Leaderboard

No more layout progress to report. However, my brother was home for a few days, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to avail of his photography skills.

A short distance from Heuston North is Conyngham Road Garage (Dublin Bus)- a layout loosely based on the 2003 - 2009 era when a good variety of bus types still could be seen.

After a racing start, this layout ground to a halt whilst a spate of engine building claimed the bandwidth. Now that there are enough locos to keep the works fitters in full time employment for a while we can get going again here, this time with a goods shed. After faffing about with various kinds of embossed plastic sheet and getting nowhere, I settled on a foam board shell covered with DAS then sanded smooth and scribed. This is my second attempt. The first one was just wrong but it's been useful for experimenting with paint and colours. For this attempt, I used photos I took of the surviving BCDR goods shed at Comber as a guide to the shape and size of the building and the stonework though it's not a slavish copy of that building (now the town's fire station). Quoins and arches were scribed first then horizontal course lines were penciled in and scribed. These help guide the scribing of individual stones and keep things under control. I have scribed stones in the shape of pillows in the past. Next, a thin wash of a pale colour and some individual stones picked out in stronger colour got things started. Painting was all done with artist's acrylics, mostly raw umber, titanium white and mars black. From there, more thin washes and retouching of the feature stones gradually built up the colour. A bit of black into some mortar lines and some dry-brushed yellow/green added a bit of weathering. I started out using the same ready-made roofing slate sheets that I used on the station (see above) and though they worked perfectly for that building they just didn't look right here- too small and too neat for a slightly decrepit goods shed. So it was back to the paper strip method using strips cut from grids drawn up on the computer. They're glued onto a plasticard base here. The method produces a slightly irregular effect - well it does if you're not too fussy about it - which I think suits this building. The danger here is that individual slates can curl up in a most un-slate-like manner as the paint dries. They can usually be glued down again. The roof isn't attached yet. I have some window frame etches on order and need to fit those before gluing it down. Gutters and downpipes are next. Back in harness, somewhere on the County Down. Alan

Time to roll back the years! I am working through the latest acquisitions so here are a few 'tasters' These ones are from H C Casserley and may well have been published elsewhere. Ind 1937-06-22 British Aluminium Co Larne 2 HCC13997 Cas25044. Ind 1937-06-22 British Aluminium Co Larne 2 HCC 13998 Cas25042. DB&ST 1932-06-05 Blessington. HCC8730 Cas25131. DB&ST 1932-06-05 from tram HCC8728 Cas25129. GNRI 1950-05-18 Enniskillen 46 with blue tender HCC72986a Cas25056. SLNC 1929-09-19 Manorhamilton 'Enniskillen . HCC Glass 6315 Cas25002. I have another 9 glass negs from 1929 of the SLNCR in the pipeline.

I've got back to work on the South end of "my" Portadown. The platforms need "planting" - ie a bit of ballast (a Black Art totally beyond me as you will see in a moment!), weedy grass round the back of the buildings, the barrow walk, water cranes and signals. First, I decided that the barrow walk needed fencing in, so I used a new toy to get bits of Ratio fencing together at right angles. I KNEW that these expensive magnet things would find a use! This where I was starting from. Last week, I did a part-barrow way and "sunk" the water crane in place - there should be one at the end of Platform One as well, but I think the slope of the roof will mean it will not be on my layout! Oh, a future job is to box the point motor in. ALL of mine are above board (unlike me!) because I found lying under the board to fix "invisible" ones just too much of a fag. Then I added the fence which you saw in the magnets, completed the barrow way, placed a concrete "pan" where the water crane should be on Platform one. Loads more to do like planting grass around that fence, finishing Platform One, then back to doubling the length of the water tower which appears earlier in this thread.

