David Holman

Some fascinating discussion here - thanks everyone! Interesting [& a tad frustrating that John mentions Drumkeeran as a line through there [as a pure SLNCR route] was proposed in 1905... Frustrating because did not go that way on my field trip in June. Will have to travel by Google again. Also, according to my much thumbed Railway Atlas of Ireland [Maxwell Hajducki], this could have used the Creveela Ironworks tramroad of 1852 for a [short] part of the route. My love of maps now tempts me to mock up the Drumkeeran line [can still call the terminus Arigna, of course]. However, would have to have the SLNCR acquire and E class 0-6-0 to work the coal trains - or perhaps the GSR might have offered anyway???

Thank you kind sir. Have been pondering over the cantilevered walkways, not least because it is a scale 4' drop into the pit! However, not done it yet as the deck is only 40' long [including extension rails], which I'm concerned might cover much of the rest of the well - in which case a solid top would have made more sense. The deck is planked now though. Perhaps I'll do just one side. As for the layout name, check out my Blog, as have recently penned a full history [with maps]. A bit sad, but it does help me set the scene and work out the traffic & hence stock I need to build.

There is a school of thought which suggests we often model what we saw in our formative years. Hence BR steam-diesel overlap worked for me & I still prefer green diesels to blue ones & Brunswick green to apple or malachite on steamers. GNRI blue is just fabulous. However, given the availability of off the shelf stuff these days, then the opportunity to model almost anything that takes our fancy is there for the taking. Personally, I have always tended to look for something different and being a builder rather than an operator, increasingly find the Irish scene, in all its forms, increasingly interesting. Only the ultra modern leaves me cold with its DMUs and other railcars, plus little variety in the way of freight. Early railbuses and DMUs are a completely different matter for reasons I cannot explain!

Looks very good to me & encouraging 21mm gauge can only be a good thing. Needless to say I'd be very interested in something blown up to 7mm scale, but guess I'm in a very small minority...

Have been working on two turntables - one for locos and railbus, the other a full train version in the fiddle yard. The loco turntable is a much adapted Dapol/Airfix plastic kit, while the train table is mostly MDF. The other pic shows the recently completed cattle dock fencing. Around 60 posts, each drilled 6 times to take the horizontal bars [0.8mm piano wire], so it was a somewhat repetitive process. Will put further details of all three in my blog next week, though you can read about why the project now has a name this week.

