Auto-Train Original

Scenery wise, I would exaggerate the embankment leading down to the beach. It would make the flat viewing perspective more interesting.

Can get over the number of trains serving Sligo in 1959 including overnight passenger services! The end of mail trains was the end of so much.

Cryril Freezer's plans are really ideas more than practical layouts. You can't build most of them outside of something like Lionel O Gauge track. Having said that, there were some neat plans that if you had the space could work. I have his book and do like dipping into it now and again.

The best decision. There was never a case for this being reopened. https://www.rte.ie/news/connacht/2026/0908/1590681-sligo-greenway/

One of the things which strikes about the latter-day photos of rail lines like the Swilly, is that they are not as dilapidated as you might expect. If anything, they look well looked-after and clean. I have seen photos of far worse railway dilapidation on CIE in the 60s and even 80s.

Would love to see the Fry layout as it was in Malahide built here. The Casio in Dublin is a woeful effort, I do not care what people say. Everyone, including me, finds it massively disappointing. No ones fault. The building is too small.

https://www.independent.ie/county/sligo/sligo-miniature-world-creator-seeks-old-cie-depot-at-quays-as-permanent-home-for-attraction/a/160429303.html

Hear me out. About 30 years ago, a friend and I were trying to come up with a plan to produce Irish R-2-R rolling stock, but considered the market for Irish 00 trains to be too small at that time. So one idea we had was to reverse the wheel and produce locos with their shells swapped. So a British loco could be put on an A or C class chassis or that some of the coaches could be sold in UK liveries (Mk2s etc) into the UK market to finance the production of the Irish models. It was one of these 'closing time at the pub' ideas, and never really went much further as our knowledge of the prototypes was not in depth enough. We also were looking into an Athearn style drive to make the performance superior to the Ringfield/Pancake motors which dominated UK models at the time. Also the coaches would have flush glazing which was also not a thing at the time. Thinking about it again the other day, got me wondering if the chassis of any Irish locos, DMUs and so on could have been sold in to the UK market with the 'export' shell or repaint?

Yes in N Gauge based on CNW push pull commuter services out of Chicago with a timetable working and everything. His articles always inspiring. Then produced UK and European versions of the Warren idea. Great stuff.

I also think the scene elements took off because of colour photos in magazines and books. Another element is cost. When you add up tracks, scenery, wiring, switches/eletrics it becomes a lot more costly than dying sawdust and making buildings from cardboard. I think scenery layouts appeal because they were more affordable. The Inglenook and Timesaver layouts did kind of get around the cost issue as small operational layouts. But people do like continuous runs too, for relaxation and breaking in new locos. Chris Ellis in Model Trains International promoted the Inglenook within an oval which is the best of both worlds.

The main problem I have encountered with building such layouts is inclines. Even using the Woodland Scenic incline/decline kits, it never works out. You need a serious lenght of track to gain enough height to cross over other lines. Or consign yourself to very short trains. There was a chap on YouTube who built a 6 x 4 decent enough layout with an elevated section. He did everything by the book and even locos struggled to haul themselves up the inclines. So my next layout everything will be at grade.

He really was a genius and visionary. He even speculated back in the 50s that if TV had model railroad programs that clubs would find it difficult to gain members as most people will build 'their pike' at home and then use the TV for what they otherwise might gain in the clubs. This is precisely what has happened now with YouTube.