Ballinacraig

Apologies for the lack of updates, but due to work commitments I was unable to get much done on the layout for over 7 months. However, the last four or five months have been more fruitful, and I've managed to make some progress on the goods yard area behind the station. I was planning to wait until the whole area was finished before I uploaded some photos, but my brother is home for a week or two, and he took some nice shots with his camera, and I couldn't resist sharing them. I should be able to finish the entire area, including the goods shed and oil tanks, over the next month or two, so I'll post some photos when I'm done. Paddy

Thanks, Fiacra. The main stonework was created using Slaters 7mm dressed stone sheets of plastikard. The coping stones were created by applying Polyfilla over balsa wood strips. Polyfilla is very easy to shape and score once set.

Thanks. No, it is a permanent fixture in my garage, unfortunately

Thanks, Bob. They are all scratch built from bits of plastic sprues and wiring. I spent ages looking for similar donor lamps online, but there just wasn't anything close available, so I made my own.

Latest update, and a special word of thanks to my brother, John for the photography. There has been quite a bit of progress from my last update in March. I managed to finish the embankment scenery. This took quite a bit of time, as it was my first time using static grass, and I ended up removing a couple of early attempts, before I got a finish I was happy with. I used four different static grass lengths and colours, which were added in layers using the layering spray technique. A new row of buildings have been completed for Main Street. Three of these are based on real-life counterparts - Wades Pharmacy and ML Leacy & Sons in Gorey, and Cavanaghs bar in Sligo Bar in Sligo. Although, I have used artistic license to change ML Leacy & Sons from a Tailors to a Jewellers. The Chinese Takeaway front is a Scale Model Scenery kit, and the Boyle Sports Bookmakers is based on many such premises that can be found around Ireland. I have added extensive detailing to the station area, including lamp posts, signage, seating and some flowers. The walls on this station side of the track have now been glued into place, and gates have been added at various points. This leaves only a few bits and pieces left to finish for the station, such as footbridge repair and painting, fixing in place the far platform walls and station building, and some painting and weathering to various parts of the station area I have set the plan out for the goods yard. This involved laying track for two sidings and building the shells for all the buildings/structures. I am basing the goods yard on the one at Arklow. My goods yard in Ballinacraig would once have extended further, but Irish Rail sold off a sizable chunk of it in the late 90s to a local haulage and distribution company, who have since built a large warehouse. I have built the shells for the rear of the houses that run up to the goods yard from Main Street. These are Metcalfe card kits, but I will be painting and adding all new detailing elements to these over time. There will be gardens added to the rear of these houses, which will stretch down to the railway embankment. I have also started to build the frame of the buildings at the far right end of Ballinacraig. These will be the back of shops that the line will pass under via a tunnel. It will eventually loosely resemble the tunnel mouth at the southern end of Enniscorthy station, which passes under the town. Paddy

Some videos I took on Saturday 20230401_144049.mp4 20230401_145117.mp4 20230401_145512.mp4 20230401_162609.mp4

Thanks for the clarification

The RPSI have given the following timetable for Saturday 1st April. Apologies for my ignornace, but based on these times, how could it be coming through Newry at 14:39?

Is that on Saturday 1st April?

Does anyone know if No. 131 will be leaving Whitehead to go to Dublin on the same day (Sat 1st April) as scheduled Pheonix run? I live in Newry and would love to film it at Jerrettspass.

No, I exclusively used the Esmonde Street bridge as my main reference, Sean. Although, I was aware of the Arklow Road bridge from previous visits to Gorey.

A long overdue update. There have been two major developments since I last posted. I have finally finished the overbridge, modelled on the one at Esmonde Street in Gorey. I'm more than happy with how this bridge has turned out. I have plans to give it some ivy coverage at some stage, but for now I'll leave it and move on to the next project. I have completed a row of shops/commercial buildings for Main Street. When I started these I didn't anticipate them to take as long to complete as they did, but I wanted this street scene to be as realistic as possible, and I've found that recreating all the aspects of a building really does bring them to life. I have added interior detail and lighting, which I think really adds to the realism. All four buildings are modelled on real-life counterparts, which can be seen in the pics below. The Centra and Malones Bookshop are models of adjacent shops on Main Street in Wicklow town. The Post Office is a model of the one on Main Street, Bray. The Bank of Ireland is a model of the one on Main Street, Gorey. Some of the bank is not modelled, but this will be rendered on the back scene as a forced perspective continuation, when I finally get round to that area. I have used some artistic license when building these, because I use Google Street View as my primary reference tool, and the earliest images I can obtain are from 2009, therefore I have to assume and hope that the building looked the same 4/5 years earlier. I have already planned what the opposite row of shops will be, but up next is the embankment scenery, which I'm looking forward to, as I get to try out my new static grass applicator! Paddy

Jaw-dropping stuff!

Unfortunately, I don't have a fiddle yard as of yet, Phil. The line does run behind the layout, but space is tight, so there's only room for a single track.

An update on the progress of Ballinacraig. I have spent the last few weeks - with the help of my father - building a viewing box around the scenic part of the layout. On the ceiling of the box, I ran LED strip lights. Overall, this has greatly enhanced the viewing experience, however, I need to finish painting the backscene, which will be sky blue. I have uploaded some of the latest photos of the layout, including the new surround box. I am currently working on a row of shops for the main street. These can be seen in some of the photos. When they are finished I will post closeup shots of them. I have uploaded some videos that my brother took of the layout. I have added audio of their real-life counterparts to some of these videos, which I think adds a touch more realism. Paddy 121_1.mp4 121_2.mp4 141_1.mp4 121_3.mp4