jhb171achill

There will be serious overtime in CTC!

That ground texture with tyre marks and a certain amount of grit just looks SO realistic! Superb layout, one of my favourites.

Well done to the IRM team! (It's OK, I don't need Mk 4 models.......)

Superb!!! That will be amazing!

Well, it’s the very same wagon, so looks like it!

Brookhall Mill was still sending linen to Dugort in the 1960s and 70s. Just before it went to containers, here’s another lot being shunted into position at its destination. “It’s to go to McBrides Tailors in town. He’s sending his cart to get it. I think it’s rolls of cloth from the north, but there’s oil stains on it - inside of that van is filthy. Think they’ll notice it?” “NOTICE it? It’s material to make wedding dresses, and there’s OIL on it and the best man is PJ’s son! There’s going to be WAR over this!….”

Interesting that you got a picture of that van leaving Brookhall, Paddy…. I was about Dugort the following day and I saw it arrive - a pristine cream wagon quickly getting covered in smuts from a J15 with dirty coal, as it was shunted into position for unloading. There must have been a big consignment, as there were two other GNR vans too…

Wow - in all cases, looks amazing!

Absolutely stunning layout! With no 00 Works J15s left now, unless they do a re-run or you get lucky on ebay, you'd do a lot worse than just repaint one of those LNER ones in dark grey and weather the living daylights out of it............ I thought of doing that years ago before the 00 Works ones came out. You need a brake van also for those beet wagons - they only ran without them once they became double decked - Leslie's "Provincial Wagons" one, Mayner's CIE one(s), or Studio Scale Models' brass kit of a CIE one would do that job perfectly! Keep the pics coming - the scenery on that layout sets a bar for all of us. Your attention to detail of the rural landscape is unreal. What's that station building, if I may ask - is it Skaledale? Also, what's the beet load?

There is - several vans of linen, the guy in the station tells me, due in on the goods tomorrow. So I’ll head down to the station to photograph the goods, as there are bound to be GNR wagons in it….

Finally, the 1966 goods seen shunting earlier departs…..

“That fella doesn’t THINK. Brake van in the MIDDLE of this lot. Always takes twice as long to shunt when he’s been anywhere near the place….” “…….just before Sragh cutting. Hot box again. Time that oul van was put out of its misery, sure the roof leaks like a sieve too…..”

In 1956, the branch loco brings a crew van into Dugort Harbour. This will be used by the lifting crew for the nearby Drumbane branch, which was closed in 1947.

The goods arrives and shunts at Dugort Harbour, 1966.

Absolute CLASS, Beano - superb stuff!

Decided to “block out” another window on each side when painting….

With nothing much else to do tonight, a new tube of glue, an old hacksaw I thought I’d lost, an old BR van body and £2.50 eBay “Thomas” coach lying about, I set about one of these old departmental oddities to be seen about the place throughout most of the 20th century. This one is obviously very freelance, but I think fits in. It could be a crew coach for fair days, an old tool van beside a loco shed, or a constituent part of the dreaded lifting train - a common sight in the period of Dugort Harbour. Took me ten minutes with bits which were otherwise destined for the bin…. In scale it’s 25ft long, as were a very small number of the older six-wheelers. As departmental vehicles many ended up on four wheeled underframes, or old six-wheel ones with the centre pair removed. I just need to put buffers on this and paint it properly. Naturally, it will also be weathered within an inch of its life…..

I tend to supply photos of a real one weathered to whoever is doing the work…..

I think it was other posts here which converted ME to it. Not everyone’s taste of course (few things are!) but it does indeed highlight certain details. My goal is the closest that can be got to photo-perfect realism, thus weathering of some sort - however slight - becomes as good as mandatory….

“….so why is Charlie getting promoted to driver instead of yer man, especially after that business at Farranfore….?”

On another evening, the same loco shunts empty wagons at the harbour….

“…..greyhounds, yes. I won eleven shillings on that race…. Jack is breeding them now….. gimme a hand with these sacks….” Summer 1968, and B188 shunts before leaving on the afternoon local with one of the last carriages still to be seen in green.

Back to the excellent work of Mr Dempsey:

Another masterpiece of weathering by “Dempsey”, A23R arrives with the morning local one day in May 1972. . A23R again, later in the day with the mixed train.

Three month 5-star cruise round the Caribbean in a private yacht with helipad and free bubbly?