Patrick Davey

Hoping to have the first ever official running session of the layout on Sunday afternoon, with a few friends and mentors in attendance! I have rearranged the railway room by bringing the layout forward, so I will be able to operate it from behind. Spending the next few days putting the finishing touches to a project which is approaching three years in development! IMG_0140.MOV

From the BCDR's No. 1 enthusiast....... AMAZINGGGGGGG!!!!!! This is, as many if not all would agree, the scratchbuild of the year. Simply a work of art. Baltic next....??

Lunch break tunes at the mill.

Brookhall Mill Anti-Aircraft Detachment, PART 2 Following on from the previous instalment in which Mr. Weaver discovered some dodgy diesel dudes up to no good in the disused ammo store at Brookhall..... The question of what to do with the redundant gun emplacement began to exercise Mr. Weaver’s mind, and he even considered having it demolished, until one morning in March 1956 he received a very polite phone call from one Colonel Flack, who introduced himself as the Commanding Officer of the new Anti-Aircraft Training Detachment based at the nearby former RAF aerodrome at Maghaberry. Colonel Flack had been alerted to the presence of the disused gun emplacement at Brookhall Mill, and he was expressing a willingness to return a weapon to the emplacement and make use of it on a regular basis for training purposes. Mr. Weaver was very pleased at this prospect because it would surely put an end to the dodgy dealings in the ammo store. Soon the mill was buzzing once more to the sound of jeeps and gun tractors, as dapper military chaps with shiny boots and handlebar moustaches barked out orders to terrified subordinates who snapped to attention in an instant. A retired Bofors gun was taken out of storage by Colonel Flack and installed at Brookhall, a weapon which had served in North Africa during WWII with the famous Airfix battalion. Weekly anti-aircraft weaponry training began at Brookhall in February 1956, and the regular officer in charge of the training sessions was the somewhat dogmatic Major Mindup (who was always right) and who along with the scatterbrained Captain Kayos (on secondment from the Greek army), would usually be seen scaring the life out of the fresh-faced Gunner ‘Tommy’ Gunn and Private Lane. Mr. Weaver didn’t exactly hit it off with one member of the detachment, a certain Trooper Slane who hailed from just outside Carrickfergus. Trooper Slane would deliberately antagonise Mr. Weaver by saying that the NCC had always been better than the GNR, and how he was delighted that the ‘dirty kettles’ were being consigned to history. Mr. Weaver disliked Trooper Slane but he eventually got his revenge one day when he ‘accidentally’ locked Trooper Slane in one of the railway linen vans which was just about to depart on a train for Cavan - the unfortunate trooper managed to alert staff at Lisburn to his predicament, and once he was rescued from the van he had to walk all the way back to Brookhall, to receive a stern reprimand from a rather red-faced Major Mindup for being AWOL (Mr. Weaver was very amused by this). The detachment was completed by the sharpshooting Private Eamonn Wright, and the observer, the binocular-wearing Sgt. Luke Farr, who more often than not would make his way to the top of the mill buildings to get a better view of….well….only he knew. Mr. Weaver wasn’t too impressed by this because he hadn’t consented to granting military personnel access to anywhere other than the gun emplacement, and as soon as Sgt. Farr was spotted on top of the mill, Mr. Weaver would be sprinting up the stairs to remonstrate with him. After a few weeks of investigation during the summer of 1956, it was concluded that Sgt. Farr’s appearances on top of the mill buildings happened to coincide with Mr. Weaver’s daughter Millie’s sunbathing sessions in the garden of the station house, so that brought an abrupt end to the anti-aircraft training at Brookhall Mill. The Maghaberry AA detachment marching in formation to another training session under the watchful eye of Major Mindup. Trooper Slane and Mr. Weaver having another 'discussion' about the relative merits of the GNR and NCC railways. Mr. Weaver was very suspicious about the motives behind Sgt. Luke Farr's frequent visits to the roof of the mill.

Sammy Screech and Bertie Bellows have been away on holiday and seem to have got a facelift while they were away.... looking well there lads! Thanks to Nelson @Dunluce Castle for the great paint job!

Back to normality for a while…. The surround for the fiddle yard is largely finished, it has been built up as a series of boxes which interlock and slot together for strength. The blackboard paint is excellent, it’s a bit high maintenance, but really worth the effort and I will eventually use it across the complete layout.  Yes I know, not much of a fiddle yard!

This can definitely be filed under 'Too Much Time on my Hands'..... it started off small then snowballed....and this is only Part 1....... Brookhall Mill Anti-Aircraft Detachment, PART 1 After 1945, the anti-aircraft emplacement at Brookhall Mill fell out of use. The gun, which was already obsolete at the time of installation in 1941, was simply covered in camouflage netting and all the stored ammunition removed by the army. The gun was eventually taken away for scrap in 1950. Thereafter, the emplacement became a popular viewing point for railway enthusiasts (Mr. Weaver forbade the use of the term ‘trainspotters’) but the by then empty underground ammunition store also became a favourite gathering place for those mill workers who were fond of having an ‘extended’ break. By 1956, Mr. Weaver was getting suspicious that certain members of his staff seemed to be spending an unusual amount of time down in the ammo store, so one quiet Sunday morning he made his way down into the store and upon entering, was instantly horrified by what he saw - a collection of highly questionable reading material, ‘enhanced’ by graphic illustrations. Mr. Weaver was bitterly disappointed that the high moral standards which he had always encouraged his staff to uphold were apparently being eroded by external nefarious influences. Mr. Weaver immediately had the ammunition store locked, ensuring that he, and only he, would have the key, and he issued an emergency directive advising that henceforth, any mill employee caught in possession of similar highly offensive reading material would be instantly dismissed.

