I have been a member of this forum and indeed its previous incarnation for many years and while I would log on most days I have only posted sporadically. Your posts have been a source of both inspiration and information to me. Currently Mayner is posting on the on successes and failures in layout building which I find utterly fascinating. He has a track record if you will forgive the pun. Finally I am now in the process of actually building my first proper layout at the grand old age of 65, I thought I might share some of my thoughts and ideas.
I was born in the 1950’s and grew up in Dublin in the 1960’s and 70’s. I was always interested in mechanical things. At five years of age my grandmother bought me a train set for Christmas. At six years of age she brought me on the train to visit my cousins in Galway. I have vivid memories of a grey and yellow 121 pulling us around the city from Westland Row through the phoenix park tunnel and down to Galway via Portarlington. I joined the IIRS junior branch at 12 years of age. I used to think I was unlucky in that I never got to see steam locos in operation, apart from going on several RPSI tours. In reality, the railway I observed in my youth was still very much the Victorian steam railway in almost every other aspect apart from diesel locomotives. The infrastructure had hardly changed. Most stations still had mechanical points and signals and sidings to goods sheds and cattle banks were still in place. Most of the branch lines had been closed but the trackbed was often still in place. There were still some six wheel carriages around and it was still possible to spot the odd MGWR or GSWR wagon although these were very rare. H vans and Bullied opens were everywhere. Freight trains left North wall every evening on the radial routes to Belfast, Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Limerick, Cork, Waterford and Wexford. They stopped at every station to drop off or pick up wagons. In IRRS headquarters in Dromcondra you would head the unmistakable beat of a Sulzer engine on a Heuston north wall transfers several times each evening. Often no two vehicles on a passenger train would be the same or even have the same profile. A passenger train could consist of four-wheel luggage or heating vans, GSR stock, non corridor stock, repainted GNR stock, laminates, buffet car, park royals and cravens. I travelled often on the railcars some of which still had first class seats behind the driver when on the Dublin suburban.
I observed loose coupled goods trains with brake vans shunting single wagons into sidings. On a holiday in Killarney I walked up to the signal cabin and spent hours watching the signalman at work. Using the phone to ring the gatekeepers, pressing the lever on the ETS, remove the staff and take out the key for the mechanical interlock on the home signal before pulling the signals off. He even let me pull the lever for the starter signal. I couldn’t pull the crossover, it was just too hard. Needless to say, no kid could ever experience that nowadays as, even if the cabin was there, no member of the public would be let near it, let alone a 12-year-old kid. With another IIRS member we spent two weeks on a rambler ticket to travel on every line open at the time including a Sunday special to Fenit. In Claremorris one day we tried to persuade the driver to let us travel on the loco of the goods up the Burma road to Sligo. We didn’t have loco passes, but they did allow us travel in the guard’s van as long as we got off at Coolloney and not go into Sligo where we might have been spotted by management. We walked up the track to the midland station where we got on the up Sligo back to Dublin.
I never had a good eye for photography and so the quality and quantity of the photos I took is poor. Instead I mainly observed and soaked everything up into memory. Every time I see a photograph taken by Barry Carse or others who could take proper photos, it brings back the memories of an era and a time that I experienced but has now disappeared for ever.
As a kid I had a Triang train set with various British locos and rolling stock but as I got older I was not satisfied. Any layout I built had to be Irish, not alone that it had to be either 21mm gauge or 00n3, consequentially nothing got built.
From the mid 70’s on, other distractions such as rugby, university, hiking, career, marriage, mortgage, family, etc pushed railway modelling into the background.
I did actually work as an engineer in CIE for much of the 1980’s both on the road side and the railway before leaving for the private sector. I have fond memories of my time in CIE. In retrospect I didn’t use the benefits, such a personal loco pass and first class travel pass as much as I should have but the 80’s were tough times in Ireland. I was one of the lucky ones in my class who got jobs in Ireland. My efforts were concentrated on my career, raising my family and keeping a roof over our heads.
In all this time I remained a member of the IIRS, going to meetings, library nights etc. but the main reason for being a member is the journal. My collection goes back to the 1960,s any historical query can normally be answered by referring to some past journal. I would advise anyone who even a passing interest in Irish railways to join. The picture archive that Ciaran Cooney has created is phenomenal.
