Galteemore

David - just a question as I read through this thread. How do you form the bolection mouldings on your carriage windows please? Is it a length of microstrip bent round the window frame? I’ve studied Jenkinson but can’t quite work out his method...thanks

Thanks David / I have a tin of Brooklands Green which is also a bit dark. I’m going to try Ford meadow green I think...

Thanks David - that’s helpful. I keep finding even more errors! I tried the old Tyrconnell loco bearing trick but the axle step on carriage axles rules that out. It’ll be green I hope with Flying Snail when Railtec get them in. Found a shade of Ford green which I’m keen to try on this before the passenger stock proper gets under way...

A bit more progress tonight. Body soldered up. Solebar overlays sweated on and early stages of cosmetic running gear ...

MGWR parcels van under way ....partly putting this up to show what can happen. Bending the u channels for sole bars did not go well and one snapped. Soldered it together (liberally using 145 degree stuff into some tight angles hence the very obvious solder bleed in places). Was all pleased until I realised that I’d solidly soldered it all to the wrong side of the chassis. Choice was to live with it (only real consequence being that the doors will run left-right rather than right-left) or risk twisting the chassis by wrenching the solebars off. I went for option a! Building to 5’3 brings its own problems. The brake gear has had to be moved outward , and the bright idea I had of inverting the axle bearings backfired as the axle then sat unevenly. But brass is very forgiving ...

Just starting my layout thread! Baseboards are inbound and my hand built pointwork has arrived. So time to post something I thought.... Like all right minded people I have long loved the SLNCR and its environs. My mother went to school on it, my grandfather sent his freshly caught fish to Dublin on it, and my cousins to this day farm beside the trackbed. So my layout is a might have been SLNC/MGWR joint branch from Sligo to Rosses Point. The line was built just as Atock’s rebuilt 2-2-2 tanks were falling into redundancy and one found a home - where it still is. The terminus ante quem for the layout is of course 30 Sep 1957....and the history of various Irish lines has been blended together to produce the end result. So expect bits and pieces from Timoleague, Tramore et al. CIE provide the stock but the odd SLNC train may appear..., Some philosophy and poetry before the first photos though ...some lines from Louis MacNeice..... Why do we like being Irish? Partly because It gives us a hold on the sentimental English As members of a world that never was, Baptised with fairy water; And partly because Ireland is small enough To be still thought of with a family feeling, And because the waves are rough That split her from a more commercial culture; And because one feels that here at least one can Do local work which is not at the world's mercy And that on this tiny stage with luck a man Might see the end of one particular action. This extract sums up two things about the layout. First of all it’s nostalgic. This is Dev and Costello’s Ireland with all the bad bits taken out. The sun is shining and steam reigns supreme. Baptised with fairy water indeed. Secondly, the layout will be tiny - 6’ by 2’. Hence the reference to a ‘tiny stage’ that ‘might see the end of one particular action’. In other words I might finish it! Trial run tonight of the new crossover which will be at the heart of the station -built to 36.75mm gauge. You may also glimpse an MGWR carriage chassis.. Early days yet but putting a marker down so I will be posting from time to time!

Thanks for posting. Those films are great: saw a fascinating one showing the intensive regime required every few weeks on steam locos. Romantic it was not.

That’s terrific work David. The locos look very well matched, too.

Decided to crack on tonight and see where we got. I was incredibly sceptical that a thin sheet of printed card could ever make a convincing wagon. The early stages of construction didn’t allay my fears much - due to my own errors ! Put too much glue on and all that kind of thing...some Proses magnetic squares helped remedy the situation by at least keeping it all square. Anyway, the roof went on last night and tonight I fitted the couplings (sprung 3 link) and did a bit of painting and varnishing to tone down the shiny card. Varnish still wet in the pics I noticed . Museum quality it ain’t but from Normal Viewing Distance (always a good qualifier) it’s passable. Given the paucity of Irish freight stock kits in 7mm, I can see myself making a few more....

It’ll be worth it - lots in the catalogue to tempt you and he is such a nice bloke who has done a great deal for us Irish enthusiasts. His trading modus operandi is fairly common in the scale - I have one supplier who trades in brass fittings and motors for 7mm. I place an order, he sends me stuff with an invoice and I pay him by cheque! All very old school and rather charming! It is probably worth pointing out that between them the DSER and LNWR would probably have delivered your letter faster than would happen today. I spent a great deal of time in archives in a past life examining various documents. Looking at the dates on letters, the speed at which correspondence could be exchanged was quite remarkable. And post arrived twice a day in some urban areas!

