Galteemore

Thanks for the kind comments everyone. She’ll be boxed up now and indeed there will be no more posts for a while. I do have a significant project in hand, but will post when it’s fit to be seen! For now, a last glimpse of Lurganboy on the 7:20. Easy to tell that it’s easy gradients here - she’s burnt little coal since Enniskillen. Kilmakerrill bank’s 1/50 will change that!

Been an interesting week on the old SR. This was at my former local station.

Awesome work on a building I know well. You know the three categories of falsehood? Lies, damned lies, and General Arrangement Drawings!

WARNING - PICTURE HEAVY POST! ‘Abohill Halt’ was conceived as a test track for new locos. So it really needs new locos to be tested…at long last ‘Lurganboy’ is done. It’s been quite the learning journey. As an early version of the kit, it included the very stumpy chimney that was later replaced by a new casting: not much help to me though! So I had to source a new chimney - and Laurie Griffin came up with a very nice GW option which looks close enough. Far more challenging was The Great Rivet Disaster….read on if you dare. I was intrigued to find when I opened the kit that someone had done the original owner a favour by embossing the rivets. I was delighted - SLNC locos are full of them and it would save me a lot of work. Al went well until the primer went on - and the rivets were invisible. Charitable assumption is that thirty odd years of storage in various temperatures had caused the brass to expand and contract so many times that the embossing had faded - critically, on all the tanks and bunker surfaces. This is a huge problem - rivets on an SLNC loco are a defining feature. You may as well leave the chimney off as not have rivets. Mercifully I had some Archers transfers to hand. They’re not perfect by any means but at least there is some surface definition now. Anyway, we’re finished now. I realise that some people like clean engines. But let me make the case for weathering. Look at Lurganboy in clean black and red. She looks nice enough but none of the detail really pops. The underframe and body have little definition. But also look at the overall scene. The loco sits on the scene rather than in it. This is what, I think, happens on many otherwise excellent exhibition layouts. The elements are individually exquisite but don’t gel. Not saying my stuff is exquisite btw! So we weather to knock back the rawness, make the details stand out, and make the scene blend together. The underframe has had a scunge of enamels mixed on, stippled with talcum powder to give that greasy, dirt encrusted melange of a loco chassis. Above the frames it’s all just weathering powders. Black and dark brown from above, where the soot falls. Greyish brown dust from below where dirt rises. Go slowly and work from photographs. The patterns here are all taken from 1950s colour snaps of SLNC locos. Glazing, real coal, and crew added to complete the picture. And yes, it does actually run! https://youtu.be/9H5RIh9Uoc8 (oops don’t think track is quite as clean as I thought…..she runs sweet as a nut on the bench)

Thanks JHB. Is an LSWR royal saloon (Alphagraphix kit) now sold on to a purchaser in SE England. Lovely little kit with compensated chassis, which I finished in a fictional light railway livery. The chariot ends were a challenge…..The real life one is here ;https://colonelstephenssociety.co.uk/rollingstock topics/royal saloon.html

I’ve used Rover damask red for that kind of thing. Any solid maroon should work ok. Make sure you use red primer. I think Halfords may call it ‘nightfire red’ now.

The CIE experts will be along in a minute. As for NIR, 24’ flats were produced in 1972 out of old parcel vans (‘brown vans’ I assume), nos 599-608. 15 tons capacity. 610-612, 60’, were made in 1974 out of redundant passenger coaches. 30 tons capacity. Building credit in both cases is listed as LMSR/NIR.

Lovely. I’m after the Ruby myself for a project.

My tastes are a little different. Austin 7 RN.

Any photos pls - sounds good!!

They all had them when freshly shopped, I think, JHB. Trouble was they quickly got covered in gunge. The red background with brass letter nameplates seem to coincide with Dundalk trips - official SLNC policy was to paint them black with red letters. Perhaps the Dundalk men wanted to see shiny brass adorning their workmanship. But as soon as Manorhamilton got a chance, painted black and red they were! On the other hand, buffer shanks were, unusually, painted black. This still from the early 50s shows how luminous the rods could be when fresh….and Hamilton Ellis, who adored the SLNC and knew it first hand in detail, painted Lissadell with very clear red rods. Indeed in ‘The Engines That Passed’ he expressly states that the SLNC was his favourite Irish railway, so he’d want to get the details right. Sadly, his picture of the 4-4-0 hauled mail passing Dromahair in that book is only a line drawing rather than full colour! How glorious that would have looked….

Great stuff Peter. The military modellers in particular have some brilliant products - Mig Jimenez being one brand I use a lot. Re powders, this advice is helpful https://www.dccconcepts.com/product-category/specialised-model-accessories/weathering-powders-and-materials/

A lovely view. The GN just before the axes started to fall. Just think of all the places you could have travelled to on that summer day in 57……

Spectacular work. It’s a real discipline to model an actual place - no doubt about where this is. Top quality stuff.

Hi Peter - nice work! Less is more here. Look at photos and see where the dirt gathers in real life. An easy first step is a dirty wash. Dilute some acrylic black paint down with thinners and wash it over the body. Then wipe over with a cloth or cotton buds when wet. The dark colouring will settle in the cracks and crevices and bring immediate definition to the model. After that a little gentle work with powders will work wonders. Go slowly and don’t overdo it.

To be fair it didn’t take long for that to happen ….

Rest assured, when I left D6 to cross the Liffey, I was heading home to a very northern latitude - north of Dundalk never mind Drumcondra….

Thanks Ernie- fabulous. The Manorhamilton one is a gem. Amazing detail on the loco jack visible - never noticed that brass collar before. And also proves that SLNC locos indeed did have red coupling rods!!

https://www.northerncardgaming.com/pages/about-us

The gunpowder van certainly has different roof and ends to the GN diagram 24 one. Mind you, they were built in 1913 so rebuilding could have happened. It’s a fabulous little film full of atmosphere.

Always used to stock up in D’Olier St before I crossed the Liffey

Secret is not to go out with it

They are contiguous ….HR is more Dunstable really.

Was on a work trip into London one morning and we ran parallel to this for a mile, so had a good look at the stock. These models are fabulous

Aargh Luton! My son is obsessed with their ancient fleet of deckers. The amount of hours I have spent on the 27 to Marsh Farm….