LNERW1

Interested, but can’t seem to find dimensions online. Do you have them please?

Looking at that last night from Co. Laois, seemed to be a spoked formation with shafts of light spreading out. The centre of it was well defined, we were joking that the TARDIS was about to come out of it….

You know BYD stands for Build Your Dreams, right? Like what kind of ridiculous horse manure…

There’s a small video game called Brick Rigs, based around the use of vehicles built out of Lego-style bricks, which I play sometimes. The vehicles are made by individual players, and uploaded to the “workshop”. The game has a large variety of realistic trains, trams, etc., but I have never been able to find many Irish vehicles. However, among those which I did find were RUC LR Simbas, Tangis, etc., Ryanair planes and a couple of Garda and PSNI vehicles. However, I found absolutely no trains from the island of Ireland, and, having done lacklustre repaints/ reletterings of a HST and EMD G16 into IÉ paint schemes, I found a fellow who had made a Translink unit, I believe generic, but I haven’t used it in a while, so I do t quite remember. I don’t know if it really counts when it’s a community-sourced game like this, but I thought some people would be interested to know of it.

Interesting- I think the potential of the lines as tourist attractions or carriers is quite an interesting idea! As far as I know, the Connemara Railway only plans to run less than 10km of the old line, but a railway to Clifden would, couple with effective onward transport, allow for easy, environmentally friendly, and hopefully cheap, access to areas like Roundstone, Ballyconneeley, historic areas like the site of the Marconi station and Alcock and Brown’s landing site, etc. as well as providing access to Moycullen, Oughterard, etc. The same could very much be said for the West Cork lines, the Valentia, etc. Also possible would be the line (I believe just a short spur) to Achill station, allowing for access to that and other islands in Clew Bay by rail (and that’s one I can really see an ICR on). Others- Donegal (All of it, including connecting to Derry), West Clare, expansion of holiday services along the former DSER mainline and to Rosslare, Waterford and Tramore, the list goes on and on and on and on and on and… you get the point. PS- South Wexford? Maybe not, not really a seaside route or serving anywhere of particular historic importance, I’m pretty sure south Wicklow/north Wexford is a lot more historic.

Interesting to see the list of components and suppliers- I love stepping onto a train and noticing little details, like the "Alstom" on the short step in front of the door on Pendolinos, or the "Hyundai" at the end of each car in a 22000. I'll be looking out for those little things whenever I hop on one of those units.

Great to hear all the support- main inspiration will be the area of Dublin near Connolly Station (As well as the Ballymun housing development and Ardoyne House in Ballsbridge, where I lived for seven years), Glasgow, central Birmingham and northeast London. The canals are also mainly inspired by Birmingham, although I did have a friend, who I visited often, who lived in a house adjacent to a canal, but I don't remember which one. I plan to have the ticket office/waiting room in arches underneath the platforms themselves, inspired by Birmingham Snow Hill. The trams are probably just going to be whatever I can find, as there isn't really any UK-outline model trams available anywhere, even in kit form(to my knowledge, anyway, I'm not a tram person), and the use of it as a street tramway is inspired by the Saint-Malo street tramways, which i visited when I went to France over Easter (Which @Metrovik said was "The most Abbeyleix thing ever"). Also, @Flying Snail, I would agree about the similarity to Jools Holland's layout in the urban scene, covering several different countries. Like that layout, I will very much try to make it a collection of vignettes, like a child on their first day of school (like myself, leaving their apartment building on a bike with a backpack), experiences I've had at several stations around the UK and Ireland, times I've spent walking along canals, taking the tram, even crossing the footbridge at Kidderminster station to get to a Severn Valley Railway gala. Everyone has their own special connection with the railway, and often some aspect of the landscape around it, and I'm trying to emphasise that here. Obviously, I don't have as many memories to put into this as some of the other forum members may, myself being younger than most of the trains I see the most often (071s, 22000s and MKIVs), but I still have a story to tell with this. Royal Park is going to be a much more personal layout than Ardree, if a little less operationally interesting, but then I'm happy just running trains in and out of the platforms all day. I do plan on making it possible to add loops behind the main board to make it a tailchaser, but that's a long way off. For now, I'm happy building a collection of memories set around a railway line and a block of flats. There we go, poetic interlude over, time to go to bed.

Ah Patrick, stop trying to upset Metrovik.

It's complicated-see thread (for some reason pc isnt letting me add links, just click on my profile and then select "activity". The topic should be near the top)

No chance you could find a photo? I'm looking for inspiration for my layout Royal Park ( see the thread literally only me and metrovik have posted on) and also for a Minecraft project myself and my cousins are working on, but that's not really relevant to the forum, so let's just say Royal Park for now.