I've been down to Oxford for a few days this week, officially to see my son & family at Didcot but spending much of the time at Kinsey Yard south of Oxford to video the huge numbers of container and stone trains which pass through daily. I also brought back about 400 negatives etc mainly covering the ex CBSC, SLNCR & CDRJC in the fifties but also some glass negatives from 1929 - 1937 of lines in the West (Clifden) Killarney SLNC & Fintona. I havn't sorted out others but there are more pre-war CBSC, D&BST , ex D&SER in the heap. Meanwhile todays offerings are: UTA319 1964-05-12 Londonderry Foyle Rd Goods sta. 35 shunts vans off 11.17 arrival from GVS. UTA304 1964-05-11 Lisburn 171, 2pm to GVS. UTA328 1964-05-12 Coleraine WT 5.

CIE 1967ca Mullingar 25j+076. GNRI 1929-09-19 Fintona Junction, Horse Tram HCC Glass 6312 Cas25016. CIE 1955-04-26 Rosslare Strand 314 10.05 ex Westland Row, RMC83665 Cas25197. CIE 1955-04-21 Tuam 54 RMC53507 Cas25187

On Saturday past, work brought me to Armagh, the 'ecclesiastical' capital of Ireland. Armagh was once a 4-way railway junction, with the last surviving lines through the city closing in 1957, although there seems to be a remote possibility that Armagh might see trains again, sometime in the future. Armagh was located on the Ulster Railway route from Belfast to Cavan, later taken over by the GNR(I). The first station beyond Armagh on this line was at Killylea, and the station is an absolute gem of a preserved station, with station building, goods shed and signal cabin all surviving, along with a tiny brick building on the down platform which may have been a - very small - waiting room. There is also a huge stone overbridge at the Cavan end although this has been partially filled in. I visited Killylea once before but I did so again on Saturday, and with the kind permission of the owner, I took some photographs: Looking back towards Armagh Looking towards Cavan Goods shed Goods shed and signal cabin Main station building Signal cabin, with station name evident Rear of signal cabin So naturally this has started me thinking of a project for the future. Plans for my next project are well advanced so these musings would be for the one after that...... Killylea would be an excellent subject for an exhibition layout and it would suit my interests, and current rolling stock collection, very well. Even before the 'what if' is considered, a Killylea-based layout would offer the following: * Double track main line * Attractive and varied architecture, with a mix of (presumably) original UR buildings and later GNR(I) buildings * Passenger and goods workings, featuring fast passenger expresses as well as local services, with steam locomotives & railcars in attendance * Classic overbridge scenic break at one end * Goods shed for operational variety I also have a suitable signal cabin built already. Then 'what if' the route didn't close in 1957 - CIE diesels could appear on diversionary services via Cavan and Clones, and at a stretch, if the line survived into the 1970s, NIR Hunslets and 80 class railcars could feature. The cogs are turning.......

Sorry Wrenneire, I’ve been on a bit of an MTK crusade of late. Although:- Cheers Darius

4 more Casserley negatives from 1934. GSR 1934-07-14 Tralee 106 HCC11152 Cas25156. GSR 1934-07-14 Newcastle West 106, 5.20 Tralee -Limerick HCC11154 Cas25157. GSR 1934-07-17 Clifden 589, 1.15 to Galway HCC11193 Cas25162. GSR 1934-07-17 Clifden 589 outside shed. HCC Glass 11192 Cas25018.

3 Glass negatives today for SLNCR enthusiasts. Most of the latest batch of glass negatives acquired have appeared in print before, they include several taken at Clifden on 17 July 1934, Fintona 19 Sept 1929. They will all feature on here in due course. SLNC 1929-09-19 Manorhamilton 'Hazlewood' HCC Glass 6318 Cas25003. SLNC 1929-09-19 Manorhamilton 'Hazelwood' HCC Glass 6317 Cas25004 SLNC 1929-09-19 Manorhamilton Works 'Glencar' ex GNRI 31. HCC Glass 6319 Cas25009. Note the GNRI 'A' rating still on the cab side.

