David Holman

Certainly did, Eoin, though will be Tuesday before I can get them on the laptop. Still have my 'Castle Rackrent' article from Model Railways in the late '70s, so will add a couple of photos from that too. Made my weekend.

Arigna Town graced by model railway royalty today, when Richard Chown of Castle Rackrent fame came to chat. Brought his small tank with him, in full early SLNCR lined green. Commandeered to run the passenger train and ran beautifully for three hours. Richard's model the initial inspiration for my Irish efforts. A lovely man, it was a pleasure and privilege to meet him.

Bonkers! But splendid!

Said it before, but 'in the flesh', that way on was quite something, especially for rtr. Crisp, sharp and with fantastic detail. Well worth having.

Thanks, folks. And you are right, John - market branch and a link to broad gauge exchange sidings. Off scene sidings, as per Arigna, vastly increase the operating potential of what is a small layout. Am planning to build the Atkinson Walker tractor to work it. Had the line existed, this small shunting task might (just), have been within its pathetic capabilities!

It is the Barnes Wallis Building, Altrincham Street, Wally. Two minutes from Piccadilly station

Arigna Town off on its travels again, back up the M6, but keeping going to Manchester. Third oldest model railway club in the world, allegedly and very much the Christmas Show, being close to the city centre and and a cough & a spit from Piccadilly station. Christmas Markets too. What more could you want? Apart from the setting of Cultra maybe? First time the layout has been to the North West, so do come and say hello.

Not a bad idea! The pouch could be especially useful for catching small items of modelling before they are lost on the floor. Maybe some fine mesh at the top, so all the 'liquids' can still be drained off by the handy little tap I've just noticed. Suspect a whole body suit might be best for for though - I have a habit of wearing much of what I work on, eat, drink etc...

Fine work, as usual! Use of square section tube for tables and seats is a neat idea. Even in 7mm scale, I wonder at how much to include sometimes - especially when even the great David Jenkinson often left the insides of his coaches empty. Well worth it in this case though.

When doing a painting, you generally start with the background. A model railway is in three dimensions, so it is more a case of start from the bottom. Being an entirely urban scene, it was important to start any scenics with foundations for the ground works. This has meant the station platforms and loading dock, plus the roads and pavements. Between them, they also effectively outline where the bases for all the buildings will be. First up though was some basic track colour. I could have painted all the sleepers and rail sides by brush, but decided it would be quicker to spray the whole areas, first with primer & then with dull brown acrylic. This has the added advantage of sealing the top surface of the baseboards, useful because ballasting uses a fair bit of water. Brush painting will be used on exposed rails and sleepers after ballasting. A fair bit of mounting board has been used for the platforms, with the vertical faces covered in Wills stone sheet. The latter gives rather obvious lines where pieces join, so these have been filled with DAS clay and mortar lines scribed in. Platform edging is done with 80 thou plastic edging stones, while the eventual surfaces will be a mixture of Chinchilla Dust and paving slabs made from adhesive address labels. Readers of Gordon Gravett will know that he outlines how to do all this in his scenics books & the same goes for road surfaces & pavements. A centreline of microstrip is used to create a camber [mounting board again], while 100 thou strip is used for curbstones. More DAS clay to fill in the gaps & thought it all looks a little messy at the moment, once covered with sand/grit/talc should hopefully look the part. The eagle eyed might spot a couple of areas waiting for some acrylic sheet for puddles. Will cut one or two other sections out too. This is Ireland, after all... The turntable has also had some work. Lead sheet under the ends of the deck means it now 'sits' better, while track either side has been raised by 1mm so everything lines up. The well edges has been tidied up with coping stones, so it now looks like it belongs in the scene. Am hoping that, over Christmas, I'll be able to draw out all the buildings on 5mm mounting board enabling a general mock up of everything to be done & thereby a clear impression of what the layout will eventually look like.

Oh dear. I seem to have started dribbling again. Fab-u-lous.

Interesting, Mike. Individually, each module looks great and that cannot be easy in this tiny scale, but to my eye, the different back scenes/styles clash. Equally, within the parameters you have set, it is hard to see what else could be done, unless you separate each scene with a 'blank' section to keep each bit physically separate from its neighbour. One of the great things about our hobby is that it offers pretty much whatever each person choses, so all power to your elbow. It is splendid to see some real individuality and anything that does not just come straight out of a box is certainly worthy in my book.

For once, not tempted to ask if it is proper 5'3 (!). Though do wonder what that might be in T? Impressed by what has been done, but a little disappointed that the back scenes do not match. A modular approach clearly works well, but a shame that each back scene is so different from the next one, because it spoils the scenic flow.

