Patrick Davey

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!

Interesting discussion folks! So a 'small' announcement tomorrow....... I wonder is BK's use of the word 'small' a bit mischievous...... Or maybe it's an Irish narrow gauge announcement.....

Lovely video - what an amazing railway journey that must have been.

Patience is boring

Ok folks what's the story..... there had been a few less-than-subtle hints on here recently about new goodies.....powered goodies...... yes the magnesite wagons are awesome but not on my geographical radar and as for the Deltic..... admittedly I have been drooling but unless Boris gets his bridge or tunnel completed AND re-gauges the whole of Ireland (or GB) then I'm unlikely to have reason to run one..... Yes we got our AAAAAAmazing As and now our 'across the water' colleagues have their DDDDDDDelightful Deltics so surely it's back to us again.........

Just ordered a load of stuff which will hopefully see me through to the completion of all the buildings on the layout...... fingers crossed......

Exactly the current plan Mark!

Sadly completely closed Noel

This should be of interest - the chap who took the photos doesn't name the station on his Facebook page for fear of attracting vandals (although it's pretty obvious to us Northerners!) https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=UrbexForgottenUlster&set=a.2083544058510177

Now that's how to do it - simply superb scratchbuilding! Looking forward to further updates.