derek

Only realised now that I didn,t put the crossover in my track plan sketch. So here is a pic instead........

Thanks Jonathan. ( apologies if I have your name wrong). Yes , as I said, this layout was originally following the styles of some British ones I had seen on the Hornby forum ( wash my mouth out! ) So I went with the old tapered platforms, red and yellow post office, red phone booth etc.... A lot of stuff on there will have to be radically changed. ( I think platforms are glued down, so thats,s going to be fun). The green paint wil be the least of my problems. The loops are actually joined with a pair of points behind the pub and post office. Is this called a crossover? With the inside loop radius being so tight, it doesn,t see much action. On a more positive note, I have the extension baseboard and backscene made. Two bridges from DAS clay will be next.. Sean, I will dig out the old box I had the small loop in, and hopefully get to the bottom of what the radius actually was. Gonna have to dress those graves in. ( theres a statement I never thought I would say). After I made them I just sort of plonked them on the grass.

He sure can,t. Been talking (pestering) to him for a while and finally pulled the trigger. Yes, thinking about it now, the track is probably 371 with the curves "bunched up". As I said, there wasn.t a whole pile of planning put into the layout originally.

Denis, Irish invasion has begun. Finally got my hands on a 141/181, thanks to Dave of Wrenneire fame. Pleasure to deal with, has to be said. Was trying to get one for a while and typically , two came along together- Daves one and Mogul had one as well. Here a few pics, showing the existing layout and the extension. The King Edward was my pride and joy before discovering the Irish scene. The building with the red windows and yellow door was a post office so that definitely needs "Irishification". (BREAK OUT THE GREEN PAINT!) I am also on the hunt for Guinness signage or such like for the pub ( J Sheehans). Any suggestions?

Turns out that the inside loop is actually 770mm out to out , giving a radius of 385. Obviously not standard by any means. I remember having a Lima set as a kid (1970s ), and I kept a lot of stuff from then, so maybe Lima had their own geometry (Fixed and ballasted so I cant check. I just stuck down what I had in a box and went from there) . Maybe someone can shed some light on this?.

Thanks for the positive reactions lads. The inside oval is only 371mm, so only the BR from 1977 and the little tank( at the station platform) can run on that. Everywhere else is 438 and larger so no problems there. The buildings are made of 4mm mdf with perspex windows. Thinking I might give a little more attention to detailing them and might replace the station building altogether. The bridge and tunnel were 6mm mdf with the "stonework" etched out with a wood chisel. Have since discovered the wonders of Das modelling clay, so I might replace/ modify those too

My layout began back in 2012 as a 9 feet by 4.5 feet "constant running" operation. ( Dont like the term "tail chaser"). For that reason alone some on here might be put off , but I thought I would put it up here anyway. It also had a 3 feet by 2 feet fiddle/goods /storage area to the side. My love for trains goes back to childhood , where I routinely ruined a number of locos by running them over carpet. One Hornby set survived (BR Inter City) class 45 (I think). I kept this set with me on leaving home, promising myself that someday I would make a proper layout . It took over 25 years but I finally found myself in a house with room enough for said layout. And lo and behold the loco still ran! I have to say that I never looked beyond Hornby and so the layout was anything but Irish. That is the reason I haven,t given it a typically Irish title( Bally.... Glen... Kil...etc.) I wasn,t even aware of an Irish modelling community until a couple of years ago when I knocked across the IRM A class for pre order. I was aware of the MM141s okay but didn,t think there would be any rolling stock so I largely ignored it. (How silly was I?) Ihave since purchased an A class, with some park royals pre ordered, and intend to "Irishise" the layout as much as possible. All the buildings, bridges, tunnels etc are scratch built, for better or worse. Ihave recently commandeered some more of the room so I am planning a 5 feet by 4 feet extension at the side where the goods yard is presently, giving me an L shaped layout. Here are some pics, so feel free to offer comments, criticisms( constructive or otherwise), or insults.

