David Holman

Many thanks for all the replies - was hoping that a Parkside or Slaters conversion/adaptation might be possible, but looks like scratchbuilding & resin casting will be the way forward for now. For anyone working in 7mm scale, the Alphagraphix catalogue has a growing range of etched brass kits from the Tyrconnel range, including several 6 wheel coaches and a Bandon 32' bogie. Add in Timoleague locos Argadeen & St Molga, plus Elf, Fairy and a Bandon 4-6-0T and there is some nice stuff available. Haven't built any of the coaches, but the E class 0-6-0T which is also in the range was very simple to put together & has a reasonable amount of detail, plus all the names and numbers for the class too. Would be nice to see some wagons for 7mm scale, though again the Alphagraphix card kits are a good starting point.

While I haven't read all the comments, for what it is worth I would certainly suggest reading up on baseboards and layout design in general. Iain Rice's books are all excellent, but 'Finescale in Small Spaces' goes into a lot of detail about planning, baseboards etc. Doing a small layout and treating it as gaining experience is far better than launching into something too big and finding it doesn't work out. Terminus - fiddle yard, or even just a small diorama can be just as satisfying, while a small project can be finished quickly too and could even be planned to be part of a larger project later on. Check out my current project - though 7mm scale, it is only 12 feet long, with a 4 foot fiddle yard, about 9 feet in total in 4mm scale.

Interesting & many thanks. Will keep on scratchbuilding... Good to know such knowledge spans the entire globe.

A new question for the historically minded among you. While I'm well aware of certain steam locos and modern locos and coaching stock being essentially common to both sides of the water, I'm wondering if this was also the case for steam era wagons? Looking through a wide range of photos, it seems that most open wagons were 4 or 6 plank, rather than 3, 5 or 7 favoured by the 'mainland'. However, it would be interesting to know if there were wagons built by independent companies that got used both sides of the water - vans too. There are lots of kits out there and if any could be used for Irish models, I for one would be very grateful, much as I'm happy to scratchbuild. Likewise RTR, even in my preferred 7mm scale, where some things are almost ludicrously cheap. Dapol 7 plank opens, for example are barely more than a Slaters or Parkside kit. Makes you wonder. Have got the 'Modelling Irish Railways' book and though very useful the section on converting kits and RTR seems to indicate a fair few compromises are needed and though no rivet counter, I do like things to look right from two feet away, or so. Am now going back to study the GA drawing of a Large Tank and dribble. Sad or what?

Having almost driven myself to distraction scratchbuilding multiple SLNCR wagons, I decided to explore the possibilities of resin casting. I looked up casting materials on the web, but recently there has been an advert in Railway modeller for such things & I can only say how straightforward the process is. Included are some photos. First you need to produce a 'master of the model you are building. In this case one side and one end of a 4 plank and 6 plank open wagon. I used 40 and 60 thou plastic sheet, scoring for the planks and then adding strapping and metalwork from microstrip. I also used a wire brush to add some wood grain to the planking. The master was then stuck to a larger sheet of plasticard and a low 'wall' built around it with more plastic strip to make a mould. Then followed the casting kit's instructions, mixing the setting agent to the latex 'goo' and poured this into the mould. 24 hours later, this had set and I had latex moulds of my wagon sides and ends. The resin comes in two parts and is mixed 50/50. A cheap set of measuring cups from a pound shop helped with getting quantities right and avoiding waste. The resin mix goes into the moulds and within an hour has set, so you can quickly produce multiple copies. The level of detail picked up is very impressive - the wire brush scratched wood grain really shows up well, as would finger prints and any crud, so care is the order of the day. Drawbacks? Very few. It helps to keep the moulds level as the resin is initially very watery and flows really well to where it is not wanted. Bubbles can form in the resin mix, but it is easy to prick these out with a cocktail stick while still wet. Also, a bit of thought needs to go into how thick you want the castings to be. Important with an open wagon, less so with a van. I've used cyano to glue the pieces together around an 80thou plastic floor. Slaters wheels and JPL whitemetal castings cover the underframe, with brake gear coming initially from the scrapbox - Parkside and Slaters kits seem to provide plenty of spares which fellow club members are happy to off load. Have managed to cast some 'V's and brake levers from the originals in the kits, but they are inevitably a bit thick and fragile. Haven't tried casting more 3D shapes yet, but can see all sorts of possibilities for things like fence posts, chimney pots etc. Evidence suggests the latex moulds should be good for 20+ castings, while I still have plenty of goo left to produce more if needed. The casting kit cost me about £50 and should produce enough models to make it worthwhile, if only in the time saved. As anyone who has scratchbuilt wagons will tell you, the sides are the cheap bit, it is the wheels [£9.50 in O gauge], buffers [£4 - £14 depending on type and quality] & couplings [£5] which cost the most. Makes those new Dapol RTR opens seem very cheap at only £30 or so... Shame they are 7 plank - my research seems to suggest most Irish opens are 4 or 6 planks...

