David Holman

Chris Nevard is a scenic master in the Gordon Gravett class, with many cameo layouts and dioramas to his name. Using Das Clay looks ideal because what you want is a very fine surface, which even using N gauge cinders would be too coarse. Sifting in a bit of fine sand might be appropriate in a few places, while an electrostatic grass machine works wonders for foliage. Peco have a new Mini version out, which is good for tight corners and small areas, though the original Noch puffer bottles remain surprisingly effective. Beware bright shades of green though. However good Ireland's liquid sunshine is for the green stuff, I'd still err on the yellow/straw shade of things. And get the lady in your life to check the tones. Gentlemen beyond a certain age lose the ability to see shades of green, while our women folk would say we don't have much colour sense in the first place!

Organised Chaos Or wiring, in other words. Wiring for me is a necessary evil. Trains won't run without electrickery, but my knowledge is of the 'just enough and no more' variety. However, the biggest problem is my mild dyspraxia - or at least that is how I think of it. Clumsy, a bit, but the main problem is really struggling with anything 'handed'. If there are two ways to put something together, I will do it wrong first, no matter how many times I think about it, while anything with rotational symmetry is a nightmare! Assembling flatpack furniture always takes twice as long as it should do... Wiring a layout is an exquisite type of agony, because you have to reverse what is on top of the baseboard when you wire underneath and likewise plugs and sockets. So, am feeling rather pleased with myself today, because I've managed to rewire the Arigna boards and they work!! I should have taken pictures of the bird's nest of spaghetti that had grown under the original boards, but suffice to say what you can see below is a whole lot neater. Those who know about such things will no doubt have done the job differently, but it works for me. Changes from Arigna are as follows: There is now just a single controller socket on the front of the station board, instead of the four that were there previously. This profligacy was simply because firstly Arigna was operated from the rear at shows, but I needed a front socket for home use. Doubling up both was to accommodate my spare controller, which had a different plug on it. I am sure you are already wondering why I didn't fit the same plug to both controllers, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I have long realised my mind doesn't always work logically! A Tag strip with 72 loops [2 x 18 double strips] has been fitted under each board. All wiring goes to these first & this is then split and sent to track feeds and baseboard sockets. Staples help keep the wiring fairly neat. Wiring is now just red and black - one colour for each track, with a wiring diagram that tell me which tag strip goes to which feed, socket, etc. Under the Arigna boards, colours were rather mixed at random, using whatever I had to hand at the time. I know... While only 8 wires goes from Baseboard 1 to Baseboard 2 [and only 4 wires from 2 to 3], I have used 15 and 9 pin computer plugs and sockets to keep any stray wires away from touching each other. Baseboard 2's tag strips have leads going from them to the other two boards. In storage or transit, these leads are kept tidy by using clothes pegs hot glued to the underside of the boards. Point and signal control will be by servos, using Megapoints units and a custom made panel. This will be on Baseboard 3 at the fiddle yard end. The Fiddleyard operator will also be the signalman, with the driver at the station end, where all the uncoupling magnets will be too. Although I have no intention of using DCC, it would be nice to have a steam whistle/diesel horn unit, for the driver to call attention to the signalman. Better than shouting down the layout, methinks... Chances are, the signalman will also work the turntable, as it will be easier to align the tracks than from 10 feet away, where the driver will be. Anyway, the above has taken me much of the last week and a lot longer thinking about it. And yes, I did get everything back to front on the first board and had to redo it. Needless to say, a few rude words were uttered. More than a few, in fact. The photos show the undersides of the boards and the chaos that reigned all around me while I was doing it. It took rather a long time to tidy up!

With the addition of a fiddle yard, plenty of shunting layouts have been operated in less. Equally, methinks you are having plenty of fun with the modelling and that is what it is all about. Coming on beautifully.

Some lovely detail there.

Pure class.

Fabulous pictures. Especially like the one with a ground signal disc on the post.

Saxby and Farmer equipment used by some lines, not least SLNCR.

Splendid. Well done chaps

Lovely job.

Straight joints are easy enough, but as you've found, angled ones pose problems. One way around it is to solder the rails to screws, then add cosmetic sleepers in and around them. The main thing though is how nice and flush/tight the baseboard joins are and that is not easy either!

That's the idea, though compared to weathered black (which covers a multitude of sins), a pristine, lined finish requires a lot more effort. There again, it is all about challenging myself, so fingers crossed! Not much been happening with Belmullet recently. Am still waiting for my control components to arrive from Megapoints ( no point in doing scenery before wiring is completed), while four shows in quick succession for Fintonagh has taken up much of my spare time.

Suggest you use strong glue, like 5 min epoxy to join sleeper assembly to the baseboard. The alternative is to use small brass screws, in line with rails and make dummy sleepers to disguise them - three parts: middle and two outers.

Splendid stuff!

Never ceases to amaze me at the stuff that it out there. A 2mm 3D printed SLNCR railcar for goodness sake - and looks good too! Can the body be articulated I wonder? Don't know a lot about 2FS, but would think Code 40 rail should be fine, especially compared to Peco's Code 55 and the wider gauge would definitely set the scene.

Proper job!

Proper gauge is definitely alright by me! Would imagine 2mm broad gauge is a fairly exclusive club too, but am sure someone will know of others. One to watch for sure.

Wadebridge! First saw it 20 odd years ago and it is still going strong.

Fine work!

