Flying Scotsman 4472

As always best watched in 360p

As most of you know to enter my layout room I had 2 draw bridges on which the lower and upper decks ran across. I wanted to put a bridge and river on the lower section, but I couldn't do this and keep the lower drawbridge as when I would lift it the bridge would not clear the upper deck, so I decided to make a lift out module. The module is built on an MDF board and the bridge piers are made of plaster and resin. To make the river I painted the base board black. Then I poured on a light coat of resin. Once this had dried I carefully placed my scatter to represent weeds, I then poured on a thicker coat of resin to give the appearance of some depth in the water. Several coats of varnish later and you can see the results below. As this is a lift out section to get power to the track I used a set of VW Transporter spring door pins. Once the section is locked in place it all pulls down and the pins push into the connector plates giving power to the track. To finish everything off an ID backscene was glued to some plywood and screwed to the back of the base board.

"A question for those interested in scratch building? if you could choose a wagon for me to build that i could do as a tutorial so that any body interested could join in and do their own build would there be any interest? " Great idea, maybe a beet wagon or a cement bubble?

I'm hoping to source some will keep you posted

Damned if I can find the video Stephen but what you do is get yourself some 3mm MDF and cut it the same height as the the gap from the top of the baseboard to the top of your wall the length is up to yourself the longer it is the more shallow the curve. Push it into the corner and glue and pin the edges of the MDF to the wall you will then need to use some polly filler and smooth the edges so you don't have a step from the wall to the face edge of the board. then apply your backscene that way you do away with the corner and it gives you a nice smooth look to the back scene. As an idea for doing your hill with trees check this out for some ideas http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/12421 Also check this video out not so much for the lift up panel but for the way he has the cliff and trees in front of his backscene If I remember correctly the guy in the video is the same guy who showed you how to do the corners in the video I seen somewhere.

Ok I know what you mean give me a few minutes I need to lookup YouTube I've seen a video somewhere that I think any be of some help to you

Yes I was going to suggest something along those lines. What I would say is put plenty of big trees in and have the tops of them just above the bottom of the backscene so it looks like you are looking at the mountains and fields in the distance just above the trees.

What way Stephen are you going to do the wall that you can see through the arches ?

Going to N gauge might be the way to go if space is tight but just remember that all you Irish stock will have to be repainted UK coaches and locos wagons etc will have to come from shapeways or be scratch built as far as I'm aware there is very little Irish RTR n gauge available out there.

I ain't to sure but I think Royal Mail sell to collectors on line sorry to say stamps ain't really my thing so I'm not much help on this subject

Who would have thought we would be thinking of getting into stamp collecting.

Once you get some greenery in there it really does start to change the look of things and you will find it spurs you on to get more done on the layout.

Yes Mate it was the bottom half of 078 as I wanted the bigger marker lights on 078 as she ran with them and the small IE logo for a lot longer that the small marker lights. The top half was 112 and was renumbered. As far as I'm aware 111 now has the bigger yellow face so you could just renumber another 8113 and renumber her 8111 (Railtec do a decal for this including the 111 class name plates) as I think she now also carries the new number system of 8111. BTW I forgot to say that if you are going to swap bodies you have to swap out the complete lower section as the metal chassis is different to accommodate the smaller marker lights compared to the bigger marker lights. If you need any more help just let me know.

