Patrick Davey

Evening all Hoping to be at Blackrock on Monday 30th, after the successful conclusion of delicate negotiations with 'senior management'. Wondering if Dublin folk would recommend travelling the whole way by car (sat-nav taking me through the Port Tunnel and if I do that I may not have any money left for Leslie's new cement van) OR would there be an option to park at a railway station north of Dublin and take the DART to Blackrock? That would be more fun of course and more appropriate too! TIA

I wasn't happy with the dimensions of the station building so I trimmed these a bit and removed two windows from the forecourt wall, which brings it in line with Dunleer. Much happier with the proportions now.

Thanks all - appreciate the reassurance! Alan - I had considered something like that but wasn't sure if the shade of the brick paper would match the painted yellow elsewhere. P

Wondering if I am alone in this.... If you are following my thread elsewhere (thank you!) you will know that I am currently working on a station building for my fictional 'Clogherhead' terminus. I am basing the structure on the recently-refurbished building at Dunleer and I have been working from a good collection of photos of this building taken on a sunny summer day last June. The quoins at Dunleer are finished in yellow brick: and I had initially decided not to do this for the model, and instead made up 'stone' quoins: Recently however I started to feel guilty about this and considered myself to be getting lazy, so I decided to attempt the 'brick' quoin route. I glued some embossed brick plasticard to thin plain plasticard and started cutting and filing etc, and after what seemed like an eternity I ended up with one side of what would need to be a 2-part quoin: As I noted that 8 of these would be needed in total, the laziness returned - I decided I simply did not have the motivation to do this seven more times, even though I was happy that the result looked pretty good. I just couldn't face the thought of all that precision filling and cutting and making sure there were the correct number of bricks etc...... Seeking reassurance that I'm not alone in this and that I'm not just turning into a lazy so-and-so........?

Wondering does anyone have one of these chaps: https://www.hattons.co.uk/67952/base_toys_ie01_leyland_comet_flatbed_c_i_e/stockdetail Would like to get one! Cheers.

Further progress this evening. The side with the glazed panel is the platform side and the panel itself will have a canopy above it. The forecourt side will have a smaller canopy above the door. I am also currently thinking how the internal layout will be arranged and also considering having part of the building derelict, in keeping with the overall theme of the layout.

Clogherhead station building taking shape. This will be a slightly shorter version of the nicely-refurbished yet vacant station building on the GN mainline at Dunleer.

Inspirational stuff as always David!

Lovely layout Ken!

Ok was I just not seeing that or has it only just gone up?

So there are possibly two brand new announcements coming from IRM at the show in a couple of weeks… I am not seeing a countdown timer on the website though?

Great suggestions folks! What about Clones now......

Thanks David Embossed plasticard painted with Burnt Sienna acrylic then DAS clay applied for the pointing. The chimney pots are white metal castings.

One could also ignore the actual historical closure dates, and imagine all the lines survived much longer than they did and that the MGWR made it to Castleblayney from Kingscourt - after protracted legal wranglings they were granted running powers into Armagh. With at least the main line to Cavan and the Castleblayney line surviving into the 1960s and the CIÉ diesel era, black & tan liveried trains could have formed stopping services from Dublin to Portadown via Clonsilla, Navan, Kingscourt, Castleblayney and Armagh. Passengers on these trains would have had spectacular views as they swept across Tassagh viaduct, as the thumps of the Crossley engine echoed down the valley. It wouldn’t be a great place to get stranded though if the locomotive failed……

Occasionally I fantasise about having unlimited space, time, patience and of course money, and think about what the 'dream' layout would be. And of course it changes often.... It's currently Armagh: * Four lines converging * Mainline passenger and good trains between Belfast & Cavan * Steam and diesel railcar operation * Branch workings from Keady/Castleblayney and also the Newry direction * Extensive layout with two signal cabins, a level crossing, large goods shed and cattle pens, two loco sheds and turntable * Double tracked through station with overall roof, two platforms and footbridge * Very distinctive station architecture * Detailed plans survive in the IRRS archive, including signal box elevations and station building plans * Generous photographic coverage Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh..........................

Fabulous all round David - the carriage marking out must take forever, have you timed it? Using a calendar perhaps..... I can safely say I would be very unlikely to have the patience for this kind of meticulous work although the results are undoubtedly spectacular. Watching progress with interest!

And we have chimneys

Ha - that depends who you're talking to Leslie!! #protocol

Leslie can I have one please - the 'Drogheda' reference fits very nicely with my current project! Will maybe get to Blackrock but if not I'll order by post. Great looking van!!!

Stacks of fun on the Clogherhead workbench this evening. Chimneys aren't my favourite thing to make because I invariably leave them to the end and then get really frustrated because they hold up the completion of the build, so this time I'm making them early on in the build. They are for the Clogherhead station building.

Latest developments in Co. Louth….. The derelict office has now been bedded in with foliage: And I’m not sure about this one but I have had an old Ratio crane in the ‘to make’ box for a few years thinking it would find a place at Brookhall Mill but it never did so I fired it together for Clogherhead. The idea is that the GN experimented with specially constructed containers for easier loading and unloading of the sand but the system didn’t work….. not sure it looks right but maybe it’ll grow on me! It has been suitably rusted of course!

Fabulous work as always David!

An aerial view of the sand facility at Clogherhead, photographed sometime around 1974. On the right is the long disused office, and on the left is the rapidly deteriorating sand store with an elderly JCB in attendance. The concrete of the loading bank is cracked and the weeds are slowly making the structure crumble. But the sand traffic lingers on for now.

Thank you everyone for the nice comments above! This has definitely turned out better than expected which is always nice The office has now been planted in position, so once the glue dries, I will add some more foliage to bed it in. Useful techniques practised here for the construction of the station building, which is next on the agenda!

Thanks folks for all the nice comments I think this small build is almost finished! Weathering can become something of an addiction, it’s definitely very effective - I think I just need to dull down the chimney pots a bit, then we’re done.