Trackwork in the yard has a nice, spacious look to it. Plenty of room for a motorised, fully working, radio controlled crane then (!)... Giles Flavell has mastered the technique in 7mm scale and there were half a dozen of his models wandering around the Tonbridge Club's layout The Yard, at Littlehampton on Saturday. Included a Commer van, Land rover, flatbed and articulated lorries, plus a working gantry crane. Different matter in 4mm scale methinks, but check out the latest Model Railway Journal for a couple of his models.

Probably said it before, but a classic case of less is more. It is very easy to over do things, but this captures rural Ireland really well.

That's good to know, John. As for black, I like it better than the grey, but MGW 4-4-0 Wolfdog is down to be my next engine and it will be in green!

Reading Large Scale Show Fintonagh attended this show on Saturday and after a bit of a dodgy start, soon settled down and ran reasonably well. Indeed, we welcomed Galtee Moor, of this parish, to the operating team and very well he did too, bringing more than a touch of authenticity with an accent very much from the area and coping very well indeed with the challenge of using the fixed magnets to uncouple the Kadees when shunting. Thank you, good sir! I now know how Fintonagh should be pronounced and realise I had no idea how to say Stranorlar either! I took a few photos, but they are too large in format to post here, as I'm trying to build up enough shots for a magazine article. The 'cool white' LED lighting strips seem to work really well though, with many people commenting favourably on the daylight tones they produce. If you ever get a chance to go to an ALSRM [Association of Larger Scale Railway Modellers], it is well worth while. Like most, if not all society shows, they are a friendly bunch and it is always a pleasure to spend the day with knowledgeable folk who don't need the things like scale and gauge explaining. You pick up some good tips too. ALSRM covers everything from S scale upwards, so you get a fantastic mixture. Opposite Fintonagh, there was a G scale display, while nearby was a Gauge 3 layout of a GW branchline [stock boxes are enormous] and a 5" gauge ride on track too. Meanwhile, the trade hall was full with all sorts of fabulous stuff to really get you salivating. There are all manner of cottage industries out there that just don't advertise in the mainstream magazines, but do track, locos, rolling stock and buildings in all the larger scales. It would be possible to spend an absolute fortune. However, what I would certainly recommend is a recent book called Narrow Gauge Album in Colour 1950-1965, by Michael Whitehouse - son of Patrick, of that Bentley fame. The quality of the photography is just fabulous and includes some amazing pictures of the Cavan & Leitrim, Donegal and West Clare - along with plenty of other gems from my side of the water too. They are a modeller's delight, containing as they do amazing details of mundane things like buffer stops, sacks, wagon loads and even a bunch of teddy boys on the C&. Published by Lightmoor Press, it really is a gem.

Things have been quiet of late on the modelling front - though I have done two exhibitions in three weeks, with another next Saturday too. However, have decided to start a new broad gauge thread, post Arigna Town, as have made the decision to call the revised layout Belmullet. And it will remain that now, as I have invested in a bespoke control panel which now carries that name. The rest however, is as outlined in the brief thread called Blacksod Bay. As can be seen from the photos, the new panel is being supplied by Megapoints and will use servos to work the points and signals. Am hoping that using this system will cut down significantly on the amount of soldering required to set up all the controls, with a lot less wiring as well. Time will tell. The other thing I've been spending my hard earned cash on is a bespoke piece of track work, namely a double slip from Marcway of Sheffield. At least, that is what has arrived, even though I actually ordered a single slip. I realise of course, that either piece of track would have been pretty rare on any Irish branch line, especially one in the far west of County Mayo. Nevertheless, with only 11'8" of scenic space available, compromises are required and a slip of one sort or another was the only way to make the track plan work. Whether I stick with the double slip as supplied, or convert it to a single, I'm not yet sure - though the former certainly gives me more operational flexibility. The former Arigna Town boards are now about as stripped down as they can be: The display boards at the front have been removed, as this face will eventually be the back scene. This will have a profiled inner board, following the contours of the distant hills on Achill Island and the Blacksod peninsula, with taller sky boards slotting in behind All buildings have been removed apart from the station itself, though the signal box will eventually go back where it was, with the water tower, Co-op warehouses and Railway Inn moving to new locations. A loco shed and a warehouse/distillery will be new. Trackwork is undergoing some radical changes, with the new slip temporarily in place in the photos, plus the turnout it replaced now enabling an end loading dock by what is now an island platform. All points have had their tiebars removed. New ones will be fitted below the baseboards, with dropper wires from the point blades connecting to them, so the operating servos are kept out of sight. Eventually, there will be three new signals controlling departures at the platform end. A large hole awaits the arrival of a new, electrically driven turntable. This is a laser cut plywood model from Kitwood Hill Models Store. Two tracks will lead from the far end - one to the loco shed [a mock up of which can be seen in one of the photos], with the other running just in front of it, which will be useful for stabling stock in the open. So, there we are, Belmullet it will be. Am hoping to get busy making up some half track, so I can at least get the new rails along the front of the model laid - by which time maybe the turntable and all the wiring components will have arrived.

Fine work and all the better for being hand crafted and not something simply bought off a shelf. Nothing wrong with the latter of course, there is some lovely stuff out there that clever, talented people are relying on us buying from time to time. Equally, when scratch and kitbuilding, we are supporting a small army of suppliers who also deserve attention too and the results are just as satisfying. Long may both sides of our hobby prosper!

Super work. Well done Tony.