Phil3150

I just did that JHB

I've been tinkering with my station name board as discussed on Dr Gerbil-Fritters Castle Kerry thread. For the most part I used the Bunchló font but for the "B"s I used Gael. I need to add a few dots and tidy it up a bit but here is my effort so far:

Any comments welcome

Phil

It was good to meet you on Sunday David. A face put to another name. It was the first time I had seen Fintonagh in the flesh and it’s very impressive. Having seen the clip of an engine using the turntable at Arigna I don’t think you should be too concerned about the odd bump coming off yours!

On 1/1/2020 at 9:53 AM, Mayner said:

There is a  black and white photo of a recently repainted 12L under overhaul at Ballinamore in 1956 and 6T appears to have been re-painted in black at Inchacore before transfer to the C&L for the final coal rush in 1957-8

 

It’s very difficult to guess the colour from that photo but what it does show is how the number on the front beam was applied at that time rather than the heavily shaded version seen in many earlier photos. I have assumed 6T was painted black in 1957 and that will be my token clean engine!

On 1/1/2020 at 2:27 PM, PorkyP said:

I was hoping that she could get some nice pics straight on like you were surveying it for measurements & scale, most pics online are from oblique angles...luckily its in pretty good condition and you can walk right up to it from some angles, tho as i recall not entirely from the field at the back that used to be where the track was..

A good source of drawings of buildings that still exist without a site visit can be from planning applications. Check the local council planning site and if any alterations have been made over the years there may well be dimensioned “as existing” drawings. One warning though, as an engineer I learned many years ago to treat architect’s drawings with a pinch of salt!

9 hours ago, Mayner said:

Excellent looking model, the high standard of detailing really lifts the model to another level almost 7mm or gauge 1 standard of realism.

You could always do an ex-works version, there is a nice photo of what looks like a freshly repainted 12L under repair in Ballinamore erecting shop in 1956 in the Pan paper back version of P J Flanagan's C&L book.

 

Thank you all for your kind comments. My next big problem will be building the rest of the layout to the same standard!

I already have one ex-worksish engine in the form of 6T which arrived from Inchicore in the summer of 1957 and I think two would rather give the wrong impression of the state the railway was in! Mind you I’d have been a bit miffed if I’d spent time painting up 12L only for it to be in the state it was a year later.

It does however beg the question “would 12L have been painted black in 1956?” JHB?

10 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

Absolute beauty!

Will it be in lined CBPR livery?

Afraid not, it will be heavily weathered grey and rust!

3 hours ago, David Holman said:

As it is 12L, suggest not, JB. A fine looking model, with some very neat soldering too.

I’m also afraid that I can’t claim that all the neat soldering is my own work. I have my good friend Brian Page to thank for much of the recent detailing. 

Steady progress but 12L is nearly there now

As some relief from the micro-soldering on my 2-4-2 tank I decided to make a start on something simpler and build a passenger brake van or two. Simpler? Like everything connected with the C&L, once you start looking into things they get more and more complicated. Never mind all the other differences, let's start with the livery. Pictures of 14L in Smoke Amidst the Drumlins (p38) and The Last Decade (p54) show it to be in "pristine" condition (That's what they call it now, is it not?). The first of those is dated September 1957 - spot-on for my model - and I suggest that it must have been very recently repainted to remain in that condition. In 1955 CIE introduced a new lighter shade of green than that used previously so, unless supplies of the new paint had not yet reached Ballinamore, I would have expected 14L to be in the lighter shade. The photos suggest that to be the case but does anyone have any knowledge or views?

Thanks

Phil

I found another, presumably taken just before the others at Galway and the last frame on my colour film at the time. B129 must be placing the stock for the train in the station?

And where is this? Dad's Hillman Super Minx on the left! As I recall the photos were taken on a Kodak Brownie camera, hence the lack of quality.

Phil

I took these photographs as a teenager on a family holiday to Ireland in the mid-sixties but I have no idea where I took them as we B&B hopped our way around.

Can anyone identify the location and maybe fill in any other details?

Thanks

Phil

8 hours ago, connollystn said:

Hi Guys,

Click on link to read the latest regarding the destruction of the Market Deeping model railway exhibits https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7059229/Mother-teenage-yob-smashed-model-railway-exhibition-says-mortified.html

Sounds like mother was briefed by a solicitor before making that statement!

Never mind it’s Mothering Sunday, today is the sixtieth anniversary of the closure of the Cavan and Leitrim Railway. Far more significant in my eyes! And, yes, I’m wearing a tin hat.

Phil

It was good to meet up with you again today, Andy. Thanks for your hospitality!

On 1/28/2019 at 10:33 PM, leslie10646 said:

Get on with it, Phil!

Even a bit of the roadside tramway to Arigna will get you started and allow us to see Alan's Tralee tank!

You've got quite a team there, so no excuses! Alan has sorted out the running of several of my locos.

Good luck.

Hi Leslie

6T made a couple of trips up to the Arigna mines at Ally Pally today and a couple of photos are attached - old mobile phone I'm afraid so not great quality.

On 3/23/2019 at 7:20 PM, merlinxlili said:

So it looks as though the radial trucks have an etched box containing the axles which can move horizontally as well as bearing the end of the common suspension spring to control vertical movement.

The thicker wire running centrally between the frames controls the horizonal movement of the truck, the cranked wire against the frame is the suspension wire. It all seems to work ok so far!

