'm still trying to get an overview of how this thing will look and whether it will work. More soon Alan

Here's a few... ... the glories of pre-grouping - including a certain WL&WR loco by the amazing Richard Chown.

Received the 800 last Friday, been working on her since! Good bit more detail and painting to do, lining needs to be added to the cab sides and tender, window frames need to be put in, number and nameplates need to be fitted. Here's how she looks so far

A full year late but Ballyercall is in full test mode. Great to be running trains again

Connemara railway project. The revival continues at Maam Cross Connemara Railway Project, Public toilet facilities now on the site Signal relocated and connected to the cabin interlocking frame Cosmetically restored beet wagon Former Bord na mona wagon master locomotive LM 284 on driver training duties. The junction bar is being prepared for service….

Hi, I'm new to the forum, but not new to modelling. My real name is Paul but online I'm Mol_PMB which is based on my nickname and initials. Some of you may recognise me from the RMWeb forum. As a child in the late 1970s and the 1980s, we had a family holiday in Ireland every year. Normally about 10 days near Ennis (always at the same farmhouse B&B) plus a few days somewhere else, which was different each year. I was strongly into railways and modelling, and my first Irish models were a Lima 33 and a Mk1 coach in CIE livery, no doubt bought on one of our holidays. We used to visit the railway station at Ennis regularly on our holidays, although it was closed to passengers there was occasionally a freight train to be seen, and of course the West Clare 0-6-2T was plinthed there too. I think it was in 1987 when we found a poster advertising an excursion to Dublin by train, which would be happening a few days later. I was about 11 at the time and had just got my first camera. I begged and pleaded with my parents for us to go on it! Eventually they agreed. Our loco for the last leg from Limerick was A class 007. I had marked the rare occasion of a train ride in Ireland by wearing a jumper knitted by my mum, featuring a CIE train. Here I am with the real thing after arrival back at Ennis. Embarrassing now... I started more serious Irish modelling about this time, and got about half-way through building a model of Fenit in 4mm scale, EM gauge. Rolling stock included Q-kits locos, MTK carriages and MIR wagons, plus various kitbashed/converted items. But to be honest my modelling skills in my early teens weren't good enough, and the project foundered. I no longer have any of those models. My next attempt in my later teens was a model of Ballygawley on the Clogher Valley Railway, 4mm scale, 12mm gauge. My skills were improving and I think I still have some of the rolling stock including lots of wagons scratchbuilt on etched chassis, and a part-completed scratchbuild of the 2-6-2T. Life got in the way of this - a year out and then university, and my interests changed. Once I'd settled into employment, I decided to move up to O gauge. I mostly modelled British prototypes in 7mm scale, but I did try making a few Irish wagons and a coach in 6mm scale on 32mm gauge track. They were nice but I soon realised it was a dead end, and that was the last Irish modelling I did, about 20 years ago. I still have my 3 shelves of Irish railway books and retain an interest in the prototype; last year I visited the last of the Bord na Mona railways for a week: My major project at present is Swiss narrow gauge in 1:45, 22.2mm gauge track, but I also have a small O gauge layout based on the Manchester Ship Canal railways that were local to me. So why am I here, trawling the forum for information and inspiration? Well I blame Accurascale / Irish Railway Models! They've just announced those lovely NIR Hunslets, which have long been a favourite of mine. And then I discovered there are CIE Park Royal coaches on the way, which I have so many childhood memories of around Limerick. I have several friends with OO or HO scale layouts and I quite fancy putting together one or two Irish trains to run on them. But I'm also mulling over the possibility of a small shunting layout in 21mm gauge. Hmmm...

Hi everyone, One of the stars of the show at the recent MRSI show in Dublin was the unveiling of the decorated samples of our Park Royal coaches in CIE black and tan, IR orange and black with white strips and classic CIE green with silver underframe and bogies liveries. For those of you who missed them, here is a closer look! As per our most recent update, there are some tweaks and adjustments to be made ahead of delivery next summer. Pre-order yours below before the order book closes ahead of production! Pre-Order Your Park Royal Coaches Here!