Fabulous day at Railex yesterday. There was a GN presence, @leslie10646, although the JT was absent as it has some pickup issues I couldn’t fix in time. The SG2 developed a sudden and mysterious short which I still haven’t found. The PP did ok, barring a brief interlude when a motor lead needed re soldered. She found gainful employment on a train of CIE 6w stock, with David’s J26 doing pilot work. One of my ambitions since taking up 36.75 was to produce an engine which could fit on Belmullet or NPQ and do a day’s work. Delightful afternoon and as always David is very patient when I commit a shunting movement that’s not in the plan ….apologies for lots of pics of 74 below - was just so nice to see her stretching her legs a bit in such a lovely settting. Operating all Mr H’s Sligo stock was a treat as always. Although in disgrace, the SG posed for the camera at the end anyway.

To atone for my heresy in adding the last posting will these do! I'm still working on the latest acquisitions but here is a sample. C&M 1934-07-09 Coachford Junction 5K 11.50 Coachford - Cork HCC11059 Cas25144. PFF028 SLNC 1957-06-19 Manorhamilton .Parcels van no. 5. PFF078 CB&SC 1958-06-05 Dunmanway 466 cattle special.

Ind 1937-06-22 British Aluminium Co Larne 1 HCC13995 Cas25043 Ind 1937-06-22 British Aluminium Co Larne 1 HCC13996 Cas25041 I also have a photo of No 3 but it had a few vital bits missing. BAC 1958-09-06 BAC Larne works 3 P1357'14 z110 Apparently No 1 is preserved whilst no. 3 Peckett 1357/1914 was the first to go. The locos must have been built to a general Peckett design rather than one offs, no doubt if my son Alan (Brack on here) sees this he will be digging this info out.

Tunnel mouth is done, my mother loves the whitethorn trees at this time of year so I figured I would try making some, I'm happy with the result.

A quick, simple project, started this morning and just finished. The Abbeyland Tower in Cavan Town is an iconic Cavan structure. It was the belfry of medieval Cavan abbey, and is the sole surviving fragment of medieval Cavan town.

Per my recent post, I recently wrote a strongly-worded letter to the ITG instructing them to move their locos from Moyasta to Downpatrick. I think these photos speak for themselves. Delighted to see the ITG following up on my letter and following my advice – well done to all concerned.

Touchdown! Both locos had landed by about 6pm last night and are currently stabled outside the Maghera Shed

Mr. Grandson is three, and since he was not far beyond two, knows the difference between a dart, an ICR and a 29. Being of this family, his indoctrination must naturally proceed with diligence…….! I am unsure if Tony Hunter, trading as the “Weee Duck” (yes, three “eee”s), is on IRM, but a shout-out to his superb efforts here. “The Weee Duck” is Tony’s own business which makes Lego kits of all sorts of Northern Ireland specific vehicles - plus these shown. I believe he’s working on an NIR CAF. He does northern fire and ambulance vehicles, and armoured RUC vehicles. Great fun overall; check out weeeduck.co.uk for more. Making up an ICR and a Dart took me most of this evening; I’ll be pleased to see what a (hopefully) fledgling three-year-old railway enthusiast will make of it. It'll distract him, possibly, from wanting to fiddle with delicate stuff at Dugort Harbour, up in the attic!

My new kits arrived this morning, so here's a photo of what you get in the box. Basically the 3D printed parts are a body, two rocking W-iron assemblies, four buffers and two brake block assemblies. There are also some etched bits for brake levers and guides, and some wire. The detail on the 3D printed parts is superb inside and out, and there is no need for any cleaning up on the visible faces. This shows how the W-iron units fit; these ones suit 21mm gauge with 28mm axles but alternatives can be supplied for 16.5mm gauge: As you may have noticed, I can't bear to build anything as intended so I have added extra details, replaced some parts with alternatives, and modified some of the parts too. But that's not actually necessary - it's just my desire for something individual. I'm hoping that @Bob49 will be able to expand his Irish range; variants of these early 1920s IRCH open wagon and van designs were used by the GNR, GSWR, MGWR, CBSCR, GSR, and CIE, and some lasted into the 1970s so they potentially have a wide appeal. John and Leslie have covered some of these in the past but by no means all, and most of their kits are no longer available. This photo from Roger Joanes on Flickr shows one of these 6-plank wagons loaded with containers. You can see that the wooden bodied wagon is wider than the adjacent corrugated wagons, and this is also true of the models. What this means is that you can put RTR containers into these wagons without having to hack details off them (we know they don't fit in the IRM corrugated opens or the wooden-bodied open wagons based on UK models). You can even put two A containers together in a wagon, as shown in Roger's photo above. On the left, two Bachmann A containers. On the right, a Triang B container (awaiting a repaint into CIE livery).

