LNERW1

Well, no update on RC yet, but I have gotten a bit of landscaping done at the Cut at Barnacollin, since some of the cutting wall had been washed over the tracks. As such I’ve started removing the sloped loose earth and excavated back to an almost vertical face made up of more tightly packed earth. Ive also cleared the debris off the track and replaced it with an even layer of fine soil- hopefully this will allow for some “green track” to form similar to that seen on Bord na Móna. Just a small update for now, but hopefully I’ll have a bit more progress to share soon.

Realise I'm 3 years late but all the infrastructure from Cherryville to Waterford was built to accomodate double track (and immediately north of Waterford there was room for a third track carrying Limerick Junction trains). Thankfully although most rail-over bridge decks are single track, the supports are all still wide enough to support double track the entire way, and new bridges over IÉ alignment are as wide as practical by default, so of course have room for a second track. The only point at which there isn't room is the <200m section over Thomastown viaduct, but as demonstrated at Drogheda, a very short single-track section is manageable, especially adjacent to a station. It would involve replacing the aforementioned majority of single-track rail-over spans, but all other masonry can accomodate dual track, and aforementioned triple track would also be possible north of Waterford, although I'm not sure it's necessary given that the Limerick Junction line would be unlikely to ever go above one train per hour per direction and the Dublin line is unlikely to go above 2 in the next few decades.

Appears that @irishrail201 has been inactive since 2021, but it looks like it may have been done by hand with either a fine paintbrush or waterslide lining strips, plenty available from Fox Transfers although no idea whether that's what they used.

You don't need to be there day in day out. As long as you're over 16 you can volunteer on your own and if you're 13-16 you can volunteer in some roles if there's a parent or guardian on site. And if it's easier for you to get to Stradbally we'd be happy to take you! Everywhere is in need of volunteers, and basically every railway in Ireland is small enough that you'll get to do the fun stuff fairly quickly. If you have a question about volunteering somewhere drop me a PM, as a quite young heritage railway volunteer i might have some useful experience.

Are you struggling this Easter? Cant stop thinking of all that wonderful chocolate just sitting around taunting you? Well, I was just like this too, until I supplanted chocolate with a better addiction- trains. This Easter, why not head down to the Stradbally Woodland Railway to keep yourself busy? This 5th and 6th of April we will be ready to distract you as much as possible from those chocolatey cravings, even if just for a couple of hours- as long as you stay well away from the coffee shop, that is. And if you change your mind and decide to indulge anyway, our Steamin’ Brews coffee shop is right there on site- now I think of it, maybe the getaway idea isnt so good after all. Well, either way, we have trains. You probably like them if you’re on this forum! So, plan your visit here and book here. Hope to see some of you there on the 5th and 6th! This time around we should hopefully be running steam, as No. 2 “Róisín” was unexpectedly out of service last time.

Yep, the Aran Islands port. For the expanded port to make sense it also serves the fictitious island of Sheehaun, on which my garden railway is set, to create more traffic and justify its existence in the first place.

Just popping in to change the thread title and layout name, Rossaveel just makes it clearer where it’s set in the real world.

At the moment all my stock is track powered, 18V DC. However the majority of my track was made before the collapse of the Soviet Union and has basically been in constant outdoor use since, so it's not all in the best condition. As such I'm just not bothering to deep clean track, tighten fishplates, swap out some sections, rewire points, and worry about where to put power droppers, and I'm planning to slowly work my way through my collection, fitting them each with radio control one-by-one. However, at the moment I have no RC locos and no controllers, so I can't actually run anything. However, I do have a short term plan, which I will hopefully be able to share soon.

A slight mishap during test runs. IMG_2453.mov

If anyone has any battered LGB, Aristocraft or Piko G scale track they are looking to shift and make a bit of money off of, I’ll be willing to pay roughly €5-€10ish per 1ft/300mm straight and then double for 600mm/2ft straights, €10ish per R1 curve, €15-20ish per wide radius curve, €20-30ish per turnout (R1). All negotiable to a point. As long as the track has two rails and no more than a couple missing sleepers, and if a turnout works, I’ll happily buy it. No worries about any conductivity problems, dirty rails, damaged fishplates, missing sleepers, as long as it’s the right gauge and rail code, and something will roll over it without derailing, it’s good. And again, prices all negotiable to a point. No in-thread offers please, PM only.

And further record of the works around The Cut and Green River (Barnacollin): #

Work progressing at Green River Cut, 9 March 2026.