Hi everyone, Thanks to you all who dropped by our stand over the weekend. We had plenty of sales, great feedback and it was great to see people and say hello once again. Then again, bringing a celeb like New Junction with us helped too! The support we received regarding the ICR was brilliant too, and would like to thank you all who chatted with us about it. I think many of you were subsequently blown away by our EP samples in the cabinet, alongside our new Hunslet. Finally, and for me personally, most importantly, I would like to extend a sincere and big thank you to the MRSI team for a truly fantastic show. We had many members of the public comment favourably about the new venue, but from a trader point of view they were absolutely first class. It cannot be understated just how much work goes into setting up and creating a show like this, and completely on a voluntary basis to boot. Many people complained about the previous venue 2 years ago. We (IRM) felt a bit guilty about this as a big part of the jam on the Saturday was our sale of the “Dicky Tara’s” and the demand on space that whipped up. I think the MRSI should be commended on listening to feedback, going out and finding a more suitable venue and running an absolutely first class show. Well done to Tony, Dave, Ed and all the club members who gave us a brilliant show. You got bodies in the door and looked after us all superbly. This is why clubs need to be supported, as without them we won’t have shows to go to in the future. It’s great to see new clubs pop up in the Midlands and in Limerick. If you have one in your local area, go down and visit and consider joining. Theyre the ultimate men’s shed that operate in your area of interest. Cheers! Fran

IR 1994-07-xx Sligo Goods station 121 + 141 class shunt loco fuel tank. Sligo Oil train on left with a couple of shiny wagons with bright red underframes just out of the box! Bagged cement right. Bell Containers in background. ref249024. UTA 1961-xx Dungannon BUT Railcar 128 yj101 West Clare, 1959-CA,possibly earlier. Ennis yj100

CIE 1959-07-30 Ballinrobe. 20.20 to Claremorris poss no 585 yj084. CIE 1970 's Claremorris A58r yj083. CDRJC 1957-CA Stranorlar Railcar 12 Cab unit yj082

When Fran wasn't looking, I sneaked the pre production Park Royals onto Bog Road.They are truly superb and look even better on a layout.

As promised, a few pictures from Tolworth. It was lovely to meet with David, Leslie and Andy over the weekend. Northport Quay, despite operating well at home the week before, struggled for much of Saturday - some of which was undoubtedly down to being loaded in the car overnight and then finding itself in a very hot and humid exhibition hall. However, repeated derailments in the loop, over the baseboard join were frustrating, as was the failure of a push to make switch for one of the uncoupling magnets. Later the wire in tube connection to the signal came adrift - a two minute job to fix at home, but not at a show. Take my word for it, David's models are every bit as good in the flesh as they are in photos and it was great to have visiting 7mm broad gauge locos on my layout because the fact is, we are a very small group. I had the delight and privilege of having Richard Chown's Lissadel run on Arigna Town at the Manchester show, but David's model's are the only other ones [including those owned by Leslie], so it was a rare treat to have them along. Surely, we aren't the only two people in the world modelling 7mm scale Irish 5'3 though?? Back home today, did a bit more investigating and found that one of my trestles was a centimetre taller than the other [!] - so no wonder some engines were struggling to get out of the fiddle yard. Across the baseboard join was a definite ridge, which needs sorting, as does a section of out of gauge track into the left hand siding. Nothing derails here, but it nevertheless points to why my AJ couplings can come undone because there is too much sideways movement on short wheelbase stock. Anyway, a few pictures of my stuff, taken from unusual angles not normally available. And now the visitors. Couldn't resist having the GNR JT alongside my F6 and likewise the rail buses. Sadly my photo of Leslie's E class was out of focus.

Having recently taken advantage of the flash sale of the IRM Mk2 a/b coaches we see the final coach 4112 arrive into the Lakeview freight yard on a low loader, The next selection of photos show the unloading and shunting process, as there is no EGV attached to the four coaches-they don’t have lights working-the last few photos see the final shunt movement taking place where the Shunter couples up the jumper cables and power is restored to the full set. locomotive 085 was used for the shunting movements.