I have never lost the love of trains, if I am beside a railway line anywhere in the world and a train is passing I will stop and watch. I do find it very hard to get excited about the modern Irish railway system. It really is more like a tramway than anything else.
Railway Modelling
I have been dabbling in model railways since I was a child. In the 1980’s it had to be Irish and proper gauge, not four foot nothing. I bought some kits off Terry McDermot, joined the scalefour society to get 21mm track parts. I half built a MGRW E class 0-6-0 but never had the skill or determination to finish anything let alone build a layout.
I went to most of the model railway exhibitions held over the years, bought magazines, kits etc. I was your typical armchair modeller, criticising other peoples work while not actually producing anything myself. I probably should have joined the SDMRC but never did. Model railways was always a third or fourth hobby after hiking, rugby, family etc.
I have always been interested in operation, ever since I watched an operating session on Sam Carse’s County Donegal layout. Scenically it was very basic but Sam didn’t care, he wanted to operate his layout as the real railway did. All his stock was hand built but the whole thing ran on Hornby Doublo three rail mechanisms and track, and consequently was very reliable to operate. The session included operating all the regular trains both railcar and steam from Strabane to Stranolar, Donegal, Ballyshannon and Killybegs. This included three railcars meeting in Donegal town and a coal special from Killybegs to Ballyshannon.
I was also lucky enough to see the whole of Richard Chown’s Castlerackrent in operation in Edinburgh in the 1980’s. This left a lasting impression on me, at one stage I dreamed about scratch building a 7mm layout.
For years I subscribed to Model Railroader as I always found the American attitude to model railroading fascinating. In particular, I liked the way layout design was almost always about a railroad and how the railroad would be operated as much as the era or the trains themselves. Compared with British models of the time American locos and stock were much more realistic, reliable and slower running.
Over the years I bought a lot of American rolling stock as I just love first and second-generation diesels. My favourite railroad was the D&RGW which up until the 80’s as an all EMD railroad. Most American models run really well and Kadee couplings are great. Twenty years ago, we had orange coloured Hornby Hymecs or Lima class 33s and they were not for me.
About 15 years ago I built an American shunting layout based on a design by Dave Barrow that appeared in Model Railroader. I bought a lot of building kits and intended to complete it scenically but while in a way it was interesting to operate, I got bored with it and never developed it. I wanted to run trains through multiple stations not just shunt a few wagons.
I skipped on Paddy Murphy’s original Lima models, as at the time I was committed to modelling American in HO. But then he brought out the 141/181 which is what I would consider the first proper scale model of an Irish loco. The situation has now gone from famine to feast and it has become really difficult to resist what both IRM and Paddy produce. Paddy set the bar so high and IRM have raised it even higher.
The new Layout
This is my first serious attempt at completing a model railway.
Looming retirement and jibes from the family about when I am going to stop talking about building a model railway and actually build one have forced my hand a little. We are now empty nesters and the domestic authority have granted a lease at a very expensive price (lots of grovelling and lots of DIY around the house) to a downstairs room that measures approx. 3500x2500 or 11’6” x 8’6” in old money. This is probably very generous compared to what other people may have but I would have liked at least double this. It has taken me years to come up with an acceptable design. For many years on the other side of the pond John Armstrong was the ultimate guru on all things track planning. In his preamble to producing a design for a client he always spoke of the “Givens and Druthers” summarised simply as things that you can’t change such as space, scale etc and then the wish list. For me the emphasis of the design of the layout has to be on operation over scenic realism. This leads to compromises on station design, lengths of passing loops, minimum radius curves etc. etc. The biggest compromise of all is that the track gauge is four foot nothing not five foot three. On the other hand I wanted the line to go through the scenic part of the layout once.
The layout is dual purpose, while the scenery will be Ireland of the 1980’s I intend to have operating sessions where I can run my American stock.
Era will be 1970- 1980’s so virtually everything will be in supertrain livery. I have resisted the temptation to buy either 201s or ICRs. Newest stock will probably be Mk3s. I now also have to accommodate a visiting special from NIR as I have taken the plunge and bought an IRM mk. 2 b set. It does help that having worked for CIE in the 1980’s I have loads of memories that I will try to recreate.
Alternatively, on American nights the layout will become the Denver Terminal Railroad so I can run my Yampa Valley Mail, my California Zeypher, and various hotshot freights out through the Denver suburbs and up the Front Range to the Moffet Tunnel.