FAB -U - LOUS!! Many thanks to you both - have tried the Manchester site before but couldn't see how to navigate the archive of Beyer Peacock stuff & kept coming up with lovely but not very useful diagrams of injectors & the like. Detail is good, but I am not that pernickety... Lovely Sligo pics too, several I have not seen before. Interesting to see that the brake van is definitely lower than the cattle vans, but the latter are the same height as the coach - which is not the case in the Alphagraphix card kit. Am still happy to believe there were varying heights, especially as I scratchbuilt 5 of the things and am in no hurry to alter them, which would not be easy anyway. Must join other societies too, especially as seem to remember one group is in the process of doing a book on the Large Tanks.

Many thanks for all the kind comments. Especially like the Sligo solicitors and the fact that you think it looks the part. Have never visited the area, though a field trip is planned - shame it can't involve time travel as well... By the by, the cattle in the vans are scratchbuilt [irish Moyles and Dexters]. Needed 30+ and that would have cost about £100 for ready bought models, so had to do something! Plasticard frame covered in DAS clay was the answer - will do something for the workbench section shortly, though need to make some more first. The trackwork seems to have caused a lot of interest - am guessing because it is broad gauge and that seems to be rare, whatever the scale. Possibly easier in 7mm because Slaters do an extended loco axle and there is nothing much [if any] ready to run. However, one tip when starting a new project might be to consider smaller profile rail. mine is code 100 [instead of 124] and not only does it give a better impression of lightweight track, but also makes the gauge look wider. Did this on an earlier 'standard' gauge roadside tramway and several people thought it looked broad. Maybe code 75, or even 40 might work in 4mm, but check the wheels will still run first. Marcway custom built points use copperclad & flatbottom rail, costing about 50% more than Peco, but are very robust and self isolating, so only need wire in tube for operation. C&L timber tracks could be very good, but they only do kits for bullhead rail. Will also do something on the resin castings I made for the coal wagons - very easy and very useful for producing multiple models. I was pleasantly surprised at how much detail is picked up in the latex moulds. Am hoping to have the layout presentable for next year's Chatham show [June 2014], though before then am still exhibiting my BR 1950s East Anglian project called 'Eatonswell'. Next out at the Basildon show in July. If you go there by all means come along and say hello.