Exhibiting Going to a show is a bit like having guests visiting - you tidy up and make the place look respectable. Except with a model railway, it all has to be dismantled, boxed up and made safe for transport: in my case a Kia Sportage with the back seats lowered. Mostly I'm fairly tidy, but there were a few things noted from seeing how the Gravetts pack away Arun Quay that made me resolve to do better, plus address a few things that really should have been done ages ago. First was wheel cleaning. I use a 12v plug in wall transformer for this, but holding the two wires against the wheels with one hand, while using a cotton bud soaked is IPA [no, not the beer] with the other is fiddly, so made up a holder for the wires from a barbecue skewer, which is much better. Looking after your very precious stock is always a concern and I despair at folk packing stuff in old ice cream tubs and the like. I've now largely standardised on those plastic crates that come in a variety of brands, with most coming from The Range. The pink lids are a bit Barbie, but they do the job, especially as, a]they are deep enough for the stock to stand on its own wheels and b] I've added various dividers and all important end pieces to protect the AJ couplings. My trains are short, so I can fit one per box, which helps setting up and at the end of a show. A few non-standard items require a different approach, in this case A4 filing boxes. The crane, F6 and a couple of spare wagons go in one... ... while Railcar B and Wolf Dog, being both too long to go in an A4 box have their own, home made ones, using mdf/ply. One other box is a deepened box file, which takes the station building [it is loose because it spans the baseboard join], plus one or two other scenic items. There are 14 boxes in all, some of which can be seen below. A large supermarket carrier bag will take up to four at a time, which makes carrying things fairly easy. The layout comprises just three baseboards [two scenic, one fiddle yard], but there is all the other stuff too: Trestles, beams, pelmets, fascia and lights, plus two larger plastic crates. One has all the electrics - transformers, controllers, extension leads etc - the other everything from my drinks cup to packing pieces, bolts, the drapes and a myriad of other odds and sods. There is the tool box too, which you hope not to use, because that means something needs repairing. As can be seen, stuff is arranged to fold up, nest, etc and is secured with velcro strip to help with handling. And yes, it does all go in the back of the car! I usually spend the week before a show dusting and vacuuming the layout, cleaning wheels, stock & so on. With everything ready, it takes less than an hour to load the car, though it is always worthwhile making sure stuff is suitably padded with old towels to stop and rattling and protect the interior. Once you get to the show, it is always nice if the unloading points are near to where the layout stand is going to be. One or two venues [Chatham and Allypally for example] are big enough to let you drive your car to your stand, which is nice, otherwise it all has to be carried by hand and it is quite a few journeys. Setting up can be done in an hour [less with help], while knocking down takes half that, because at the end of a show, stock can be gradually put away before the finish. After that, it all goes back in the car, only to be unloaded again when you get home. All the more reason to be careful and worth remembering next time you visit a show.

I was out for a walk yesterday, the twigs on a dead tree cought my eye, I have no idea what kind of tree it was, but five minutes with some lichen and some scatter, they came up beautifully.

E407 starting to look the part, but still plenty of detailing to do! I must remember that I need to order another set of motor, gears and wheels too.

