Galteemore

Thanks David. I’ll be interested to see how it goes. I still haven’t committed to a coupling system. The fret of Dinghams I bought remains a fret…..and I sold the Lincs ones I’d acquired.

Pains me to say it but the WLWR box looks better in red than SLNC green …;)

Inspiring stuff David. Would Flippems work any better / see link? I’d fancy AJs but not sure I have the precision fitting skills…. https://pregroupingrailways.com/2022/01/15/an-introduction-to-the-new-flippem-coupling/

Interesting colour pic of the C and L bogie. Shows what happens to maroon paint over many years if left untouched. The GSR branding, although much faded, is still visible. Up in north Leitrim, coaches with a similar faded maroon finish were also to be seen - see post of a few days ago.

Looks a good start. I do like the thought process you are exemplifying here - not giving up but finding an alternative route.

Lol - I was there 83-89! Wasn’t buses for me though - I got to commute by 70 and 80 class….I well remember the n Belfast roads though from games buses to the fields at Ben Madigan

Thought so. I went to school at Belfast Royal Academy so used to pass lots of houses like that round the N Circular Road…….

Fantastic. Where’s the Belfast house? I’m getting an upper Antrim Road or upper Newtownards Road look but can’t guess exactly. I could be completely wrong and it’s Malone!

Lovely. Those Hornby Pecketts are very tempting indeed, and have spawned many layouts. We currently live v close to Dunstable and the sites are familiar to me - I have even exhibited an Irish layout in a hall v close to the factory grounds.

Very nice. Knot of track work on station approach v convincing

Possibly cattle wagons on occasion, Colin. But I’d suggest only if vacuum braked, not loose coupled.

In addition to horse shows (Belfast and Dublin) there were also occasional hunt specials (replicated by Richard Chown on his 7mm empire). Even the SLNC had a horse box…… Pre 1921 there was significant military horse traffic. In fact, a cavalry train was blown up (although the damage looks to be more from the derailment than the explosive charge) on the GN main line in 1921 by the IRA, an incident in which four soldiers and over a dozen horses died, many more being injured.

Great stuff. Old school modelling - love it! Primer is excellent in how it both conceals and reveals - blending parts together but also highlighting things you hadn’t spotted. Looking forward to seeing this one finished - looks promising.

Wonderful stuff. Bears out Sherlock Holmes’s admonition to Watson ‘you see but you do not observe’. This layout is full of real observation, applied and modelled. That abandoned rail, for instance, is spot on. It’s all about subtle tones and subtle transitions. Really good modelling - well done!

I actually remember shipping fish on CIE. In the days before fish farming, my grandfather regularly caught salmon on the River Bonet in Leitrim - valuable fish which were much in demand in the capital. Up until 57 it travelled to Dublin via SLNC- the railcar stopped at Lisgorman to collect, and it was weighed on the scales at Dromahair station to ensure the best weight was recorded. From 57 to c1980 it travelled by road to the railhead, wrapped in sacking and reeds, and was carried in the guards van of the Sligo Mail. I well recall one such trip, racing over the mountain to Sligo to catch the train. I suspect that much fish traffic was of similar nature.

Try @Weshty

That’s most interesting. Real niche you’ve found, which is something we don’t often understand about our hobby, I think….. I used to think modelling was all about buying and running trains - and many people do enjoy that which is great. But for me something was always missing. It finally clicked when I realised that scratch building locos and stock is achievable by ordinary mortals, and that’s what I really enjoy. Taking a drawing and a few photographs and making it ‘live’ again. Thanks for sharing your skills and achievements with us.

Thanks Ernie. I just think it’s where the red paint has faded to a greyish pink. Same effect on the buffer beam. I discovered last week that from 2015-2017 I had been living within 5 miles of one of Lissadell’s plates. Richard Casserley had it on his wall!

Hopefully this is the first post of many, David. Never forget the moment I stumbled on your layout at Beaconsfield show and saw Railcar B, which was a vehicle of myth and legend in my childhood home. It was just staggering to see the photo albums I’d pored over as a child brought to glorious 3D life and colour as large and small tanks went about their business.

Superb, Alan. Well done - if anything, looks even better now.

Cracking images - thanks !

So poignant Patrick - thank you

Left hand drive or right hand drive ….

Camogie

And that’s all that matters - looks fine to me too!