David Holman

Am starting a new & on-going thread, in the style of many of you to encompass future projects - rather than have a different one for each model. Don't know if the moderators want to merge the Railbus into this, but happy to let it stand alone, as still want to add a couple more pictures. First up in the new thread is the ticklish subject of signals. Well, ticklish to me that is & this is putting it mildly. I confess to an innate issue in putting together anything that is 'handed' [flatpacks a nightmare], so with the signal in question having 3 arms on two dolls, with an arse-about-face additional problem of operational bits being upside down underneath the baseboard surface. Simple structure, but a nightmare to make work. The pictures show firstly 'one I made earlier' - an LNER lattice post two doll starter, built using Wizard Models components about which I cannot speak too highly. The second picture shows the bits I am using to build this model, alongside a picture of the prototype. The final one is progress thus far. The two whitemetal main posts have been connected with laminated 60x250 thous plastic strip, then pinned and expoxied together. A Wizard Models slotted post kit caters for the two arm main post, with all three arms coming from the Tyrconnel Models etch available from Alphagraphix. The arms need to be painted before being fixed in place. This only took a couple of hours, but then linking the operating rods [0.7mm wire] to the balance weights and then below the baseplate to the operating mechanism took the whole weekend, amid much cussing and swearing. Signal operation is a peculiar science which I often think is akin to iceberg theory in that 90% of the model is below the surface. The Wizard models idea works on a wire in tube format that allows the whole signal to be removed from the baseboard for transport an maintenance. L shaped 'paddles' pivot to give the up & down movement to the balance weights. This part seems to be working ok, but will be some time before I can install it on the layout as the baseboard needs a hole cut and the operating links fitted to the underside.

Lovely work George - was a bit concerned when read you were using liquid lead and PVA, but as it is exposed you should be alright. A lot has been written about the stuff in sealed spaces like boilers and fireboxes. After a while a chemical reaction sets in and it expands, with often horrible results...

Planning an article at the moment. RM are generally favourable to layouts making their debut at a show and Arigna will be a Chatham in June, so am keeping my fingers crossed. Am sure you will be able to do as good a job on your scenery. It is all about building up layers and making careful observation of the real thing or colour photos. If you can get hold of a static grass machine you can get wonderful effects very quickly too. Tis all very satisfying and will look forward to seeing how you get on. The standard of your rolling stock and buildings suggests to me the outcomes will be worth seeing.

My workshop is only 16' x 8' John and what I know about welding and the like would fit on the back of a postage stamp with room to spare. Doubt if soldering and plasticard will help! In some ways £200k does not seem much to get it back into shape, but I fear there are many other priorities ahead of it...

The joys of narrow gauge - always a prototype for everything!

'twas the same railcar UP. When the Sligo closed in 1957, all the stock was auctioned off. CIE bought the railcar and used it in the Navan line and for driver training. The two Beyer Peacock tanks were bought by UTA and ended up shunting in Belfast. The railcar is still with us at Downpatrick, but in a poor state it seems. One day though, it should run again. You can ride a Walker railcar on the Finn Valley and a fine experience it is too, even if limited to 5mph.

A big day today as the railway took delivery of its new Railcar B. Not quite fully complete yet, as the rear bogie still needs its pickups linked to the motor. will use those little gold plated computer type plug and sockets, but only have sockets at the moment, which makes me wonder as there were the same of each in the pack when I bought them... A trip to Maplins on Saturday should sort things, though even with just 4 wheel pickup it seems to run well and [most important] doesn't foul the platform. Very pleased with the way it has come together & though far from perfect [i know where the issues are, but am not saying!], it seems to look the part. Given I started work on the 2nd January, the project has come in at about 5 weeks. Probably given it an average of 3 hours a day, so equals around 100 hours work in all, which is about par for an 0 gauge loco kit. So, a short break while I do some planning for the signal at the station throat - the three arm, 2 doll beauty in the Sligo album. Should make a change from all that plastic and sanding,

What's this? A bare workbench? Not quite, but the clear space is because Railcar B has moved to the layout. Hence go there to see pictures of it in its proper environment. What you can see here is my cheap and cheerful rolling road. Bought it several years ago from I forget who. however, as you can see, it is any gauge, because the L shaped brass angle sets that, while the rolling bit is catered for by little fold up etches into which go some small TT wheel, on which sits you loco or whatever. Have enough of these for a six wheeled loco, plus non-running carriers for pony and bogie. In 7mm scale you need a very big space for a roundy roundy and though my local club has one, have not persuaded them to put in a broad gauge line yet. Hence the rolling road is very useful for testing and running in.

Positively salivating. Love the tractor thingy, while the painting, weathering and overall standard of finish is stunning - especially as the photos are no doubt bigger than the models themselves. Very well done Phil - will look forward to the next instalment.

