Patrick Davey

Yeooooo!

Open - for buses, for now. First impressions: huge, spacious, modern, plenty of staff on hand to assist. Could probably do with more seating though, but maybe that’s on the to do list. Congratulations to all involved. PS. I still prefer GNR(I) architecture……

A short clip showing the inside of the station: https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/first-look-inside-the-new-belfast-grand-central-station-as-it-prepares-to-open-on-sunday-7NTEIDD27NAQDDQLVGWUDYBI3Q/?utm_source=Morning+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b80794a15c-BREAKING_NEWS_2024_08_26_COPY_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_da6327494b-e9e723768b-[LIST_EMAIL_ID]&mc_cid=b80794a15c&mc_eid=d664946604

Was there a magnesite flow to Clogherhead I wonder. Must ask the nuns.......

Just superb - everything!! Bet the OO building felt huge in comparison! Great work Kevin - I always enjoy your updates.

Another example of when I prefer the model to the prototype! Lovely work as always Darius - I continue to be amazed by the volume of your output!

Fabulous!

I see the latest issue of Model Rail magazine has a review of the ‘Accurascale’ CIE Mk 2 coaches……

14 I think Leslie…….!

Jeepers lads this could go on for decades

Nun.

In the interests of balancing insanity with something more normal, here is a simple ‘stock box’ which I made from foam board to store my GNR passenger stock. The material is very light and easily cut, and can be stuck to itself using neat PVA glue. The finished box would not be strong enough to be carried on its own, rather the intention is that this and future similar boxes would themselves be carried inside a much sturdier plastic box.

THE SISTERS BY THE SEA In the town of Ardee in Co. Louth there was once a community of nuns, under the supervision of the very strict Mother Lee Love, who tried, but usually failed, to keep the younger nuns in order. Despite Mother Lee Love drawing a veil of secrecy around much of their activities, the sisters served the Ardee community well, even running a very popular community laundry which was overseen by one Sister Matic. The sisters also travelled widely, giving retreats and attending special events in churches far and wide. They always preferred to travel by the trains of The Great Northern Railway, and despite the cessation of regular passenger services on the GN’s short branch line into their town, the sisters managed to charm the management in Amiens Street to such an extent that in 1952, a six-wheeled carriage which had been previously used by The Dundalk, Newry & Greenore Railway was sent to Ardee for the exclusive use of the sisters. Provided notice was given the evening before, the carriage would be attached to the morning goods train out of Ardee and the sisters would be brought to Drogheda in comfort, from where they could easily connect to anywhere on the GN network and further afield. On one notable occasion in 1948, the sisters made an error with their connections at Belfast & Ballymoney and ended up at Capecastle, possibly the remotest location on the Antrim narrow gauge lines. They were soon affectionately known to railwaymen throughout Ireland as ‘The Sisters of Perpetual Motion’, or ‘The Roamin’ Catholics’. One of the sisters unfortunately met with a tragic end due to her fondness for playing darts, in which sport she was definitely a novice. On one occasion, during the annual Dundalk & District Darts Day, she was standing quite close to the dartboard as a player threw his first dart, scoring double twenty. Eager to get a better view, she edged closer still as the player threw his second dart, again scoring a double twenty. The curiosity got the better of her and just as the player launched his third dart, she edged forward again, but she tripped and stumbled into its flight path. The referee immediately bellowed “One nun dead and eighty!” Tragic. There was nothing the sisters liked better than a trip to the seaside, and Clogherhead was one of their favourite destinations, due to its close proximity to Ardee and the convenience of having a chapel beside the station. The sisters were also very partial to a sweet treat or two, and the proprietors of the Clogherhead station tea rooms, Earl Grey and Nan Barrie, loved to see them coming, and they would mark those occasions by running a special ‘Buns with The Nuns’ promotion. However, following a regrettable incident of misbehaviour by the younger members of the order, Mother Lee Love had to eventually put a stop to the nuns’ excursions. On July 7th 1954, the sisters arrived at Clogherhead to attend a lunchtime recital in the nearby chapel, given by the famous soprano Dee Va. It was a glorious summer’s day and whilst Mother Lee Love was transported to her happy place by the powerful tones of the corpulent songstress, it quickly became too much for the younger nuns who by that stage had decided that Dee Va was actually a pirate queen - because she was murder on the high Cs. Anyway they quickly and silently made their way out of the front door of the chapel and it wasn’t long before they were causing mayhem down at the station, feeding their egg & cress sandwiches to the seagulls and using their irresistible charms to convince the railwaymen to give them trips around the station on the locomotives and wagons. But they were having so much fun that they failed to notice the rapturous applause which greeted the conclusion of Dee Va’s performance, and before long, the ominous silhouette of Mother Lee Love appeared on the platform, bringing the merriment to an abrupt stop. Sadly that was the end of the sisters’ excursions, and as if to emphasise the point, Mother Lee Love informed Amiens Street that they would no longer be requiring the use of the ex-DNGR six-wheeler. The vehicle was subsequently donated to the fledgling Belfast Transport Museum - it can still be seen to this day in ‘The Irish Railway Collection’, but the full story behind its journey to Cultra is not widely known. The Sisters by The Sea.mp4 Postscript: The use of the DNGR carriage by the sisters directly contributed to its preservation, and many years later, when this became known to the museum management, they decided to make an appropriate gesture to the memory of the sisters by installing suitably-attired figures in their carriage. However, the team who were tasked with carrying out the installation ended up placing the figures in the wrong carriage - this mistake has, as yet, not been rectified.

Thanks Leslie! The railcar is still DC and only posed here for the photos

I bought these RTR

Also - an interesting fact: Due to the layout being called 'The Stone Yard', Alan was obliged to introduce 'block' working.

A few short video clips: FullSizeRender.MOV FullSizeRender.mov

Today was the second day of the UMRC’s annual exhibition in Methodist College, Belfast, and I was there to help Alan aka @Tullygrainey operate his exceptional ‘The Stone Yard’ layout although I’m not sure how successful I was in that job. Anyway, why is it exceptional? I shall let the following photos answer that!!

The UMRC show was, once again, superb! My T2 No. 64 was very happy to see that I returned home with some very appropriate carriages for her to pull these were acquired from Chris Dyer - Chris’ stall should have a ‘wallet warning’ Such a friendly show, great to catch up with so many fabulous people - I spent today trying my best to help Alan Nixon @Tullygrainey operate his fabulous ‘The Stone Yard’ layout - look out for extensive photo coverage later! IMG_7812.MOV

Picked up a 2nd 121 decoder today from @WRENNEIRE Dave Bracken at the Belfast show - now I can recreate a childhood memory, 2 121s double heading. This was common on the freight workings into Adelaide although by the time I was paying attention both locos would have been in Supertrain livery. Easy to set up on the NCE PowerCab.

Has this all been announced somewhere Jim or do you have somebody ‘on the inside’?

I had a couple of hours to pass in Belfast city centre today, so I hopped onto a bus substitution service between Belfast and Lisburn and managed to grab some photos and video clips of the new Grand Central Station: Plenty room for all the current services plus services to Armagh and onto the Derry Road. A rather fine gantry, there are two of these at the station throat. FullSizeRender.MOV Viewed from the top of a double decker bus. FullSizeRender.mov The bus is now travelling along the former railway approach into GVS.