Tractionman

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what a lovely period shot that is! the bicycles leaning against the signal box, the bench and the fencing, very evocative many thanks! interesting too to see how the signal box is set down into the platform slightly, I'll be able to do this. the newer camp buildings look like suburban type housing, I might need to find a suitable backscene--so far I have not managed to find one that really matches the camp setting that well, it may have to be a bodge, unless I decide to try to create my own from stitching some photos together. I bought a Hunslet in maroon with revised arc and just love that livery, so I can see some coaches heading my way too for recreating that cross-border service cheers, Keith

thanks yes, tbh the space I have available has been the issue causing so much procrastination I think (as well as time!) as it offers too many options for locations, eras, track-plans, etc, and because I like industrial steam, narrow gauge, 1930s LMS and LNER, 1970-80s BR, etc etc as well as 1970s CIE / NIR, nailing down a layout period and location has proved challenging! I think with Mosney there is scope to include (without too much compromise and sufficiently realistically) some of the range of railway/modelling interests I have--plus of course the ability for running full-length trains through a landscape, with trackwork not overly complex and so hopefully not too much of a challenge for my wiring-up skills cheers, Keith

excellent, thanks very much, great, some nice short train possibilities for me much appreciated, many thanks now I was thinking, wouldn't it be great to have a miniature railway! I'll have to get some Z-gauge track... exactly that's what I like, yes! very theraputic, I had a layout in our last house in the attic, and never got to the scenery stage, but really enjoyed just watching the trains go by, especially on double track. thanks very much for the workings and inf here, very interesting, looks like I need to save some beans for those lovely IRM 'Enterprise' coaches! cheers, Keith

many thanks, yes spot on--I have been building up a small collection of stock for c.1974-1978, I need more coaches but I am sure they will be acquired in due course! I have my eye on the Enterprise stock... ooh brilliant, some shorter passenger services would work well for me I appreciate everyone's inputs and enthusiasm on all this, it'll help spur me on through the 'sticking point' I have met with so far on my many unbuilt mooted layouts, actually finally deciding on something and trying to get track down and scenery installed! all best wsihes, Keith

Very many thanks @Anders112 it's been a long journey of much dithering! If I can keep things quite simple hopefully I'll have a chance to make progress and start running some trains Cheers, Keith

well there's no time like the present! so here's a mock up of the Mosney track configuration, I have used a single slip at one end to help compress things a bit, it's all track I have had knocking about for years, Peco code 100. the old BR stock parked in the loop here gives an idea of the scale / size for full size passenger trains, enough for eight coaches plus loco which seems about right. and my trusty Bachmann signal box may finally have a reason for being, it sits quite well. all in all the formation needs to be raised by about an inch, to lift it up a bit, and then the foreground can be rough ground with some paths leading to the beach! at either end of the running lines I'll have to invent some overbridges as scenic breaks, but I reckon this will be ok. I have just bought some Dapol bungalow kits, they look about right to me for a 1950s holiday camp scenario: https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/dapol-c021-kitmaster-detached-bungalow-kit.html especially with those massive TV aerials! the backdrop will need some thought, a lowish raised bank should do it, and some trees to screen, and a distant open looking landscape perhaps, the camp buildings at Mosney were set some distance away from the railway--this is where my bungalows will probably go, to give some interest/cover. so this is the space (excuse the dust!): onwards and upwards... cheers, Keith

That's a great cross-section of images! Thanks very much The details here in the photos are very handy, eg the fencing along and behind the platform, the station lamps, the concrete facing of the platform (I was wondering about that as it'll be visible) and also the track arrangement, the crossovers to the loop, and the buffer stops at each end--and as you say the landscape along the line here, it all does look doable. Plus the scope for running a variety of trains, of different eras, which appeals--blimey I might even be able to run some of my BR stuff too as these Butlin's camps were apparently based on a particular model, reapeated in other locations, flat ones too, in GB, like Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, and north Wales coast etc etc! all the best, Keith

Thanks yes it'd suit me quite well, I have about twenty feet length and two and a half feet depth for the baseboards, already in place. I was thinking the viewing side would be from the sea, so the foreground scrubby and gorsey and flat, the trackbed raised above this slightly. I might need to invent a bit of a bank behind the station with a suitable backscene but aerial images of the holiday camp show a large green field, so it could be a fairly empty looking background. I'm eyeing up some dapol bungalow kits which look the part period wise! Cheers, Keith

You know how it is, seeing some prototype and thinking, hmm now that would be good as a source of inspiration... The dicussion on Sligo elsewhere is a case in point, but I keep coming back to something simpler, less is more, that kind of thing. And then on Facebook a post on Mosney, piqued my curiosity. Partly it was seeing the signal box on the platform, looked just like this one I have https://www.hattons.co.uk/23342/bachmann_branchline_44_010_hampton_hill_signal_box_scenecraft_range/stockdetail and then then there is the simplicity of the track plan at Mosney, the double track mainline, the long loop, a bidirectional platform serving a holiday camp, in my mind's eye allows all sorts of interesting excursion traffic possibilities At the same time the double track just looks great for watching those trains go by, eg So folks, perhaps this is it? Finding inspiration as a cue to getting going with the layout, I am sure we all have the same kinds of prompts, the question is, will it become a reality?! cheers, Keith

Review in this month's Railway Modeller mag (October issue but just out!). Mention in the final paragraph of 'plans in the fullness of time' for main line versions including those converted to BSOs.

prompting me to have a look at the OS 25" plans on Geohive, not sure of the dates of these, I like the look of Sligo with the engine shed at one end and the station at the other: though Galway looks good too:

interesting thanks for this--I might have to consider this too as an option! I still have not settled on a plan--so this discussion is all very helpful, and giving me food for thought cheers, Keith

ah understood, that makes sense--I guess DCC would make this easier in model form, I run DC so would need isolating sections!

it seems a complex arrangement -- fine for a very confined urban setting, as was originally envisaged for the plan, but perhaps a bit too complex for a location where space was/is less of an issue? whereabouts on the MGWR might a station have warranted such a configuration? I like a set of crossovers too at the teminus to release the loco to run around, whereas Minories is more for through-running and / or unit-based operations rather than loco-haulage? cheers, Keith