Angus

I doubt that David, you haven't seen the levels of bodgery I frequently descend to. Hundredths of a mm measurements are much more of theory than reality!

Thanks David, Presumably that is Bob Jones of Fence Houses Model Foundry? Bob doesn't list the chassis on his price list, but then I'm struggling to see what would make it 10.5mm gauge? Frame spacers are usually strips of doubled side PCB. 7mm wide PCB used for 9.42mm gauge presumably 8mm would suit 10.5mm gauge. For Railcar B (and potentially 2A) I have bought this combined motor and gearbox:- https://shop.kkpmo.com/product_info.php?info=p1003_m400g144-micromotor-with-ratio-144-1.html The 1:144 gear box should provide a scale 60 MPH top speed. The 1mm dia axle will enable 2mm scale association carriage and wagon wheels to be slide on. It all works in theory I just need to test the practice!

The result of today's work is a rolling chassis with all three axles:- I've since removed the plain muff on the drive axle and replaced it with a geared muff. I've then run the chassis under power and all seems well. Next step is to solder the coupling rod washers in place and shorten the crankpins so the body can drop on. Hopefully I won't solder everything solid on the process!

Hi JBH, The section of line mentioned by Colin Boocock in David's post was actually MGWR/GSR/CIE rail that the SLNCR had running rights over into Sligo. As such I suspect it was in better condition, I still don't believe the 60 mph though!

I started on the Jinty conversion this afternoon. Firstly the components were brought together. The crankpins have been soldered into the wheels and the conversion commenced. The balance weight have been cleaned up with a file and superglued onto the wheels. As I suspected the brakes have had to be cut off and will need moving out to align to the wider gauge. The rear footsteps are also close to the wheel faces so these have been thinned down with a file to create a bit more clearance. After a false start due to cutting a wheel muff too short ( I forgot the axles are 1mm further apart) and I've got a 0-4-0 rolling chassis. Tomorrow should hopefully see the remaining axles complete and installed. I'm intending to use a plain muff first to enable a rolling chassis to check and remove any tight spots in the rods before I install the geared muff. For anyone doubting the benefits here is a comparison of the Farish coupling rods and wheels to the finescale ones.

Just to show I'm not completely mad by devoting such time to build rolling stock for a 2 foot by 9 inch layout I do have a follow up plan. If this version of Dromahair ,created for the 2mm scale associations diamond jubilee layout competition, works then I have a couple of Tim Horn base boards unbuilt. These were originally purchased for a Canadian layout I planned a couple of years ago whilst incapacitated with my arm in a brace following corrective surgery on my bicep tendon. Once active again the desire to build the Canadian layout wore off and the boards remained unbuilt. The boards are 800mm x 225m so the two boards give a length of 1.6m, Playing around with the OS plans and Templot shows Dromahair can fit with minor tweaks and no compression:- The light border shows the baseboard outline. I should be able to rob the buildings off the DJLC layout on the competition is over. The only additional building would be the long good shed which would make for a quick build.

Hi David, I don't think 60mph behind Sir Henry would have been a comfortable journey! At least it was on the GSR tracks. I wouldn't mind a copy of the Garrett drawing, I have a soft spot for them, but it would be way down the list of builds. Is it hard or soft copy? Thanks Angus

Hi Galteemore, I would at some point like to model one the two (well three actually, one was swapped out for a less knackered one) 0-6-0s, the C class as a starting point is a bit of problem though. For the C class Farish have moved away form their recent construction method that enables a drop in wheelset. This means a scratch built chassis is required, and to be honest, if I am building the chassis from scratch then building the body to match would not be that much more effort and will procide a better scale representation. I just need to find a suitable drawing first (and even then I want to do a model of each of the three 0-6-4ts first). Hi Mayner, Whilst I don't mind straying into "Might have been land" I do prefer to model actual prototypes, I find it more satisfying to create a miniature of reality.