Spent a couple of weeks in France, so not much time for modelling. However, did take some maps and ref books with me to finally try and nail down a precise location and name for the project. Details below: Arigna Town [sLNCR] Opened in 1882, the Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway remained independent until its closure in 1957. Built & run on a shoestring, it never expanded beyond its 42 mile ‘mail line’ from Sligo to Enniskillen. However, at the end of the 19th century, there were proposals to build a railway to access the coal mining area on the mountains above Arigna, west of Lough Allen & to the south of the SLNCR. Coal being in short supply in Ireland, eventually the 3’ gauge Cavan & Leitrim Railway was extended up the Arigna River valley in 1920, but before that, there were several schemes that included narrow, broad and even mixed gauge railways. Indeed, Arigna station on the C&L [at the end of the mainly roadside tramway from Ballinamore, opened in 1888], was a good two miles from Arigna village and further still from the mines in question, so until 1920, coal had to be carted to the station along roads one assumes were less than perfect. Among proposals to get a railway to the mines, the SLNCR did consider a line from Dromahair, via Drumkeeran & the west side of Lough Allen, to Arigna in 1904. Before that, in 1895, an independent, broad gauge line, was proposed from Collooney Junction [where the SLNCR & M&GW met], via Ballyfarnon & Keadue, to Arigna. This was followed in 1907-8 with another Arigna – Sligo proposal, which would have seen the C&L converted to 5’ 3” gauge. Then, in 1913, the Arigna Valley Railway Bill propsed a further extension to the above scheme, with a 3 mile line from Arigna station [mixed gauge] and a 9 chain, 3’ gauge connection to the C&L. None of this happened of course, apart from the C&L tramway of 1920, but my model supposes that a project did get built in 1895, as a joint line between the SLNCR and the Midland & Great Western, from Collooney to nearby the C&L’s Arigna station. The latter was sited in a woodland glade, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. However, supposing a community had already begun to grow up there? Iron working had already started near Arigna village in the 18th century and even though that proved unsuccessful, my ‘imagineering’ supposes a community had emerged, away from the mines and works, that became known as Arigna Town. To build the joint line, it is supposed that the M&GW laid the track, while the SLNCR added the buildings, with signalling from Saxby & Farmer. The M&GW worked the coal traffic, while the SLNCR took responsibility for local passenger & freight. Arigna Town station was sited on the opposite side of the road from the C&L station [see map], while there was also a short mineral branch trailing in, just before the station, to the mine sidings. Apart from the GSR and eventually CIE taking over the coal trains, in practice little changed on the branch throughout its history. An ex MGW E class 0-6-0T & a few wagons made one or two trips daily, bringing coal down from the mines. These were linked to the sidings by aerial ropeway, as they were high in the slopes of Kilronan Mountain. The sidings had no run round loop, so empties were propelled there and the loco hauled them back, running round in Arigna Town station before returning to Sligo for onward movement, probably to the cement works at either Limerick or Drogheda. SLNCR operations would have closely followed those of the main line, with passenger traffic soon turning to railbus and railcar, with a daily steam hauled mixed train. Steam power would also have worked general freight and cattle traffic – probably the 0-6-4 ‘small tanks’. When the GNRI line through Enniskillen was closed and the SLNCR with it in 1957, it may well have been that the Arigna branch would have continued a little longer. However, in 1959, a new coal fired power station opened on the shores of Lough Allen & this would have effectively ended the coal trains, so the branch may not have lasted much beyond 1960. That said, given the [sensible] Irish attitude of mothballing, rather than dismantling, branchlines maybe cattle and other specials could have continued a little longer & C and G class diesels might have become the motive power? The reasoning behind all the above is that it provides a setting for my model and helps to map out not only what the line might have looked like, but also provides sources of traffic & thereby the types of locos and rolling stock to build. All of this should help sustain interest in what is otherwise a simple branchline terminus, with a model making programme that should keep me busy for at least another 2-3 years. The E class, one small tank and railbus 2a are finished, but will need another small tank, railcar B and a fair few more wagons to enable me to operate an interesting sequence. Add in C & G diesels, plus a MGW 2-4-0 for excursion traffic [with a short rake of Tyrconnel 6 wheelers and there is plenty to look forward to. After that, adding the adjacent C&L station could be very tempting! If anyone has any thoughts/comments on my history of Arigna Town, please let me know. My sources are not exhaustive and as none of it happened anyway, I’d be happy to adapt the story if more useful info appeared.

The 'bible' for all things weathering is Martyn Welch's book 'The Art of Weathering' [Wild Swann pubs]. First issued a few years ago, it has never been bettered & Martyn's genial prose makes everything seem achievable. He also tells us what colours to use for each job - mainly Humbrol enamels. Eg No53 [Gunmetal] and 133 [bauxite], plus a little matt black and or leather is perfect for the generic 'underframe dirt' and variations enable oily bits to be done too. he book not only covers locos, but also open wagons, vans, coaches and the ubiquitous BR steel mineral, with rust being done the right way - ie put on first & then [with some Maskol] the top coat on top. It is my most read/used book of all time & I always go back to it whenever the paint or airbrush needs using again. Still in print, you will not regret buying a copy.

Many thanks for all the positive comments, they are much appreciated. I also think that sharing one's work, either at the local model club or on sites like this is sort of akin to proof reading. In my teaching days, the kids could always spot my mistakes, but never their own, so if there are areas you think could be improved [or indeed simply wrong], please let me know - I will not be offended. Indeed it is the only way to improve our modelling, especially when so many of our subjects are now lost in the mists of time.

There is no doubt that Static Grass is the way to go. I have a proper 'Grass master' and a tea strainer variant and both are fabulous. Gone are the days of laboriously planting sisal, teddy-bear fur etc. With a bit of hair spray and PVA one can build a significant depth of grass in minutes. Gordon Gravett's books on trees shows how static grass can make very convincing conifers too, while his new book due out shortly [Wild Swan pubs] will detail all you need to know about grass and weeds. Check out his Pempoul layout too - just fabulous. 'Crumb' and other fibres still have their place for specialist uses, but static, especially the electric applicators is the way to go. Not cheap, but a fine investment. Share with a friend if you can't afford one outright. However, having recently heard that cheap mascara pencils are very good for covering the bare edges of Metcalfe card kits, I occasionally worry what my wife thinks about my shopping habits. Extra strong hair spray, teddy bear fur, mascara pencils hair clips [good for soldering & gluing]. Whatever next?