Time period is going to be roughly mid-80s to modern day- I'll try not to add too many features that mark the time period too precisely, but I will of course operate whatever I like at home (it is intended for portability, as I would like to exhibit it at some point). All electrification is intended to be removable, so the time period(and location) can again be shifted around a bit. Also, thought I'd share a detailed outline of the layout now, as these details are more or less finalised now. The intention is to have a layered layout, with the levels progressing upwards as follows, with electrification options outlined as well: Baseboard level: Canal ~1in up: Waterside street scene, with tracks usable as dockside tramway or modern tram system (removable catenary)(may also have removable platform etc, in pavement-like style seen in and around Dublin city centre)(Passing loop on single line) ~4in up: Removable third-rail (London Underground and SR style)(double track) ~7in up: Removable overhead electrification, usable as DART, WCML, ECML, London GWML, Woodhead, etc.(double track with central express road) ~10in up: Royal Park housing development, removable tower blocks for transportation as they will reach well over a foot above baseboard level. The third-rail and overhead line platforms will be joined by a removable footbridge, and stairways will connect ticket barriers to RP housing development and street below. Not sure of the plan for the canal really, but I will most definitely be adding a narrowboat as they're just lovely, as well as wanting a challenge in building one from a kit(I believe Alphagraphix make narrowboat kits). Royal Park will have both numbered and named blocks, ie; 2 Royal Park, Clifton Block, this being inspired by my school's naming of buildings after past pupils and notable members of staff, but also referring to them by numbers: Swift Buillding, 90s (The building being named after Jonathan Swift (!), but also being home to classrooms 90A,B and C and 91-98). There will be cassettes either end of the layout on all three levels, with the fiddle yard boards being stepped as well so cassettes don't need to be held in the air as trains run onto them.

I have a VERY rudimentary (it's literally made out of six pieces of printer paper) model of a pub I was planning to remake to a higher standard. The actual "model" I have is completely unfit for use on any layout, with two colours of paper used to make a roof, and windows, doors, even roof thatch, drawn on by a literal child. I don't have any layouts to put the remade model on and I need a bit of cash so I'd be happy to build it for you, sell it for about 20 quid? Just to say, I'm not a brilliant modeller and if you don't like how it turns out you're under no obligation to buy, just trying to see if I can be of any help. Just give me any ideas or specifications for the pub and I'll try meet them- I'm still a relatively new modeller and I'd love a challenge!

Double sided tape as a solution for affixing points is a technique I've seen used before, by YouTuber That Model Railway Guy, but using it for all track and ballast is a new one, and quite smart too.

Fowler House, the Metcalfe kit bought at the show, is progressing nicely. Don't have any photos at hand as I'm typing this up on PC, but rest assured photos to follow.

I’ll see if I can find the video. Think they may have been PEPs, as they are his favourite units and IIRC most of them were being withdrawn last year.

I think I recognise this formation-the TikToker Francis Bourgeois (A trainspotter btw, for anyone not aware) chased something akin to this from Willesden to Newport Sims (I think) in a video posted to his YouTube channel last year.

If you’re doing the west of Ireland, might I respectfully suggest taking some inspiration from the Galway-Clifden line? There is currently a project underway to restore the line around Maam Cross and much of the trackbed is still intact, if you get the chance to visit. There’s also an excellent book by Jonathan Beaumont about the line. I am aware of it as I drive directly past Maam Cross station on my family’s annual, often month-and-a-half-long holiday to Connemara.

Spotted them, do I get a cookie?

The board is quite deep, contemplating adding trams? Further marking it as Ireland. I think the third rail should be removable just in case.

The show changing venue is the MRSI exhibition. I actually first mentioned this on the thread about the change of venue.

They already have their hands full with a couple old BnM locos just rusting behind their works building. These would best be restored rather than just taking on more burdens, plus the SWR has enough locos as it is really, considering the line is relatively short and has a sort of “one engine in steam” policy.

In fairness, as they only have a couple which probably don’t see particularly frequent use, replacing them at closer intervals would mean they wouldn’t get the use out of them. Edit: just to clarify, I know nothing about buses except that they go vroom and that they’re kind of like Pacers with road wheels. Don’t ask me any in-depth questions, because Lord knows I can’t answer them.

Little Siddington was brilliant, but the 4F you got a photo of seemed to either have an incorrect or completely out-of-sync sound profile, as it sounded like an idling mainline diesel for some reason!

Weston Interchange specifically, an urban UK scene, but it was a different kit used on the layout. I mentioned to the guy who built it the Metcalfe kit and he pointed to a stall in the corner and said “I think he has one”. This was at the very end of the show and I got over just in time- the guy was literally packing up as I ran over. The reason I’d been talking to the guy, though, was that I’d had a plan for a tail chaser with a housing estate as the focal point of an inner-suburban junction between an electrified main line and a small branch to a single platform station and a small industry of some kind. It was going to have a housing estate as it’s focal point, and would be called Royal Park. I don’t consider these plans to be for the same layout, as both the general arrangement and the flexibility (The original plan was to have only one type of electrification, as third rail would instantly mark it out as London, and it was to be exclusively GB-based).

Should clarify I was the one who damaged the clip!