Tullygrainey

Good to meet you today and get a chat Paul. Hope your trip to Derry went well. I knew you weren't a narrow gauge fan Leslie so thank you. I'll treasure this!

They’re caused by the station lights reflecting off the surface of the camera lens Leslie.

I tried to order from Light Railway Stores a few months ago having often used them in the past. Got right to the end of the ordering process without any trouble but was then told that they didn't ship to my address (Northern Ireland). I'm assuming the Brexit regs are to blame. I've had the same difficulties recently with a number of other suppliers who made it clear on their websites that Brexit regs were the reason.

Just a few examples of the very fine modelling on display here today..

I'm breathless just reading that itinerary! Have a good day at Downpatrick tomorrow.

I think you're right David. He was a remarkable innovator. So many of his ideas are now standard practice, though the one that probably doesn't have so many adherents is his recommended method for painting kit or scratch built chassis - clamp them in a vice, apply power to the motor and spray paint them while they run flat out, the logic being that the moving parts will free themselves of paint. Only the brave try that one. And I haven't.

The landscaping on Kilmore has come on by leaps and bounds over the last three days. A few of those leaps were in the wrong direction mind you, with static grass getting everywhere it shouldn't and scatter clogging up the points. And when I finally stopped for breath and looked at the result last night, I hated it. Far too bright - more toy town than County Down. This morning I mixed a thin dark green wash of acrylic paint (Tamiya XF11 green and XF1 black) and airbrushed the vegetation - the paint flow dialled right back to produce a barely visible mist. It did the trick, taking the technicolour edge off the landscape and toning the whole thing down a bit. I'm much happier with it now. A few more pics to supplement Patrick's portfolio...

Thank you Patrick. Great pictures! You are hereby appointed official photographer at Kilmore.

Great pics Patrick. Shows off the fleet, but also the location, to perfection. Bet that lot make a merry racket!

That could work out a pretty busy day! If you make it, be sure to come and say hello

The Stone Yard is getting dusted down for the Ulster Model Railway Club's show this coming weekend 23,24 August in Royal Belfast Academical Institution (RBAI). The track could do with a good clean but the nice thing about static grass is it never needs cutting. Times for the exhibition are 10am until 5pm on Saturday, 12noon until 4pm on Sunday. The loco fleet is also getting some overdue tlc. Mr & Mrs McQuillan still waiting for that train.

Yes John, the lower profile of Code 75 does give the impression of being wider, especially once the ballast goes down. This is the first time I've used it and I'd do so again. It's not any more fragile to work with than Code 100. The illustrated instruction sheet for the Wills points rodding gives a very clear indication of what all the bits do and how they connect together. Actually doing it is quite another story so there are a few fudges in there which no-one will notice I hope and suspect.

Thanks everyone. I'm hoping so David. I used a puffer bottle on The Stone Yard, which was perfectly adequate for the small amounts of grass in odd corners there but I've got a proper gadget for this one. Haven't tried it yet! The arrangement for using choc blocs, I picked up from someone else on RM Web though I've adapted it a bit. As regards modelling the prototype points rodding, DCC Concepts marketed a system of working points rodding which I think was in metal. It still seems to be available from Rails of Sheffield but I can find no mention of it now on the DCC Concepts website so they may have discontinued it. Model Railway Journal 260 in 2018 carried an article by someone building points rodding in 2mm from self-designed etches! I suspect witchcraft was involved

Work on Kilmore over this last week or so has focused on the track - points rodding (2 sorts), ballast and paint. Points rodding 1: In the interest of keeping it simple, I've avoided points motors and opted for simple rod operation using 2mm brass rod and some bits from choc-bloc electrical connectors. It works well on The Stone Yard and I hope it will here too. This is the basic arrangement... ... and here it is installed under the board. The rod exits through the back board and terminates in a wooden knob. To paint the sides of the rails, I used a method described by Chris Nevard in Model Rail - Halfords matt black and red oxide from rattle cans, sprayed at a low angle across the track until a satisfactory colour is achieved. Shouldn't work but it does a remarkably convincing job of representing old rust. Points rodding 2: Cosmetic representations of the real thing using Wills plastic kits, laid before the ballast went down. This was the hardest thing I've done in a long time. Fragile and nightmarishly fiddly to assemble. I broke a lot of bits, lost others to the carpet monster and some of the finished results are a bit approximate. Give me an etched brass coach kit with no instructions any day! Ballasting: Not my favourite activity. Placing the ballast is fairly satisfying - all that dusting it into place with a little paint brush whilst humming quietly to oneself - but gluing it down and then picking grit out of flange ways and points mechanisms isn't. And vacuuming up the stray particles only to find great chunks coming adrift because it wasn't glued down properly or you didn't leave it to dry for long enough. Then there's weathering the stuff... Anyway, here's the state of play to date... Grassy hillsides next. Pastoral landscape has been noticeably absent from my previous layouts so new ground to be explored, new mistakes to make. Alan

I have every confidence in you Patrick. It'll be grand!

Patron saint of inspired contraptions and ingenious contrivances

Ingenious Patrick. Have you been reading William Heath Robinson?

That’s shaping up really well John

Proper architectural modelling!

Getting better by the day Patrick. Nice colour balance

Delicate work, nicely done!

course you can!

It took a fair bit of juggling to get the cylinders mounted with sufficient clearance behind the crossheads. The front crankpin nuts are filed back to a sliver of their former selves. Each cylinder attaches with a bolt soldered to the chassis. It would probably be better to adopt the etched kit convention of mounting the cylinders on a saddle which sits across the frames. Haven't quite mastered that yet. Next time. However, the Countess sings quite sweetly. Trial run on the rolling road with direct power to the motor... IMG_3068.MOV ... and again with pickups. 31 swg phosphor bronze wire soldered to gapped copper clad strips. IMG_3083.MOV A short length of brass rod soldered to the bottom of the gearbox and bearing against the bottom chassis spacer will dissuade the motor from any inclination to jump around under power. A start on the running plate. 16 thou brass for this. Cutting out sections to clear the motor, gearbox and pickup mounts. Those piercing saw blades are mighty sharp. Best to count your fingers after a session with one. Buffer beams from double layers of 16 thou brass. 1.5mm square brass rod for the valances. The front chassis spacer slides under the tab behind the front buffer beam and the rear is secured with 10BA bolt into a captive nut. Nearly there. We'll leave the delicate bits like brakes and cab steps until after Patrick has worked his magic on the bodywork. Alan