I went to my local decorating shop and asked for decent quality matt black paint - the guy asked me what material I was painting so I said it was wood and he gave me blackboard paint! It covers well but jeepers is it potent.....decided to wait until tomorrow before continuing with the painting, so I can do it outside.....

I hope so too - bloody work gets in the way......

Making progress with the surround for the fiddle yard.

More tiny details..... I had toyed with the idea of getting a pic of an actual GNR(I) cast iron notice for this little job but in the end I just went for these neat signs from Scale Model Scenery - not totally authentic but the proper GNR(I) one might not have been readable at this scale. I fixed two of them to some short scrap pieces of rail, suitably painted, and placed them at the end of my two platforms. The others look fine affixed to brick walls. Detailing is addictive......

A TRIBUTE TO TWO FINE RAILWAYMEN It’s August 1970 and senior NIR and ex-GNR(I) driver Ned O’Hara is at Brookhall Mill with brand new Hunslet locomotive 101 ‘Eagle’, barely a month after the loco entered service. There is a public event taking place that warm summer’s day and groups of visitors are being shown around the mill. Ned notices a young lad standing on the platform, admiring and photographing the locomotive. Ned comes down from 101’s cab for a chat and then invites the lad up into the cab of the loco and shows him around, noting the look of awe in the young eyes as the lad hangs on Ned’s every word, asking questions which show an obvious understanding of everything Ned was saying. The young lad sits with Ned for some time in the cab of the locomotive, listening to incredible stories about Ned’s time as a senior driver with the famed Great Northern Railway of Ireland, driving top link expresses to Dublin with gleaming blue steam locomotives bearing names such as “Peregrine”, “Merlin” and “Boyne”, and bringing long goods trains through the Irish countryside in the dead of night to far distant places such as Cavan, Enniskillen and Strabane. The young lad is mesmerised by these almost mythical stories and he may not realise that this brief encounter with a highly respected and experienced railwayman is helping to fire a lifelong passion for railways, past and present. As he gets ready to leave, the young lad shows great courtesy and respect to Ned, thanking him for his time: “Thank you sir, perhaps one day I’ll be an engine driver just like you and I might even get to drive the steam trains too!” says the young lad with a twinkle in his eye. Ned smiles and asks “What’s your name son?” “Noel, sir.” comes the reply.

The scenes at the railway bridge in Carrickfergus were very poignant and very fitting.

RIP Noel - a wonderful railwayman and a fine gentleman. Look out for a little tribute to Noel on Brookhall Mill, coming soon.

Fish vans - interesting models, lots of scales........

Seriously impressive Philip!!!!!

Gabor Evenich is the gent concerned, again very highly recommended

Great products and great service from Gabor. For example, a package he sent me got lost in the post and he immediately sent me another, when the first one turned up weeks later, he said I could just keep both with no extra charge. And a fab range of products too. Highly recommended.

Not sure where I found this photo so apologies if I have taken it from somewhere I shouldn't have!! It is a rare view of QB station looking FROM the direction of the tunnel. I have tried to lighten it a bit and bizarrely adding a sepia filter seems to bring out more of the detail. It shows a set of steps down from the platform to the track, there looks to be an open wagon in the platform road. Two buildings in this view still remain in 2023 - the huge court building in the background and what I think is a pump house (?) which for a long time was right beside the bus entrance to Oxford Street bus station. Hopefully of interest!

Personally I derive great pleasure from following your 'ramblings' David so please keep rambling! Inspirational as always.

Always like to see updates on this thread Alan and this is a cracker - the loco is looking great and with all that lead it'll probably be able to haul 10-coach Bangor specials as well as the 2-coach Ballynahinch branch set... Colour looks great, and the cab controls will make a big difference even if they can't be seen too clearly - we all know they'll be there!! Looking forward to more!!

Fantastic layout Andy and fair play for recreating a less familiar prototype. Great job. Great photos from CN as well and a good write up, apart from a geographical slip in one of the photo captions

I looked up the videos I made on Tuesday May 15th 2018 when Noel was driving newly-restored 131 and here they are in a compilation. 968448517_NoelPlayfair.mp4

More memories of Noel: Back in February 2016 I attended the funeral of a neighbour and ex-GNR driver Ned O’Hara. I met Noel Playfair there and although I had only chatted to Noel online by that stage he recognised me and came over for a chat about Ned. He described Ned as a total gentleman, very professional and helpful to everyone he met and particularly so to the upcoming generation of railway employees, giving encouragement and advice freely and always with a smile. Familiar words over these past few days. On May 15th 2018, newly-restored GNR Q class locomotive No. 131 was doing a run up the Antrim branch and I was following the working that day, and of course Noel was driving. Here are a few screen grabs from video clips I made that day: Noel giving his customary wave to this enthusiast, as he brings 131 through Finaghy on the outward leg of the trip. 131 and train approaching the Largy Road bridge near Crumlin with the return working. Noel doing what he did best - driving a steam loco at speed along the GN mainline, again at Finaghy on the return working that day. Paul Hoy, NIR driver trainer, is the other gentleman on the footplate. RIP Noel

@Rebekah Cunningham like so many, I was absolutely gutted to learn of your Dad's passing, a truly exceptional railwayman and a genuinely nice person, I met Noel a few times and corresponded with him too and he was only ever charming, kind and very very helpful. It has been said that he was equally at home talking to his professional colleagues and also the enthusiast community and I can certainly vouch for the latter, a passionate railwayman to whom we all owe a huge debt of gratitude for his years of work keeping the steam locos running to perfection. But the biggest loss is of course to you and your family - my sincerest condolences to you all on the loss of such a wonderful person, taken far too soon. You can all be extremely proud of Noel. May he rest in peace xx