Galteemore

Lovely stuff Ernie. 4T is my favourite T and D loco even though it was despised in Tralee for its poor brakes. On the C and L, where fatal consequences were much less likely to ensue from this failing, it was more popular!

Wonderful stuff David. Just full of 1950s magnificence.

I’d approach someone like Johnstown Museum in Wexford re vehicles, and Gurteen Agricultural College or others can advise re breeds and what was historically used locally. In terms of the smaller scales, colour is as important as anything, and painting a generic cart orange and blue will give it an Irish flavour. This is a 3mm scale one I did recently - there will be milk churns in the back as per Ernie’s photo above! My mother was very familiar with these carts as a child in the 50s in N Leitrim and says that the driver always sat perched in front as it made the weight distribution easier for the donkey to manage.

When ‘Blanche’ was loaded, she was 15 tons over the load limit for the wagon. The bearings kept running hot and the crew taking her to Portadown spent 18 hours booked on, as it took so long to get the load safely down the line. Delays to the Derry Road schedule that day were significant….my dad saw these loads in transit, and recalls Blanche at Portadown without a chimney (presumably removed for gauging purposes).

Perhaps these may have a future yet - using surplus industrial steam for shunting is quite eco-friendly……

Brilliant Eoin. Reminds me of when 85 was being rebuilt at Harland and Wolff 40 years ago….at least the Belpaire firebox allows a little more room than the original round top!!

Very smart locos. The Irish 4-4-0 was such a varied phenomenon - and the early 50s was arguably the Indian summer of it all - everything from ancient, spidery GSW types as in Ernie’s lower photo, to the gleaming blue bulk of the GN VS, not to mention the 3’ tanks hammering across south Leitrim……

Looks great David and thanks for the reminder to those of us who are mostly show ‘consumers’ of just what it takes to put on a show. Hope Mrs H appreciated having such a quality layout erected in her home - what a privilege!

Absolutely classic stuff - wonderfully atmospheric.

That’s a huge debate when Stratford on Avon Model Railway Club start a new layout project. Kadee or not Kadee, that is the question. Sorry - I’ll get my coat - or hose and jerkin…

Just imagine what those trains would have looked like in 1951..ancient 4-4-0s or Woolwich moguls with strings of goodness knows what antiquity trailing behind

It’s worth persisting on their building materials tab, JB - the stone sheets etc are really very good. But I’ll concede, their stuff is best seen at an exhibition…

York Modelmaking for windows and doors. Although it’s easy enough to make your own sash windows. Slaters plastic rod and strip will do your gutters and downpipes - it’s what I use in 7mm and 3mm. Easily sourced off EBay or direct from Slaters themselves. SE Finecast are another useful supplier. These guys are good for all sorts too, with a great tool catalogue ….https://www.hobbies.co.uk/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaignid=2039839371&utm_campaign=Hobbies_Brand&utm_term=hobbies uk&adid=536046008612&addisttype=g&matchtype=e&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4eaJBhDMARIsANhrQAAyCgPkBqgz3fjQpcaw418sok_FtSlhCg_bQ3XA11p2xYbx0c07yLQaAjKpEALw_wcB

Fascinating stuff with loads of detail on what NIR used to be- back in the day when the old NCC main line was effectively mothballed. Nice to see the late Davie McDonald driving - the epitome of the understated Ulsterman….

That’s fascinating, and a rule that just sounds so Irish! With a bit of imagination, not hard to envisage a Brexit or post-partition scenario Irish line like that….’.any cattle transported by rail across the land frontier go duty-free etc’ - cue a 100 yard stub of the SLNCR crossing the border !

Thanks - that led me on a most interesting Google hunt! Images from DubDee on Flickr.

And we wonder why people don’t understand our hobby Sad thing is I know exactly what you mean !!!

Some years ago we lived near - 10 miles - the Mid Hants Rlwy, which in those days ran a semi-daily steam service with 2 locos and Mk1 sets in use, over a respectable distance with some great inclines - and a buffet car. It was possible to spend a day of more or less constant steam haulage for a respectable sum, and often with few other passengers. And some days they had the Thumper DEMU out, which sounds just like an 80 class….

It was an interesting area in the wartime era - was also the Gortnagallon long siding a bit further along the branch, which had regular passenger trains to bring in staff for the factories etc.

And boring as this made the NIR of the 80s, it arguably helped its survival

That’s incredibly good.

Thanks everyone. Been a nice project in many ways, and learnt lots. Entire board is 4’ by 2’. You can see how the foam insulation board permits contouring a landscape. The pub and corrugated store buildings sit on small raised platforms and the landscape flows around that. The red pen is sitting pretty much where the pub is. You can also see where I used Setrack for the curves leading into the offstage/back scene - just to give a tight radius but with a definite 9” radius rather than my own estimate!

Could possibly do part of the Cork coal gantry railway…, this is great info in all seriousness and helps illustrate what keeps a good layout on the road. Nice to see Sir Henry with his red plates and rods!

Determined to crack the scenery this w/e, I set to and it’s more or less done. Just a few bicycles and chickens to add….A few Google Earth and drone type views as well as normal level ones are below…..the big job this weekend was clearing the road of all scenic detritus such as stray static grass, and recoating it in paint. As ever, photos reveal more areas needing work! But the show’s a few weeks away yet…. One obvious addition is level crossing signals, inspired by Ballyduff on the Arigna tramway. These are deliberately placed to draw the eye away from the hole in the backscene where the train dives through. So the signals indicate a crossing off-stage. They are old BEC kits, from 3mm Soc 2nd hand shop. The whitewashed gable’s purpose as a sighting aid is clear in some of the views. The cart and horse are another 3mm society kit, tricked out in traditional Irish orange and blue. I had originally planned to build this layout with 009 setrack. Looking at the flowing curves, I’m glad I didn’t - the line just seems a little bit more natural with no abrupt bends. The panoramic picture is what the viewing public will see, and shows most clearly that whilst the railway is level, the road really undulates !