As a relatively new recruit to the Irish scene, chasing prototype information is proving considerably harder than when I modelled BR. It seems there is always a book or three on any chosen subject for mainland Britain, with any number with drawings of wagons, coaches etc. Much less so for the Republic or NI, even with new books coming out all the time & it is the details that I am finding hard to come by. Hence am hoping some of you might be able to point me in the right directions. My project is the Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway, in 7mm scale, 36.75 [ish]mm track. Check out my latest photos in the Layouts section. I have the Neil Sprinks photo album, plus most of the railway books published in the last 10 years for Ireland in general. SLNCR modellers are also fortunate in that the Alphagraphix range of card kits covers many of the prototypes & I have made extensive use of these as colour plans for scratchbuilding. However, I am not sure that the height of some of the box vans and cattle vans is accurate, especially the GNRI vans & despite scouring all available photos have been unable to find anything conclusive. Neil Sprink's album shows that SLNCR vans varied between 10 and 13 planks in height, but does this mean the planks were different or the vans taller? Indications are that most vans came level with the roof of the 'small tank' 0-6-4T cab, but models I have made come up short by about a scale 10 inches. Equally, these are the 7 ton version, so maybe the larger vans were taller? Any answers welcome, please. Other issues I've been pondering are: Brake gear - were SLNCR wagons [and GNRI for that matter] braked on one or both sides? Likewise, on the open wagons I've made for my coal train braked on all 4 wheels or just two? SLNCR Large Tank 'Sir Henry' [and siblings] - thus far all attempts to source a drawing for this loco have failed. Would dearly love to have a go at building one, so if anyone knows of a source, please let me know Other Irish wagons - would be happy to know of any sources of drawings, other than those already on this website, likewise any photos showing details of brake gear, buffers etc. Have long since stopped worrying too much about the latter, as there seems to be ample evidence of wagons with different buffers each end, but the devil is in the detail as they say! Seems clear that there is wealth of knowledge out there, so any you can send my way will be much appreciated.

How splendid! John Ahern's famous Madder Valley Railway [now at Pendon], had Quibble and Cuss as the solicitors, but this one is even better & will ensure a local branch will be installed somewhere on the layout. Thank you

And here are some more pictures. The signal box uses the Skytrex lever frame castings and the windows do slide like the prototype.

Thank you! Only working part time and the generally lousy weather have both helped improve model making time! Am hoping to get started on Railbus 2A soon so that the layout might be ready to be exhibited [if not entirely finished] next year.

I am building SLNCR in 7mm scale, 36.75mm gauge. I've used Marcway points [copperclad] and made my own plain track in the same way. Slaters do broad gauge loco axles for an additional fee, while wagon wheels can be moved out on the existing axles with little trouble. The Alphagraphix catalogue [see Railway Modeller ad pages] contains a wealth of steam era card kits for wagons, coaches and buildings, including a fair bit of narrow gauge stuff too. I use them as drawings for scratchbuilding purposes. Their catalogue also contains the Tyrconnel range of etched brass locos and coaches. Fairly basic, but they go together well and look the part. The biggest problem I have found is getting hold of good quality drawings - of all locos and rolling stock - as there is nothing like the resources available to British railway modellers. Photo albums likewise end to focus just on locos, though recent works give some good info on infrastructure. Equally, there are lots of very helpful people out there & am sure the charm of all thing Irish will mean interest continues to grow

Thanks - have managed to get some done by a roundabout way & now on the 'Layout' section.

Hello all. Here is a selection of some of my model making over the winter. The layout is yet to have a name, but depicts a might have been SLNCR branch to the Arigna coal mines. It is 7mm scale, 36.75mm gauge and everything is scratchbuilt, apart from the superb Northstar kit of Hazlewood and a very nice Tyrconnel kit of a J26/E class 0-6-0T. Wagons and buildings are based on Alphagraphix kits, but are made from plastic sheet, card, etc, though the coal train is a set of resin castings I did from my own masters. Track is Marcway. Am keen to add to the wagon fleet, but though I have been collecting drawings, details of brake gear would be most welcome. Likewise would love to do 'Large Tank, Sir Henry'. Any idea where I could get hold of drawings?

Only 100k, so can't see why it is not interested. The browse tool is not letting me link to the 'my photos' file on the computer either & I had to get there via 'my recent places' route. When I try to add new pics the 'busy' icon comes up, but nothing happens. Obviously text is coming through, but not photos... Thanks anyway.

Hello folks - I've been trying to upload photos of my SLNCR project, but the site seems reluctant to accept anything. Not had problems in the past, but not added anything for a while. Pics are all low resolution & accepted formats. Any ideas?

Is that nameplate the original? If so, a thing to treasure...

Have had a look at the MMST site without success, but will have another try. The Tyrconnel kits seem well designed & are good value, though the castings needed a bit of work on my J26. Some lovely prototypes though & well worth a try, even if only for a display model. Could become a habit though!