American “Foamers” would kill for that thing on the right. That’s a reverser handle, and it’s basically a car key for American locos. If you have one of those youre most of the way to nicking a GM or GE diesel, but as you can imagine most people who have them dont plan to do so. Black ones are usually rarer since theyre harder to spot if you’re snooping around yards at night looking for any that might have been dropped. Mostly thats how railfans get a hold of them in the US, but I’d say knowing IÉ and CIÉ staff that one was probably a gift from a driver. We do generally have quite nice railway employees compared to some other countries.

Having finally tidied up the Christmas decorations and “recycled” the remaining leftovers, wrapping paper and cardboard boxes in the firebox, we’re preparing for the start of our running season. This coming Sunday, March 15, the Stradbally Woodland Railway will be running passenger trains for the first time this year. We’re delighted to once again welcome passengers to our 1km line in anticipation of Paddy’s Day and if you’d like to sign up to be a volunteer and play trains- I mean get a glimpse of railway operations- at 1:1 scale, you can also do so in person on the day. So if you can, you’re welcome to come down and see our fleet in action, and witness decades of railway and industrial history. Those interested can book here and plan your visit here. I personally am also happy to answer any technical questions about the SWR and our fleet and can aid anyone looking to model any of our fleet, including providing photos.

Is this @Westcorkrailway or @228RiverOwenboy returning?

I did a weathering! weathering showcase 8pm wed 28 jan 8pm.mp4 click here for cool awesomeness and awesome coolness: https://www.youtube.com/@LNERW1 (no waffling yet but as the french say, i am le working on it)

Ahhh. That does indeed make a lot of sense. British street names often have fascinating backstories. But maybe don't look into Grape Lane.

As far as I know Piccadilly isnt a place. Theres Piccadilly Circus in London and Manchester Piccadilly station. It might be a place like Waterloo, wherein it was named after a location of a military victory? also check your phone for behind the scenes updates

A quick video update: WhatsApp Video 2026-01-24 at 16.51.30.mp4

With all my toys being in boxes until they can be set up properly in the layout room, I decided to have a go at making something out of a cereal box to practice my modelling. I ended up making platform edges on the bare bones of a micro layout. As I worked I decided that, given it was a small space and I really want to do some proper modelling, I’d have a go at making a micro layout to sharpen layout building skills that I’ll need to build a large layout in the new railway room. And so a story began to take shape, and I decide to set the layout in south-east England in British Rail days, specifically the early 1970s. Bucksdown is a commuter town just southeast of Sevenoaks, with housing largely built around the Bucksdown and Ightam Railway’s station, located on King Street in what was, at the time of opening, a town of only 600 or so. As the town grew from the railway’s arrival in 1869, the South Eastern Railway built a station at Sevenoaks Weald in 1883, to attract some traffic from the town to its line. However, this was largely unsuccessful, and so in 1894 they built a short spur into the town centre, and opened Bucksdown Piccadilly station. Initially the branch could only be accessed from the south, as the line mainly served passengers headed to Folkestone and Dover, given traffic to London was served by the King Street line, joining the Kent Downs at Ightam. However, the amount of passengers changing to northbound trains at Hildenborough led the SER to opening a new chord, linking Piccadilly and Bucksdown Road, in 1902. From there, the station continued largely as normal, with once-an-hour trains going from London Bridge to Folkestone and vice versa, via the station, as well as a shuttle running to Bucksdown Road and Sevenoaks to connect with direct trains. However, it was never electrified under the SR, remaining steam powered until 1960. More importantly, British Railways started to cut services to Bucksdown Piccadilly, and with the Beeching Report, the station lost all services except a two-carriage express to London Bridge. After local protest, a peak-only shuttle to Ashford was instated, running out at the morning peak and returning in the evening. Due to the reduced service patterns, the station itself was rationalised. It was significantly shortened to accommodate for a new shopping centre, and this meant removal of the run-round at the buffer stops and one of the three platforms taken out of use. This left a much reduced station to coincide with the reduced service. However, it created issues as the locals further protested that the two-car express service could not be satisfactorily provided by any of the current DMUs on the Southern Region, and as such it was begrudgingly run with a Class 73 or 31, and two Mark 1 coaches. This provided further problems, as the loco and two coaches could not fit in the shortened platforms, and the line outside the station was too tightly restrained to allow the loco to run round outside the station. Thus, a unique operating pattern began: -As the train approached the station throat, it stopped at a point shortly outside the station, and the loco detached and ran into the Ashford platform. -The crew walked back to Thorpe Road siding, beyond the rear of the train, where a shunter was stabled. -The carriages were shunted into the London bay platform. -The driver returned the shunter to Thorpe Road siding, while passengers disembarked. -When the driver returned, boarding began of the return London service. -The crew moved the loco out from the Ashford platform, and backed onto the train. At this point the train would be ready to depart for London again. The Ashford train was much simpler, being run by various first generation DMUs, basically anything that was available at 6 on a weekday morning. This mode of operation would eventually take over the London train, as the arrival of the Express Sprinter meant the London train was worked by a pair of Class 158s from 1990, and in 2014 the line was finally electrified, with services being operated by Southeastern class 466s. As the Networkers are phased out of service, plans are afoot to extend the station further into the now partially vacant shopping complex, allowing trains up to 5 car Class 707s to use the station, and adding back the third platform. The King Street line is also doing well, providing a useful connection to the Kent Downs line. However, we are not in 2026. We are in 1970, and all services except the London train have been cut back. The Ashford shuttle is yet to start running, meaning the southbound curve is disused and only one destination, London, can be reached from the much-shrunken station. Piccadilly is near derelict, and is empty but for a few staff, for hours every day. The only people who pass through are a handful of commuters and, every now and then, the odd enthusiast down to watch the unusual operation at the station. This is the setting for the layout. And so, here are some photos: And a couple of maps to clarify the location of the layout, first the general intended location of Bucksdown: And a map of the Bucksdown area: Bucksdown Map.pdf (scanned from a hand-drawn map. Hopefully my handwriting is legible enough). I’ll elaborate more on my plans for the layout itself tomorrow, but for now I should reassure any readers that this is a short, simple project. It has a very clear endpoint, and once I’m done, if it is to a reasonable quality, I may look at exhibiting it. It’s meant to be a stop-gap until I can get a proper start on my main layout, and, most importantly, it’s my only modelling project. Im not going to bounce around and change my mind and rip up and redo. This will be a simple project that I will actually DO. I know thats somewhat hard to believe given how unreliable I am, but I hope to prove I can actually build a layout and not just sit around planning and making empty promises. This is half to find an outlet for modelling, and half to maintain my own ego, to be honest! But hopefully someone finds this interesting. (also, thank you very much @Metrovik for coming up with the name Piccadilly)

