Nestor

Hi all I’ve far too many books so selling some on. All prices include postage to the UK and Ireland. Modelling Irish Railways - Stephen Johnson & Alan O’Rourke - Good condition other than I slightly bent cover. £10 Track Layout Diagrams of the Great Western Railway and B.R. (WR) Section 61 and Section 62 £10 each or £15 together. Both good condition. Great Railway Eras - Festiniog - 50 Years of Enterprise - Vic Mitchell Good condition - £12 Bala Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog - DW Southern - Slightly bent cover otherwise good condition - £10 Southern Branch Lines - Michael Welch - some minor damage to the binding but otherwise good condition- £12 Thanks Nestor

Jolly good to see the layout in the flesh at a wonderful show.

Also selling the good vehicle compendium, will combine both for £70. Thanks! Nestor

A fantastic treasure trove of drawings from the IRRS. Selling due to downsizing. £38 including UK postage. If you’re also interested in the passenger stock compendium then I can combine both for £70. Nestor

Again selling due to downsizing collection. Fantastic piece of work by the Irish Railways Record Society that I have no need for unfortunately. £40 including UK postage. Nestor

Excellent history by Ernie Shepherd. Good condition, selling due to downsizing of book collection. £15 including UK postage. Nestor

Good condition but no longer of much use. £15 including UK postage. Will ask for a little more if posting overseas. Thanks Nestor

Very much so, a full system to operate. The layout included main line Roundy Roundy with a branch line and secondary twig of that. All the stock was either kit or scratch built, took minimum 4 people to operate. I only ever had one visit but it’s stuck with me. Somewhat off subject but oh well… Modelling by Doug Hill. Nestor

Thanks gang I have a soft spot for taking the names and most basic of geography of a selection of lines and creating a total fiction around them. Not something I would build but certainly admire the idea. Comes from seeing an older member of my old club’s loft layout extremely loosely based on the lines and branches around Upwey in Dorset. Layout has been dismantled for several years now but I understand some sections have been reappropriated for another layout. Nestor

Ah marvellous, always good to see some proper broad gauge out and about. Nestor

Happy Monday A new sketch thrown together over the last week. Very very loosely inspired by Sligo but could be easily renamed to be anywhere vaguely West Coast on the MGWR. A large layout for a loft or similar sized space, primarily with operation in mind. Nestor

Last one for a bit. Another spin on the Roonagh terminus. Track layout based on Achill but buildings based on Westport as I like the stonework there. This could be quite a nice exhibition layout and a nice demonstration of 21mm gauge track. Some wind swept scenery around the track with a hint of the ocean and Clare Island on the backscene. Traffic could be interesting with goods for the islands as well as some local passenger to connect with the ferries. Some rather liberal bending of realistic traffic levels to keep it interesting of course. Nestor

Good morning Back to highly unlikely and space consuming today with another home based idea. Ignore that I’ve called one stop Westport, this would represent Louisburgh on a route from Westport which splits at Lousiburgh with a line to Roonagh Point and another towards Silver Strand. Roonagh Point is based on Achill’s trackplan whilst Louisburgh takes inspiration from Westport. I really like the track plan at Achill but it would make for a very wide layout. It sprawls out quite dramatically for such a quiet terminus. I have also included a scenic section that would involve a model of the famous Clapper Bridge, another staple of the childhood visits to County Mayo. The Fiddle Yard would sit under or behind Roonagh. If under then the two lines running to it would on a gradient. I have a few more sketches to share if the interest is still there? Nestor

Evening all The next two are both based on locations from the County Donegal. These would be exhibition layouts with an emphasis on landscape and scenic interest over operational interest. That being said Ballyshannon has BLT appeal. Apologies for the awkward angles and shadows, I don’t have a scanner and the light has been trash today. I like the idea of an exhibition layout with the long curved backscene to give a good immersive diorama feel. The focus here would certainly be on the country setting and the trains as part of the landscape. Here is the immersive idea comes from the viewing side being within the curve of the terminus. Both sketches are based on photos and plans in the excellent Last Days of the Wee Donegal. Nestor

On the subject of Westport, I have a memory of a model railway on platform two in the waiting room. Does anyone know if this a) actually existed and b) is still there? Nestor

Good morning The next one I’m far less keen on. It’s based on Westport Town and Quay stations and incorporates the viaduct carrying the Achill Line. Whilst when doing these sketches I’m not normally fussed by the dimensions but here it bothers me that it doesn’t add up. That being said, the overall idea I think still works so I may well rework it, hopefully including a more accurate representation of the Goods Yard at the Town station. Nestor

All of my Irish schemes have either been based on said imaginary line out toward Louisburgh with some heading further to Roonagh Point to connect with Clare Island and Inishturk. The suggestion comes from one very short paragraph in the Achill Island Line book which talks about a proposal put forward by some local land owners. It was ignored by the MGWR unsurprisingly. My suggestion would be that a line would mostly skirt the coast line via Mursk at the foot of Crough Patrick before passing the road to Old Head (the basis for a small diorama some years back) and into Louisburgh. I spent a lot of summers in this area due to my Grandfather and always thought there was scope for a lovely railway. Others have been based on the Achill Line directly or I’m sure I have one or two based on the Wee Donegal. Will share some more tomorrow.

All depends on where your interests lie? The advantage of not having any space for a proper layout is that the sketchbook has no limitations. There are plans for everything from Bavarian Lokalbahn to Welsh Narrow Gauge routes and Victorian LBSCR termini… I’ll stick to the Irish in this place. Nestor

Good evening all One of my favourite pastimes whilst not having space for a layout is filling sketchbooks with a multitude of outlandish layout plans. Having a long term interest in Irish Railways (amongst many others) results in quite a few sketches based on Irish Prototypes. These are plans in the loosest sense and more a way of getting down some ideas. Below I’m sharing two mirrored variations on a loft or large room layout based on the once proposed but never taken seriously route from Westport to Louisburgh in County Mayo. I’ve titled it the Clew Bay Line. The station layouts are taken from the Clifden Route in Connemara. I particularly like the long and thin terminus design. Scenery would be taking various aspects of the Clew Bay Area and combining them into sort of a “best of”. This includes an indulgence of having the cottage where my Grandfather and his wife spent the majority of my childhood in the hamlet of Devlin North way out beyond Louisburgh off the road to Silver Strand. Highly unlikely to ever get built but still a fun idea. Maybe set sometime around 1910 to include the MGWR’s lovely green livery… I think I prefer the second configuration. The fiddle yard is neither here nor there, just a suggestion. If people are interested I’ll share a few more sketches. Nestor

Not sure our one bed will quite squeeze it in but with house move planned for next year…

A little late to the party but this upload from the Gauge O Guild has some footage of Richard Chown’s French layout Allendenac

Useful information chaps, I'll have a look at these. I did yes to be a member of the scalefour society, perhaps it's time to rejoin... Nestor

A question for those modelling the broad gauge in 4mm, where can you source axles? Would standard gauge S scale ones work? And am I right in thinking that at one time Alan Gibson did one? Nestor

Thanks it was built as an experiment in track building and scenery. It's since been updated scenically. Nestor

My small contribution to Irish Gauge modelling. At some point in the future I would like to do a complete layout but time and space are currently in the way. Plenty of plans but time to learn how to build a couple of locos and space to put any of the plans is currently limited. Oh the future... The second picture includes a wagon constructed by Andy Cundick just to prove that the gauge is correct. Nestor