David Holman

An extraordinary project continues to inspire. Superb workmanship.

Congratulations to the Ballyconnel Road team, whose layout features in Model Railway Journal 249. A very enjoyable read it is too, helped by avoiding the 'how I began with Hornby' syndrome and enhanced by some fine photos of this lovely layout. MRJ rarely strays offshore and in 250 editions (it began with Issue 0...), the number of layouts outside Great Britain is probably still in single figures. Quite a coup. Well done chaps.

Me too. A real beast!

Very much agree with Glenderg, for though I have no knowledge of 3d printing, resin castings from your own masters is easy and relatively cheap for small runs. Many of Arigna Town's wagons are resin cast and the moulds even pick up 'wood grain' made by scuffing the surface with a fibre glass pencil.

Indeed, the Land Rover compliments the scene nicely too.

A week in Brittany stopped modelling, but a fine place to visit, not least because of the similarities to Ireland in terms of music & culture. Narrow gauge was nearly the same too! Doubt Cork & Kerry saw 34c though... Anyway, Fintonagh's baseboards are at last ready for track laying & the pictures show progress so far. Normally, I would use 3mm cork floor tiles as an 'underlay', but on a small layout, I am not sure if there will be much benefit in sound deadening, while the station site means almost all ground cover will be at rail level or above. So, track is being laid straight onto the baseboard surface. One further bit of preparation was to drill & fit small screws at the baseboard joints. Rails will be soldered to these & it makes for a bit of security at the baseboards ends when the layout is being transported to exhibitions. Also, I sprayed the points matt black in the hope of minimising bits of copper clad shining through the ballast later on. Once enough half track was made up, actual track laying could begin. I'm going to wire up as I go along, so the first section is also the first wiring section. With copper clad track, there are a lot of insulation gaps to cut, so I am hoping that by completing one wiring section at a time, I can minimise the potential for short circuits. Also, I hate wiring, so doing it a bit at a time may limit the number of rude words! In the background, you might spot a box of Tortoise point motors. Very much my favourites, though, post Brexit, they are now even more expensive than ever. When I first bought them in the early '90s, they were about ten quid each. My 'bargain box' of six cost me nearly £100 - mainly down to the falling exchange rate - a small, but not insignificant reason why I voted to stay, but there we go. The redoubtable Mr Gravett has showed me how to make a simple bracket, so they can be mounted on their sides [as he did with Pempoul], for they are over 3" deep, which is more than my baseboard frames. You can also see the Peco N gauge turntable. Its 150mm diameter is more than enough for the Sharp Stewart locos and just enough for the railcar when it gets built, though the latter will foul the main track whenever it is turned. However, on a one engine in steam branch, this is hardly an issue methinks.

Thanks chaps, much appreciated. No plans to market anything, but would be happy to cast a few more wagon sides if anyone was interested. They are really just a short cut for batch building in that you only need to make a single side and end for however many wagons required. I then use the Branchlines chassis. Currently out of the goo that makes the moulds, but will probably buy some more in the autumn, once have got track laying completed!

£750 seems a remarkably low price for a large express loco when the likes of Lee Marsh and even DJH are over twice that for rtr. A set of Slaters wheels for a pacific and tender will set you back at least £150. So, worth watching. RTR coaches always seem expensive and a decent rake of 8 will come to two grand, but anyone who has ever built a coach kit will know they are almost as labour intensive as a loco. Suggest anyone without at least 10m x5m of vacant space checks out their local model clubs,vwhere hopefully there might be a continuous run to let you enjoy your pride and joy once it arrives. If not, there are now quite a few small locos available rtr that you can have much fun with in the same space as an OO layout...

Not necessarily re space. Mainline trains, yes, but there are plenty of layouts within 3-4 metres of length. Continuous runs need 2m radii to look good though and that does mean space. Arigna Town is just 5m long, my NG CVR project will be 3m. Note that 7mm scale is VERY addictive once you get started! Easy to see where Nelson's modelling talents have come from!

Interesting. May also have something to do with the prevailing wind, especially if it is fairly strong. A case of do you want a breeze in your face or up your bum! Having a tail may help the latter maybe... Have certainly noticed that wildfowl at rest often all face the same way when it is windy. Just goes to show there really is a prototype for everything.