WHITEHEAD BASED SOCIETY PROUD TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH ROYAL MAIL STAMP ISSUE Royal Mail has today launched for sale stamps that celebrate the "workhorses" of Northern Ireland's railways. The stamps are entitled Classic Locomotives of Northern Ireland and feature photographs of steam locomotives in the heyday of the railways. The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland is very proud to be carrying on the tradition of generations of railwaymen and women in keeping some of these steam locomotives alive today. The collection contains 4 stamps and a cover sheet, a total of 5 images. The Whitehead-based RPSI can claim strong heritage connections with all 5 images. Spokesman Mervyn Darragh explained "We feel very honoured that steam locomotives in Northern Ireland are important enough to warrant their own set of stamps. Steam locomotives are at the heart of our operations and our public Steam and Jazz trains, operating over the next 3 Friday evenings are being hauled by a steam locomotive built in 1879 and lovingly restored in Northern Ireland. Likewise, a 1922 locomotive will be running between Bray and Wicklow on Sunday 23rd June. Our engineers, the majority of them volunteers, can do magic with these machines and we would encourage anyone interested in travelling behind or helping to restore these iconic machines to get in touch with us via our website” Stamp 1 depicts a Belfast bound express at Downhill, near Castlerock. The class of locomotive is known as the "W" class and was built in the 1930s to speed journeys northwards from Belfast. The RPSI is currently overhauling a tank-engine version of this locomotive at its base at Whitehead and hopes to be able to recreate the image on this stamp on public steam trains to Londonderry. Stamp 2 depicts an SG3 class locomotive shunting wagons at Portadown in 1963. Unfortunately none of this class of locomotive was saved for preservation. However, the RPSI has restored a miniature SG3 which was built by railway apprentices and is now in a cabinet (built by Translink employees) on display in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra. The locomotive has been cut away to show visitors how a steam locomotive works. Stamp 3 depicts Peckett No.2 shunting wagons at Larne. It was one of three identical 3ft gauge 0-4-0T locomotives built for the British Aluminium Company in Larne. No.1 was built in 1904, No.2 in 1906 and No.3 in 1914. No.3 became a stationary boiler around 1953, but the other two were preserved. No.1 became Tyrone on the Shane’s Castle Railway in County Antrim and is now on the Giant’s Causeway Railway at Bushmills. No.2 is at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Cultra, near Belfast. Stamp 4 depicts County Donegal Railway locomotive "Meenglass" at Strabane in 1959. Although the scene could not now be recreated, sister locomotive "Drumboe" has been undergoing extensive rebuilding from a very poor condition at the RPSI Whitehead workshops. Funds are not currently available to complete a return to steam, but the locomotive's restoration is advanced and a return to steam trains in County Donegal could happen if funds permitted. The cover image shows locomotive No.27 "Lough Erne" hauling a Railway Preservation Society of Ireland special train near Glynn. This locomotive is carefully stored in the RPSI sheds at Whitehead. Although there are no plans to restore No.27 at the minute, it is available to be viewed at RPSI open days at Whitehead. The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland celebrates its 50th Anniversary next year in 2014. It is fitting that steam trains are still so important in our history that they are featured in stamp sets in this modern age. The RPSI will be running many more steam trains throughout 2013 and the public can enjoy travelling back in time, hearing the locomotive beat, smelling the smoke, steam and oil and experiencing travel from a bygone era.

I don't really know Pat I only remember the 141/142 rail tour a while back would be nice to see them paired up again on another tour

I would say that would be RPSI 141/142 as they did a rail tour a few years back now (I stand to be corrected). Well done to the ITG it would be great to see 226 back on the rails again.

Really starting to take shape Stephen

Thanks for the comments lads a couple of IE 071's should be along in a few weeks

I just hope we pick a good day for it. Do you know Fran can we get a ticket like a rambler that we can just jump on and off trains all day long.

I don't think there is any room to scrap them in Dundalk I may be wrong

I haven't been on the Cork stock yet Fran. When you get a day off we could maybe rectify that Might be a bad idea for the two of us to sit in the bar the whole way there and back as it could become a big challenge to make it to the end of the platform upon return to Dublin

Agreed the De Dietrichs are very uncomfortable in comparison

Thanks Mate

I had some MIR one's left over Fran

This is my own 111 which of course had to be weathered. Looking at photos of the real one I wasn't happy with the red warning panel on the model as it always looks to be a faded dayglow orange and its how I remember the class in that livery so I changed it. Also added were etched brass name plates and kadee couplings permanently attached in the front valance. For those members who have been PMing me wanting to know how to do this there is a how to in the Hints and Tips section of the website. Enjoy the photos