VERY, very nice. One day in 7mm perhaps?

The Jeep and the S look rather fine & splendid. Wheels suggest P4 or even S7, though an S in full regalia is fab in any scale in my humble opinion. Will look out for more

As you can see from the Models section, my SLNCR railbus is almost complete. It still needs a bit of paint touching up & plus some weathering, but is now looking the part I hope. Its initial trial run was a bit dodgy, to say the least, but then I realised the wheels hadn't been cleaned, nor the chassis oiled. No surprise that it couldn't pull its trailer and the [undriven] front wheels weren't turning round... However, a bit of fettling and it proved capable of trundling round the layout, albeit a little noisily. Hopefully it will quieten down as it gets run in. As said before, the chassis is a simple nickel silver 'ladder' type affair, with drive from a small Mashima motor to the rear wheels. The motor intrudes slightly into the body, but seats and a few Slaters passengers help to hide it. The body is nearly all plastic sheet and microstrip, though the nearside mudguard is nickel silver and the rear steps are brass strip, for strength. The roof is balsa, sanded to shape, though the rear entrance section is all plastic. Main body colour is Halford's 'Ford Laurel Green' spray can acrylic, with the top half brush painted with Model Colour 'ivory' acrylic. Transfers came from my stores box & must be over 20 years old! the luggage van lettering is Woodhead transfers 'pressfix' letter, while the SLNCR is water slide from an SMS 'LMS' sheets, plus the '&' from a Fox sheet. Just goes to show you should never throw anything away. The other photo is of my fiddle yard. Given the Irish railways predilection for turntables at ever terminus, it seemed to me that a turntable fiddle yard was also merited. Cut from 12mm MDF, with a pivot using an M6 bolt, all seemed very simple until I discovered that my idea of 5 tracks was not possible because the board is only 46" long and the outer curves were far too tight. Indeed, even reducing to 4 tracks has meant I needed to widen the track gauge to around 37.5mm [instead of the nominal 36.75]. Alignment is by home-made bolts, using brass rod & tube, bought on the cheap due to the sad demise of the Modelzone shops. We had two in my area, including the wonderful Signalbox in Rochester & now both are no more. Shame. The loco turntable on the layout itself is by Dapol, in other words, the old Airfix model. At 250mm diameter, it is ideal for the Sligo tanks, but a bit short for the railcar & trailer, so have fitted extension rails to make life easier & maybe one day enable a small 4-4-0 or 2-4-0 to visit on excursions. It is handcranked using the Frizinghall models kit [very Meccanno-ish & effective]. Will be working on track feed this week, so I can start doing some serious test running before the layout enters its 'scenic ground cover' phase. hopefully more pics of the turntable next week.

Here's a little tester for the historians out there. Recently got hold of a copy of the Fermanagh's Railways book, where there are several pictures of flat wagons loaded with one or two bread containers. Captions say they took bread from Belfast to outlying communities. Pics show them at Enniskillen and also in sidings at Irvinestown. It seems to me that this could make an ideal piece of extra traffic on my fictional SLNCR branch, but, first I need to know if such things ran in the Republic, as it seems the pictures I have are all GNRI. So, any views gratefully received, but then, if in the 'positive', need to know a few more details in the hope of trying to construct a model. I have a side on picture of the flatwagon, from which it should be possible to work out general dimensions & likewise the containers themselves - but liveries are a problem because pics are monochrome. 'Brewster' and 'Stevenson' are two names, so an idea of colours would be much appreciated. That said, if they didn't run in the Republic, then the project is probably a non starter. Interesting vehicles though, for which I've not seen anything in print before. Then there are the Butter Vans. Did any of these run in the Republic? Alphagraphix do a card kit, but there is no mention of where they ran. Will look forward to hearing what people know.

Here are a few pics of my latest creation. Scratchbuilt in plastic & nickel silver, but very much based on the Alphagraphix card kit. Will add more details in my blog later this evening.