I would be interested to hear any replies on this as I am also looking for signage for a scratch buillt pub on my layout. Would prefer Guinness, but would take Harp or Beamish etc, But not Smithwicks uuughhh,,,,,,

If only someone in Ireland had some Mk2,s for sale......... Chaps

I have 4 CIE mk2s for sale. 3/ composite (5152) and 1/ 1st (5102). They are a bit too modern for my liking so they have to go. Bought them to run with my A class (027) but never thought they suited . now I have the Park Royals pre ordered, so have to make room. I am looking for 75euro each plus p+p. Or could meet in Limerick area. Never really run, and in original boxes like new

Sorry one more thing. Will the livery be same as 027?. I,m going to guess yes.......... Hopefully

delighted to hear this announcement as I have been trying to source some cie rolling stock but was not gonna pay the gougers on some sites for cravens. Real arm and a leg stuff . I was seriously considering buying some random lookalike coaches and attempting to paint them myself. The " Irish" part of my collection consists of one IRM Aclass (027) (superb) and four MM carriages. It was all Hornby stuff with me before I even realised there was an Irish modelling scene. Just a couple of questions on the Park Royals: Will the couplings be the same as those on the A class, as the ones on the MM coaches have my head melted. They just dont line up. And on the expected delivery date: In the original announcement by Warbonnet, quarter2 of 2024 is given but earlier on this thread Stephen mentions next January. Just wondering which is it?. Doesn,t matter either way as I will be pre ordering three at least. Thanks

thanks for the detailed reply Alan. Guess I will have to test out the quality of the family printer and see what happens

Unbelievable work here Alan. The level of detail is mindblowing. Just wondering where you get your figures, particularly the three lads beside the C N wagon. (One with a mug of tea in his hand). Also , your company signage. Are the signs handmade or made to order, as you mention that they are named for your four great Grandfathers.? If handmade, fancy sharing techniques?. Thanks and well done again

Just wondering if anyone has used W/S rusty rail markers? When I try to paint the side of my tracks I find that the tip "rides over" the plates, so I just get paint in the spaces between the sleepers and have to spread paint with a fine brush, totally defeating the purpose. On the video tutorial on W/S site this problem doesn,t occur. Thinking it,s my track maybe- basic Hornby track. Maybe the gap between the underside of the rail and the plate is too narrow to allow the marker tip through? Thinking of trimming the tip with my trusty Stanley knife? Also while I,m at it, weathered tie marker doesn,t seem to make any difference to the sleeper colour. They just seem to stay the same black colour. Has anybody else found this? Patrick told me he used these track painters and his track looks great ( like all of his layout). Just wondering if I am doing something wrong. Thanks in advance for any help.

happy to report that both loops are now working indepently and properly. Taking both of your advice I removed some ballast from under the suspect left hand point clips, and lo and behold I can now isolate each loop as I wish . Thanks for the helpful replies

sorry, dont know how that last post appeared. Anyway thanks for the help lads, especially that extremely one from Signalpost. Really went the extra mile to help. I think those clips could be the problem okay. When I switch the power to the main oval I have to use a little piece of wood to keep the blade fully connected ( the little black set up just before the bridge) so I think that left hand points is definitely not operating properly. I cant get near it until the weekend, but when I do will report back. Thanks for the kind words too on the scenery, although I,m not too sure myself. The bridge and tunnel facings were made of 6mm mdf, with a wood chisel used to carve out stonework. I have since discovered the joys of modelling clay and intend to replace the bridge at least. Here is another bridge on same layout from clay. Thanks again

sorry here are the r/h points

Yes I understand what you are asking and I can confirm that a loco will run in both directions on the "black" oval without entering the "red" section. The points are Hornby straight left and right hand points. Here are some pics (not sure if they help) First l/hpoints and then r/h. Incidentally I have the same set up at the station and have no problems. I think I may have to dig out one or both of the points in queston and replace them. sorry here are the r/h points

Thanks for the replies. George, can I ask what are "baccy couplings"?. The termonology in these replies is going over my head to be honest. I just refer to my couplers as "Hornby type". The A class I have lines up with everything else I have exept for these MM carriages. Is it possible to just remove the sprung couplers on the carriages and swap for the type on the A. thanks again......

Here is a pic of the full layout. Points are hornby straight points. Cant show underside as they are fixed and ballasted. Two loops with a controller for each.

My Murphy Models carriages have couplings which are slightlly higher than those on my IRM A class. Although I can run them, it leads to quite a number of uncouplings. Very annoying. Can I swap out the MM cou[lers and is this a big job?. I,m sure I am not the only one to have come across this problem. Dont know if pics helpThanks in advance.

Hi, just wondering if anyone can tell me what is going on with my layout? If I run a train on the black section and have a "dormant"one sitting in the red section, both trains will move although both points are switched to the black section. If I run the outer loop and sit a loco at point X, I dont have a problem. Layout is powered by cheap and cheerful Hornby analogue controllers. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Thanks yet again Patrick. Will go with W/S rusty rail and weathered tie for sleepers I think

thanks for that Patrick