Hi Galteemore, I was aware of the of the proposal to keep the Omagh - Enniskillen line open to allow the heavy cattle traffic from Sligo through. This traffic was the life blood of the SLNCR and in the early 50s when the SLNCR was first threatened with closure due to poor economics, the cattle traders agreed to increase their payments to help make up the deficit such was the demand. I'd always figured if the take over the Omagh section had gone ahead then the SLNCR would have been absorbed into the CIE as the line was effectively being kept alive by funding from the Irish government. I am tempted by the "might have been" which leads nicely onto David's comment:- Had the SLNCR been kept alive beyond 1956 and transferred into CIE ownership then the possibility of diesel motive power appearing raises its head. I don't know much about early Irish diesels but I do rather like the C class Bo-Bos, especially in their early aluminium livery. There is a 2mm scale 3d print of a C class body available on Shapeways, but it does seem to suffer from the layering in the print seen on many Shapeways products (but missing from the latest cheaper home resin 3d prints). A chassis is also available from Tomix in Japan that approximates to the C class chassis, the only real discrepancy is that the bogie centres are 2mm (one scale foot) too close together. I don't know how easy the chassis would be to convert to 10.5mm gauge though. Another alternative is a Deutz G class which is available in etch brass form (but no castings) from Worsley Works. I suspect this might be a bit of work to get into a complete loco though. These might appear in the future as a bit of fun (which is after all, what it is all about!) but are straying a bit far from the recreation of the SLNCR that I wanted to build.

It is slowly occurring to me that I may have bitten off more then I can chew with this build, especially if I'm going to be ready for the 2mm association jubilee meet in June 2020. I need to take some short cuts and ideally get a loco running so I can test the track before I get it all painted and ballasted. Somewhere in the back of my mind I recall that a couple of LMS Jinties got sent across to Ireland, the latest Farish model is nice and easily converted to 2mm finescale thanks to some drop in bearings available from the association. A quick trawl of the internet revealed the NCC (UTA) Y class which consisted of a pair of re-gauged LMS Jinties used to shunt Belfast docks. For the period I am looking for both had been repainted in UTA livery. First stumbling block was that only 2 pairs of wheels were available form the association shop but an appeal on RM web brought the kind offer of a pair. So ebay was visited and the resultant win is here, it runs ok but is mysteriously missing its chimney cap, I should be able to turn up a replacement First job is remove the decals and get back to black, I prefer to repaint the whole loco anyway, the black locos weather to a very dark grey. I need to source some UTA roundals hopefully Rail-tec will be able to shrink their 4mm versions. I have a etched number plate on order, she will become number 18 which was the first of the pair to be withdrawn. So why does an UTA jinty get to Dromahair? The Northern Irish Government (in conjunction with the Irish Government) support the SLNCR with grants upto the mid-50s when the Northern Irish Government removed their grant, consistent with their lack of support for the rail network across the North. My alternate reality is that the SLNCR suffered a couple of breakdowns leaving it short of motive power (not that far a stretch, the three Sir Henry classes were approaching 50 years old and undergoing heavy maintenance work. the remaining member of the Leitrim class Hazelwood was another 10 years older). To work the timetable the SLNCR need at least two engines in steam with a spare, so had to borrow one from the UTA. A 3F Jinty would be ideal for the line. It is, of course, a neat reversal of fortunes as the UTA ultimately bought the two Lough class locos when the SLNCR closed and used them to replace the two jinties on Belfast docks. As far as I can tell from the photos I found the UTA jinties were standard (apart from the gauge of course) I need to remove the numberplate moulding on the smokebox door and will probably need to move the brakes and rigging out to suit the wider 10.5mm gauge. Is there any other adjustments needed? I'll post some pictures as I progress, current the various brass components (Wheels, coupling rods) are being chemically blackened. Once this is done the conversion to 2mm fs can start.

slow progress over at Dromahair. I picked up some Alphagraphix kits at Telford on Saturday so hope to get these scaled down and some wagon builds under way soon. Otherwise I've wired up the track ready for power once I have a suitable loco and given the track a quick spray. It'll need a bit of touching up where I've caught the sleepers when I wiped the rail tops cleans, it will also need a bit of tone adding but then should be ready for ballasting. I also managed to track buy a reprint of the 1936 Service timetable recently. This gives a real insight in how the line was operated. One of the nice things about modelling a real location is the tangible link to the past created when reading documents such as these.