The heat of summer is never a good time for modelling - certainly not in my workshop anyway! However did manage to make some wire 'tree skeletons' in the garden shade [a good way of spending a quiet hour or two] & since things have cooled down a bit, have been working on my Railbus 2A. Photos show progress thus far. The model is scratchbuilt, but using the Alphagraphix card kit as a starting point. The chassis is nickel silver, with a small Mashima motor & gearbox from Branchlines. Found one or two castings from the scrapbox to use for front springs, while the wheels [slaters] will be embellished with a slice taken from the tyres of a Corgi Classis road bus to represent the patent ones on the prototype. The body is all plastic, apart from the roof, which is sanded balsa. Buses and diesels are much more complex things than steam locos when it comes to modelling, because of all the subtle curves and a lack of fittings too. However, did find a suitable headlight in the scrapbox. Techniques used were those from David Jenkinson's book 'Coach Building Made Easy', plus a lot of head scratching on how to make the seats, fit the glazing, roof and rear passenger doorway. The little trailer is a bit of a compromise, as W irons and axles boxes of a suitable size are not readily available for some reason [!]. Thinking about it, S scale ones would probably be a best fit, but again used some spare castings - LSWR type, but very cut down. Have fitted pickups to help spread the electrical contact, not least because neither vehicle has any compensation. Paintwork is currently Halfords grey primer, which looks surprisingly effective in black and white, but am hoping that Ford 'Laurel Green' will be a reasonable match. Indeed, the paintshop beckons tomorrow, after which final fitting out [handrails, door handles, starting handle, drawbar & wiring] will take place, so may have further pics by next week.[attachment=:name]

Well, that got things going! Wonderful stuff - many thanks everyone. The idea of an Irish Garrett sounds splendid, but more to the point, the fact that anything goes is encouraging. Managed to get a copy of The Railways of Fermanagh when I was at the Finntown Railway a couple of weeks ago, so will keep looking for the other tomes. Already knew about the coast to coast 3' gauge line and great is the temptation to model part of it. Methinks that the likelihood of many of the larger NG engines finding a place on it would be high, especially the Swilly giants. One of my favourite pics is H C Casserly's one of a 4-8-0 at Burtonport. One day - maybe even in Gauge 1 on 32mm track...? Finn Valley staff were lovely, running the train for just my wife and I. four of them to two of us. My delight at riding a Donegal railcar knew no bounds. While over there, visited the Arigna mining experience, which is also well worth the time. Must say that the coal samples they had on display looked pretty good to me - very hard and shiny. Liberated a small piece, to be crushed somewhere on my layout, or maybe a loco bunker. Your contributions are very much appreciated.

As some of you will know I am currently building a 7mm scale model of a Sligo Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway [proposed] branch to the Arigna coal mines area. Neil Sprinks photo album hints at this project, but I don't have his earlier history of the line, which appears difficult to get hold of. However, do have Patrick Flanagan's excellent little book on the Cavan & Leitrim [David & Charles 1966], which goes into considerable detail about proposals for that line to be extended up to Sligo, as well as other places. During a very enjoyable visit to the area a couple of weeks ago [& getting hold of an appropriate OS map], it seems clear the SLNCR line would have run down the west side of Kilronan mountain, rather than via Drunkeeran & Lough Allen, to reach the Arigna area. So, my question is - does anyone have any details of this, please? Even a vague outline of the route, together with dates of the actual proposals, would help me to construct a fictitious history for my model. I'm sort of thinking that it might have had a bit of support from the Midland & Great Western [maybe even run on a joint basis] & if so, this would be a serious excuse for eventually broadening my loco and carriage fleet - as if one were needed... Thanks!

Me again. Looks like the system only posted half my ramblings, missing out a tour of the SLNCR route around Manorhamilton and the Arigna area. Gave me lots of ideas for my might have been branch down to the latter and have a small piece of Arigna coal which may well go in my next loco's bunker! More of this later, but for those of you who haven't visited the west of Ireland, it is well worth the effort. Beautiful scenery, great food and hospitality, plus lovely people and extra-ordinary history. add in the railways and you have a great holiday.