A bit more progress with the layout. A station platform made in two bits because it will cross the join between the two baseboards. I used mounting card for the structure and after a failed attempt to use chinchilla dust for the platform surface - it ended up looking like congealed porridge after the glue went on - I settled for 180 grit sandpaper glued to the top surface with wood glue. Many of the stations on the County Down had cast concrete coping stones, 3ft x2 ft, along the platform edge. These had distinctive diagonal cross hatching, 8 lines in each direction. Deciding how to model these held me up for a while. 3D printing might well be the solution but that's a mountain I've yet to climb. Even base camp is still over the horizon. I managed to draw one coping stone to scale on the computer then copied and pasted to get what I wanted. The result was printed onto paper which I'd pre-painted with a suitable mix. (I'd already tried printing first then painting, only for the nice printed lines to disappear under the paint, despite using water colours). The printer survived being fed painted card. Phew! After painting the sandpaper with various shades of artist's acrylic, the coping stone prints were cut into strips, scored and folded then glued down along the front of the platform and wrapped over the leading edge. Wills Coarse Stone (SSMP200) was used to cover the platform front, sanded back a bit and wiped over with filler. Paint did the rest. The station building will bed down into a shaped hole cut for it in the platform. It's still sitting a bit proud in this photo. A bit of weathering will also help to blend building and platform together.

I stopped by.... Seemed to be working alright, with an occasional sticky uncoupler. The rear wheels on no.2's tender occasionally lost contact with the rail, which suggests the frames or axleboxes may not be quite straight. I even overheard some conversation about a modeller of a real location who, on being told by someone that his father worked at that place and grew runner beans in his garden, actually went so far as to model said plot of runner beans, ready for the next show....

For now, I'm going to call these finished, and I'll move on to the next project. I have an empty long weekend ahead of me and a plethora of half-finished things!

Conjectural model of medieval Cavan Abbey, based on a late 1500s map of Cavan Town. The tower I posted on May 7th is all that remains of the abbey. This model will be joining my other models on display in the County Museum, until November 1st. I'm hunting for a commission from a glamping site, so I've made a glamping pod as a sample. I also have a new website, which is still a work in progress but is now live at breffnimodels.ie

CIE 1981-06-05 Heuston 085 yj176. CIE 1982-06-28 Athlone, Shannon Bridge 086 yj178. CIE 1982-06-28 Ballinasloe 160 yj177.

Well that's most disrespectful. Where did I call Americans stupid? I merely pointed out that they had little understanding of tariffs, which I found surprising. That doesn't make them stupid, just that they were ill informed or perhaps misled by their leaders. Please do not make assumptions based on your own outlook. I have spent a lot of time in America and admire a great many of American achievements and culture. Enough of your gaslighting please. The Chinese exporters will pay none of it, unless it's to the same Chinese company importing it at the other end. It will then be passed onto the end consumer pays it and it goes into the exchequer. If I sell you a locomotive tomorrow from here and you live in the US, the 23% VAT will be removed from your purchase price (as it always has been) and the 30% of tariff imposed by your government will be added, along with whatever other charges. It's as simple as that. We have no control over it. Still, 30% is better than what it was, thanks to the climb down in recent days.

Final tiding up done tonight and the surround was strengthened with additional layers of foam board. This is the diorama's final night with me - tomorrow it shall be moving to its new home, in the very place that inspired it!

Plastic flowers and dry moss from The Range, some brown paint, hairspray, important safety tip ( do not steal it from your wife ). Some green scatter and some light gray coarse ballast, although I'm sure some household condiments like semolina would work just as well. Clip off a couple of the stems, pull the flowers off and chuck em, they are way too big. Paint the stalks. Shove dry moss in between the branches and apply a liberal coating of hairspray. Apply more hairspray and liberally apply scatter, I alternate between colours, this gives it a bit of shading and reduces uniformity. Apply another liberal coating of hairspray and then the gray ballast. Drill a hole, and shove it in with a little PVA, 15 minutes and you are done.