First structure, a bridge. As far as I can see, BCDR bridges varied in style and construction but there is a bit of a house style and they do share one quality - they're indestructible. Witness the number which still stand beside realigned roads, in the middle of fields, in people's gardens or on country roads where they're still in use 70+ years after the railway closed. They never fall down. This one might be a bit less robust being made from foamboard, card, plastic and DAS clay. The Wills rough stone sheets were sanded and filed back to flatten the stonework a bit then coated in filler and wiped with kitchen roll to reduce the depth of the mortar lines. I haven't modelled round the back. This will be buried in the landscape. Paint does the rest. The brick lining the inside the arch has been added since the photo was taken. The bridge will form the scenic break at the left hand end with a country lane over it. Station building is underway. It's been a challenge with a fair bit of back and forward mainly because I struggle with weathering. More pics as soon as it's fit for human consumption. Alan

Great to see the recent interest in all things WL&WR, with photos, 3D prints and historical stuff. Even so, evidence remains hard to come by, so thought I'd start a thread here in the hope of unearthing models from other folk over the years. My own journey started with the sad loss of Richard Chown, whose Castle Rackrent system included a fair bit of WLW stuff. Following the offering of sealed bids, I became the custodian of Shannon, Richard's 0-6-0, which must now be approaching 50 years old. I had to replace the wheels, which were badly worn after many actual miles of operating his vast system, but the model is otherwise very much as built and I never cease to be amazed at how good it is. Having acquired the loco, it was then essential to have something to run with it and so I set about trying to recreate the 'Mail goods' which ran on Rackrent. My take on this involved peering into the few photos available in Ernie Shepherd's seminal tome on the railway & with the help of Alphagraphix etched chassis scratch built a six wheel full brake and four wheel coach, along with a brake van. Am the first to admit these are probably from being accurate, but having to rely on photos to make approximate drawings, they generally look the part. Did a horse box too, though this started life as the one that went to the Sligo Leitrim, but was eventually back dated following the arrival of Shannon. Two other WLW vehicles I built came from a post about the turf trains which ran during the 'Emergency' [aka WW2]. Couldn't resist the challenge of building a couple, which were made by resin casting sides and ends from my own plasticard masters, set on Alphagraphix six wheel chassis. Most of these wagons were ex WLW coaches with doors and windows boarded up and roofs removed. You couldn't make it up, but needs must at the time, to keep the home fires burning. So - how much other stuff is out there, I wonder? Mine is all 7mm scale and Richard's Galtee More 2-4-0 is hopefully being well looked after, but what about other scales? Not the easiest railway to model, but very satisfying nonetheless.

Most of my modelling recently has been on a proposed BCDR country station layout but the loco-building gene is agitating again. A nice shiny sheet of 15 thou nickel silver has been calling to me from the drawer and a photo of a certain BCDR locomotive has been quietly whispering “build me, build me”. This one.... Image: Copyright, Ernie's Railway Archive Belfast and County Down Railways 2-4-0 tender loco “The Famous Number 6” was delivered by Beyer Peacock in 1894. Reportedly the fastest engine on the BCDR, it outlived the railway it was built for, finally being scrapped in 1956 after a long and varied career, significant re-building and, apparently, a recorded mileage of 1,545,510. (Source: D. Coakham) As a modelling project, No.6 has now elbowed its way centre stage after lurking in the wings for a while. I’ve been avoiding it for good reasons. I can see a number of problems which I may or may not be able to solve but I suppose the best way to find out is to give it a go. The gene is very insistent. As usual, the starting point is a set of coupling rods which can then be used as jigs to mark axle positions on the chassis frames. An LNER etch from Alan Gibson fitted the bill, being the correct wheelbase (28mm) for this engine. Two blanks of 15 thou nickel silver are tack-soldered together and pilot holes (1mm) are drilled for axle positions. It can be tricky to get models with 2-4-0 or 4-4-0 wheel configurations to run well. There’s a tendency to tip forward and lose traction. Using the weight of the tender to exert downwards pressure on the loco’s driving wheels is one solution. Having read up and also consulted more experienced loco builders (thank you Tony), another solution is to treat a 2-4-0 as an 0-6-0 which is how I’ve approached this one. The rear driving axle, with gearbox attached, will run in fixed bearings. The front driving axle and the front carrying axle will run in hornblocks with a compensating beam between them. Pivot point for the compensation beam being drilled in the frame blanks. The beam is cranked to accommodate two axles at different levels in the frames whilst keeping the chassis level. Frames shaped as a pair, then separated and erected into a chassis. Comet spacers from Wizard Models. The rectangular cutouts are for the hornblocks. More soon, Alan

