Hi folks! Hope this is okay to share here, as it's not a traditional layout by any means but hopefully in the Irish Railway Models spirit! At the moment I'm working on making a documentary on the old Waterford & Tramore railway, and as very little remains of the real thing I'm recreating Manor Street Station and Tramore Railway Station and the surrounds! The video will be about 30 - 45 minutes long, probably split into two parts for YouTube, going over the history of the railway from the beginning to the bitter end, my digital 'layout', created in Blender, is based on the railway in 1947 as by that time it had my favourite class of engine, the MGWR E Class / J26 Class, running the show in three, and of course the infamous crash was that year too, which I've recreated.
I'd love some suggestions on what you'd like featured in such a documentary, or any stories you might have in relation to it you think worth sharing! As it is, I'll be taking my Royal Enfield Bullet 500 along the ghost of the railway sharing the history and visiting any sites along the Waterford/Tramore road related to the railway. Also was cheeky and got in touch with Tramore County Council about the project, they let me into Tramore station to take some videos of what's left of the interior for now, until it's turned into some kind of commercial business later this summer. In my perfect world I'd have it opened as a café/bar with a museum dedicated to the history of the Tramore train but that's a story for another time! For now I'd like to show you what I've got, starting with Engine 555 leaving Manor Street Station!
For the moment in terms of rolling stock, I've modeled the J26 Engine, an MGWR 6 Wheel Carriage, The "Hearse", and some wagons. What's missing mainly would be the Clayton railcars and maybe the Irish AEC Railcars, which I'll model if time allows. Aiming to have this done by August! I've chosen to do this in an animated style, as I'll be including some 2D Animated Characters too to fill out the scene. Here's some close ups, starting with the J26.
And the Hearse and MGWR 6 Wheelers.
In terms of the stations themselves, Tramore is more completed, I created the area around the train station and railyard using old maps as well as some handy aerial photos I found taken in 1933 I believe! But a lot of the images I based it on I found through this forum, so thank you all very much! It's still a work in progress of course, but i'm happy with how it's progressing.
Quite a few reference photos for this area of the station, which I believe were the toilets?
And the exterior of Tramore Station itself, I started off modelling this but I actually need to go back and model the doors and whatnot, got carried away filling out the rest of the area! Having the real thing still standing and being able to look at it helps!
I'll leave the photos at this last one now, a work in progress of the engine bursting through the wall on that fateful day, you'll have to stay tuned for the fully animated version
For now thought I'd love to hear your thoughts, any suggestions for the documentary, any tips or stories to do with the old railway, or maybe any glaring issues with the rolling stock I've missed with my amateur eye? If you happen to have any artefacts or photos from the railway I could show, I'd love to get in touch! Thanks for reading if you made it this far