JB. I promise that my next steam loco will be in the best approximation to CIE grey I can muster!

I think we’re probably on the same page, JB! For me the issue is historical plausibility and consistency - having a convincing narrative you can measure the layout against. So basically - could scenario ‘x’ conceivably have happened and what might that have looked like? So a Black and Tan NG set up could well have happened had the West Clare lingered on a few years - and a consistent layout built on that theme could be effective. My planned layout envisages a might have been branch from Sligo to Rosses Point as it was c 1956-57. So I can’t run 141s or 071s -but I can pretend that ‘Argadeen’ was sent out west by CIE after Timoleague shut down!

Lovely stuff all round and he’s a really nice bloke. You’re right that the livery is not always strictly prototypical , although his GNR (I) stuff is spot on. In fairness his MGWR tank unlike mine is at least in emerald green! And if memory serves, Drew Donaldson had a penchant for painting locos in the livery he thought they should have worn....

Roger doesn’t have a website JB but does offer a catalogue in exchange for some stamps! Here’s a pic from his stand at a show.....prepare to drool

Thanks JB! Comes as a flat Card sheet. You cut out each piece and stick to 1mm mount board. Then fit those laminates together. This one also features cereal packets, coffee capsule boxes, and wooden stirrers in the mix!

Another Alphagraphix kit under way here: real old school modelling this one! Card and - if you want a running vehicle - white metal. What you basically do is cut out the card bits, laminate to thicker card, and glue it all up together. Add a few bits of whitemetal and you have a running wagon in theory. This is my first one - may try another few. It’s a CIE butter wagon with double roof, running on Walsall Model Engineering wheels pushed out to 36.75mm. It’s a bit rough around the edges (literally!) and I have now learnt a fair bit about how many knife blades such a kit will burn through (about 5). But it’s a cost effective way to acquire stock and fairiy quick. Just some final painting and finishing to do. I’m hoping some gentle weathering will smooth off the rough edges!

Thanks Paddy but anyone could make this with a bit of trial and error - brass is much more forgiving than plastic! There’s a fair few mistakes on this one but she’s managed to sit square and fit on the chassis which is the main thing!

Lurking here for a while so thought I’d better post! Here’s my first ever loco build - almost done. It’s a 7mm scale Alphagraphix etched kit of an MGWR tank as built in 1851 and rebuilt by Atock. My proposed line will be Co Sligo c1956 - I’ve imagined that this little loco escaped the fate of her real sister (scrapped c 1906) and lingered on in the remote west. I think that the similar loco on the Waterford:Tramore line would almost certainly have lasted till the 50s but for her fatal derailment in the 30s, so it’s not an impossible scenario! She’s finished in CIE black. Essentially built as per instructions but she has a few additional parts -sprung buffers and brass whistle/smokebox dart to replace the white metal ones supplied. Coupling hooks and vacuum pipes will be added once she’s finally bolted to the chassis. I do apologise for her appearance - I know she should be emerald green. It could have been worse - I was tempted to add a big yellow number. 804 perhaps?! Cognoscenti of this forum will probably guess at the gauge she’s running on..she was originally 32mm gauge but midway through building I started an email exchange with Mr Holman from Arigna and Belmullet - and that was that! He’s given a lot of helpful advice - and I even cribbed from his blog to build this short length of 5’3” track ! As you can see, Sligo shed rather fuss over her. And why not? That ‘Hazlewood’ that runs in from Enniskillen on the 7:20 mixed is only a youngster by comparison!

To misquote the late Tony Hancock -‘makes my Stanley knife seem quite provincial’....

Nice work! How do you cut the ply?!

Like it. Having spent my schooldays commuting to Belfast on the Larne line by 70, 80 and 450 class, this sounds great. DH shunters in the yard at York Road, Hunslets and C classes making appearances - takes me back! All the best with this.....

thanks - maybe I could stretch to a short bogie.....

Thanks for the paint post, JHB - most helpful! I’ll be modelling a outpost in the West c1956 and space constraints mean six wheel carriages are the norm. The guidelines you’ve set out will be of great use.

Love the guy rolling the beer barrel!

Thanks JHB - I’ll be doing a few coaches c1956 so had thought of doing both colours to vary the consists...