Coaches are a difficult one to do when it comes to manufacturing. The factories feel that they are the work and assembly complexity of a locomotive, just without the motor, but know they cannot charge locomotive prices to assemble. I know from our own POV we have to fight tooth and nail to keep the prices on our coaches somewhat respectable. Still, we always welcome coaches that make ours look like bargains, and when you look at our Mark 2s, Park Royals, Mark 1 Suburbans for Accurascale etc you can see what value for money they really are. Cheers! Fran

CIE 1962-09 Youghal 262 yj203. CIE 1961-3 ca Roscrea 125 xing A16 yj205. CIE 1982-03-15 Thurles 052 fertiliser yj204.

On behalf of the organising committee for the Model Railway Society of Ireland Model Railway Exhibition we would like to thank everyone - exhibitors, traders and enthusiasts for attending our 2024 exhibition which exceeded all expectations and showed that interest in Model Railways in Ireland is very much alive Attendance figures were very healthy in total over the 3 days with Saturday being by far the busiest and Sunday/Monday having similar attendance figures Even the largest of exhibitions (e.g. any major UK show on a Saturday) get overcrowded, and by 2pm on Saturday the heavy crowds had decreased. Lessons have been learned and will be even smoother next time around A special mention to those traders and exhibitors who made their exhibition debuts at the show and hope the experience was a memorable one and that they will return. Sadly some traders are now very much in their senior years, and its refreshing to see new ones taking up the baton Onto 2026. Probably the same venue too

Finally had a go at pouring the water for my river. (did a pond in the town too but that's a story for another day. -No landscaping or anything there yet). Took two boxes of W/S deep pour water- stuff doesn't go far. Made some bullrushes and reeds for along the riverbank. Made the rushes from 0.35mm fishing line, dipped in glue to form a "head", then brown paint. Reeds were just very small rips of green plastic. Stuck them in DAS clay and painted same colour as river bed Then came the moment of truth................

He did indeed! however, since getting back home, have spent much of the week doing yet another investigation into some on going annoyances. The layout operates at about 90% reliability, but it is the remaining 10% which sticks out like a sore thumb. Most of it stemmed from that ridge that I somehow contrived to create at the baseboard joint in the loop. I first tried adjusting the track and a bit of judicious gauge widening seemed to be doing the trick, but putting a 30cm steel rule across the join gave at least a 3mm seesaw at each end. Really NOT good... The only option was to first remove the rails between the two points and then dig out the sleepers and ballast, back down to baseboard level. However, the problem extends further than I thought & I ended up having to remove half the sleepers from both points either side before I could get the rails level across the baseboard join. There are four, countersunk screws, to which the rails are soldered at the join & then new sleepers were fitted beneath them, packing to the right height and constantly checking for being level with a steel rule. After that, it was out with the track gauges and, eventually, I can now run my locos through the loop without derailing - at pretty much full speed too!. The AJ couplings seem to work a lot better, so hopefully I can now put the ballast and other ground cover back and enjoy running trains. Alignment of the left hand siding left something to be desired, with a serious dog leg causing the loco to uncouple. Sorting this involved a bit more digging, but far less drastic than with the ridge. Am really hoping that I have at last cured the problems, because it has been a pain in the primary orifice at times. A clear fault is one thing, but an intermittent one can be SO frustrating! Talking at length with Andy Cundick [whose knowledge is simply encyclopaedic] over the weekend, he said he thought that Worsley Works, not only produced the Swilly Barclay 4-6-0T, but also the Kerr Stuart 4-6-2T as well. Couldn't find anything on the website, but a quick email to Allen Doherty not only revealed that it was indeed part of his portfolio, but could do one for me, chassis included, for just £100. Having expected to scratch build one, this comes as a very nice bonus, so many thanks Andy and indeed Allen!

