Patrick Davey

Last night I was as a ‘mod roc-ker’, into the wee small hours

After all the excitement of exhibiting Brookhall Mill at the Belfast show, work has resumed on the landscaping of Clogherhead, using 5mm foam board as well as some thin card. Overview: Looking along the beach area: Looking down into the station forecourt: There will be gates here, leading up to a church and cemetery: A small stream will run down from behind the cemetery, under the railway, and into the sea: Looking towards the overbridge:

Wow Alan and Gordon - that looks superb!!!!

Nice acquisition at the Belfast show yesterday from the mighty man Chris Dyer! Thanks also to Dave Bracken and Alan for sorting out a slight running issue.

Yes it was brill - great chats and amazing layouts and models! Yes the idea is that the mill survived until the mid-1970s to allow exactly that, a wide range of stock, much of which was kindly loaned for the day by Alan, Paul, Gareth and Kieran - super super models!

He was very grumpy today Alan!

Fantastic day at the UMRC show! Many thanks to everyone for the great organisation and hospitality! A special word of thanks to Alan @Tullygrainey and Paul for helping out as 'The Brookhall Millers' Setting up before the show: The GNR years: Alan's amazing BCDR models: BCDR diesel No. 28 in UTA livery, built by Gareth Brennan: Alan's exquisite model of BCDR No. 29: Alan and Gordon Hunt talking all things BCDR: The futuristic CIE diesels arrive: The final years at Brookhall Mill, featuring Kieran Lagan's superb NIR models: A Belfast Corporation bus pays a visit to the mill: Just before the mill closed in 1975, a brand new NIR 80 class railcar paid a visit: The Brookhall Millers looking pretty happy with themselves! Other amazing layouts on display included The Northern Counties Group's 'Fenaghy Junction': Gordon Hunt's amazing 'Donaghadee': And the very charming 'Nene Wharf': A superb afternoon!

For the first time, Brookhall Mill has left the building!! All packed up for its first outing tomorrow to the Ulster Model Railway Club show in Belfast. Sleeping tonight with the window open, directly above the car……. The workshop seems kinda empty now…… If you’re there tomorrow, come say hello

So I was sorting out the stock & road vehicles for the show on Sunday and arranging it with the foamboard etc into a sturdy box when I realised I had a need for extra space as it all wouldn’t fit on one layer in the box…. foamboard to the rescue again and a little overflow tray was knocked up The box will be used to carry a lot of other essential items for the show.

You've heard of folks going snowboarding, or paddle boarding.... well today I went 'foamboarding'..... building up the terrain on my new layout: And as a further indication of the versatility of this material, I found another use for it, as I prepare to exhibit 'Brookhall Mill' on Saturday: More about this last photo tomorrow!

Ingenius!!

Excellent - congratulations on the milestone!

Working on the layout this morning and look what the postman delivered!!! Many thanks to John @Mayner of JM Design Model Railways, a very quick delivery all the way from New Zealand! These beautiful models were ordered specifically for this project.

Wondering does anyone have an Accurascale Manor loco yet? I am beginning to see some impressive reviews…..!!!

Beautiful models Ken!!!!

5mm foam board is my new favourite material for landscaping. It’s cheap (4 huge sheets currently £12.00 at Hobbycraft), easily cut with a sharp blade and assembles with PVA. Structures are very light and very rigid, an ideal base for building up the terrain.

Getting very excited to bring Brookhall Mill to the Ulster Model Railway Club Exhibition this Sunday, am gutted not to be available on the Saturday to exhibit although I hope to call in towards the end of the day. I'm planning a running sequence that starts in the 1940s and ends in the 1970s, and as well as my own stock, I will have the pleasure of running some incredible scratch built locos & rolling stock including ballast wagons, an NIR brake van and ex-BCDR diesel No. 2 all made by Gareth Brennan, a rare NIR MPD and other items built by Kieran Lagan, as well as @Tullygrainey (Alan Nixon)'s stunning BCDR models, the first time these have been seen in public as far as I know!! Here's what will hopefully be running on Brookhall Mill: 1940s GNR(I) 442t T2 No. 64 & 440 U class No. 205 NCC Jinty No. 18 A range of BCDR locos 1950s CIE ‘Woolwich’ 460 & A class A30 UTA UG No. 49 UTA AEC railcar Nos. 111 & 115 UTA (ex-BCDR) diesel No. 2 1960s CIE B188 & A15 1970s NIR MPD unit NIR Hunslet No. 101 'Eagle' CIE 132 With the following operations: GNR(I): Brookhall Mill staff shuttle, goods workings NCC: goods workings from the NCC via Antrim BCDR: goods workings from the BCDR via Belfast Central line or Banbridge CIE: goods workings & passenger excursions from the south UTA: Brookhall Mill staff shuttle, goods workings NIR: Brookhall Mill staff shuttle, goods workings And a 'ceremonial' final working featuring NIR Hunslet 101 'Eagle', a restored linen van and NIR brake van There will also be a range of complementary road vehicles to match the era. Really looking forward to this!!!

Lovely stuff!!!

I saw another thread there mentioning directional cab lights on the IRM A class, so maybe I have missed this question as I am a DCC 'newbie'.... Is there an issue with the A class cab lighting function? I have been trying to illuminate the cabs without success, although I got them to illuminate by accident on A3r one time and can't recall which button(s) I pressed on my NCE PowerCab....? It definitely wasn't the F12 that it should be? TIA

Enjoyed that!

I usually post material like this on Facebook but I thought it would be of interest to members here! Sometimes you discover old railway locations when you aren’t actually looking for them….and that’s exactly what happened to me yesterday! I am on a short break with my family in Glenravel in Co. Antrim and behind the house where we are staying I saw what initially appeared to be an overgrown stone building on a laneway. I later spotted a mirror image structure opposite the first one and quickly realised it was a pair of railway bridge abutments. I am however quite a distance away from the former narrow gauge ‘main’ line from Ballymena to Parkmore but I knew there had been many industrial sidings in the area serving a once extensive iron ore industry, so a quick perusal of Google Earth confirmed that I had stumbled upon one of these, what a result! I won’t have access to my own library for a few days but the owner of the house kindly let me see a comprehensive local history publication, which has a lot of information about the narrow gauge railway and the iron ore industry and from consulting this I believe the siding I have found is one which ran from Knockanully station (later renamed Martinstown) up to iron ore mines at Mount Cashel. Local history books truly are are a ‘mine’ of information! Sadly the iron ore industry and indeed the narrow gauge railways in this beautiful part of County Antrim are but a distant memory.

Welcome Stuart - great to hear of your journey and am with you there on the OO Works 'catalyst' factor, same thing happened to me (look at my profile picture for example......) Looking forward to seeing more - don't be a stranger!

Lovely stuff above, thanks folks. @leslie10646 https://irishrailwaymodeller.com/topic/9334-brookhall-mill-a-gnri-micro-layout/?do=findComment&comment=205480 Videos of upgraded T2 with Adams Radial chassis, expertly modified and installed by Alan @Tullygrainey

We’re raven now.

This reminds me, I need to get some flock for the scenics.