Very sensible approach thus far. 'Less is more' is often the best way in layout design where avoiding the temptation to add too much track is always a good thing. Saves money too!

Check out the latest edition of Railway Modeller for an interesting article on 3D printing of GER J15 and E4 locos

Many thanks for the comments, Paul. Arigna is booked at the following shows: Manchester - 3/4 December Southhampton - 28/9 January Tonbridge - 18 February Doncaster - 11/12 February Also now due to go to Warley in 2018. By all means come and say hello if you are at any of these.

Presumably as it is Colourpoint, it will be widely available JB? Will certainly be aiming to get a copy.

Very odd without the bogie frames - didn't the Victorians put covers around piano legs to protect the innocent from the unsightly? The chassis looks like it will run well and quietly with the band drive. Will look forward to seeing the finished product.

A 900+ mile trip for a one day model show is not something I would normally recommend, but this was special. Anyone in mainland 'GB' who has not been to Cultra should definitely add it to their 'bucket list' and for those of you over the water who have not been yet, I can only wonder why not? This is one very fine museum. Unfortunately, the day was over all too quickly and I certainly made a mistake in not bringing over at least one other operator. As it was, I had very little time to socialise & was especially jealous meeting Weshty on Saturday morning to find that several folk had been to see a Steely Dan/Crosby Stills & Nash tribute band on Friday evening. Whether I would have been fit to operate is another matter, but sounds like it was a great night out and with the band starting with 'Ohio' [Tin soldiers & Nixon's coming], they were clearly not above making political comment either! Would have loved to spend more time talking to everyone, but at least I can now put faces to names I have got to know on the website. Had almost zero time to look at other layouts either, though Mrs H at least managed to get round and take some pictures and I was treated to an early view of the new cement and ballast wagons. The quality looked very good indeed, up there with the very best RTR available today, so hope they do well and lead on to additional models, though I am resigned to the fact that a 7mm scale C class diesel is probably unlikely... Being given the space in front of the B&CDR Atlantic Tank was a real privilege. Had a quiet word with my own locos on Friday evening to absorb as much as possible from their full sized neighbour! Overall, was happy with the way the layout ran, the only real problem being the loco turntable, which was catching on the coping stones for the first couple of hours - probably because it was quite chilly until the outside doors were closed. Otherwise, operator errors excepted, stock ran as well as it usually does, while every time I looked up, there was Maeve to the right, the Cavan & Leitrim train to the left and the big green tank behind me. I also now know how to pronounce Leitrim, though got the impression that the jury is out on Cultra, especially if 'sex' are what you keep coal in... What was especially nice was how interested in the layout people were. Some folk came back half a dozen times & it was great being able to talk with them, regardless of whether they were modellers or not. To me, this is the essence of a good show & very much part of having an enjoyable weekend. The only down side to the weekend was the amount of travelling. We left home at 9.30 on Thursday morning & stayed overnight on Anglesey in order to get the fast ferry to Dublin next morning. Much more impressed with the Irish motorways than the English ones, though note that the HGV driver 'sport' of spending at least 5 minutes overtaking your 'friend' is as prevalent over the water as it is here. At least you have less of them! So arrived at Cultra about 4.30 & was set up by 6pm, so at least wasn't loading & unloading on the same day. We got away soon after 6pm on Saturday, but didn't head back home until Sunday, staying overnight in Dublin to catch the early morning 'cat' back to Holyhead & the dubious pleasure of an eight hour drive back to Kent. Would have done it in less, but the usual problems with the London Orbital Car Park [aka M25] meant the last 60 miles took over two hours, so well finally got home at 6pm - clearly a pattern here! Needless to say, apart from taking in the stock, didn't unload the car till the next day. Happily, the layout seems to have survived the journey, which is just as well, as there is a return trip up the M6 to the Manchester Show in a couple of week's time. Many thanks again to Ian & his team for a super show & here are a few pictures, courtesy of Mrs H.

Fantastic day yesterday and over all too quickly. If there is a better venue for a show, I have not seen it. York and Ally Pally fantastic, but Cultra another level. Met lots of lovely people, both modellers and general public. Will certainly write a full review once I get home and gather my thoughts. Must mention those new rtr cement and ballast wagons though. Not my scale, but quality and detail look superb. Many thanks to Ian and the Cultra team for a great show and wonderful hospitality.

