Galteemore

Mind you, General Humbert led a French army across Connaught in 1798 - including along the future SLNC route between Carrignagat and Dromahair! Not sure if the British artillery pieces he dumped in the River Bonet are still resting in the murky depths...

Agree, David! This year I spent a large amount of my modelling fund on books - mostly Wild Swan press. Money well spent. This was one of them, and I incorporated several ideas from it into my layout. I actually sold some books specifically to buy this one and it was a good move. Copies are a little rarer now as it’s become a cult classic. I can’t find it in the stocks of my usual second hand book dealers but Amazon have one s/h copy if you’re quick!!

Great stuff David - nice to see another step along the road ! Looks a very professional job.

Some issues are still available from Wizard Models at a fair price - https://www.wizardmodels.ltd/?s=Rail+model+digest+&post_type=product - 1 2 and 6 feature David Malone’s stuff. Seems like remaindered stock rather than s/h.

True, JHB - too big for Downpatrick and too small for the main line! Although I find the ‘Lough Class’ a bit too bulbous in design (I think the Sir Henry class was the most aesthetically balanced within the SLNC fleet) it arguably deserves a place stuffed and mounted at Cultra as the last conventional standard gauge Irish steam loco built (the Turf Burner doesn’t count!).

Agreed. Or a GSWR 4-4-0.....https://transportsofdelight.smugmug.com/RAILWAYS/IRISH-RAILWAYS/GREAT-SOUTHERN-RAILWAY-STEAM/i-fWh53KQ/A

One on each wagon Jack - one end only. It’s a brakeman’s hut. Normally only seen in continental Europe (the origin of this wagon). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brakeman's_cabin

Good point in the previous post, MM. This has got to be one of the best interests in the world - so much to learn but can be accessed at all kinds of price levels: from pop barons like Pete Waterman and Rod Stewart right down to the rest of us!

Can’t advise on the cattle wagon till I access my library later, Mark. The convertible wagons definitely were out and about and would have been seen on the MGWR. Egg traffic off the SLNC, for instance, was quite significant.

Thanks gents - it’s taught me a lot. The colour is Railmatch weathered black, David. It’s like a well-used chalkboard in tone and just has that off-black look we want for 50s CIE.

Re the Clogher Valley trip, JHB senior was wise to leave the Box Brownie at home - the Battle of Britain was currently being waged, with daily fears of German parachutists descending from Ju52s dressed as nuns.Touting a camera about in July 1940 near the border would’ve been a risky venture...

Lovely job Noel - they look absolutely fab!

Have a look here..as a former N gauger, I loved Colin’s models and at least some of his catalogue has Irish conversion possibilities... .

Having spent three years of my life analysing NI’s WW2 political history, I can confirm the general truth of what Airfix fan is saying re parades! The journalist James Kelly certainly refers to it in his memoirs ‘Bonfires on the Hillside’.https://www.abebooks.co.uk/9780952556503/Bonfires-Hillside-Eyewitness-Account-Political-0952556502/plp l will check my sources when I can access them.....

Well it’s all over bar the shouting on this build. Although my wife would rightly tell you there’s been plenty of shouting on the way. It’s not perfect by any means but at least it has progressed from the tangled mess of brass it was last autumn. Loads of errors but lots of learning too. It is not black, be reassured @jhb171achilla truly black loco is included for comparison - I have been paying attention to the excellent livery tutorials here. A top tip from @Mayner in another thread pointed to me to a suitable Railmatch aerosol. And I think I’ve fixed the wonky 2 on the tank sides since the pics! The body is sitting loose on the chassis so there may be a tiny gap here or there.

I did wonder about the date myself. It would be a rather risky thing to go taking pics of any transport activity in wartime - let alone a troop train - with a bystander in plain sight !

SLNC wagons were regularly seen in Belfast, off the shipper naturally. I have never seen the coaches beyond Sligo, and Sprinks suggests that GN coaches were hired in for special trains that the SLNC couldn’t support from its own fleet.

Almost certainly July 13 - Sham Fight day at Scarva - probably an excursion from Newry. Would explain why such antiques were allowed out on the main!

It’s probably in Euclid somewhere....qualified by Freezer’s First Law...

Nice. Brass ?

Apparently it was occasionally filled to the rafters in its short life - stories of a platform bench being lifted into the guards compartment for extra capacity! Probably would never have been enough to save the line but a tantalising episode.

Yes it’s tantalising to see some pics but not much else! I’ve ordered the volumes of RMD that I was able to find.

Great stuff - let’s see pics as you progress!

I’m tempted by these 7mm ones as CIE doppelgängers.....https://invertrain.com/product/caledonian-railway-loco-lamp/

It’s a great plan which I had intended to try. My floppy backboard needed a brace though, so I had to insert that panel. I’ve found the novels of John Buchan quite helpful too, in a surprising way! One of his characters is an old South African hunter who points out that we often see what we expect to see. Hence how we get away with some simple visual tricks - the suggestion of a tree or a building at the edge of a layout is often enough. I suspect some of our scenic problems arise when we ‘gild the lily’ too much and draw unnecessary attention to things that the mind would happily ignore...