Summer 1965, Dugort Harbour…. and there are gricers about! "Saw these things being built in Inchicore at the IRRS Open Day! First time I've seen 'em in traffic!" "The guy in Castletown station sez they'll be replacing the last of the old wooden vans, y'know, the Great Northern and Great Southern stuff...." "They're tall, aren't they? Good bit higher than normal vans?" "Yeah - full loading gauge..." "Funny havin' the door at the side..."

Currently building a small stone bridge to cross the river below the cottage. The basic structure was constructed from mount board then Das clay was applied, once this was dry, the stonework was scribed. I have used the stone coloured variety of the clay and when it is fully dry, it gives a really authentic base colour which would probably only need weathering to complete the effect, although I am going to follow the example of Alan @Tullygrainey and paint the stonework in various colours of beige and brown. The extra slab of clay in the final photo will be used to create the coping stones and these will be applied individually.

A van of many colours - the IRM 'H': While I continue working on regauging the underframes I have also been repainting and lettering some of the bodies. These still need some matt varnish and then the weathering will begin. 17053 will ride on the conventional underframe I built from Parkside parts (so it's no longer an H) while I plan to scratchbuild a new body for the spare underframe, to represent one of the 15 H vans converted to a Palvan prototype.

Ok, here are a few ideas. First up, Cyril Freezer's 'Small Layouts'. A bit dated now, but worth a look, because there may be something you could adapt. My favourite layout designer has always been Iain Rice. Always appealing and practical, but also so clever. The one below is what I based my Northport Quay project on This next one is based on Llanaster, one of the first exhibition layout to do away with the entry points to the loop - using a sector plate instead. This next one I have always thought particularly clever, arranging three small layouts one above the other on wall brackets. Trains progress from one scene to the next via a cassette. This one [above] was actually designed for 7mm scale, but should reduce to your parameters in 4mm. Idea to avoid are things like the two below from Barry Norman. Usually love his ideas, but when you look at these, you'll see that your locomotive will spend most of its time hidden off scene! This one I DO like though. It is a fairly accurate rendition of Wantage Town, minus the tram shed. However, even with the latter the whole scene needs just 7'2 in length in 7mm scale! Been there, done it & it works really well. Finally, a new book I picked up at Railex, by James Hilton & published by Wild Swan. It takes a fresh look at micro layouts, some of which are very simple indeed, but explores the concepts scenics and operation with each plan. Hope this helps!

Next, drill out the buffer holes to 1.5mm, then stick the buffer bodies back in place, making sure they are straight and square. Add a pair of 21mm gauge wheelsets to assist in positioning the brakes. Then, you can re-instate the brake hangers, into their new holes. I didn't stick them in place just yet. As you can see, the regauging has left a gap in the middle of each brake cross-stretcher. I chose to cut some 20mm lengths of wire and glue them across this gap - it's not a perfect solution but I don't think anyone's going to be looking too closely when the wagon is in service. Whilst gluing these, if necessary you can tweak the position of the brake hangers so that they don't touch the wheels. A dab of glue on the tops of the brake hangers will secure them in the right place. Make sure the wheels spin freely. (pic) I decided not to reinstate the links across the axles - they're almost invisible from normal viewing angles and they prevent the wheels being removed. Now to the buffer heads. The buffer shanks may have become partly blocked by glue. If so, use a 0.7mm drill (exactly) drill to clear them out. Then push the buffers (with springs) firmly back into place. Now check the fit of the body corner stanchions over the repositioned buffers. It may necessary to file a little material off them to achieve a good fit. Then re-fit the body, which is harder than you might think and the guitar pick will help. If any other small bits have fallen off, stick them back on. There's a little bit of paintwork to touch up, otherwise it's done.