Does what it says on the tin! It looks like I’ll be going a few interesting places in the foreseeable and ive just made a vlog of a trip to visit family in Spain over the new year (premieres today at 5PM GMT) and I think some people here would be interested.

Guess who’s back? Quick video tour of where I am now, as promised. IMG_2122.mov

It's a bit of a risk going to Valencia as it puts me within missile range of the Canaries, so I'll have to take a break from being an insufferable asshole to poor @DJ Dangerous when I'm down there! But needs must. Hopefully I can get a bitta video of the Spanish choo choos to put up here, and maybe on YouTube since I only have one video up as is.

Preliminary earthworks along the south wall of the garden, from Knockrann curve to Barnacollin bridge. Annoyingly difficult to level out since the shovel snapped. Apologies for the rather dark video but I only thought to record my progress after the sun went down. IMG_2033.mov Since the railway room has been built, theres been a line of spoil along the southern edge of the garden, which I’ve started shaping into an embankment leading to behind the new building. I thought I’d post this as I’ll be visiting family in Spain from Monday to Thursday, so I won’t have another opportunity to share progress for a while. At the end of the week, once im back home and it’s daytime again, I’ll do a full walkthrough of the planned alignment. The railway has been planned for nearly four years now, so hopefully 2026 will be the year it finally comes to fruition.

Here we are: Full network as of 6 Dec 2025, with suburban services in Limerick and Cork and trams in Limerick, as well as Intercity from Cork (Youghal) to Limerick: Dublin with incomplete network and intercity lines emanating: Cork area (infrastructure): Cork city (services): Note the Melbourne-style tunnels around the city centre to allow the city to have a metro-type network as well as a grade-seperated access between the West Cork lines and main network. I'm very fond and proud of this feature. The two suburban lines are Mallow-Athnowen (west of Ballincollig on the Macroom line) and Cobh-Ringaskiddy (via Airport). The idea is that the tunnels can easily run under the motorways using cut-and-cover construction and tunnel boring under the city centre. I'm very dedicated to giving Cork a network that could allow it to grow and function far better and begin to rival Dublin. Cork Area (services): Limerick (infrastructure): Limerick (services): Dublin Airport station complex (Metrolink and Clongriffin-Drumree line intersecting): I think I'm approaching 200 hours on this game- I can never say it wasn't worth the price. I'm excited to see more services running and intersecting with each other on this bigger network.