jhb171achill

I'll keep trying, Steven.... could be my PC as the interweb reception here isn't great the past few days.

Fran, Pat et al; I am sure I speak for the vast majority here in appreciating your practical approach to your various projects. It is refreshing to see this type of interaction (same as with ECM trains a few years ago), where the manufacturer engages with potential clients. Not all is practical, or ever will be; but where it is, this is the best way to go about it. It simply isn't possible to realistically model the 1980s / 90s without beet, fert and bubbles. How often we see superb layouts, with excellent locomotives and coaches, all perfectly modelled, weathered, and in keeping with the era portrayed; then around the corner comes a 141 or a 201 trailing an identical rake of BR ventilated banana vans with a BR brake van endowed with a CIE roundel! Leslie, for the four wheeled era, SSM and IRM, also Irish Freight Models and others I may have missed, have made this unnecessary. It is equally impossible to model 1950-86 - a FAR longer period, without AEC railcars. A powered and unpowered one are really needed. The unpowered one could have an option of being used as a pre-Dart push/pull as well. Such a basic body shape will cover the GNR, CIE, UTA and NIR, through three decades almost. They never ran singly, therefore a pair would be necessary. For what my tuppence ha'penny is worth, I'd certainly want two pairs, maybe three. Despite this post not being up 24 hours, as seen above others have already indicated a similar interest. Liveries included GNR navy & cream, UTA green, NIR maroon and grey, CIE green and black'n'tan. (I'd hate to see one in ICR or NIR "red bull" livery!). Also, I would echo what others have said in terms of buying a good few Park Royals or whatever you decided to do from the CIE 1955-70 stable. Shtick me on the order list.

I'm digging this up because the title of the thread is relevant. IRM have, as we have lately seen, to be complimented on the way they ask questions of their customers and listen to the answers, then explain what issues THEY must deal with before producing another high-end model. The ballasts, cements, and now ferts are a great addition. I wonder, though, would IRM consider perhaps taking one of the varieties of laminates not already covered by other manufacturers, or even an AEC railcar, and making an equally high-End RTR model of one of those?

That is an absolutely superb story. Best wishes to your daughter.

That didn't seem to work either......

Link doesn't work.....?

This is an absolutely stupendous feat of modelling! I know this area very well myself, and have done since I was a small child, so I'm well aware of how perfectly it has captured the atmosphere of the area. A strongly built-up cityscape is an extremely hard thing to do convincingly and this has carried it off so well. Once "scenery-fied", it will be an absolute masterpiece. Very well done, and like many here i look forward to seeing progress taking place, Doubtless many of a certain age here are aware that under the brown paint on the balconies of the flats, are tiled murals of black'n'tan carriages...... These were put in place in the 1960s.

Wowwww!! Superb stuff....I recognise some of my American tourists in the Emerald Isle Express.... !

The wheels, and things like buffers bought off the shelf, and perhaps other bits and pieces, will tell whether a model looks right. I suppose that track can be scratch built to any scale or gauge whatever.

I do have SOME exposure to 0 gauge, as jhbSenior had a vast coarse-scale 0 gauge enterprise in his loft many years ago. It had a double track main line, a branch loop which returned as a reversingloop to the main line, and a separate branch line. All 1920s stuff. I used to "play" with it when I was 12-14. Sadly, in his late old age he dismantled it and sold the lot.

It's all do-able, of course! I like the "Trump's IQ" bit - must remember that!

A "mini-Inchicore"? Excellent and unusual concept, best of luck with it.

Ghastly! I’d need to be a mathematician!!

That is a truly amazing set of layouts, Ernie, excellent stuff and from what you say WAY ahead of its time....

....which is precisely why the whole thing would have just one turnout! As a first attempt.....! I also thought of taking normal track and assuming it's scale 5ft 3, and hand-making models which would be a smaller scale to make the track right...... I'm looking at a board about 8 inches wide - basically a shelf - as i said the whole thing would be a "moving diorama" just to see what it looked like. Once Dugort Harbour is fully up and running though, time will be of the essence as they say.....

I'm vaguely drawing up plans for a small future diorama featuring a Blessington-style steam tram to just run up and down maybe a 6ft long plank, with high quality scenery to make up for its simplicity. We hear of 21mm gauge track to simulate "00" scale 5ft 3. By my estimation, scale track in "0" scale would be about 37mm gauge. Does anyone have any thoughts on such a thing? Has anyone tried it? What I'm looking at would be absolute simplicity in the extreme - one might better call it a "working diorama". The track would be end to end, with a short siding at a mid-way halt, into which maybe two four wheel trucks could be shunted.

