meathdane

So while theres paint and glue drying, I decided to do the only thing I haven't done so far, play trains! The branchline's tired surviving ex-NCC 'Y' class has been bought by a preservation group, saving her from the cutters torch. A46 is assigned to pull the locomotive to her new home, along with a van packed with spares sourced from various places. A local farmer along with his dog watch this unusual movement, thinking out loud to himself that the lines closure can't be too far away with the loss of the branch's only engine... YouCut_20220529_185611452.mp4

Please excuse the mess! Working clean has never been a strong point, but I'll clean up later! Right after I get to those dishes I left soaking a while ago.... Lots going on this week, Remainder of track has been ballasted, and weathering has begun Barrow crossing laid and painted Fields, embankment and goods yard have had a start made, just need the static grass applicator to arrive from fleabay and I can really get going there! Walls made very simply from Das Clay, nothing special, but hopefully a lick of paint will bring them to life! Decided on a position for the cattledock, little bit of ballast removal required but nothing major! Started work on a yard office/ticket booth, recycled from an old Hornby 4 wheeler, need to build a little interior for it, as well as a gate and barriers Thanks all!

Thanks JHB, it's my little nod to the changing of the guard in time period I'm aiming for. I have to admit I'm quite proud of that weathering job, did my best to hide the English-ness of the loco and make it halfway passable at a glance

Hi Mark, Kind words are most appreciated! I wish I could take credit for the goodshed, however it's a run of the mill Hornby Skaledale Granite goods shed I got for twenty quid basically brand new! Adding to this makes more sense than scratchbuilding as I wasn't basing this off anywhere in particular, so I could get away with it, though I may come back in the future when my skills allow me to building something more Irish looking! Thanks again! Absolutely Sean, Kind of a Goldilocks situation, that's why it changed so many times! I stood back from V1.0 after test laying and realised I wouldn't get very much enjoyment from it, hence the industrial 2.0 attempt, but I didn't give myself enough room for scenics, it was a sea of trackwork, operationally it was great, but would have been a visual eyesore, as well as limiting me to goods only operations. This one has hit the right middle ground for me, I can run passenger only, goods only, mixed traffic, I can conceivably fit two trains on scene with an outbound goods waiting for an inbound passenger before departure, without fouling the branch line. The only thing I am missing is a cattledock, which I could fit opposite the goods shed, and store the loaded vans in the siding for cattle specials, still very much a work in progress as I build, but I don't want to crowd the scene either. Thanks Rob, much appreciated, I'm trying for a 50s-60s style layout, all of my A's and my 121s are BnT/Green/Grey, I do have more modern stock, but I prefer the unfitted goods and older coaching stock myself, but who's to say a 141 with some Mk3s won't make an appearance for a GAA special

Back with an update at last, lots going on, including completed reworking of track number 1 million, however I finally settled with a track plan and have progressed onwards in my model railway journey! New trackplan is a small branch terminus in the Meath area, coming to the end of its life, incorporating a runaround loop big enough for loco + 2 coaches, goods shed with the ability to store 4 two axle wagons, a siding able to accommodate a further 4 and a headshunt with a capacity of 5, plenty of operations without overloading the board with trackwork Hard standing made, dried, cut and weathered to resemble concrete, using Vallejo black and burnt umber both heavily watered down for washes and undiluted for certain parts, as well as weathering powders. Thankfully all locomotives are behaving over the hard standing! So there's a win! Goods shed acquired and detailing has begun, yet to add interior decor and lighting. Sides of all rails painted brown Made a start at the ballasting, using a mix of woodland scenics light grey medium and dark grey fine Platform built and has a layer of polyfiller applied, as well as bascoated to see the highpoints in order to smooth away. thanks all! Dane

We've had quite a taking to the lovely A Class! Must get hold of a lovely silver one before they disappear! One during daytime hours, the other at night! Lights make all the difference!

How could you have breakfast without oil to cook it with? And how could I have an oil train without a safety lamp? Temporarily wired for a systems check until the bridge rectifiers arrive, might add a stay alive capacitor in the line yet. Weight needed to be added as the kit is very light and causing an occasional pickup issue, as well as helping to offset the resistance from the wipers, should have gone with the axle spring pickups in hindsight

Someone has to supply the country with their breakfast condiment of choice!

