Irishrailwayman

There are quite a few passengers waiting on the platform of Shunters Yard who may not be as amused by the constant goods vehicle movements as we might be. Therefore, a GWR railcar and GWR autocoach visit periodically to cater for them...

Thanks Dave. I just use an old Fujifilm FinePix F10 camera. It has features such as zoom, macro and focus adjust that can be used to advantage when shooting model railways. The great thing with digital is that you can view and delete as necessary without expense. Enniscorthyman gets great shots/videos also with his smart 'phone.

Shunters Yard is designed to use a spare 3-way point that I had for years and the new Bachmann 6407 pannier tank engine. I had the pleasure some years ago of doing a 3 hour driver experience course on the real 6430 at Llangollen in North Wales so I couldn't resist buying the Bachmann model. GWR has an attraction for me also as it is so well preserved/reproduced on the splendidly restored Llangollen line. Goods wagons for the layout are mainly Dapol and GWR liveries as well as colourful wagons in red/blue/green colour liveries etc were selected for exhibition purposes. Each wagon was fitted with Kadee couplings and wheels were "damped" to ensure sufficient heft when uncoupling/recoupling with the Kadee system. Note that three Kadee magnets were buried under the track/ballast at specific points to provide four uncoupling points. This enables remote shunting to be carried out easily by using DCC and the push/pull rods to change the turn-outs as appropriate. To maximise DCC sound, a small 6-pin "silent" chip is fitted to the tank engine while a Mr Soundguy soundchip is fitted under the baseboard along with a Bass Reflex speaker (under the signal box which has no glazing). A small motor is wired to the soundchip to enable the "chuffs" to work. A full range of 64XX sounds including whistles, track squeal and coupling is provided. The model was extensively detailed with coal, driver figures, lamps, bucket, fire implements, etched 6407 plates (from 247 Developments Ltd) etc.

A couple of final general shots including the control shelf built -in to the back of the layout before I move on to rolling stock... Note there are three push/pull rods to operate the points very simply facilitating shunting while only one DCC function (direction) need be pressed to control the shunting operations. These operate from the front or back of the layout enabling operation from either side.

Couldn't resist a few shots (at dawn?) when I saw Ballybeg in the low sunlight this am... Shunters Yard is tucked away overhead on its shelf!

Thanks guys. I should explain that a series of shots were taken from the same spot but with different depth of fields/focus to illustrate the depth of detail achieved. I think modern HD photography adds an additional facet to our great hobby.

A couple more shots for the record... Note that mirrors are used at each end to provide an "infinity" perspective. Additionally, each end has a sliding mirror allowing rolling stock to be added/removed without spectators seeing as they are covered by the goods shed and station canopy respectively. This also allows rail level perspective shots to be taken which are quite convincing I think.

Shunters Yard has been completed for some time and has made its exhibition debut in Wexford in October 2015. I am just now getting around to posting some atmospheric photos of the final result. First a range of views without rolling stock...

Just completed adding new DC chassis - GreenMax 18M (from http://www.wellingtonmodels.com/index.php/6/) to two GWR Railcar bodies kindly given to me as gifts by David Heath and Sean Ryan. I converted one into an "Express Parcels" railcar with GWR crest logo No 34 by attaching vinyl overlays from Electra Railway Graphics (see http://www.electrarailwaygraphics.co.uk/ under Heritage Range). The other I retained as railcar No 19 with GWR round "art deco" logos. Models shown here posing on Ballybeg with their bigger "OO" DCC cousin from Shunters Yard!

Mogul 383 rapidly reaching the end of its days on the main-line, CIE men unsure of this new-fangled technology involving diesel locomotives...

Great scenes and variety of rolling stock.

A few atmospheric shots of Ballybeg with an Autumnal sunrise. First, early diesel days B101 waits for the road while 2-6-0 Mogul 383 rests on the turntable. Lastly in a much later era, a shot of 220 getting the road by Ballybeg West signal cabin...

A mighty collection there!

Bridge now in place and work commenced on scenery using crumpled damp newspaper/PVA glue as a base for Polyfilla impregnated cloth. Further layers of Polyfilla to be added allowing each to dry and harden. Looks like a heavy snowfall but this will change when an undercoat of grey paint is added to protect the hard shell!

Looking good - I like the trees, you can never have enough of them.

Moving on to the scenic work: first it is necessary to add the fascia/front board suitably shaped to suggest undulating countryside beside the rails. Next the specially cut mirrors are added to each end for an "infinity" or continuity illusion. The platform is glued in place allowing rolling stock to clear each side and ends. The completed buildings are placed temporarily to allow the landscape to be created around them and for the composition to flow as naturally as possible.

Rolling stock is a mixture of GWR and early BR fitting either era (if Cynwyd had survived Beeching's cuts) or combined as a "might have been if preserved" line. Stock has been fitted with tiny magnets to activate shuttle at each end of train formations. Testing complete and all working well.

Wiring completed, controls labelled and ready for testing. Each piece of rolling stock (at the front and end of each train formation) must have a small magnet attached beneath it in order to trigger the reed switches buried in the track ballast and wired to the electronic shuttle/station-stop board. This enables the automatic train shuttle to work: slow start, acceleration, slow down entering station, station stop, wait time, slow acceleration, full speed to end-of-fiddle yard, stop, wait time, reverse and repeat sequence. Each parameter can be varied as appropriate. With three lines on each fiddle-yard sector plate, a different train (5 in total, one in-transit) may be released from either fiddle-yard by gently moving the appropriate running line into place manually and connecting it electrically using the bulldog clip. The main-line may alternatively be operated manually at the flick of a switch. The Goods Yard works on manual only with the turn-outs operated easily by simple push/pull rods (elegant and simple!). Goods wagons will need modification to operate with the Peco Electromagnetic un-coupler system. Then the canvas will finally be ready to develop the scenic section of the lay-out...

Irish Freight Models do one as well which I quite like: http://www.irishfreightmodels.com/index.php/shop.html#!/CIE-Irish-Rail-Bulleid-open-Wagon/p/14644538/category=3461102

Nice work!

There's something about O gauge that looks soo real... Just need a BIG house to fit it all into!

Thanks Sulzer. Just finishing boxing off the fiddle-yards, then a lick of paint and complete the under baseboard, then the scenery: convert the track on a flat surface to look like a railway carved into the landscape...

For this prototype I chose Peco brown stone ballast (fine grade PS-28). I used Deluxe's Ballast Bond product which worked really well - just drop the liquid from the bottle onto the dry ballast powder brushed carefully against the track bed. Two pics here show someof the buildings fitted roughly for size. Note the push-rods for the points operable from front and back of layout. Next up: complete some more woodwork, re-test layout operation, commence groundwork for scenics and fitting of buildings,mirrors etc...

..or keep doing the Lotto

Correct. Also, each manufacturer's chip needs different equipment for re-programming. The original soundfiles are owned by the supplier companies.