Casting my mind forward to June & Arigna Town's hopeful debut, started thinking about operational sequences. When planning the layout, deliberately went for a turntable fiddle yard because this complimented the on scene loco turntable and would minimise handling of stock. Initially thought all was well, but then found that could only fit in 4 roads, not 5, so the railbus & railcar would have to share a track. Again, this seemed ok, but then realised that Railcar B does not need turning, but the railbus does. So, now a question of how to swap them over as part of the operating sequence? A bit of scribbling found this was possible, with both on the layout at the same time, but this was not really what I wanted. An alternative would be to break the fourth track in the fiddle yard, so each railbus/car only operated from one end. In mind simple minded way, decided this would be ok, until then realised that the railbus would need turning by hand, which is definitely not on the agenda. Bit of a bummer really, though an option would be to use a small cassette on the fiddle yard, so the railbus and trailer could be turned round easily. Have used cassettes on several previous layouts & they are very effective. In this case would use the same aluminium L shaped angle as the 'track' and glue it to some plastic sheet, so that the top of the angle matches the top of the rails. If I go on that route, will share how I manage the electrical connections. However, another issue presented itself, in that had been initially aiming to run with just the one Small Tank [Hazelwood], but use it to hall both the mixed train and the goods. Guess you have already spotted the fault here - more crane shunting in the fiddle yard! Beat me round the head with it and I get there eventually... So, looks very much as though I need to build my other Northstar kit before the layout's debut. Given that Railcar B will have taken around 5 weeks of [fairly full on] work, then am hoping can get the second Small Tank done in a couple of months. It is as well I don't have much work on at present [increasingly semi retired], methinks. Equally, am feeling the need for another change of direction, so will probably have a go at the signal for the entrance to the station. Will be based on the splendid 3 arm jobbie shown in the Sligo Album. Main post has two slotted arms [one for each direction], with the secondary doll having a third arm. The two on the main post will be the starter and the home signal for entering the platform road, while the one on the shorter doll will be used to indicate entry to the other side of the loop, eg for the goods and coal train. Have got some Tyrconnel etches for the arms and a range of bits and pieces from Wizard Models. Have use Andrew Hartshorne's stuff several times and more than happy with its quality. The tricky bit will be fitting 3 operating mechanisms on the one main post. Arigna Town is a very simple layout, so anything that expands its operating potential has to be a good thing.

Just goes t show you can get a nice range of colour and texture without static grass, while careful ballasting is doing a decent job of making the 00 track. Really hangs together well Patrick - full of atmosphere. Top job.

The railcar is coming together now, with the trailer-saloon interior fitted out, which has enabled glazing to be fitted and the roof added. The latter always a bit of a worrying time, because I could not think of a way to make it easily removable, so if anything comes loose now, those of you over the water will undoubtedly pick up the cries of anguish. Am also having to be careful to keep dust [from sanding] out of the interior, because I’ve modelled some of the toplights in the open position… Meanwhile, the tractor unit really is almost there. Sprayed the main [green] body colour, so could then add the buffing gear and guard irons. This was made in a single unit, from brass strip, bent to shape, with a few rivets put in using my GW Models press. The has earned its purchase price many times over & is a lovely tool to use. The actual buffer heads are from some old ABS buffers I had in the spares box. In other words, they are small drawing pins [yes, really], but seem the ideal size for the purpose. Now, the main body colour… Roof is easy – white. Upper and lower body are more difficult. The best colour pictures I have are two from Irish Railways in Colour, which show the railcar in bright sunshine. The lower body ‘green’ shows as an olive shade, to my eyes not dissimilar to that used by the Southern Railway in England. The upper body is decidedly cream in one picture, but more like a pale green [light olive oil?] in the other. However, in Irish Traction in Colour, B is pictured in somewhat ‘softer’ weather and while the upper body is again a light olive oil green shade, the lower body is much darker – more like Brunswick green. Now, all three pictures were taken in May 1957, so the paintwork should be the same in all cases. Hence, it just goes to show what the effect of light can have & then if we factor in the type of film used & exposure on the camera & it all gets very complicated… At the moment, the lower body is sprayed Brunswick green, while the upper body is brush painted with Humbrol acrylic light olive, toned down with more white. I bought a Humbrol spray can of a more olive green shade, but this [to my wife’s eyes, as well as mine] looks too green and maybe a bit too light. Tried a test spray on top of the Brunswick green [on a bit of grey card], which is closer to the ‘bright sunshine’ photo, but am not completely convinced. Add in the fact that models themselves can look very different under varying lighting conditions [ALWAYS paint your models under the same type of light as you intend displaying them] and you can begin to appreciate my uncertainty. Comments most welcome, though note that the weather on Arigna Town is deemed to be permanently ‘mainly cloudy, with a high chance of showers’. My exhibition lights are Clipspots, with bulbs that give a slightly yellow light. Still at least the tractor seems to run well. Have given it an hour in each direction on my rolling road - far more than it will ever get on my layout!

