Kirley

It’s your attention to the little details that makes your layout so realistic, well done Noel.

On his previous layout "Killagan" Colm always ran a mixture of Steam & Railcars. His era is NCC/UTA.

The layouts are: "Letterkenny" by Donegal Heritage Railway "Ballymoney" by North Down MRC "Stranfording" by Tony Ragg 'O' gauge and "Richmond on Merton" by MRSI

The Exhibitor told me it was an old layout that he acquired for his son. They added a fiddle yard to “Letterkenny” but the existing track did not match up with Peco Narrow Gauge rail. The trees caught my attention. They are made up from twisted wire and look very effective despite their age.

Colm Flannagan and his group have been working hard on this project which they have kept under wraps until now. Looking forward to seeing in at Cultra next month. More pictures on the RM web site.

A long day travelling but it was worth it for such a good show. The launch of the 071 Class was the highlight of the day of course with the creator in full flow demonstrating all the sound chip could do. He did pass on a warning about this new model; it only fits into the box one way and not to try to do otherwise. He hopes an “Orange 071” MIGHT be here in time for Christmas. Des was showing off his Sulzer and one was “allowed" to hold it. Chris Dyer and Dave Bracken had a fantastic stock of Irish models, as well as MM’s, Silver Fox Models and Coaches painted by Anthony provided the bulk of stock. Dave with his baseboards, the Dart model in action, David with his Enterprise coaches in primer coat and of course Glenderg where I had the pleasure of collecting my Navan Station from him. I also saw some of the other models he has displayed on the site and they look even better in reality. I met up with Ian McNally of ex MIR fame and he was telling me of his progress in building his Portadown Station layout, something he could not do when running MIR. As for Site Members, I’ll not list them all in case I forget someone, but it was great to see some again and others for the first time. Here are some pictures of what took my eye at the show.

Trees A Forest in a box is what International Models advertised and trees are what I want on my layout –was this the answer? If it’s an exact replication of Oak, Ash or Beech trees then big money you need to spend. However if it is a representation of trees then this is quite good. It’s a box containing cuttings of a plant called Seamoss and you cut it up into tree like shapes. Dip it glue and scatter foliage. The bits left over can be used as hedging or spot plants so very little is wasted and good value for under £14. International Models web site can be seen here http://www.internationalmodels.net/acatalog/Seamoss.html

The track aliment on my lifting bridge was causing difficulties. Originally the track bed going over the break was Woodland Track bed which did not provide a rigid enough structure to hold the track in perfect aliment. I replaced part of it with cork and while it was an improvement there was still a slight miss aliment I saw a solution on You Tube so when I was laying the bottom rail I decided to do all. I used Peco level crossing parts, straights and curves. It’s a bit agriculture looking but I wanted to ensure nothing would move hence all the screws. The Dremel was used to do the cut. A bit of filler and paint for the initial camouflage job. Test run

Excellent finish with the ballast Stephen. I'm sure you'll remember to clean the top of the rails as soon as you use the paint pen, I missed some parts and had to scrape the top of the rails to get good contact again.

If you go to my Workshop Page "Kirley Projects" page 2 you will find the story behind 'a Village in Ireland'

It's still getting better and better!

Finally finished ballasting the outside double track using the method Anthony recommended using isopropanol alcohol and water before applying the PVA glue and it works well. Then came the fun bit of getting all the points to work again. Then I ran wiring from each point back to my control point and that ended up with a rat’s nest of wiring. I had some faults when I tested the points and had to replace some of the wires before getting it all to work. I did a short video testing the track after ballasting. This is the proposed site for the new station just completed by Glenderg and for collection this weekend. See his Projects Page under “Workshops”

I downloaded Windows Live Movie Maker and that seems to work for me. Hopefully the results will be up on the site later today. Thanks again for your help.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks Garfield for your reply. I have a PC and the camera is a Lumix FS10. I've tried using Moviemaker but it does not seem to like Quicktime video. I'll converting it and see if I can get it to work. Failing that I'll have a look at Avid Xpress

Any recommendations on free software to edit video? The default for my camera is Quicktime. I’m looking for a program to edit various clips before I uploading them.

With the roof on it really brings this building to live - it will be hard to bring the surrounding on the Kirley Junction layout up to this standard. Richie I will PM you soon.

If you are coming as far as Belfast you should make a point of visiting the Ulster Transport Museum on the road to Bangor - http://www.nmni.com/uftm/Collections/Transport-(1)/Transport-Galleries/Transport-Galleries. It's a pity you were not here in November as there is a Model Railway Day at the Museum. Enjoy your trip.

Yes Hunslet I used the cheap option getting the Dapol rather than the Bachmann 150, the motor goes well so I'll live with my decision.

For anyone looking a real challenge in kit building have a look at these two. Q KITS Irish railways 141 /071 class - resin kit http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261113474137?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 Q KITS Irish railways 001 class - resin kit http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261113477843?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

email sent Leslie.

Some good pointers -thanks Frank

Lookin' good A4. Like the way the bridges are tying in the scene and the trees add that bit of realism.

I like your Scenic Rust results, looks the part. As for your Supertrain again a very pleasing result. I have never used the Hornby always Lima Mk 3's and I am tempted to do a rake of carriages, if I had the room to store them. Well done on your project.

I'm with you there Stephen. Are you finding like me that the height of the Woodland Trackbed makes it difficult to get an even camber from the rails to the baseboard level? I suppose it will get easier with practice like the wiring especially when there is so much to ballast. From a fellow sufferer.