Another factor with portable layouts compared to permanent ones is baseboard joins. There are various tricks to disguise potential earthquake cracks in the scenery, though it is surprising how many exhibition layouts seem to sit on major fault lines. At the building stage, making sure that all mating surfaces are flush is a good start, which is why I always use 'end plates', rather than rely on baseboard tops lining up absolutely square. However, even 12mm ply can bow a little, as was the case between the two scenic boards. Hence pinched a trick showed me by Gordon Gravett. Basically, one covers one end plate with cling film and then smear a good dollop of car body filler on the other before clamping the two together & leaving to set. Crude, but very effective. The back scenes came next, with a couple of holes needing to be cut out to enable tracks to go into the fiddle yard. After that, the two back scenes were carefully sanded to be as flush as possible, though am not too bothered here as most of the joint will be covered by a [removable] building. Next cut out a hole in the fascia of baseboard one to take the control panel. This is rebated about 30mm, so the toggle switches are not damaged when the layout is moved around. Five switches in all - four to cover the six points and a fifth to switch power from the tracks to the turntable motor. A socket for the handheld controller lead still needs to be drilled out. Finally, primed the underside of the baseboards, partly to seal the plywood but also to make wiring more visible. Since then, have completed all six points [no tie bars yet], so could then draw out the track plan & make sure everything would line up. Pictures show where I've got to, including the three items of stock so far to give everything a bit of scale. Remember, the whole scenic section is just two metres long. The rest of my Code 82 rail arrived yesterday, so hopefully track laying can begin soon, but given that it is actually staying summery at the moment, I'm not exactly in a rush to be indoors in the workshop...

You have certainly enhanced the stock Paul. Some lovely stuff there. I think the Hunslet went to a former Chatham club member, but not sure about the Baldwin. The former was very much my favourite loco. First effort at outside valve gear(all 14ba nuts and bolts) and with an RG4 it ran like a sewing machine. Anchor Wharf number one was the other end of the spectrum, with a scratch built plastic body on a second hand 0-6-0 chassis. The chimney was from a 4mm GWR King, sawn in two and with a bit of brass tube to keep the bits apart!

That's good to know, Paul. Sounds like the layout has moved around a bit since I built it! You may have seen I've just built another CVR coach, twenty years after the first one. This one to 21mm gauge.

Don't know if this kit maker has featured before, but it has a huge range of Irish locos and coaches in a range of scales. Generally basic etched brass, so probably for the more experienced modeller, but well worth a look. For example, they can do all the Clogher Valley stuff (railcar, unit and tractor), while a new addition is the G class shunter in 7mm scale. The website shows lots of coaches and they are clearly keen to expand the range. A Google search will quickly get you there

This is very much intended as an exhibition layout, so it therefore needs something to stand on a shows. In the past, I've used used integral legs [hinged from the baseboards], but for several layouts now I've adopted Iain Rice's 'ulysses' idea. The acronym stands for universal layout support system, or some such, and is made up of a number of trestles, kept apart/together by longitudinal beams, upon which the layout itself sits. The advantage of this system is that [with a little adjustment] it can be used by successive layouts. I'd been hoping to use the same trestles from Arigna Town, but with 30cm risers to get the overall track height to around 1.5 metres. Unfortunately, the risers proved to be be rather unstable, so instead I've made three new trestles. These are very simple, just 4 pieces of 2x1 timber, some 4mm plywood and a couple of back hinges made up each one. To hold the longitudinal beams [more 2x1, 1.6m long], further piece of plywood slots into the gap at the top of each trestle. M6 bolts project upwards from this ply piece and the main beams slot onto these. This means it only takes 5 minutes to assemble the whole layout at a show - though adding lights, stock, drapes etc expands this somewhat, depending on the size of the layout. Arigna Town is fully up and running inside an hour from arriving at a venue. Being smaller, I am hoping the new project will be done in not much more than half that.

At long last, the 6mm birch ply arrived, so I could start the baseboards. To help, I bought a new 22 inch hand saw, as I prefer one to a circular saw & they certainly cut straighter lines than a jigsaw - in my hands anyway. Basic dimensions of each of the two scenic boards are 1000 x 450mm, with a back scene 375mm high [including framing]. There is nothing fancy in their construction, though the baseboard top sits inside the framing, including the 12mm ply 'end plates'. These have the C&L baseboard joiners sunk into them & it means the baseboards not only line up accurately, but are flush faced with each other too. Was hoping to use Arigna Town's trestles, but have decided to make new ones, which will be 48" high, so with the tops, beams and baseboard framing, track height will be around 54"/1.5m. First photo shows one board under construction, while the second shows the pair together on the vacated shelf above Arigna Town in my workshop. The fiddle yard will come later & will only be used at exhibitions. For home use, a short cassette will enable me to do shunting/testing etc. The other picture shows a couple of items of track that I've made up, in order to enable me to start drawing out the track plan & working out where buildings, scenic features etc will go. [ATTACH=CONFIG]24782[/ATTACH[ATTACH=CONFIG]24783[/ATTACH

The knees of the bee, poodles privates and mutts nuts!

Only just caught with my recordings of this. Can only say it mostly made me cringe. Sort of Springwatch for trains, except there is far more variety in wildlife than on our railways these days. A programme like this from the 1950s, 60s or even 70-80s would have had much more variety and interest. Not sure it will have improved the public image of the humble trainspotter either...

