Mol_PMB

Dark skies and sunshine in autumn - I'll claim this is what I intended for Quartertown, rather than what I ended up with: (my pic)

I confess that the sky has come out a bit darker than I had intended - I'm now thinking of it as a threatening stormy sky. It is autumn on the model so a storm is plausible. However, lighting has a big influence - many of these photos are taken in rather gloomy artificial light. In due course I'm intending to install some lighting on the layout itself. Most of the building rooves along the backscene will be dark (black corrugated iron or dark slates). I'm hoping they will help to make the sky look a bit lighter in comparison. Too big a colour contrast there might be a bad thing. My big Swiss layout in the garage has a plain, very pale blue sky but sometimes there's too much contrast between the layout and the sky colour. I'm just making excuses really - I mixed too much black into the white paint!

I decided that one was too expensive to post here and risk the wrath of those in the Eurozone! The dark green ones seem scarcer secondhand than the light green, but more sought-after (despite being very much in the minority prototypically). Not one I'll be bidding on. There don't seem to be many Irish bargains around at this time of year. This might be of interest to some, the price isn't silly yet: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/366033351203

Yesterday I went to the O gauge show in Wigan, which was worth a visit for the number of small traders, and an opportunity to browse the Squires stall at leisure without a crowd. I stocked up on quite a lot of scenic items and a few tools. There were also some very nice small layouts, and I was able to take inspiration from the way they were presented. I particularly liked this one, which (albeit in O gauge) is similar in size and composition to my Quartertown Mill: Today I have made some progress on the layout backscene and the mill building. The layout now has some painted birch tree trunks (still awaiting foliage). In front of these will be some homemade sea moss trees (which I'm also working on) and then in the foreground I'll use the Primo trees. So there will be a gradual progression in quality. The old mill now has a roof and a few other details. It's nearly there now, still a few details to add and some more weathering. And of course the canopy which will mostly hide the lower (whitewashed) part. This building is going to be partly hidden behind others, perhaps I've put too much effort into it? But I've enjoyed making it. Here it is placed in situ:

Ah, a "Safe Place". I've made that mistake a few times too.

Very nice - an unusual prototype, very well modelled, and some imaginative photos too. I like this!

There's one of 74 at Omagh in the IRRS archive: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/54252086027

Superb - I love the detailing especially the interior.

That's really looking the part. Nice job on the painting and weathering.

Thanks! It's a big project of mine, but a slow burner and I keep getting distracted onto different things. The model is Om scale, and there's a thread on it over on RMweb: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/184135-the-broc-branch-in-om-scale-an-ambitious-project-that-stalled-for-a-decade-but-is-now-reawakening/ The prototype is the Swiss line from Bulle to Broc-Fabrique (a chocolate factory), metre-gauge for most of its life, including the 1980s period I'm modelling, when it was operated by GFM. From the 1950s to the 1980s, transporter wagons were used for the freight. They then changed to transporter bogies, used until the 2010s. The line has now been regauged to standard and lost much of its character, and there's no longer any freight! I've got quite a few transporter wagons of different lengths, based on the mix of second-hand vehicles bought by the GFM in the 1950s and 1960s:

A little display of models at the IRRS Manchester Christmas meet: Mine in the background, Richard’s in the foreground. He’s got some lovely models!

Not much to report, a little more progress on assembling the mill building, and my tree order has arrived. this isn’t the final placing for the trees, indeed I may put one at the other end of the layout These professionally-made ones will be in the foreground, backed by a couple of homemade seamoss trees and then painted ones on the backscene. I’ll try to keep them all in a similar autumn colour palette.

Wow, super work. There’s no way I can keep up with your pace - I’ve been working on one building for a fortnight.

Funny you should find that - I also had a problem with clearances to masts with my transporters, despite my best efforts to plan it out. Bogie wagons on pairs of transporters have particularly large overthrows on curves.

Do I see some transporter wagons in that freight train? One of my favourite things to see on a model.

I wonder how many of the people promoting this 4-4-0 project will still be alive and able to contribute in 20+ years time? Will they succeed in attracting and training young blood to join the team? Will the next generation of young people see a fossil-fuel burning loco as something they want to be associated with and give up their time and money to support? I can't help feeling that the heritage railway business in general has passed its peak now. The DCDR clearly have done well here, but it's an ongoing challenge to attract volunteers and to develop and maintain competencies, even before you think about the money...

Great to see some more progress!

Sounds like you need your own sieve! Or is it more serious, and you now need your own flat?

A few more photos scoured from t'interweb. Another view of the old building, disused but before it was covered in ivy. I've only got room to model the portion to the right of the downpipe, so have used a bit of modellers licence to move the other double door along a bit. The first map I have found that shows the track layout I'm modelling, with loop. However, the arrangement of buildings is a bit off (or it doesn't match the 1960s/70s images or the present-day survivors). The mill leat (race/stream) runs along the west side of the area I'm modelling, but not really close enough for me to squeeze it onto the model. Unless I extend the board forwards, in which case it could squeeze in at the north end where the site access road bridges over it. A more recent view showing the row of buildings that are still present today. There have definitely been some changes in the building layout at the nearer (southern) end.

Another clue, a bit late for me but nevertheless a useful angle. From an article on Quartertown Mill in the Mallow Field Club Journal No 09 - 1991, which also contains some useful history. https://digital.corkpastandpresent.com/Documents/Detail/mallow-field-club-journal-no-09-991/35856?item=36556 And this image from the same source has already highlighted two errors in what I've built so far (not too serious), but also provides some very useful extra information for the next stages. Note also, just partly visible on the right above the car, a CIE bitumen tank container.

Progress on the old mill. The structural carcass is assembled and I've painted the window frames red. I've used matte medium to add some texture to the front wall, then applied an initial coat of grey on the stonework and bauxite on the brickwork. There's more stages to do on this, but I want these layers to dry properly first. I had some successful experiments with laser-cutting window frames from thick red paper. These are ready to be fitted to the structural carcass. The next stage is to think about the roof and how best to represent the slates. Perhaps more laser-cut paper. But there are some other jobs on the list for this evening (nothing to do with the trainset) and I have quite a busy week ahead at work. So there may be a pause for a few days.

Red it is then! I tend to use some artists matte medium to add texture to some of the larger stones, talc as well is a good idea for other parts of the wall. The row of square holes in the wall (and the half-blocked windows on the first floor) are associated with a canopy across the tracks. That was present in the 1960s and 1970s but now missing. I get the impression that the wall under the canopy may have been whitewashed at some stage - there are still traces of it on the ground floor walls, but not above the row of square holes.

Forbes would have approved! I look forward to seeing what you come up with.