Layout design
The design has been in gestation for about 10 years. Railway modelling is only one of my hobbies so while I was working I never found sufficient time to allocate to it. I retired in June 2023 and finally started construction of the baseboards last October.
The layout is point to point but with a continuous run option for when I want to run in stock or just play trains.
The emphasis of the layout is on operation as opposed to scenic fidelity. It will probably take years to add scenery so initially the aim is to get the baseboard and track built and operational and take it from there.
In my imagination I have assumed that the line from Waterford to Kilkenny via Thomastown was not built but instead the line was built up the Barrow valley via New Ross and Borris meeting the GSWR at Bagnelstown. There would also have been a branch to Kilkenny from a junction at Goresbridge and a junction to Wexford and Rosslare close to New Ross. The assumption is that the south Wexford line was never built as by the 1880’s there was already a line in place from Wexford to Waterford. The layout design is very loosely based on this idea.
My model railway runs from north staging which is a four track yard on one side of the peninsula past the continuous run connection and into the scenic area around to the junction, the branch line from Wexford (Drinagh) makes a trailing connection here.
The Junction has up and down platforms and a bay platform for the branch and down trains. It also has a few sidings for freight traffic.
The branch curves around from a small terminus Drinagh (Wexford/Rosslare) on the same peninsula as the north staging. This station has a single passenger platform one general siding and one large industry with two long sidings and a separate run around. I plan to site my Walters grain silo here which will become a Magnesite works. It the future it will probably have its own shunter.
The main line continues around to the other side of the room over a lowered section of the baseboard where I plan to put a bridge and into the approach to Waterford station.
The layout here consists of a station throat with yard and sidings. The entrance to the south end staging is over a lift out section as the door into the room is conveniently situated in this corner. To mask the curves I intend to build the outline of an overall roof as the end of the scenic section. I will call the yard area Ferrybank. There is a three track marshalling / container yard a headshunt and pallet unloading siding. On the other side if the main line there is a carriage siding and oil siding.
The south end staging is a four track yard along the wall behind the main line. Also the continuous run connection will allow me to run in locomotives or just play trains.
The plan is to operate passenger trains to a timetable with various paths for freight trains depending on the time and people available for the operating session.
Dublin Waterford passenger trains will run from Dublin (north staging) to Waterford (south staging). It will be possible to cross trains at the junction and, also local Waterford Wexford trains which will normally be made up of one or two cravens and a GSV van( Hint! Hint! IRM). Later I may add a boat train. I plan to develop a timetable for an operating session that realistically portraits the typical passenger and freights movements that would have taken place in the 1980’s.
Baseboard height is about 1300mm, mounted directly off the walls except for the peninsula. There are no gradients. Track passes through each scene once. Baseboard is 12mm ply mounted on 2 x 1 framing except for the peninsula which utilises much deeper plywood box from the old shunting layout. A 400mm high hardboard backscene has been attached directly to the wall with a 200mm high backscene between the terminus and the north staging.
I had a basic track plan drawn out, but waited until I could physically fit each piece of track or point in place before finalising the layout in each station.
The track is screwed to Midwest cork roadbed which is glued to the plywood baseboard. For the moment this looks ok. Down the line I may ballast the track but certainly not before I have operated the layout for a while and am sure that everything works.
Minimum mainline radius is 700mm but down to 600mm on the branch.
Over the years I have bought a lot of model railway equipment so I haven’t had to purchase too much new stuff. Track is a mixture of Bachmann code 100 flexible track and Peco points many of which are 30 years old, and still in perfect condition as they were never really been used. I also bought a job lot of second hand Peco points in poor visual condition as they had been pulled up from a painted and ballasted layout but are still ok operationally so have used these in the staging areas.
For control I have a Roco DCC multimaus master and slave controller. I have a pair of Kato GP35 which are not very detailed but run like jewels. I have used these to test each section of track as it is laid. I may upgrade to sound decoders down the line but I am not sure if sound will enhance the operating experience and that I can justify the expense.
Baseboard construction was largely complete by the end October.
The picture below is taken from the doorway across the lift-out section to the peninsula and the site for the junction station.
Tracklaying commenced in November and is now approaching completion so I hope to post an update when I have everything running.
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