. Am guessing one siding will be plenty! As for the power station, 7mm scale buildings tend to expand beyond available space, though have thought about it. A siding/mineral line going off scene is one way to deal with the issue without building extra baseboards - as per my line to the Arigna mines. Certainly a good excuse to build some more wagons.

Wonderfully creative modelling!

Superb work Popeye - as set me thinking about how to do a 7mm version. interesting thing about wagon kits is that the expensive bits are the running gear, buffers etc, while the bodywork is about a fiver at the most. So, what brakevan did you start with? Am hoping could do the same with a Slaters or Parkside kit.

Have been making good progress on the passenger trailer to 'B' Using the Jenkinson method, cut out an inner shell from 40thou plastic sheet and an outer skin from 20 thou. 40 thou square microstrip at waist and top of windows enable the tumblehome to be formed. However, left gaps above the windows, which will enable 30thou glazing pieces to be slipped between the two made sheets. The floor is 80thou, while the ends are layers of 40thou, which will be sanded to shape later. The roof is planned to be laminated plastic sheet and will sit above the window line. Included the central partition to help keep the sides in shape. The partition to the luggage compartment does the same thing. The only ticklish bit was the cut outs for the sliding doors, which made that bit of the sides quite week until all the bits were stuck together. So far, what is most noticeable is the size of the thing. The saloon is quite a bit longer than the bogie coach and at 9' 6 wide had me checking it would not foul the platforms. for once my luck has held!

Gorgeous. Model really captures the prototype.

Great to know there is another version of this lovely railway. Will very much look forward to seeing pictures. Happy to share info, drawings etc too.

I use Halfords spray primers for the two wagon body colours and Precision Paints roof dirt. Humbrol do something similar. Dont be afraid to mix some talc in with the roof dirt to add a bit of texture to canvas type roof.

As the old saying goes, every journey begins with the first step... With so many stunning rtr models now available, I am convinced that a good model railway is within the reach of anyone. The trick is knowing where to start. For me it was making buildings. These have the distinct advantage of just needing to look good, with no need to run well! The same can be said of scenery. What really got me going was 7mm narrow gauge, where freelance modelling meant I did not have to worry about total accuracy. Good fun too, making my own loco and coach or wagon bodies to run on commercial chassis. Start simple and make haste slowly - too many people getup off by trying kits that are too complex. As for scratch building, it is only a kit where you make the parts yourself and plastikard is very quick to get going with. Ordinary card too. I have been doing this for25 years now and have built up a range of skills in that time. For me that is the great joy of model making.

Tis great to be giving a bit of inspiration to others. The basics of this model (and indeed the railbus and coach number nine), is David Jenkinson's Carriage Modeliing Made Easy, from Wild Swan. Sadly no longer with us, he writes and illustrates in a very easy to understand way. Along with the Art of Weathering and Iain Rice's books on layout design, it is one of my most used guides. Plus Gordon Gravett's ones on scenery of course. While all are more aimed at 7mm scale, there is so much that is transferable and most of all, you are given a clear feeling that their ideas are achieve able by the average modeller. More than anything else, these books have helped immensely in developing my skills and I really cannot recommend them highly enough

Whose are the etchings? Tempting to think they could be blown up to 7mm... Have a thing about 2-4-0s. My Great Eastern E4 [much fettled Gibson kit] is a real favourite and the 650 looks another little gem.

Following John’s gentle [& entirely justified] comments on the railcar’s front end, have been trying to improve matters. The slight curve he mentions is there, but hardly shows. I’d used a piece of 40 thou to pack out the centre [as you can see from the pics] & at the time wondered if 60 or even 80 thou would have been better, but decided that was too much. Space now for rude words… Short of a complete rebuild have tried to fettle it up a little by sanding down the corners and feathering this towards the centre – hence adding about another millimetre to the curve. Have also thinned the waist beading and that round the grille, all with the aim of telling the eye there is more to it than it thinks. Could still do with a bit more, but that is as far as I dare go for now. At least the pics against a gridline show that there IS a curve, even if it is not so apparent away from them. Just goes to show that total accuracy doesn’t always work & some things need exaggerating to show up well – something weathering guru Martyn Welch often mentions. Ho hum – have begun work on the trailer, so will endeavour to make the curve more apparent. Could well be that with the waist beading being straight at that end, things will look better anyway. A couple of pics of the sides to show what I’ve been up to.

Hear what you say John - getting the subtle curves right is what makes diesels and the like difficult. Have just had a look at the colour albums and think the waist beading may be too wide. I used 60 x20 strip and maybe 40 would have been better. Am also increasing the tumble home on the bottom corners, with a bit more off the sides too. The dark green top coat may well make a difference as well. Will do a bit more fretting before that, but would not like to be making such adjustments in a smaller scale. Only goes to show how much effort goes into getting 4mm modern diesels right.