No modelling for a while [new kitchen taking up much time] but have just returned from a few days in the West of Ireland, so this is a brief account of my wife & I's travels. Flew into Shannon, courtesy of Mr O'Leary, and then hired a car and motored first to Galway and then west to Clifden. Was delighted to find the station buildings intact and still serving the community over 70 years since closure. Are the tracks in the car park original? If only the line was still open, am sure would make a fabulous tourist route. Foyles Hotel in town a very decent overnight stop. Next day took in the next branch, from Westport to Achill, where again was pleased to see the station buildings still in use. A long drive took us all the way to Bundoran for a couple of nights. Called in at Sligo's enormous fortress of a station to see the arrival of a Dublin train & discovered the truncated remains of the harbour branch. Found Bundoran an odd little town in that few businesses seem to face the fine beach & instead stare at each other across a rather austere Main Street. Fitzgeralds Hotel an exception, with a rather decent restaurant. Didn't see anything of the station, but did have a fine day touring. First went north, via Donegal town [fine base for touring methinks and a lovely centre]. railway museum was shut, but Finntown Railway was open. We'd rushed a bit to get there for the 1100 train, but needn't have worried. Despite being the only passengers, a crew of 4 [two in the diesel, two in the railcar] ran us up the lake and back.

[attachment=:name] Here are a few pics of the backscene to my SLNCR layout. The low resolution photos make them appear a bit flat to me, but like any sort of proof reading, it is useful to get a different perspective! Either way, the backscene still needs some work, but will probably not do that until after I've got the scenic and ground cover done. That way it should be easier to blend the 2D and 3D aspects together more easily. For me, especially in 7mm scale, it is essential to have some sort of backscene to extend the layout beyond what is always a rather minimal depth. In my case, the latter is just 2 feet [600mm in new money], so not much space for anything beyond the railway fence. Additional limitations are that the height is just 8"/20cm. I've done higher in previous layouts, but deliberately kept it low this time to make the baseboards, when paired for transport as small a volume as possible. There are four boards, so two pairs, which will make a box around 4' x 2' x 18" and therefore fit easily inside my Yeti, once the seats are removed. The backscenes are made from the same 6mm birchply as the rest of the baseboards and an integral part of them. I did consider have a separate, single sheet of roller blind material to avoid the joins & likewise ducked out of making curved instead of square corners at the ends. The former will be hopefully fairly well hidden by the scenic features I have painted on, while the latter are hidden by two full height, low relief buildings. You'll see that dodges for the baseboard joins include a church spire and trees of different sorts. The current 'earthquake' crack in the baseboard surface will be hidden by removable items like small buildings, foliage, vehicles, barrow crossings etc. Creation of the scenes uses a range of media. I started with a basecoat of white emulsion, then added poster paints [in small quantities] to paint in the sky. A fair few clouds seemed appropriate, but it would be interesting to see if anyone can create a proper 'soft' day. Remember a layout years ago where everything had been gloss varnished to suggest rain. Best bit was the name - 'Piddlin Down'... Details were then drawn on and then part painted [using acrylics and enamels], part coloured with felt pens, crayons and white markers. Pens are so much easier to use than a brush if you want straight lines. Inspiration for the subjects themselves came from the various colour photo albums available, particularly of the C&L tramway section, which is not a million miles away from where the layout is supposed to be set. The final picture is my latest project, to build Railbus 2A. Have used the Alphagraphix card kit to produce drawings, including of a simple chassis, which is what you see in the photo. 18 thou nickel silver was used for the sides and spacers, while the scrapbox has produced a couple of suitable looking front springs. The motor and gearbox will drive the rear wheels, while the body will be made from plasticard and the roof [probably] sanded to shape from wood. Still thinking about those patent wheels [steel rims outside pneumatic tyre & road wheel], but at least I only need to make two as the rear ones are hidden. Some sort of overlay methinks.

And why not indeed, sir! From what I can see of your 'avatar', there looks to be a slice of the C&L. With the Iron Mountains as well as the coal seams, one wonders whether a Sheffield, Consett or Corby might have blighted the hills, had the resources been a bit richer. I will admit to a certain amount of guilt in projecting a branch of the SLNCR down to Arigna, as it would not have bode well for the C&L. That said a possible long term project for me would be a broad and narrow gauge interchange of some sort. Love the idea of the trans-Ireland 3' gauge line, which would have put the C&L in the centre of the through route. Feel sure it would have needed something like the Swilly 4-8-0s or 4-8-4Ts for such journeys, which would make a challenging model making project to say the least. Then again, I have also pondered the idea of doing 3' NG in Gauge 1, using 0 gauge track. Did several drawings of Clogher Valley locos/railcar/tractor & am very tempted, but not for a couple of years at least.

