Patrick Davey

At last - the builders have arrived at the mill, to get started on the construction of the actual buildings! They certainly took their time...... Wondering if the tall building is too tall...... The initial design has been adjusted a bit to give more room for internal detail. David Holman has given great advice on the construction of low relief structures and how to hide their truncated gables with trees but am not sure this will work here! I need your help here @David Holman I think!!

A visitor to the mill this evening......

Cheers Popeye - achieved through the use of a very fine-tipped glue applicator, which has since got broken so no more weeds for the time being....or maybe there are enough?

More or less finished with the roadway!

I wasn't happy with the spacing of the short rails between the running rails on each siding, nor was I happy with the layout of the cobbles/setts between them...... So it was all excavated and the surrounding areas masked off: Then the short rails were relocated and a new layer of DAS was applied: Am much happier with the look now - leaving the clay to harden for a few days then painting and scribing shall commence.

The Collooney view is interesting - so I am guessing then that there was a direct connection from The Burma Road onto the SLNCR? I don't have an atlas to hand so if so, does that mean that there could have been an uninterrupted journey from places south as far as Derry? Just looked up the layout at Limerick and Athenry so as far as I can see, it looks like a train could have left Tralee, bypassed Limerick, turned left towards Ennis, crossed the Galway line at Athenry, joined the SLNCR at Collooney, passed through Enniskillen and Omagh and ended its journey at Derry Foyle Road? @jhb171achill can you verify?

Ernie I'd say a lot of those hits are mine!!! We owe you a lot for sharing so many exceptional images

The Modeller's Corner in Enniskillen has a good few in stock: https://modellerscorner.co.uk

Just superb David! Impressive blending of the backscene with the gate and wall - great stuff!!

A 'cab ride' along this layout would be super!!!

Insanely good..... my layout is 48in x 18in and it's still not finished......

Ah - that’s what I need to hear, excellent! Cheers GM

More progress - brick pillars topped off with capstones and lifebelts provided above and beside the culvert. Also some weeds added, along the wall and between some of the setts and pavers.

Gulp. Love the supernatural DART!

"...powered items...." this suggests a railcar to me........ hopefully the prototype will have been of BREL origin......

Just thinking here....as the A classes are more than likely going to sell out completely...... Surely it's about time for another major announcement from IRM?

I had better build more buses then JB!

Almost there - some subtle dry brushing applied and foliage/scatter going on.

Thanks Leslie! No need to worry, these are supplementary to the rail services, bringing workers from such isolated locations as Aghalee, Stoneyford and Hannahstown

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!