David Holman

Great to meet you at Broadstairs show today!

Guessed it might be a la Gravett. Few do it as well, so well worth emulating. And very nicely it has turned out too. So many of these die casts are really good models hiding beneath a layer of bling, so a bit of work like this brings them to life. Can't see from the photos if you've done the 'filing a flat on the tyres' trick yet, but of all Gordon's tips, that is the simplest and really makes the model 'sit' as per prototype. The building is not bad either...!

Personally, I don't understand the idea of buying something, simply in order to keep it pristine, in its box even, simply to protect future resale. For me it is all about enjoying your hard earned and if it is something designed to run, then use it as intended. However, one of the great things about our hobby is that, if it works for you, then it is right, so do your own thing and enjoy it.

Thanks folks. There is a clear facsimile of the Lord's signature elsewhere in the book, so nice to have stumbled across a signed copy. Many superb paintings too!

Thanks to Mayner of this parish, for telling me about 'The Steam Age in Ireland', by The Lord O'Neill no less. Several copies on Amazon and ordered the cheapest at just £15 - half the original. Arrived today, in very good condition and on opening it, found not one, but two signatures inside. Found myself wondering who they might belong to and given the extraordinary knowledge displayed on this forum, thought it might be worth a punt. The longer caption reads something like, 'Dear Prof Gatcoulis (?). Thanks for being such an inspirational mentor. I've learned so much medicine and more working with you. Dated September 2006. The book is an absolute treat by the way.

Not many Irish termini did without turntables, though Westport Quay and Valencia are two. JB doesn't need me to tell him this however! Anyone following my own turntable adventures will know they are neither cheap nor easy, but once they are available again the Kitwood Models versions seem well worth a look. Decent website too.

Somebody's been busy with a static grass machine, methinks. Love those things. Looking good!

Very much confirms Mayner's drawing, with important details around both the doors and the brick built corners. Looks like bevelled capping stones too. I continue to be amazed at what this forum can find. Many thanks everyone!

Certainly looks good in the photo, while at normal viewing distances, can't see the hat one needs any more.

Possibly, though expanding the be photo shows the downpipe from the roof gutters stopping short of the porch which suggests there was a gulley next to the wall on the porch roof and water from here went down the next drainpipe to the ground. A slight gradient on the porch roof towards the wall?

Wonderful! A project can now begin! Many, many thanks.

Thanks JB, if anything one has the answer, I guess d it might be you! Got to Clifton a few years ago, but never thought to look for the coal store.

Don't know if this is the right title, but I mean the ones with a high wall around all four sides. Presumably, there were strong, wooden doors at the entrance, but how did they open - hinged/sliding and were they the usual green painted colour? The one at Achill looks quite a narrow gap, which can't have made coaling very easy. Did they used baskets, as on previous pictures, or was it just blokes with shovels? I have Ernie Shepherd's book on the MGW, but this far haven't been able to find anything useful, while Google is a complete blank.

Fine diorama, great presentation. What's not to like?

A thought just triggered and hey presto, p130 of a Rails to Achill, with an eight foot high wall around the coal stage. Could be tempting and certainly a bit different.

Nice one. Guessed this might be the usual practice in many places. However, given coal was a somewhat less available commodity than on mainland Britain, it must have been tempting for locals to pilfer a lumps from time to time. There is a lovely story about Maggie Coulter's goat on the Clogher Valley. It used to stand in the track and only moved when the crew pelted it with lumps of coal. As a result it was said 'she never lacked for a heart for her fire'. Been trying to find a goat for Fintonagh, but no luck so far...

£415!!!!! Who are they trying to kid?

The horsebox is rather nice too.

There speaks the voice of experience, methinks!

Good stuff, though hope your copy is less smelly than mine. Must have been kept somewhere damp and it smells decidedly mouldy, even though the paper is actually ok. Hopefully news of C class literature comes through, its one I'd happily do in 7mm scale - when I find the time, of course...

Excellent! Particularly like the overall concept - big pile of coal on the ground, presumably shoved straight out of the wagon door, then with the neat rows of baskets making it easier to load up the tender/bunker. Many thanks.

Would like to add a coaling facility to Belmullet's single road loco shed. What are the prototype options? Presumably, a wagon of loco coal on a parallel track is the simplest, though am thinking a small, sleeper built and maybe covered stage would make a nice scenic feature. Probably got a picture somewhere, but nothing springs to mind.

Slow progress on the turntable, though at least it is now at the cosmetic stage. However, the first couple of pictures show the pick up arrangements, with the phosphor bronze wipers on the underside of the deck and my adaptations in the base of the well to improve things. The kit uses a couple of countersunk screws that the wipers press on to get the current to the deck. This didn't seem to work very well, so I've increased the area of contact by adding two copperclad sleeper strips instead. A bonus from this is that power now goes to the siding as well as the loco shed road. The third picture is the underside of the well, showing how the screws pass through the base - this is where the power leads are bolted to. The deck sides have benefitted from some micro strip, with added rivet detail, while the top of the deck has had various bits of plasticard sheet to represent timbers. The result is a bit of a hybrid - narrow like the one at Kilfree, but rather deep. It would be quite a drop for anyone falling off the loco footplate to the bottom of the well! However, being quite short [a scale 36 ft], I've decided that adding a walkway would make it look too wide. The track diameter is 40ft, because the rails overhang the coping stone around the well, as per Kilfree. The well has had some modifications too. The track for the deck rollers didn't look right with its many short sleepers, so got busy with DAS clay to make it look like it was enclosed in concrete, as per many Irish prototypes. The very base of the well has been given a coat of gloss paint, on to which chinchilla dust has been scattered, for a gravel effect to contrast the concrete rendered effect elsewhere. And so to painting. Concrete is a funny colour, even before it gets weathered - a sort of yellowish grey, that also benefits from a bit of added texture: talc or weathering powders or both. Several coats of cheap artists acrylic have been used, on top of an initial layer of rattle can car primer from Halfords. The girders were fairly simple - black with rust added from weathering powders, while the planked decking is a well weathered brown/grey/black track colour. The surrounding area now needs building up with ground cover. This is also an area of compromise - Belmullet is intend to cover two periods: the early 1900s and the mid 1950s. In the former, the line would only have been around ten years old and therefore still fairly tidy one assumes, whereas by the '50s, it would possibly be looking a bit tired. My reasoning is that there has been a bit of maintenance in the early 50s, so the deck girders aren't too rusty though the weeds will probably be already encroaching. Finally, a couple of pictures from the two periods - my 101 in GSWR livery and then shades of Kilfree Junction with the G2.

Certainly coming on well. Especially like the way the track avoids being parallel to the baseboard edges - always gives a better, more spacious feel to things somehow. No doubt deep overhangs on the roof are designed to shade the (liquid) sunshine?!

Ah, but my bodgery is bigger than your bodgery! (✷‿✷)