[attachment=:name] Tyrconnel kits are marketed in the Alphagraphix catalogue and as well as the E class include Cork, Bandon & South Coast Railway 4-6-0Ts and several highly individual small Irish locomotives including a Fairburn 2-2-2T and two Timoleague and Courtmacsherry Tramway locos. The E Class 0-6-0Ts were introduced between 1891 & 1894 by Martin Atcock & built in Britain by Kitson & Sharp Stewart. Originally numbered 106-117 by the MGW, they became 551-562 under the Great Southern, ranging far & wide across the system. There is a photo of 558 at Sligo in the 1950s, while other allocations included the T&C in the far south west and the isolated Waterford & Tramore line in the south-east. The Tyrconnel kit [£90] is mainly etched brass, with whitemetal castings for things like chimney, dome, buffers & other fittings. Additionally required are wheels, motor, gearbox, wheel bearings, handrail knobs & various gauges of wire. Suggestions of various sources for these are provided in the fairly extensive instructions, which also include several labelled photos of a part assembled model as well as the prototype itself. A scale line drawing is also provided. However, as a ‘flatpack’, there is no box to contain the finished model. The loco was built pretty much as per instructions, which proved to be a pleasant, largely stress free experience, taking about 40 hours work in all, including painting & weathering. The builder is advised to split the work into three parts – superstructure, boiler and chassis. For the superstructure, the only difficult part was at the start – soldering the splasher backs and tops to the footplate. Heat from the soldering iron tended to warp the footplate & with hindsight it might have been better to add the valences first to make the unit stiffer. However, once done, things went together easily, aided by slots and tabs, plus a few half etched lines on the bunker rear to help curving. Alternative etches to make the Waterford & Tramore line versions are also provided. Boiler, fire & smokebox units come as flat etches & need rolling to shape, but as the brass is quite thin, this was easily achieved using ¾” plastic pipe, as suggested in the instructions. A neat touch is the provision of 6BA holes in the boiler & smokebox front/rear, enabling the two to be bolted together prior to soldering. The combined unit then slotted neatly between the tanks/cab front & sat nice & level first time. Boiler fittings are whitemetal castings. Alternative chimney & smokebox doors are provided for early/later models but, along with the dome & safety valve units required a fair bit of fettling before they would ‘sit’ properly on the boiler. However, in fairly quick time, the loco body was complete. The chassis is interesting in that it is designed to simply fold up from a single etch. Unfortunately [for me at least], it is designed for 32mm gauge as opposed to the correct 36.75mm for Irish [5’ 3”] broad gauge. The latter is catered for by reversing the fitting of the wheel bearings, so they project outwards, which gives the right back to back measurement. This was the route I followed and though very suspicious of the fold up chassis, it actually worked out very well. My ‘portfolio’ runs to over 50 locos over the years, including several scratchbuilds & having always used separate spacers, I wondered whether the single etch would fold up accurately. However, my fears were unfounded & apart from having to open up the etched axles holes a fair bit to take the bearings, when I did a trial fit of the wheels, the chassis sat level & true. Coupling rods seem very lightweight & are just a double laminate. As per prototype, they are not jointed, so again are quick and easy to assemble. Fitting them to the wheels gave a smooth, free running chassis first time – always rather satisfying! My only major departure from the instructions was to fit a commercial motor/gear box, floating on the centre axle, rather than soldering the motor to the etched mount provided & suggested in the instructions. For a while, I also contemplated making a set of dummy frames [by tracing round the etched ones] to go outside the narrow ones. However as the loco is only really seen ‘side on’, I decided in the end this wasn’t necessary. Tyrconnel kits were a new name to me, but if the little E class is typical of the range, then I can thoroughly recommend them. They should be well within the scope of a careful beginner. Building mine to 36.75mm gauge was not a problem. Slaters provide the longer axles for a small fee, while I have found their wagon axles are more than longer enough to ease the wheels out to broad gauge without the need for any replacements. My new layout is using custom made points from Marcway, with plain track soldered up on copperclad sleepers. The light rail & broad gauge really help set the scene & it is a shame that most 4mm scale models seem to use 16.mm track – especially when that is already narrow gauge! The Alphagraphix catalogue includes several etched coaches and a large number of card kits for wagons, coaches and buildings, all of which provide useful starting points for anyone contemplating modelling the Irish scene. Given the many delights of railways across the water, it is a relatively neglected area for modelling which deserves much more attention & hopefully Alphagraphix are doing just that.