Phil

The radial trucks are based on the London Road Models ones for their LNWR radial tanks and the gearbox started out as a High Level Slimliner but now has been on a serious diet and got new sideframes. The springing does bear on the trucks as you can see in this photo.

And this is where we stand now

Phil

For those who have asked there has been some progress with the 2-4-2 chassis which has reached the stage of a 2-0-2 (!) with the radial trucks in place. The springing for the driving wheel hornblocks is visible.

The gearbox has to be very slim to fit between the suspension springs with the motor mounted at an angle to allow access to the fixing screws.

Driving wheels next!

Phil

Hi Andy, what comes round comes round!! Ballyconnell's good.  I'm hoping to be at the Ally Pally on the Sunday. If its progressed far enough I'll bring the 2-4-2 along for a run out!!

Phil

Thanks Jonathan. The loco is built from nickel silver etches we designed and the chassis will be likewise. As soon as there is more to show I will post more photographs.

Phil

I like to think I've made some progress over the past 50-odd years.

My first Irish 3-foot model was this version of Tralee and Dingle no. 4 built as a 15 year old from the photo in Fayle's book. It has a plastic card superstructure with balsa wood boiler top and white metal fittings on a well hidden Tri-ang TT 0-6-0 chassis. It did run - honest!

This is my current project - the CB&P 2-4-2T. It has an etched nickel silver body and the chassis will be sprung. Boiler fittings are 3D printed and balanced on for this photo. Hopefully it will run too!

Phil

I have been lurking on this site for a while now so it’s probably time for me to come clean about my current project which is Bawboy Road station on the Cavan and Leitrim. 

I have had a fascination with the Irish narrow gauge from a very early age. My father had a copy of Harold Fayle's "Narrow Gauge Railways of Ireland" and I spent many hours studying it. Two family holidays to Ireland in the mid-sixties as a teenager served to increase the interest as, although the lines were all closed by then, we did find many remains. By coincidence it was on one of those holidays that I also bought a copy of the April 1964 issue of the Railway Modeller containing the late David Lloyd's description of his Augher Valley Railway. That article made an enormous impression on me and I decided that I would have to build my own model of the Irish narrow gauge. There have been many distractions since then: university, work, marriage, family as well as 009, P4 with the Cambridge Area S4 Group and American h0, but I could never shake off the Irish narrow gauge bug. Finally redundancy and the ensuing early retirement provided the impetus to bite the bullet and build something. Even so it has not been that easy. I have discovered that retirement is not all it is cracked up to be as regards modelling time, especially when grandchildren and even great grandchildren intervene.

I had decided some years ago that my chosen line would be the Cavan and Leitrim and I made a start planning a model of Arigna. Then along came Andy Cundick with his layout which he had interpreted almost identically to my plans so I turned my attention to Mohill. I spent some time researching the station and its surroundings but slowly the realisation dawned that it was too big a project for me to tackle alone. The layout would have been over 20ft long and that meant a lot of modelling and problems with storage, transport and even in being able to set it up at home. (If anyone is considering tackling Mohill - please get in touch). I have finally settled on Bawnboy Road which has a much greater prospect of being completed in my lifetime.

So where am I at? I have drawn up a plan that will fit neatly into the corner of a room. I have never come to terms with Templot and although there were offers to help I have used it only to generate the point templates and have connected these with my favoured CAD package. The first baseboards have now been laser cut for me by my friend David Barham, “Fen End Pit” on another forum, and some track laying looms although I have a number of issues to sort before that begins. Over the years I have not been totally idle and I have built up a collection of rolling stock courtesy of the various kits that have been made available. I have also built a Backwoods 4-4-0T, although I’m not happy with its looks, and Alan Edgar, well known in these parts, volunteered (I think) to build one of the Branchlines Hunslet 2-6-0’s for me. 6T was my best Christmas present by a country mile!

Any layout based on the C&L mainline in 1957 has two “must feature” items – the ex-CB&PR 2-4-2 tanks and the Inchicore built “bus-coach”. The 2-4-2 was important in the layout design process as its ability to go round curves rather defines the layout’s geometry. Never-the-less taking the Worsley etches to my Scalefour area group and asking “How am I going to get this to go round corners?” was always going to be dangerous. The result was another friend, Brian Page, designing a new, fully sprung chassis with working radial trucks – and while we are at it let’s do a new body too! The chassis is undergoing ‘refinements’ but the superstructure is going along well, even taking into account my soldering skills. I am also looking at designing an etched ‘bus-coach’ with printed ends.

I will try to keep you updated, mainly to encourage me to keep the layout progressing.

Phil

Mine apparently arrived today but has been intercepted as I am away from home. There may be trouble ahead.

Thanks for your replies.

This is an NP class bus which was the type used in the construction of the coach but that is all I have been able to find so far. It's clear that the bus bodies weren't altered much apart from the obvious saw cut!

Phil

A couple of long shots here: Does anyone know where there are any details of the cab interiors of the ex-CB&PR 2-4-2 tanks or the interior of the bus-coach 7L?

There are a number of photographs that show a tantalising glimpse of what goes on inside the cabs but I haven't found anything definitive. As far as the coach is concerned there is a partition between the van and coach sections and nine rows of 2 x 2 bus seats but what goes on inside the doors? There is supposedly a bench for the guard, but where? and a stove which seems to be in the middle of the doors on one side.

These are two signature items of rolling stock for my ongoing Bawnboy Road project and any help would be gratefully received.

Cheers

Phil

No luck I'm afraid. The catalogue is there but the leaflet has gone walkabout. Sorry.