Okay folks, I think we can leave the politics element there. While it does impact our hobby in this instance for some (in this case our American residents) we do like to keep this place politics free to keep this as a haven away from such stresses of the world and focus on model railways, and our wonderful hobbies we use to escape such everyday grinds. From an official IRM point of view to our US customers, we advise to keep your pre orders with us and then assess as they come into stock and decide what your best course of action is. Remember too that they will be shipped from the UK, so that is where to keep an eye on when it comes to knowing what to expect. Cheers! Fran

Finished Cheers Darius

Another iconic Cavan building, Killykeen Cottage built in 1819 by Lady Farnham, on the shore of Lough Oughter. Anyone who has visited Killykeen Forest Park will recognise it.

Almost there - am really loving Das clay at the moment!

Bit more done to the cattle dock. Stone added and a back wall. And of course a few cow pats. Small bit of weathering too. Lighting is probably too bright in these pics, now that I see them properly. The sun was actually shining in the window behind me- who would have thought. Oh well, you get the idea.. Started on the railing work by making a couple dozen of these lads

I finally acheived reasonably reliable running with E421 after around 15 years storage! I completed E421 using a Shapeways 3D printed body with etched n/s detail parts on a Bull-Ant Motor bogies supplied to 21mm gauge, I recently re-gauged the loco to OO for use on a small dockside shunting layout. Loco turned out very tempremental in operation would run momentarily before shutting down shorting the DCC system. Eventually traced the fault to a break in the insulation on the feed from the power pick up on one side of the decoder harness, where the edge of the flywheel had cut an nick in the insulation. Problem solved resolved by moving the pick up leads away from the edge of the flywheel. I need to replace damaged decals on both E421 & G617, fit window glazing and complete paint touch up E421 and look at the options for fitting working lighting. E421 is fitted with a TCS decoder with 'Stay Alive" bought many years ago. Now that I have a couple of shunting locos that are running reasonably reliably on of the next jobs is to try and restore wireless DCC operation of locos and points and re-install the Kadee uncoupling magnets to restore hands free operation. Although currently hand operated points are wired for DCC operation with using Lenz Stationary Decoders I bought about 20 years ago

CIE 1955-04-20 Ballina 599 RMC83486 Cas25179. Limerick Junction 147 ca 2000. GNRI 1950-05-17 Ballyhaise 156 HCC 72971 Cas25051. GNRI 1929-09-19 Fintona Junction, Horse & Tram from ground HCC glass 6308 Cas25021.

Couldn't agree more! Variety is the spice of life and while standardisation, container traffic and multiple units must make sense economically, most of the fun in watching trains has gone when you know beforehand what they will look like, number of wagons, coaches etc. A while ago, there was a train spotting series on TV and all they had to get excited about was liveries, because the stock was essentially all the same. Ok, sweeping generalisation, but you know what I mean... Northport Quay, despite only being able to accommodate two six wheel coaches and a van (or equivalent wagons) offers 10 trains over two periods and each one is different, with nothing duplicated in each line up = more stuff to enjoy and make. Works for me, anyway! That said, you only have to look at layouts like Ballinacraig to see that modern image modelling can still be fabulous.

Hi lads, Thanks for the replys, so the outer track is now complete and had a test run at low speed and is working fine after alot of adjustment. Im also working away with metcalfe kits which are very good and enjoyable to build. Thanks for looking.

I finally arrived at a finish for the bridge which I liked, so after a bit of weathering and adding some vegetation, I called in the Royal Ordnance Corps to blast holes in the riverbank, and the bridge was eventually placed in position on the diorama:

Progress continues. Scenic side track plan complete. Track has been connected & tested. Point motors are a mixture of Tortoise, MTB Mp4's & Ip Digital's. I used a Roco 108836 accessory decoder for the Tortoise & MTB point motors. The Ip Digital have built in accessory decoders. The command station in a Roco Z21. Next up is track laying in the fiddle yard. Tony.

My first time doing weathering on a loco This is some weathering I also have done on bullied wagons too as well. Any feedback on loco or wagons would be great always looking to be more better

I have made a start on the cattle dock for the freight yard. Only early days with it .