Due to the recent outage I am behind with my posting. Whilst viewing some photos of the SLNCR on the web, I found a photo with what looked like a 14t tank wagon just coming into shot. As I've got a Farish version of one of those it occurred to me I don't need to build a wagon chassis in order to test the trackwork, I can use a Farish chassis with replacement axles and the wheels spaced for 10.5mm gauge. The tank wagon seemed a suitable candidate but required the brakes to be removed for the wheels to spin. I'm not sure who owned the wagon, I seem to recall seeing a photo another tank wagon on the SLNCR but could have sworn that was in Shell livery. There is reference to tar being delivered to a Council siding on the line, perhaps this is the delivery method? A tank wagon would add variety to the freight workings. With a rolling wagon available the trackwork was finished over the course of a few evenings. Next I need to install the mechanism. I have a manual (blue point?) switch left over from an abandoned 7mm scale project. These are like an unpowered tortoise motor, and was going to be pressed into use on Dromahair, The only snag is that I've used 2"x 1" timber frames which aren't deep enough. A couple of inch deep 2x2 sections on the corners of the baseboard should add sufficient depth, the backscene boards will hide the bodging. I found the lever frame at the Gauge O Guild's Telford show a few years ago, broken, bent, tarnished and for sale for a few quid, A couple hours renovation work brought it back to life and with three levers will find use at Dromahair (two signals and one point). It will be mounted on a platform at the side of layout.

I have the same structure to build in 2mm scale so I'm looking forward to watching progress. Was the Florencecourt station building a similar footprint?

Thanks Mayner, but I'm not sure that's a compliment if I'm trying to replicate the SLNCR!

Slow progress at present over at Dromahair due to the past couple of weekends being tied up. I've managed to get some rail down though. H I've used the 2mm Scale Association's code 40 flat bottomed rail which is a bit heavy duty for the SLNCR but hopefully it captures the Irish broad gauge feel. I really need to get a wagon chassis built before I finish the point though otherwise I risk having to rebuild the whole thing once complete if a roll through highlights any issues.

When the Rolling Stones christened their album "Sticky Fingers" I don't think they were talking about gluing sleepers down...... It might not be very rock 'n' roll but I've finished the sleepers (and cleaned the glue off my fingers....) It should be ready for some rail once the holes for the droppers and point control are drilled.

Ok, it may not look much but these bits of brass represent a massive step forward for my recreation of Dromahair. Without them the track could not be built and I wouldn't have a hope of getting anything running well. The are no off shelf options for these gauges for 10.5mm 2mm gauge so they all have to be turned from scratch. I was fortunate in that the rolling gauge was kindly donated to the cause by a fellow 2mm Irish modeller over on RMweb. The rest are the work of my own fair hand. I still need another roller gauge and I would like a check rail gauge, so there is still work to do. I need to get a spacing washer for the toolpost on my lathe before I do though as I am getting some movement as I cannot tighten it down properly without one. Without this I haven't a hope of turning the roller gauges accurately. The gauges here are enough here to start the straight section of track at the rear of the layout that runs past the station platform though.

Indeed, 3d printing does open up a whole new world for rare prototypes, and for 2mm scale is not too expensive either. It isn't an open the box and plonk on a chassis as it is sometimes portrayed, I am already a couple of hours into the smoothing and sanding an only one side and the roof is complete. The cab is rigidly fixed to the body so would require cutting and a flexible connection added to articulate, I'm not sure whether this is worth the effort. The current plan is to use a coach bogie (LNWR 8' seems the best representation) combined with some 5.25mm disc wheels for the 28" rear wheels and use 6mm discs wheels for the 33" fronts. The fronts will need drilling to accept crank pins for the coupling rods, but that shouldn't be too hard. The main issue is the use of wagon wheels prohibits the use of a standard 2mm split frame chassis so I will be back to wiper pick ups. The plus side is this enables a solid drive axle to be used, current thoughts are to use one of these to power the rear coupled axle:- https://shop.kkpmo.com/product_info.php?info=p1003_m400g144-micromotor-with-ratio-144-1.html I reckon it will give a top speed of around 60 MPH (so in line with the real thing) 550rpm x 6mm dia x pi x 60mins/hr / 2mm/ft / 3ft/yd / 1760yd/mile if my calcs a right. It probably won't be very powerful but then there is no tail load to drag. The motor can be mounted vertically in the luggage compartment and should be relatively invisible.