I get that, Patrick, yes.... and while there is room to ditch it, there's not that much. It was, of course, an extremely rare beast on Irish railways anywhere, let alone some place in the back end of nowhere. However, there were things like diamond crossings in stations on the North Kerry, and three-ways in goods yards in Co Sligo; I will make the case that Dugort was one of the rare places that such a thing was to be seen. The idea even of a loop connected to two adjacent roads would seem an extravagance, but was to be seen in Loughrea and quite a few other places. Perusal of quite a few track plans in rural locations show up a surprising number of arrangements which look odd at best, unnecessary at worst. But I hear you! I get that too, David. The loco road you can see to the right is curved partly for that purpose and partly to add scenic detail to the right of it. There is also a gentle curve as you leave the station, which will cross a small stream seen (just about) in the distance as a curved cut across the board, after which the land gently rises and the curved track disappears into a shallow rock cutting. Since space is limited in the room this will be in, a similar type of "real" setting is necessary. This is why it is partly inspired by Westport Quay, which was certainly on a limited site. When I was researching for the book on the Achill railway, I discovered that while no definite track plan was ever made out, the one-time proposed terminus at Belmullet could only have had parallel tracks, given the site. The two West Clare termini also had parallel tracks and were rural. Places like Bundoran also had parallel tracks, and despite that, I always thought that Bundoran looked very spacious. One of the things I'm trying to create is that very spaciousness that Castle Rackrent did indeed have. Thanks very much for the interest and comments, folks - much appreciated.

I consulted Resident Dog this evening, during his Poo-Perambulations in the rain in the general neighbourhood. No issues were raised, though a leg was, on the neighbour's shrub. Following a visit to the wildnesses of Deepest Eádan Doire today, and a consultation with Baseboard Dave, some 35cm have been appropriated at the expense of moving centrepiece, thus making a wall picture off-centre. The Uachtarain of Domestic Stuff grudgingly allowed it. In all reality, the whole thing has been designed with a future extension possible to be just bolted onto the end of it. Today, we tested it for loop capacity. On the photos I posted, that run-round loop barely looks as if it would hold two bogies, but perspective can distort; think of trying to make a model of a locomotive from a 3/4 view photograph! In reality, it will hold four Cravens and a tin van at a pinch. The typical train into Dugort Harbour in reality would have been 3 or 4 six-wheelers back in the day, with a horse box or parcel van on the back. Had such a line survived until the 1967 closures, which is the idea, a typical train would have been a laminate or two and a tin van. The 1960s Loughrea mixed is the sort of thing that Dugort Harbour would have. One bogie passenger coach, maybe half a dozen wagons and a van. Dugort will do the same, though excuses will be made to choke the place with goods stock now and again; the cattle fair and the beet season will see to that. The local GAA club will come out of the woodwork en masse every September to support their county in the All-Ireland Final in Croke Park (does that mean it'll have to be set in Kerry?). The devout will appear for Knock Specials too.... so plenty of reasons to have some much more interesting workings. Perusal of old working timetables often gives a great insight into what the railways carried in the past, where no two trains were alike, no identikit railcars all day (like the entire MGWR today!). Specials were common. Fair specials, plus all the things I've already mentioned. I would recommend this to anyone planning any sort of even vaguely historical layout. Look at how TTC produces rationales behind what runs through the fascinating Tara Junction - if this layout was being put together from scratch sixty years from now, the amount of realism that is included in it would actually need a good deal of research. Dugort will contain evidence of a much busier past, like - prototypically - so many locations in the late 1950s - late 1960s period, within which the whole thing is set. The weed-strewn outline of an old turntable will be visible in one corner where nothing much else of scenic interest could be included. The overgrown loco road will still be usable to water locos, but none are based there any longer. You get the idea!

This is an interesting topic. Depending on whether we model, say, 1955-60, 1965-70, 1980 or whenever, the vehicles are extremely different. Someone with suitable knowledge might put together a brief guide to what types of vehicles were to be seen in each decade.....? Same with UTA lorries...

Never, ever, ever, ever was a truer word uttered!!!! Have we a single member here who can say "not guilty"? I doubt it - certainly not me!