Haven't done a blog for a while, but decided the trip to Cultra was worth it. Have been looking forward to it since I first got the invite over a year ago, though at times I will admit to questioning my own sanity! Nearly 1000 miles of driving, two ferry rides and four nights away - for just a one day show - certainly make you wonder. Equally, it is a chance to bring a properly broad gauge layout to its spiritual homeland, while the chance to exhibit in the truly wonderful venue that is Cultra all make it worth the effort. Am also looking forward to meeting some of the people on this website too & putting faces to names. As I've written before, a lot of preparation goes into any exhibition, so Arigna has been given the once over during the last couple of weeks. Tracking cleaning and dusting, plus servicing all the locos and stock. A couple of pick ups needed adjusting on the motive power, while one or two bits of scenery were freshened up as well. Whether everything will still be alright when I get there is another matter. By the time it gets unloaded and set up on Friday afternoon, the layout will have spent two nights and close to 500 miles in the back of my car, with the small matter of a couple of hours on the Holyhead - Dublin fast ferry as well. The BBC weather app on my phone has been checked several times daily over the last week - and so far all it has shown is that it is not exactly reliable. At first, Friday's crossing was looking fairly smooth, then got progressively rougher until on Tuesday it was showing 40mph gales off Holyhead. Seasickness is not something I usually suffer from, but my experience of fast ferry is that they bang and bounce across the waves, rather than roll - not exactly ideal for a car full of layout. Since then, things have improved a little, though the next problem seemed to be a full on 'soft day' in Belfast. Unloading a layout in pouring rain is not something to be enjoyed, but again [for now at least], the forecast has put the rain back till after 6pm. There are still two days for that to change, so for now, I will just have to cross everything, make sure everything is stowed properly and hope the weather and traffic gods are kind. For the latter, certainly glad I am not travelling today, or would be spending most of the day just getting out of Kent, if the traffic reports are anything to go by.

If anyone coming to Cultra has 36.75mm stock and would like running rights on Arigna, am sure the Joint Board of Directors (SLNCR & MGW) with be happy to comply. Are there any 7mm scale, broad gauge locos out there?

As the Minister would say - 'across many fields'...

Finally got hold of some new silicon mould material, so thought I'd better get on and make some masters so I could use it before it went off. The stuff has a very short shelf life once opened. So far, have made masters of an end and side for the brake vans and cast these to make the 4 bodies I need. The CVR vans seem to follow a pattern, so for two types of cattle van and one covered van I have only had to make two ends and three sides as masters. These have all been built up in the same way using a base of 40 thou plastikard, with 60x40 strip for the strapping. For rivets have used EDM ones, bought at Expo Narrow Gauge in Swanley last Saturday - a quite superb specialist show I might add and a must on my calendar. Other bits of plastic rod and strip were used to make some of the details, though some parts will not be added until after the bodies are assembled. So, four different entries on IRM in a single evening. Is this a record? Is anybody bothered? Hopefully not!

Have been battling with the turntable on Fintonagh. Am using a Peco N Gauge version, which at 150mm diameter is just the right size. First added a much wider top to the deck & then longitudinal sleepers for the rails. Unlike the Dapol one on Arigna, have made this one wider to enable the crews to dismount & walk along it - had I holographic technology... Problems occurred when trying to set the deck on the well. The plunger pick ups used seem to create a rocking movement, while the central 'boss' is not a completely snug fit on my model. Hence it wobbles - not good when it comes to fitting a motor and gears to drive it. First tried sleeving the boss with some brass tube and then enlarged the central hole a little. Put a piece of plastic tube on the underside for the brass tube to go into, in the hope of reducing the wobble. However, it took some lead sheet at each end of the decking to reduce this to acceptable levels - probably by fully compressing the pick up springs. I also added a ring of plastikard on the base of the well to give the bottom of the deck more support too. The motor is from Frizinghall Models and as supplied takes about a day and a half for a single revolution [well 4 minutes anyway]. Happily removal of some of the gears speeds things up and also reduces the noise, so it now does a half turn in a more realistic 20 seconds. The issue with the motor though is how to fix it, as the instructions suggest bolting it to the underside of the turntable well. This would mean the bolt heads showing so, as can be seen from the photos I fixed it to some wood strip I had, so that this could then be fixed to the underside of the baseboard instead. It means the gears are further below the baseboard that I would like [wobble factor again], but after drilling multiple fixing holes [easy to see the ones I did earlier!], it now works reasonably well. The only problem left is that the deck is now about 1mm higher than the tracks either side, so guess I will have to raise these, as it will be a lot easier than lowering the turntable!