The last few weeks have been all about the buildings at the ‘country’ end of the layout. The general scenario is that trains appear/disappear through a hole in the sky that is masked by a combination of a garage, tree and large, Georgian house. Immediately after is a level crossing, with signal box and cottage. Behind the signal box is an end terraced house and then come a couple of low relief buildings before the goods yard is reached. At the planning stage, it was envisaged that all these buildings would somehow blend into a backscene, showing elements of the rest of the town. The signal box is both the smallest yet most complex building on the layout. It is based on a standard Saxby and Farmer design, which I adapted from the Alphagraphix kit, using the latter as a drawing. Unlike most of my other buildings it is almost completely made from plasticard. The base uses Wills random stone sheet, which is thick enough to not require any bracing. Though nominally intended for 4mm scale, the stone pattern seems to also work well in 7mm scale, for which the same can also be said of their corrugated asbestos sheets, which are very good for the generic corrugated iron you see as roof covering on many Irish buildings. Inside the random stone is an inner layer of 40 thou glazing, though this only goes to roof height for the fixed middle windows. The outer windows are made from separate sheets of glazing and sit in U shaped slots so can be slid open like the prototype. Glazing bars are made from 20 thou square microstrip, with 40 x 20 layers for the outer frames. The glazing material is something called ‘Cobex’ [or similar] which is a harder plastic that does not go cloudy when touched by solvent. The lever frame is a whitemetal kit from Skytrex. 16 levers in all, while you also get a level crossing wheel and block instruments as well. Pay a bit more and the similar Springside kit gives you a desk, clock, signalman etc, though my furniture was easily made from bits of plastic and wood. The roof has a considerable overhang, with guttering hanging from this. I used half round Evergreen strip for the gutters, fixed to small brackets made from other microstrip and welded to a false plasticard roof. This has an inner layer which sits snugly inside the walls of the cabin. The rest of the roof is ordinary card, fixed to the false roof with UHU. Slates are strips of cartridge paper a scale 18” deep, cut at 12” intervals and fixed with PVA. The finial is a piece of plastic rod turned in my drill. Steps are always difficult to get right, but making a jig helps, as did deciding the ‘slope’ would be 45 degrees, regardless of what the prototype suggested. Paintwork is mainly green, using Humbrol xx. The stone walls were done by stippling various greys onto the surface & not worrying about mortar lines. The indigenous limestone of the area seems to have many shades [probably not 50 though] of grey, often within the same piece, so there seemed little point in painting them individually. Inside, the levers are painted in what I hope are the right colours and in order of where they are sited. First up is the outer distant, then the home, then the lever to lock the crossing gates, after which comes the starter signal then points [and locking bars] in the yard. Spare levers are white, points black, locking bars blue, home/starter sigs are red, distants yellow and crossing gates brown. While I’m here, a word about the wider concept of the trackplan is appropriate. As I do not have enough room to model the coal mining aspect, this is deemed to be ‘off-stage’. The sidings are set as being a trailing connection for trains approaching the terminus, about half a mile distant. Points are unlocked by a key and empty wagons are then reversed into the mine sidings. Loaded wagons have to be pulled into the terminus for the engine to ‘run round’ as there is no loops at the mine itself. This means I only need a train of loaded wagons and avoids the problems of how to load/unload in view of the public. The other buildings [apart from the garage, which is just an empty shell] are coming along well, though all are yet to be bedded into the ground cover. The Georgian house and end terrace are built on a core of 5mm foamboard, while the signalman’s cottage uses more Wills sheet, this time the ‘whitewashed stone’ effect. The latter features a reasonable amount of interior detail, again made from scrap bits of wood and plastic. Ideas came from the BBC ‘Heirhunters’ TV programme which featured a typical Irish cottage left untouched since the early 1960s and yes, the furniture was indeed painted in those bright colours. Next time will have a look at how I painted the backscenes.

