Patrick Davey

Thanks Mark and yes that's true, as they should have been smaller! But maybe I'll say 'setts' now to make myself feel better!! Cheers

The past few weeks have been all about the cobbles...... 1. The area to be 'cobbled' was built up with thick card, to a depth of a few mm below rail height: 2. DAS clay was spread across the area, over a layer of PVA glue. The clay was left to dry for a week or so, then sanded to tidy it up a bit: 3. The sanded clay was painted black, for two reasons: to make it easier to see how the scribing would progress and also to add depth to the eventual grey colour: 4: Then the scribing commenced, this took ages: With hindsight, I should have made the cobbles smaller. The area jutting across the bridge will be for the coal lorry to park, and there will be a pile of coal to the right of it. 5. A couple of coats of grey paint were then applied by brush and sponge: 6. Some individual cobbles were picked out in darker grey (should have done more of this) then a black overall wash was applied: Note: The remaining black areas will be where the low relief mill buildings will be located. 7. A few washes created a bit of texture and variety of shading: That's where I'm at now - next will be some drybrushing with greys and white, then some green scatter material will be added between some of the cobbles, to give a finishing touch.

GNR(I) LORRY PROJECT Recently I came across this picture: From the very interesting www.louthnewryarchives.ie website - well worth a look! It's a GNR lorry (not sure what make) and it reminded me of this old Cooper Craft AEC Monarch lorry which I built about 40 years ago: So I thought I'd have a go at refreshing the model to look a bit more like the GNR lorry. They're not the same make of vehicle but close enough I think for the model to pass the 'two feet' rule. So a quick repaint followed, along with glazing, and decals were commissioned from Tom at Endon Valley Custom Decals (very highly recommended!) Works for me!

Cracking view of Ballybay!!!

And once again, many thanks to Leslie for his fabulous Provincial Wagons range.

A lot of action at the mill this weekend.....firstly, the glazing was completed in both buses, a job I had been putting off...... Then I received two brake vans back from Gareth Brennan - I had built a Provincial Wagons GNR(I) brake but had given it to Gareth to finish off. I had also given Gareth my JM Designs CIE brake van to have some transit damage repaired and he also added handrails for me: Gareth was also priming some carriages for me: 4 ancient Hornby compartment vehicles and a Provincial Wagons GNR(I) Y5 passenger van - all have since been painted to represent the classic GNR 'mahogany' livery: Decals and weathering are still to happen, along with a few small final details. A productive weekend!

Superb thanks JB!! My favourite is the NCC railcar at Desertmartin.

Would love to see these JB!

Toome and Castledawson stations were very conveniently located for the towns they served, Knochloughrim less so.

These are sensational Ernie, sadly Toome & Castledawson have been completely erased but Knockloughrim thankfully remains. Three of your best photos yet, in colour too, than you for sharing these. Note the similarity of Toome & Castledawson stations to the design of the thankfully extant stations in Randalstown & Magherafelt.

Great videos Leslie - very jealous of the PP!

Superb Noel

After a long search and thanks to a tip off from Paul Chapman of this parish, I now have two early-liveried Craven coaches. Lovely models!

Also on the workbench this week were these two gorgeous GNR(I) bus models from Sunrise Models of Scotland, joining a BritBus double decker. Good to have a productive week at last!

On the workbench this week was a Silver Fox C class locomotive body shell, finished today as the class leader No. 201. A nice kit and I think SF deserve our gratitude for supporting the Irish scene for so long

A few videos of movements at the mill: https://www.facebook.com/brookhallmillmodelrailway/videos/1064353050641840 https://www.facebook.com/brookhallmillmodelrailway/videos/590414148848172 https://www.facebook.com/brookhallmillmodelrailway/videos/648827232798648 https://www.facebook.com/brookhallmillmodelrailway/videos/315087106839022

Definitely worth looking up, the chap who runs it is called George Heaney and he is very decent and very attentive to his customers, very highly recommended!

It’s a real pane…….. sorry

Am very slow with the updates, apologies. After the excitement of the A class arrivals I had promised myself that I would get started on the mill buildings proper, so that's another promise broken.....but with the prospect of live shows returning maybe I'll get the courage to start... In the meantime here are two smaller (and again non-steam) projects which I have been working on in recent weeks: 1. Two lovely GNR(I) bus models from Sunrise Models in Scotland: Flip close ups really show what needs fixing - thank goodness for the '2 foot rule'. Glazing and dograils left to be added, the glazing is proving as intimidating as tackling the mill buildings...... 2. A Silver Fox C class loco, with chassis kindly provided to me by Eamonn Redmond - thanks again Eamonn! This is my first attempt at a loco kit - not that there is much to be done though other than attach the bogie sides to the bogies and apply the livery - early silver for me and the loco will be finished as class leader No. 201: my tribute to a loco which met an untimely end near Newry in 1973.

Kind of gutted I have only noticed this thread now, but what a treat to be able to enjoy all these incredible photos in one sitting!!! I've just lost half an hour..... but what a great half an hour!! Truly awesome stuff - inspirational! Isn't there an O Gauge NCC Jinty coming to the market soon....... <<thinks of future projects>>...... Looking forward to further updates and I love the clever name too!!!

This is superb Kevin and I enjoy your updates. Your prolific output is putting us all to shame!

Superb - thoroughly deserved!!!!

Wow the signal cabin is incredible!!!!

This is a great thread, thanks for starting it Kevin, from one musician to another! Your buildings are superb and I can identify with the interest in that taking over from the actual railway!!! Keep up the great work and please keep the photos coming!

Brilliant Noel