The new train is already in service, it seems - on the excellent Dun Laoighaire layout. This was a hurried "Phone shot". I've just woken up after a long sleep - Richard drove me back to Reading from Holyhead - a one-man effort by him. Thanks! Yes, may I echo Fran's thanks to David, Tony, Ed and a host of other MRSI guys for putting on a great show (even if my "pitch" was a bit cramped between Eamon's "Bog Road" (I only really saw the back!) and the two Michael's with their N Gauge layout where GNR locos brushed shoulders with Norfolk and Western diesels!). See Patrick's photo of me counting my ill-gotten gains and you'll see what I mean! I'm sold out of another two of my RTR vans, bar the remainder which is off to a man in the Canaries. Best of all, the people you meet - the Annual Dublin show has replaced the defunct club-run Warley as the place for Irish modellers to meet. More later, when I come round properly - I was so tired that I couldn't remember this computer's password! Thanks again guys!

Speaking to Paddy, these aren't a solo project, Alstrom have asked him and provided CAD and the sort to help him produce this, hence why a 3D sample model of a full set appeared before real thing!

After reading @murphaph's recent post regarding a rerun of his fert transfers, it reminded me that the five sheets I bought from him last year, were still tucked away in a drawer upstairs. So, I thought it was about time I dug them out and gave them a try. As you can see below, they are designed to cover the top of the loads when applied. It got me thinking, how the load would look if fully wrapped. For example, if they were to be used on a yard scene. Here's how they turned out.

I was able to line up and refit the old buffers fairly well. I fitted the guides first and then put in the sprung heads. On one of them the sprung head tends to stick in when compressed, but the others are all fine. I'm reasonably happy with the result. I'm considering changing the brake gear on this wagon, to the alternative 4-shoe type fitted to some of the corrugated wagons. But to do that I'll need some parts from the H van underframes which won't be here for a while. So for now it can keep the standard brakes. I then tackled the third wagon, and managed to salvage all the old buffers and replace them with the larger Hornby ones, the same process I used on the first wagon except that I now have a stock of spare IRM buffers for future conversions. Here are the three wagons together on the photo plank. Tomorrow when I have daylight again, I'll make a start on the weathering of these three wagons.

Road rail machinery make their way towards the worksite where an overnight possession is taking place.

@Galteemore and I turned up at the Tolworth Exhibition today to run our respective trains on David's wonderful Northport Quay. I overheard, David remark to one admirer that there were THREE people in the World modelling on 36.75mm gauge and that they were all in present in front of him - so having been given this not-inconsiderable accolade, I arranged a photo shoot! Of course, the two David's are the modellers, I am just an owner and runner! Not only did David let me place my little MGWR train on his hallowed turf, but he even let me drive it! A very serious business it is driving a train into a station which you haven't "signed for". I was terrified!

About 25 years ago I started my career in Derby, at the Litchurch Lane works which had been opened by the Midland Railway and still exists today as part of the Alstom empire. In the 1990s and 2000s the name on the gate seemed to change almost annually! Anyway, one quiet afternoon I hid myself away in the Microfiche viewing room and trawled through the drawings for anything of Irish interest. The archive didn't go back very far, but did cover some interesting things in the 1970s and 1980s. For example, there are some nice drawings of the BELL containers built in Derby, and of the International Train demonstrator which was later sold to Irish Rail. But both of those really existed. Here are some drawings of rolling stock for NIR that didn't see the light of day, or at least not in quite this form. Might be of some interest to those who like 'what if' models. Some of these are related to the 1980 additional Enterprise coaches, for which BREL proposed to build new stock but eventually NIR bought second-hand vehicles from BR. 'Shortie' Mk3, with windows like a Class 317 EMU: Somewhat like a Mk2a, but with inset, inward-opening doors more like the Mk2 Pullmans: This is a drawing for a modification to convert a Mk2b BFK to a brake generator buffet car: And finally, an early scheme for what became the Castle class, but with a large van area in the power car and a different arrangement of doors. This was more like the power car of 210001 than what was eventually built for NIR:

It was my first time to bring Bog Road to Dublin,and I enjoyed chatting to people.The larger venue was a game changer and well done to all in MRSI for a great job.