It is a long time since I started this and not being a regular contributor, it occurred to me that to do a blog properly is to provide an on-going commentary on the project. Beat me round the head and I get there -eventually... Anyway, with luck I will endeavour to do something here once a fortnight or so, which should mean I can usually report on something new. So, maybe I should backtrack a little. My SLNCR project began towards the end of 2011. I'd long been tempted to do an Irish line, having completed an EM gauge light railway - must be something to do with having the same surname as Col Stephen's Christian one. 'Oare', was exhibited in the late 80s -early 90s and this was followed by High Weald a 7mm NG railway running through Kent. This appeared several times in RM, as did its successor, Loose End, my first 7mm scale standard gauge project, which was exhibited around southern England in the late 90s. There then followed a sojourn with 'mainline' and the Eatonswell layout. This is still being exhibited, but I've always favoured independent lines with a bit of character, so spurred on by Neil Sprinks excellent photo album and the availability of Alphagraphix kits, I decided to have a go at the SLNCR. Inspiration also came from good friends Gordon & Maggie Gravett, who have shown with their Pempoul model what can be done even if you end up scratchbuilding almost everything. If mine is half as good as their masterpiece, I'll be well satisfied. The first thing I built was the Tyrconnel E class 0-6-0T. This was my 50th loco build in all scales & proved that 36.75mm gauge was not going to be a problem. Thoughts then turned to what sort of layout I might build. The SLNCR never had a branch, but there was the proposed line into the Arigna area, which gave me my 'might have been' scenario. The trackplan was kept deliberately simple & from the start I wanted to keep everything else that way too. So, analogue control [use DCC on Eatonswell, but could not justify it here], with wire in tube point operation and manual signal/turntable control to minimise wiring too. Baseboards were started early in 2012 & are made from good quality 6mm birch ply. The 20cm high backscene is integral to each board, of which there are four in all. Three of the form the scenic section, with the fourth a train turntable. All are just under 120cm x 60cm so the layout fits along one wall of my workshop, which used to be the integral garage of our house. Track came from Marcway - custom made points [copperclad] with plain track soldered up by me. In what seemed a very short space of time, I had the E class trundling round the layout, with one or two wagons I'd also built by then. That was about a year ago and since then I've managed to produce a fair bit of stock and most of the buildings are finished or nearly so. It helps only working part time these days! Reviewing the list still surprises me: - Beyer Peacock Small Tank - Northstar kit - Coach No 9 - scratchbuilt using the Alphagraphix kit as a drawing; plastic body with cut down Slaters bogies - 5 cattle vans, 3 seven ton vans plus a brakevan, built as above - 4 SLNCR open wagons & a carriage truck, scratchbuilt from photos - a rake of coal wagons [4 & 6 plank] from resin castings I've made from my own masters, using drawing on this website - station building: Florencecourt - ish - good shed & signal box [again using Alphagraphix kits as starting points for scratchbuilding] - bakers, pub, end terrace house, half relief Georgian house, stone barn, stone water tower, stone cottage and corrugated iron village hall Recently, have been painting a backscene to frame the layout and once the buildings are painted will take some photos to show how things are progressing. The aim is to have the layout exhibitable in time for the Chatham Show in June next year. That means completing scenic ground cover and ensuring I have a bit more stock. At the very least I want to build Railbus 2A and some GNRI wagons to complement the SLNCR ones. After that, the Walker railcar and a large tank will hopefully follow, especially as I now have drawings of both. Unlikely before June 13 though! Normally when one scratchbuilds something, an RTR model comes out shortly after. Can't see this happening here somehow, but then it is part of the challenge & fun. What the project is starting to need now though is a name. After significant amounts of pondering, playing with words and scouring maps of the area, I am not intending to model an existing location. Instead, a fictitious town is deemed to have sprung up near the mines, though this is no Yorkshire pit village - I really want to capture the essential flavour of the area. So it can be neither Arigna nor Drumkeeran, while Killyconcarnay or Ballyshawbheagan [think about it!] seem just a bit too twee. Currently am leaning towards something like 'Sprinxtown' - to honour both Neil Sprinks and Alphagraphixs, without whom the project could never have started. Comments welcome, including any ideas on a Gaelic translation. Next time, hope to have photos showing the backscene and also buildings at the 'country' end of the layout.