Work proceeds chez Baseboard Dave, in the Badlands of Edenderry...... Left to right: Outer loop, where wagons awaiting unloading will be placed. Middle line: run-round. Right hand track on loops: platform road. At the end closest to us will be a short double-sided platform, as was the case at Westport Quay. At Dugort Harbour, there will be some sort of local grain merchant whose stuff will be loaded and unloaded here. You can probably make out my scribblings on the boards showing where the main platform will be. With little passenger traffic (a la Valentia Harbour), parcels and mail will be unloaded here, as there will be a mail depot nearby. This seems odd for a remote rural location, but the idea is that the "big town" isn't far away (a la Westport) and the sorting office is closer to here than "town"; i.e. on its outskirts. The real reason is that it gives me an excuse to have a truly random collection of mail vans arriving - this is 1960, and alongside brand-new "laminate" type designs, there are Bredin mail vans, "tin vans", and brake passenger coaches ranging from ancient GSWR 1880s six-wheelers to heavy GSWR bogie vans. The station building will be of the same sort of cheap'n'nasty design as those on the Valentia line, or parts of West Cork or the West Clare. This will look appropriate, though again there's a practical reason - fitting it into as small a space as possible. Given the angle of photography, the run-round loop looks a good bit shorter than it actually is. In the distance, as the line disappears, can be seen a stream which will go under the railway in a small culvert. On the right is a long goods bank. At this end of it will be a small oil store, as the local fishing fleet have long abandoned rowing boats - it IS 1960, after all. The curved siding beyond it leads to a loco servicing site. The shed has long succumbed, but an overgrown inspection pit and still-operable water column remain; this will see visits from Roderick's 00 Works J15s, and the SSM one I have. To the extreme right will be a long gods bank with small corrugated goods shed. I have been saving a certain dimension of matchstick for a while, which will form the basis for one of those 1960s/70s wooden ramps seen on goods platforms, where lorries could back up to tip beet into wagons. At beet time, the place will be a bit like Timoleague, with specials of open wagons appearing. I wanted a turntable down the loco road, but those available from proprietary sources are (a) not that cheap, and (b) far too big. What would be turned here would be a GM 121 or a J15, not a Chinese "QJ", an Indonesian D52, or the Union Pacific's "Big Boy"! So, after also considering an overgrown pit adjacent to it, which might indicate the site of a former disconnected one, I decided to keep it simple and put a pile of old sleepers or something in long grass beside it! At present, operation will be confined to trains entering and leaving from a fiddle yard. The layout is thus designed to combine: 1. Interest in shunting operations 2. Realistic operation given the sort of outlying location portrayed 2. The possibility of future expansion beyond the fiddle yard (which is out of sight to the right) 3. Realism of scenery and surrounds - a central and essential part of which is a feeling of space. the surrounding scenery, rather than being packed with stuff, will be fields with a few sheep in them, and maybe a gable wall of an old famine ruin or something. The line will cross the small stream, with the ground sloping gently but unevenly to it on both sides. The plan is not one level patch of ground - the idea is an area of rocky fields. Beyond the stream, the land will rise and at the far end of the curve a short rock cutting will lead to a bridge, under which the line will disappear into the fiddle yard. Future long-term plans will be an extension, which will end in a terminus based on a country town terminus. The whole line will then take on the persona of a self-contained line a bit like a mini-West Cork system, or the Tramore line. Planning applications for this have been submitted to the Dept. of Domestic, Upper Living Room & House Planning Affairs. Their Chief Domestic Officer assures me that the application has been received, but is currently on file, pending discussion with the Resident Dog, whose basket and water dish will need to be moved, and Todd Andrews. I might add that the cut-out on the left corner is on account of a similar cut-out in the wall in the room where it will be!

That’s a superb prototype - might it find a home for your spare motor? There seems a growing interest in GSR locos now - not before time, as they were the largest company in Ireland by an extremely long way, and had an almost unlimited array of stock - a modeller’s lifetime dream. I look forward to seeing progress.

Superb weathering!

This reminded me of a moment of delusional inspiration in my teens. One of my first layouts beyond the "train set" stage was an eventually unfinished 009 outfit, based on a fictitious CIE narrow gauge line which had survived to the 1975 closures. West Clare railcars would have been evident, and alongside an "F" lass diesel would have been a couple of locos based on a 3ft gauge version of a 121! I did out the drawings for it, and I must say it looked quite a beast. Must delve to see if l still have them....

Number 6 is doing his number 2.....