"Buffers Lock" has won the judges' Best in Show Award at the MRSI Dublin Exhibition 2024! This was the layouts fifth public outing and third award. I am honoured and delighted needless to say. Thanks to all who assisted me over the weekend especially my wife Jenna.

Weathering is now just about complete, though I'll take a second look when this has fully dried. One's very tatty, the other two aren't so bad. I will replace the wheelsets (and weather the new ones), but I'm waiting on some parts. I've weathered the interiors so I don't need to load them, but in due course I probably will make some loads.

This release is gold dust. A few years ago, I would never have dreamed that anything Irish would ever develop beyond a bachmann SECR loco dressed up (to be fair, the good side of reasonably) as a GSR “Woolwich”; despite hauling CIE-liveried LMS coaches, of a design completely unknown anywhere in Ireland other than the NCC. IRM have completely opened up the Irish market. Most of here are well aware of the insurmountable financial viability aspects of producing an extremely high-end product for a very small market. And IRM is not a toy maker - that, in business terms, would be comparatively easy; they make exhibition-standard models. So when IRM produce something like a short-lived class of only three locomotives (and one, 103, clocked up WAY less mileage than the other two), that’s all the more for us here to be grateful for. So, well done IRM folks; you bring back my early 70s memories when I saw the “new Enterprise” (with an engine PUSHING it) for the first time. And that funny whistly sound. Compared to As and 141s, I guess they weren’t around long enough for their voices to break.

There has been a bit of Milky Bar tinge to the workbench last few evenings. Still more details to be added, primer(and the inevitable small fixes) before paint and transfers. We have RPSI Guards van to accompany RPSI MkII, Fertiliser wagon on IRM bogies, B101 Sulzer, D101 Hunslet and a painted barrier wagon. Bit of break while assemble Revell A300 "Beluga" for my dad's 1:144 collection.

CIE 1961-06-06 or 07 ca where 125 yj191. You can just see the back of that distinctive (or should it be ugly?) headboard of the IRRS Tour. This is either 6 June Limerick-Roscrea-Ballybrophy or 7 June Limerick - Ennis -Athenry - Attymon. (Six Bells Junction Tours website). EDIT Confirmed as Nenagh 6 June 1961 CB&SCR 1954-09-04 Baltimore KC ref 249022. yj181 CIE 1982-03-14 Ballina 058 yj181.

Ballast laid dry, carefully using a teaspoon and a flat brush to get the right profile: Then sprayed with a mist of water (with a drop of washing up liquid) to dampen the ballast, followed by applying dilute PVA with an eye-dropper: This will take a few days to set, so I'll have to be patient!

@Past-Avenuedoes a superb 3D print of the 10’ Uniload containers.

CIE 1955-08-04 Dublin Harcourt St. D14 89 KCorig 249005. CIE 1956-07-xx Waterford 223 + 133 249015, The goods yard & loco shed with 2 J15's in the foreground. GNRI 1965-07-19 Belfast 'Shaky Bridge' Antrim-Bangor Exc 48 JGD6512087.

NIR 112 undergoes load bank testing under the watchful eyes of Mr C…

I recently acquired this negative of 557 shunting at Cork Albert Quay. Its excellent quality so have appended a couple of enlargments showing the Brake Van at right and also of the train with bitumen tank 23829 next to 557. CB&SCR 1956-06-19 Cork Albert Quay 557 ref249025

I'm going to call this finished, for now at least: To add a bit of colour, I got the baby GMs out of their boxes for the first time. These both need some work (renumbering, weathering, DCC chips, probably regauging) but I want to finish off a few more wagons first. 149 is from the current Murphy Models batch, and is in late 1970s / early 1980s condition with tablet catchers: Factory-weathered 190 is from the first Bachmann batch, and is in mid-late 1980s condition without tablet catchers, but with SA suffix to its numbers and electrification flashes:

The vegetation on the photo plank is now almost complete. All the bushes and shrubs are in place, though I may still add a bit more localised texture to the grassy areas, and trim the edges. I am working on a fence for the top of the cutting but at present the holes are marked with cocktail sticks while I prepare the fenceposts. I also plan to fit a plain grey backscene so you don't have to look at all the mess behind!