Another day another wagon awaiting Kadees, a Dapol Class B tanker wagon ready for service, 4 to go! Weathering hasn't been fixed in yet, not 100% happy with it, and not decided on Decals, most pictures I've seen have them plain black with just a running number or in their original Esso livery, I may paint them in both fashions Im starting to build up a fleet of unfitted wagons as seen behind a suspiciously clean A15. Could also do with a layout underneath them.... I need to get on to Leslie after next payday for a few H Vans to compliment the appropriated ex-SE vans and a 20' flat as a barrier wagon

Thanks Noel! I have a heap of Seep PM-10s I was gonna use for the main layout, but I'm going a different direction so I'll probably just repurpose them for this project to save some money and time considering I already have the motors and point switches

It's been a modelling marathon this week! First board down, tracks laid and testing underway, pleased to report no issues! On to point motors, uncoupling magnets for Kadees and then scenics! Decided to forgo laying cork, the shelf seems to absorb the running noise, possibly due to the thickness of the material. But past that, I'm very happy with how everything has proceeded so far! Snapchat-2128749771.mp4

Thanks Leslie! Much appreciated! The envelope will be return to sender for more kits soon. They've given me the bug for wagon building! Because I them I've actually built some tanker wagons I've had sitting in the pile for 2 years, so thank you for that!

I'm on a roll this week! Making use of some time off to finally get to the wonderful Bullied Corrugated opens supplied by @leslie10646 at provincial wagons. As a first time wagon builder, these kits proved to be an absolute dream to cut my teeth on, and produced some absolutely amazing wagons! However I've just noticed I put one set of brake shoes on the wrong way around..... Oops must fix that! But past user error I cannot recommend them enough and I'd urge anyone to go ahead and order yourself some! Just waiting on some Kadees and they can enter service as my first true pieces of Irish rolling stock! Thanks again Leslie!

OfFirst scratch built building underway, a small shed for a shunting engine still have detailing to do on it, need to add a vent for steam and diesel fumes, some gutter work, downpipes, windows and a other bits before painting It's going to sit on a foundation on the layout so I don't need cutouts for the rails in the door. Quite enjoying this scratch building stuff, first attempt at it and I'm surprised how much I'm enjoying it!

Few A Classes appeared on Adverts. Might be some use to those missing a running number or two! And not scalping prices either!

Hi Robert, Some fantastic points there, and yes there is a desire to expand, but also theres a possibility of moving coming up in the future and I'm not sure of the space I'll have, so it's a case of having it all as a modular setup, disconnecting the wiring with plug type block connectors for ease of transport. It also means I can change around the running characteristics of the layout so I never get bored, the other thing I'm trying to keep in mind is to keep as many boards as possible self contained to a degree that in the case where I have only enough space for one board, that I can still run trains without needed a full setup, even if it is less than ideal. A station board is something that has crossed my mind, with a small goods shed and a passing loop, however I'm mainly thinking in freight terms at the moment, but it's a thought process I'm going through, to possibly have a second 'main board' that can be connected to the factory module to give a nearly 11 foot run in ideal circumstances with plenty of operation. I had given thought to a stabling area, but I do need to keep the wagons in mind, I want to try and minimise the amount of stock and locos I need to put on and take off the layout, so storage space comes before scenery in that case, but I have put thoughts into it As for the bend, I do have a plan to create a scenic break to disguise it, along the lines of what you were suggesting. I'm still very much in the planning phase, and have plenty of ideas in mind. The factory board is having track laid at the moment because I'm happy with the design of it, the rest is a case of more tinkering and thinking. Thanks for your input, some really good points there Dane

