Dear All,
Being new to the Forum, I'm going need to ask some obviously "newbie" questions for which I sincerely apologise. Also, if this should be in another part of the forum, Mods please feel free to move it!
By way of explanation, although I've had a more than passing interest in Ireland's railways for longer than I care to remember, I've only just begun to think about a layout. At the same time, I'm also busily building rolling stock for a Cambrian Railways layout and a projected GWR layout depicting Stogumber Station on the West Somerset Railway, so I'm busy! My chosen period is 1900-1905, with a year or two's leeway either side, and this is the case here. Don't ask me why, I just like to keep my models contemporary with each other. I also model in 4mm/1ft scale, my English and Welsh projects being to EM Gauge Society Standards.
My planned layout, therefore, will be Midland Great Western Railway, 1900-1905, 4mm/1ft scale running on 21mm gauge track built to EMGS standards.
I have several books on order: Ernest Shepherd's "Illustrated History", Jonathan Beaumont's "Rails to Achill", and Stephen Johnson & Alan O'Rourke's "Modelling Irish Railways" for starters.
My questions at the moment are:
References: Are there any other useful books that I should have in my bookcase?
Drawings: I'm happy scatchbuilding, and particularly enjoy building wagons. I understand that there are some drawings in the Shepherd book - are they accurate? I also see the IRRS offers a compendium of MGWR wagon drawings - at £45, is this likely to be a useful if expensive investment? What about structure drawings - station buildings, signal boxes, goods sheds?
Liveries: I've found some references to MGWR liveries here on the Forum already which are very useful - thank you to all those who've posted. However, I thought I'd read somewhere that goods stock lettering was a pale cream, but can't now seem to find that - am I delusional? Also, building paint schemes - cherry red and pale cream/stone? Presumably, window frames white?
Available models: So far, I've found a few possibles. As I mentioned above, I enjoy scratchbuilding, and also kit-building, however, I'm not terribly confident with etched brass..... (ham-fisted springs to mind!). What are the options for locomotives, carriages and wagons. For instance, the SSM MGWR covered goods wagons - are they suitable for my time period? And the JM Design horsebox and fish/meat wagons - how "easy" are they to assemble (bearing in mind they're etched brass!)? Are there any other suppliers that have suitable locos, carriages and wagons?
Track: As mentioned above, I intend to go with 21mm gauge, so who should I be contacting for track gauges, axles, back-to-back gauges etc?
Apologies once again for the "newbie" questions and many, many thanks in advance for any information!
Stay safe and stay well!
All the best,
Mark