My pack of code 75 flat-bottom rail arrived this morning so I have given it a coat of primer, soldered on some power feeds and spiked it down to the sleepers. Then I thought I'd better test the electrical connections before ballasting, and that was also an opportunity to test 007. Here it is ticking over on the photo plank: A view along the plank showing the track construction and the gentle curve. All my rolling stock is presently 'narrow' OO gauge but I plan to convert a few things to 21mm broad gauge, starting with a wagon or two. To give an idea of what will fit on the plank. here's 007 with a Cravens coach, and with a rake of three trucks. So it's long enough to pose a loco with the first bit of a train, to provide some context. Looking at these photos, 007 is crying out for some weathering, so that's another job to tackle in the next few weeks! But first, I'll get the track ballasted and once that's set I can make more progress with the grass and gorse.

I was very taken by this ittle accomodation bridge, which Andy assures me is fairly typical of the NBR. Amazing what you can do with a box of matches .... Only joking, Andy, a very nice piece of modelling.

A bit more progress on the plank today. I've glued down the sleeper bases, and my gorse is now in flower (a few months early). For the gorse, I mixed up some creamy dilute PVA with a drop of washing up liquid, and used a flat brush to dab this on the tips of the stalks (see previous post): Then I sprinkled on some yellow ground foam. The first one I did looked a bit bright, so for the others I blended in some buff as well. I put them in warm place to dry, and then shook off any loose yellow bits. Here's a couple positioned on the cutting side to give an idea of the effect: This photo also nicely shows the subtle variations in sleeper colour. I'm a bit stuck now until I get the rails, because I want to do the rails and then the ballast before I start adding static grass and foliage. Meanwhile I'm trying to decide whether the railway boundary at the top of the cutting will be marked by a post-and-wire fence, or a dry-stone wall.

I've been making some more progress on the photo plank today. A slight frustration is the code 75 rail which was supposed to arrive yesterday still hasn't turned up. So I've had to focus on other things. Firstly I put the final layers of brown gunk on the 'ground' and topped it with a sprinkle of fine brown ballast which I find is a good foundation for subsequent scenic treatments. This will need a few days to set hard and then I'll shake or brush off any loose bits: Next I painted the panels of sleepers. A coat of sanding sealer followed by a sprayed coat of mid-brown. Once that was dry I used a palette of grey, black, brown and bauxite to brush-paint some more varied colours. This is still wet but will hopefully dry to something that looks plausible: My childhood memories of Ireland include a lot of Gorse and Fuschia. They flower at opposite ends of the year so I can't have both in bloom, and have decided to go for the Gorse. Using Eddie's excellent photos as inspiration, I'd like a bit more than the first image, but not as much as the last! To try and make some Gorse bushes, I'm experimenting as follows. 1. Take an offcut of sea foam. Also some fine florists' wire, and bend a loop into one end: 2. Dip the looped end of the wire in superglue, hook it over the first branch in the sea foam,and let the glue stick the wire to the main stalk. Repeat until you have enough bushes for a thicket: 3. Set up the static grass machine, and a small tub of PVA diluted to a cream. Attach the earth lead to the wire 'stalk' of a bush, and dunk the top of the bush in the glue. 4. Tap off excess glue, and then apply static grass, turning the bush so it is well covered. I used 6mm dark green static grass. 5. Repeat. Note the use of a tub to recover static grass for re-use, as 90% of it would otherwise go to waste. These are now left alone for the glue to set. What I can't decide is whether the next stage is the flowers (using fine yellow ground foam) or whether I should add a layer of dark green ground foam first, and then the flowers after that. If I was working in a larger scale I'd probably use the green foam first, but in 4mm scale I suspect it'll be best to go straight to the flowers. Of course I could have just bought some of these, but where's the fun in that? I think my method gives a better impression of the spiky shape of a gorse bush. https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/k-m-model-gorse-bushes-assorted-pack-of-12