Hi All So, Its been a hot minute, and after a lot of thought and consideration, I've decided against my original idea, I want operations involved, so i decided on the following design, its a modular shelf layout, it can be put together a number of different ways. There are 4 baseboards, including the 'main' board, a bend, a large fiddle yard and a shorter headshunt/fiddle yard. The main board is a sugar factory, which has the ability to store 7 wagons in the loop, and the same in the long siding. It can also double up as an inglenook puzzle. Small shunter shed with a fueling point gives me the option of running a tank wagon in the scene as well as housing a shunter on scene. Plenty of operational interest involved with it, and the possibility of up to 3 locos on scene at any one time, while leaving enough space for all of my engines to uncouple without fouling any points in a standalone setting with the exception of my Mogul which would foul one point, however there's plenty of other places for it to wait. The bend is purely scenic to bridge the gap and allow the layout to wrap around any wall if needed, I'll likely include a signal and farmland surrounding the track work. The larger Fiddle yard can act as a double through baseboard accessible from either end of the board and plenty of loco/wagon storage as well and display of my locomotives when not in use, I'll likely use Peco insulfrogs for this section The smaller headshunt is for space constraints if needed and to allow trains to exit on the right and run around when operating everything together. Keep in mind this is not to scale, this is a rough sketch to see if i have missed anything and imagine how it works, as well as mapping out how many points I'll need and of what kind. Primarily going to make use of Peco Mid radius points for the main board and small fiddle yard, and short radius for the larger fiddle yard for storage, just for running characteristics of the Mogul and its dislike of short radius points. with the exception of the larger fiddleyard, all points will be live frog and motorised. Thanks all, Dane

Amazing stuff! the attention to detail here along with the track weathering is just wow!

Only 3 hours to go!

I've a few on the wish list, A RTR beet/double beet wagon definitely top of the list, running from steam until 121/071/141 operations, huge lifespans on them! Next are the 20' flats, modularity and loads, relatively modern, and a great base for kit bashing up prototypes and one off wagons 'H' vans are up there too, again, well traveled and scope for different liveries. Cattle wagons, not particularly an Irish railway without them, they were the reasons some lines stayed open as long as they did! Tankers because, well, tankers! Lots of use for Irish depots and an easy goal because of the existing 'A' and 'B' tank wagons on the market! Lots more, but Irish Freight is more interesting to me than coaching stock! (outside of 6 wheelers!)

You might get lucky, I've ordered a few bits from different suppliers and have had mixed results. Took 2 weeks for an order from DCCconcepts to arrive plus i got hit with customs, however, it only took 4/5 days for a parcel from Provincial Wagons to arrive and didnt get hit with customs. it must be luck of the draw because my order from Provincial was more than my order from DCC!

The Beetles were popular here too. The first ever Beetle produced outside Germany was produced here. In Ballsbridge in the old tram depot no less (possible modelling idea?) They averaged approx 3,000 units per annum until the late 80s, so having an Irish based layout without a bug would be a sin in my eyes!

Thanks for all the replies and help this evening WestCork and JHB! Very much appreciated, I had considered the D class, but I wanted to go a little more outside the box, but the D class is on the radar too, don't worry! Bit if a blessing and a curse having to make our own models, a curse in that we can't run our steamers out of the box, but the models are ours and ours alone, like JHB said WAAAY less standardisation than in Britain, so maybe in a sense we're being a little bit prototypical in that fashion

I bow to your knowledge JHB! That answer about settles it for me. Off I go to find a Peckett, then the 88DS on release then the Jinty, etc etc etc! I've learned more on this forum on the last few months than I ever did in school! I love being around people with such a passion for a subject like yourself JHB, I'm looking forward to my next few years on this forum!

Please don't shoot me here, but with a few alterations and removal of some of the more ornate features of a RTR Peckett, I reckon it would have enough of a passing resemblance considering I do want to put a fictitious wheel guard around the loco, as an interim until I build up the skill to build a true kit form Hudswell and Clarke/Bandon 0-4-0 All things considered, it will be a fictitious factory, in a fictitious town with a fictitious locomotive, so it's more of a rule one kind of deal I suppose, drawing from real world inspiration (god that sounds unintentionally snotty but I do genuinely appreciate all the input) An 88DS, Jinty, G class or No.90 would possibly be far easier and I'll probably end up with all four, because the shunting bug has hit hard! There is that draw to the Peckett, not sure why it's there, possibly because to me, they are the quintessential shunter, who knows! Maybe it's the modelling challenge of making it resemble the Allman, or scratch building the guards. I realise I've the attention span of a squirrel, and bounce from topic to topic, but I'm loving this, I've really began to enjoy all this! Also apologies for the confusion on the No.90 model, my fault for the misunderstanding, Mark has done a superb job on that!