Thanks for the positive responses everyone, Apologies for the late reply, I got myself locked out on my mobile as I couldn't remember my password. Galteemore, Good to hear there is some local interest. I already have a couple of Alphagraphix kits in 7mm that I've scanned and reduced to 2mm. These are railbus 2a, which I am intending to use as drawings to produce a plasticard model and Glenfarne goods shed which closely resembles the shed at Dromahair (the only difference I've found is the windows and doorways were arched at Glenfarne and horizontal at Dromahair). The goods shed is currently being built in card at 2mm scale to assist with the mock up, eventually it will be built in plasticard as the stonework really needs some 3d texture to be convincing. I am aware of a couple of other SLNCR kits in the Alphagraphix range (e.g. Manorhamilton singla box) but despite sending a couple of emails have had no response from Alphagraphix. They usually attend the O Gauge Guild's show at Telford in September so worst case is I'll catch them there. I've already purchased the Wagon drawings available from the Irish Rail Archives so should be in a good place to start constructing the rolling stock. I've also got a 3d print of railcar B on the workbench. It needs quite a bit of work due to striation on the lower body and roof but should be workable. Ernie, I'm already addicted to your site and have used extensively for my Callander and Oban modelling. The SLNCR section was one of the inspirations behind this model. David, Thanks for the support, as noted above Arigna Town was another one of the inspirations. I noticed the plan above doesn't have the notes on it which help explain the model:- I've brought the signal site just past the signal box onto scene to add interest. Now I've more accurately scaled the model I have more room on the left hand side than represented in this plan so the Station building will not be flush to the backscene (see mock up above). I've also got a fully drawn up Templot template now using 9ft sleepers at 2'6" spacings with flat bottom rail as per the prototype (as far as I can make out). My current debate is whether to use code 30 or code 40 flat bottom rail, both are available from the 2mm Scale Association, the code 30 will look lighter and be more representative of the 75lb rail used but come in coil form and is, apparently, a right B###### to straighten.

Hello! I've been contributing to RMweb for a while now on my various UK modelling activities and confess to knowing very little about the Irish rail network and history outside of the Sligo & Leitrim. A couple of my modelling activities owe their origins to my school library and the books available to me in my early teen years. The railway section was hardly extensive, from memory it contained an impenetrable text on Locomotive design by OVS Bulleid, an equally dull book on Locomotive performance by OS Nock and 3 bound annual volumes of the Railway Magazine 1962-65 all seeming to focus on the on-going modernisation of British Railways. It did stock another couple of books that were much more inspirational, John Thomas's history of the the Callander and Oban Railway and finally a copy of the Slight, Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway by Neil Sprinks. The later book was full of weird 0-6-4 tanks engines running on an unusual 5' 3" gauge (to my pre-teen eyes) across and rural land I knew nothing about, none the less it sowed a seed..... Forty years of dusty memory was recently brought back to life by seeing David Holman's superb Arigna Town at a couple of exhibitions and a trip to Dublin over the Easter break had me Googling and re-discovering the SLNCR again. On return to the UK the three books on the line were purchased (including the edition of original history of the line I had read back in school) and a 1956 edition of the Railway Magazine that also contain descriptions of a visit and a potted history of the line. One of the reason's for the sudden re-awakening of interest was the 2mm Scale Association's Diamond Jubilee Layout Competition (DJLC). This is due to end in June 2020 and restricts the veiwable section of any layout to 600x240mm, so not a lot to play with and I had been struggling to find anything worthwhile that interested me. Whilst Googling the line on holiday in Dublin, I found the Dromahair Heritage web-site and noticed the Dromahair track plan on the OS map had potential:- The black outline approximates to the base board size allowed and by moving the goods shed to the right I should be able to use this as a view blocker. It should be noted that the OS map above is obviously an early layout of the sidings as I have never seen the point forming the loop in any photo of the line. I'm intending to model the 1947-54 period so the track formation will be out of date but one of the other rules of the DJLC competition is that the layout must contain at least one point so it stays. Besides, it'll add interest. The layout will be built to 10.5mm gauge and I hope to get the track work underway in early June. I'll be picking up gauges and rail at the 2mm Association's Supermeet on the 8th June (in Tutbury Staffordshire UK if your around.....). The main board is built and a mock up tried, it'll be on with build soon. I haven't seen any other 10.5mm gauge layouts but it would good to understand anyone else's experience and what, if anything is available to to the 2mm modeller for Irish railways. I'm also hoping you'll set me straight should any UKisms creep into the build. I'll post more as it happens (assuming you're interested!) Thanks!