Always promised myself that I would make a start on this new project once I'd got the Chatham Show & our trip to Ireland completed. Trouble is, while some of the materials I need were procured at the Show, others are slow to arrive and/or not available off the shelf at the local DIY store. A key ingredient for baseboards is 6mm birch plywood. Used extensively on Arigna Town, it has proved to be robust, stable and fairly light - very important with exhibition layouts. However, it has to be specially ordered from a timber merchant, so I'm still waiting at the moment. At least it is not any more expensive than hardwood ply of the same thickness, and being five layers instead of three, cuts cleanly too. So, for now have only cut four pieces of 12mm ply for the end frames of the two scenic boards. These go outside the baseboard surfaces. It is easier at this stage to fit the baseboard joiners, before any frames are added. I prefer to use the ones from C&L, not cheap, but very robust. The first two photos show the materials I've bought so far [thin ply for fascias, pelmets etc & MDF for the turntable-fiddle yard], plus the mated pair of end boards with the joiners in place. Unable to do any more woodwork, I've turned my attention to the track. I was fortunate here if finding a quantity of unwanted Peco code 82 flat bottom rail in the club rooms, which is exactly what I need. Normal 7mm NG tends towards code 100 rail, but [like Arigna], I wanted something a bit lighter & code 82 is ideal. I also found I had a fair quantity of 5mm copper clad sleepers left over from the Arigna layout. These are 63mm [9'] long, so some will be fine for point timbers while others will be cut down to the 42mm [6'] used on the CVR. Further supplies are on order from Marcway. I was tempted to ask Marcway to make the points for me, but finding I had the rail & sleepers to hand, have decided to have a go myself. Track building is not my favourite occupation, but it is time to have another try. Main problem is finding suitable drawings. Salvation came in the form of Templot, which has [among its vast library] basic B5 turnout drawings of approx 1 metre radius. Unfortunately, there was no 21mm narrow gauge drawing and the only alternative was for broad gauge P4. The issue here is much narrower flange ways, not really suitable for this project. However, there were plans for 'Irish EM' at 20.2mm gauge and 1 mm flange ways - ideal for my needs. A few seconds with a calculator showed that by copying them at 104%, this would give a 21mm track plan, to which I have then marked in where the narrow gauge sleepers will go. Total accuracy isn't too important, as I will be using gauges to construct the track and points, with the drawings only as a base to build on. When you think about it, making track shouldn't be too difficult [or so I tell myself] & there is plenty of help on line. So far, I've made the six crossing 'vees', following the method used by C&L in their pre-made units. Hopefully the close up photo shows how you file the straight on rail first, then file the angled vee to go against it. This way, both routes of the point should line up with the track on the other side of the crossing, in what is sometimes [though incorrectly, I believe] known as the 'frog'. Again, photos show where I've got to & the next stage will be to lay out the two construction jigs for the points, plus a third for plain track.

Gilding the lily, Patrick. As others have said, your layout would make a fine feature in magazines. Suggest you get in touch with Railway Modeller - am sure they would be interested.

Certainly is Eoin and what is more, it is free. I just googled points plans and found the link very quickly. A full on drawing programming that will do entire layouts if you have the time to master it. I printed a left and right hand point and then copied at 105%. That was because I used Irish EM plans, which give a gauge of 20.2mm and a flangeway of 1mm instead of 0.67 for P4 standards. Opportunity there for any 4mm scale modeller who wants something better than 16.5 but not the extra work needed for P4. Drop in axles for Murphy's diesels could make modern image very achievable methinks.

Problem solved - now have Templot. Will use Irish EM (20.2mm) expanded to 21mm on the copier so I can have 1mm flangeways.

My new Clogher Valley project is to be 7mm scale, so I want to build 21mm track. I have enough code 82 flat bottom rail and am ordering 5mm copperclad strip for the sleepers. So can anyone suggest a source for 21mm gauge point plans. Around three foot radius, am thinking maybe P4 might work, though, in 7mm scale 'EM' flangeways of around 1mm seem appropriate for the wheels I am using. Fingers firmly crossed!

Interesting. Many thanks chaps. Real shame about both the S&S and the T&D. On our first trip to Ireland, came across the newly restored line at Blenneville & seeing the Hunslet in steam ranks as one of the best railway experiences I've had - alongside a cab ride in a Shay on Vancouver Island and various loco driver 'courses' for Christmas and birthdays. As suspected, will mostly need white paint when I start doing the buildings for my Clogher Valley project.

Thanks Eoin, sounds like another good excuse for further visits. Another question I forgot to ask is about the brightly painted houses and shops one sees in towns and villages these days. Have they always been this way? Potentially makes for fine modelling opportunities, but (before WW2), am thinking whitewash was a more likely covering for walls/rendering. Doors and window frames a different matter as gloss white paint is very much a post war invention?