Colonel

Oops! July it is. The weekend after next in fact....

A bit far for those of you on the other side of the water, but our latest Model Railway exhibition takes p!ace on 18/19 August in the Historic Dockyard Museum, Chatham. Well over 100 stands, including 30+ layouts and many of the major traders and manufacturers. If that wasn't enough, you can do "Driver for a Tenner" on one of the museum's diesel locos and even have a go at working one of the steam cranes.

You can only admire such tales of resourcefulness!

My new Model W arrived today and seems to have solved the problem, so guess that will be my 'go to' controller from now on - at least for Swillybegs. The feedback unit works well enough with my Northport Quay stock. The W is still needed for the mobile crane and as back up for the broad gauge of course.

It's been a while, but Swillybegs is back in the frame over the next few weeks, with a late invite to the Chatham Show in under two weeks time, then Hornby/Margate on 15/15 August, the latter alongside their full size collection. So, have recently been working on the layout and stock to get things ready. Fingers crossed, everything seems ok, but note my last entry, back at the end of January! Otherwise, it has mostly about integrating the newest item of stock, Donegal Railcar 8, into proceedings. Turned out to be a tale of two controllers at the moment. My go to has always been a Gaugemaster hand held, feedback model [the black one], with the Model W as standby. However, some motors, especially coreless ones, don't like the feedback model. The result is what might best be described as 'cogging' - hesitant running, almost as if there's a pick up astray somewhere. The Model W, being simpler, doesn't give such problems, but the payback is not such fine control. Anyway, whatever motor is in Railcar 8's bogie, it certainly doesn't like the feedback controller and though things are smoother with the W, they are very 'two speed'. The model crawls along up to about 'notch 5', then suddenly bursts into life. I must have had the W for 30 years, so I've ordered a new one. Yes, I know they come with a lifetime guarantee, but time is tight. The alternative is to run Railcar 8 in reverse, where, for whatever reason, the cogging effect is less. So, shades of Skibbereen, where trains arrived in the headhunt, before reversing into the platform, then likewise reversing out after turning. Have also added a bit of detailing to No8 in the form of luggage, both on the roof and inside - the latter being white metal to give a bit more weight over the motor bogie. The train is deemed to be running on the North Donegal Tramway & hence uses the front platform, so at the moment, the two ex Clogher tanks will act as spare engines.

Article in Railway Magazine confirms Ryder Cup services

Yep - everything hangs together really well.

Been round the Ring of Kerry three times and yet to see much due to (very) soft days. Better luck when we went to Dingle and with the road closely following the railway, you really can see how steep, wild and challenging the route must have been. Plus we have Patrick Whitehouse's fabulous photography of course.

Those card kits are a remarkable resource. I've built dozens of wagons, coaches and even a railbus or two by using them as starting points for construction in plasticard. At just three or four quid each, they are absolute bargains as well. The buildings are great too.

You could always change to 7mm scale JD - Alphagraphix do a good range of six wheelers, plus their card kits of course Can only agree with you on the way etched kits seem to be going, however, if it is coaches you want, what about plasticard? Basic tools only are needed - pencil, ruler, snap off bladed craft knife, plus time of course. The worst job with scratchbuilding coaches is marking out, then cutting out the sides and (especially) windows. A bit tedious and repetitive, likewise adding toplights and/or panelling from microstrip. Plastic seats are available and so also must be bogies, buffers and the like. Roofs can be something solid, like balsa, sanded to shape. Maybe worth a try?

Never seen that happen before!

Nice, small buildings for Macmine, but the station at Tipperary is enormous. Interesting to see the slide chairs on the point at Westport.

Always nice to see more photos of this remarkable model railway.

Good to know that both you and the layout are well, Paddy!

Sounds like different groups/individuals are cherry picking the Worsley archive - which makes sense I suppose, because it keeps the cost from being prohibitive. Can't help thing that in an ideal world a well funded individual or group would buy the lot and then donate the various parts to relevant societies, who could then act as custodians, because it would be a shame to lose what Allen has created over the years. Equally, as we know, the world is not ideal and as has already been shown, dealing with such things is far from simple. Well done to those who are trying!

And 5'6 gauge is seriously wide when you see one of their preserved locos up front. Nothing to do with here, but there is a British built shunter on a plinth by the Sunderland like Staines at Almeria in Spain.

REALLY don't like snakes, so thank you St Patrick!

I have a 7mm scale one, built from the Worsley etches. Modified it to a 601, though how accurate it is am not sure. Construction is somewhere in my Work bench thread and it features on Northport Quay.

An early C in 7mm would be nice...

Fairly sure it is one of the two Sligo tanks built after the war. The rounded cab roof is the give away and in the background you can see one of the earlier Large Tanks for comparison. Either way, found myself dribbling again - Sligo, Swilly and Donegal all in the same post! Magic.

Thanks everyone. As David Galteemore has pointed out, the garage style has appeared before, on Arigna Town. That model now resides on the Club 0 gauge layout, but an internet search reveals the design was fairly common, often with an office to the side. No room for the latter here though!

As you can see, there is another addition to the the right side scenics, this time a commercial vehicle repair shop. The building itself is made from Wills 4mm scale corrugated asbestos sheets, which work really well as 7mm scale corrugated iron. A basic card shell underneath, some hand made windows, plus a few paper labels acting as enamel signs and that's about it - though, a bit more weathering still needs doing. The scenics are a case of rinse and repeat as per last time, though for the yard surface I added chinchilla dust to the filler/pva/paint mix and then, once set a dusting of various weathering powders. Fence posts are laser cut plywood, with fishing line for the wires. A lot more clutter is still needed around the workshop. Road vehicles are [and will be] a mixed bunch. The Bedford OB is a Corgi Classic I picked up for a fiver the other day, while the Ransomes van [ideal for East Anglia] is a Vanguard model. The latter is at least 1:43, whereas the bus is 1:50 - mostly hidden in the workshop, it hopefully passes muster. There's a box of Dinky and Corgi models, from my childhood, in the the loft, which may get raided as per the Austin Somerset [below] though one has to beware as many of these are also 1:50 scale. I 'doctored' the Austin a few years ago, with a basic new chassis & wheels, plus glazing. The numberplate is that of Dr Ian Allen - famous railway photographer and local GP in these parts. So, there we are - am quite pleased with the way this end of the layout is developing. It's becoming the intimate scene I want to portray. The left hand track [with the DS shunter] is the private siding, leading to who knows where, but certainly out into the fields as an agricultural tramway, with sidings to the yet to be built dairy in the middle of the layout. The other track is the 'main line' [more of a branch] which will have various BR locos and short trains, connecting with the private line. Much ado about nothing as Iain Rice used to say.

Lovely stuff! Details everywhere, while that colour slide is a gem.

When multiple things the like you've been dealing with of late, it's not hard to doubt yourself! There are so many variables in chassis building that I sometimes wonder why we bother. That said, your methodical approach usually pays dividends, while recent issues seem more to do with quality of actual components rather than construction. Hopefully, the cause with present itself after time on the shelf...

A real beauty, oozing with character - well done!