Patrick Davey

Another roof upgraded - better and more detailed barge boards, finer finials, weathered slates and better lead flashing with rain streaks.

Currently upgrading the roofs of my smaller buildings with an excellent product from Scale Model Scenery, their LX415-OO Lightly Weathered Laser Cut Roof Slates, which make a big difference. Also improving the flashing around the chimneys, using DAS clay and silver paint. Rain streaks applied too.

Ha fair enough - I didn’t look at the back

No to the above - no diagram of Scarva in Arnold!

A bit more work at the mill this evening - the new water crane has been installed (to be further detailed) and the repositioned air raid shelter has been blended in. A large pile of coal has also appeared, to fuel the various fireplaces around the site.

This gives the location of the signals: https://mapshop.nidirect.gov.uk/Catalogue/Digital-products/Historical-products/6-Inch-to-1-Mile-County-Series-Edition-4-1916---1957- Zoom in to Scarva and all is there for that particular date, 1954 I think.

Thanks for the mention LC! Does Arnold not include a diagram of Scarva in that book? As far as I recall, those diagrams included the locations of the signals? I'll check my copy shortly as I could be wrong!

Interesting replies everyone, thank you. Look what I found in my 'bits of everything' box: It's an old Hornby one but it looks decent enough I think? Will be sunk into the ground of course and any other suggestions re: personalisation would of course be welcome! Maybe a chain hanging down, for moving the arm...... and should the crane be facing the other way ie with the vertical part deeper into the V....? I know these structures are often seen with braziers to keep the water from freezing but this part of Co. Antrim rarely sees extreme temperatures!

A bit of reconstruction took place over the past few days on Brookhall Mill. Recently, this area had started to nag at me: I realised that the air aid shelter had been badly positioned. It was making the middle siding inaccessible to longer vehicles and locomotives, and I had previously trimmed one of the corners to rectify this: The plan had always been to repair this at some point, then I realised that the only realistic solution would be to reposition the shelter, so I took a deep breath and it was duly excavated. At least I know now that if the Luftwaffe had actually tried to bomb Brookhall, anyone in this shelter would have been quite safe: Linked to this work was the need to shorten the flat area in front of the office building: This would allow me to move the shelter closer to the office building and remove the issue of fouling the siding. Then I filled in the previous opening with thick card..... ...rebuilt the steps leading down from the office.... ...and repaired the shelter. This time I decided there was no need to make a large structure and sink this into the board, instead I would depend on the positioning of scatter material and foliage to hide the shallow walls, although the access steps would still be sunk into the board to give the impression of depth: Scatter material added, and this will be left to dry thoroughly before painting and having foliage added: Looks neater now I think! I also need to provide a water crane so the locos can drink from the tank atop the small boiler house...this will go to the right of the air raid shelter in the V between the platform road and the siding.

Lovely Colm as always, great to see you posting.

Choir practice is running late this evening and the bus driver is getting very impatient……

They’re still going……

The gentlemen of Brookhall have formed their own choir and the first rehearsal is in full swing. Introducing ‘The Mill Voice Choir’.

A TOTALLY FICTIONAL BUILDING….. So far, all the buildings on Brookhall Mill have been built in the style of buildings which actually existed, most of which feature the GNR(I)’s polychromatic brick style, pioneered by WH Mills, the company’s first Chief Engineer. As the main buildings were being completed I realised I had a small space remaining and this gave me an opportunity to try an experiment….you can tell me if you think it worked!!! The WH Mills style always fascinated me, particularly as it was very adaptable, being identifiable in a range of structures across the GNR(I) network. At the more modest end of the scale, there are small structures which have been built as add-ons to existing older station buildings such as at Drogheda and Oldcastle, then there are the very many distinctive small station buildings such as those at Dunleer, Ardee, Newtownstewart, and elsewhere, then at the grander end of the scale are the station buildings and locomotive works at Dundalk and also the GN headquarters buildings at Dublin Amiens Street. The style may also be seen in locomotive sheds around the network such as at Adelaide and Bundoran, and of course in the ubiquitous signal cabins. All these buildings and many more displayed a particular adaptation of the Mills style according to the function of the building, and it is a testament to the genius of Mills that he was able to create a style that united a range of vastly different structures. So I have been wondering would it be possible to try out the style in a particular type of building which, as far as I am aware, never actually existed on the GNR(I). I also have an interest in church architecture so I decided to try out the Mills style in a small church building. There had to be a reason for having a church building in a mill so the idea is this: rural County Antrim would have had a lot of devout churchgoers, so what if some of them who also worked at Brookhall decided that they would like a space to worship, especially after a long shift ending early on a Sunday morning….. The mill management were just as interested in accommodating the spiritual needs of their staff as they were in accommodating their employment needs, so an agreement was reached with the GNR that if the staff could raise the necessary funds, then a small oratory could be built. In an early display of ecumenical co-operation, Catholic & Protestant workers at the mill joined forces to raise the money from their home parishes, and the end result was the provision of a multi-faith oratory at Brookhall Mill - the only condition laid down by the GNR was that the building should be constructed in the familiar polychromatic brick style of WH Mills. Looking forward to your thoughts!!!!!

Augmenting the rail service tonight at the mill.

Great progress!

Sometimes you get an idea for something, you try it out, and it doesn’t work. This one did though! Open panes in the large window above the vehicle entrance to the mill Detailing can certainly be addictive!

I enjoy this part - blending in the buildings. I also enjoy adding a sneaky filter.....

Consignments starting to ship from the mill at last……

Another achievement this evening, we now have opening doors in the old building:

Now at last I’m starting to get this area looking the way I want it to. The backstory here is that the building on the left was an original pre-railway building and the buildings on the right represent an expansion of the site under the GNR(I).

Yet another change of direction for the louvres……. the Wills sheets weren’t quite co-operating, proving somewhat brittle and snapping when trimmed, something I have noted before if Wills sheets haven’t been used in a long time. Anyway, I had to resort to plain plasticard……. the old faithful never disappoints!

At last - progress with the seemingly never-ending saga of the louvres….. I ran out of corrugated tin though so an alternative from the Wills Range was used instead. Still more work to do, might add more louvres to fill it in a bit more.

Is it true that the fertiliser trains mostly ran after dark, to take advantage of the cheaper nitrates? (Getting me coat........)

Smaller price anyway!