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Speaking to Fran yesterday in Wexford he did hint that both a break van and a mk1 GSV were in the pipeline but neither were imminent.

When did they start painting them brown? I think that I remember a lot of gray wagons still around the the 1970's

Planning for the new layout has been based on the following seven principles espoused by an American track planner called Bill Beranek. Walk Along Mainlines Narrow Shelves Long Mainline or Branch-line Runs Trains Traveling Through Scenes Once View Blocking Peninsulas Staging Yards (both hidden & open) Prototypical Operations It’s worth watching him on YouTube, you will learn a lot. On this layout the emphasis will be on operations more than scenery but I do hope to gradually add scenery over time. The basic shape of the new layout will be around the walls with a peninsula up the middle, similar to the old layout but in a space twice the size. This gives five straight sections for stations or scenes. The new layout would have space for a helix or a turnaround at the end of the peninsula if I want to incorporate one. I didn’t have the space for this on the last layout. My first idea was to put a helix at end of peninsula to get the track down to staging around the walls under layout. It would even have been possible to both go up and down with the helix and add a complete upper deck to the layout and making it double the size. Advantages All five sections can be used as senic areas, maximum possible mainline run, trains can be reversed when staged, very easy to add extra staging tracks, possible to build a double deck layout. Disadvantages Complicated benchwork, lot of hidden trackwork , time taken to travel up and down the helix during operating sessions. I decided early on that a double deck layout is not for me as neither deck is at the optimum height and that the disadvantages of the helix outweigh the advantages. My next thought was no helix but putting staging around the outside of the layout behind a view block backscene. Advantages Almost as much senic area and mainline run as option 1 Easy to incorporate a junction with a branch through the backscene Disadvantages Access to staging, viewing stock in staging, height of backscene, no reverse without shunting in staging. Again I think the disadvantages outweigh the advantages so the next option would be to use one of the straight areas as double ended open staging Advantages Simple benchwork, easy access to staging Disadvantages Shorter mainline, no reverse loop, tight radius on turnaround at end of peninsula, difficult to incorporate a branch line. This is closer to what I would like but my next idea was to do away with the turnaround at the end of the peninsula and put open staging on one side of the peninsula with the branch terminus on the other side. The main line would run out of staging go around the room and back into staging Advantages Simple benchwork, easy access to staging, possible to interconnect north and south staging and run trains in one direction around the layout, possible to have a triangular junction, branch line included, possible to have a continuous run. Disadvantages Shorter mainline, only four scenic areas This is actually very similar to the concept of the old layout. It is the way I plan to proceed and am working on a track plan, so more to follow.

Photography was never my strongpoint. Even now I am terrible at composing a subject. At the time I had a cheap AGFA camera and took awful photographs in black and white which I developed myself. I much preferred to wander around, observe and store memories. The photos in the IIRS archive or in Rails in Kerry are way better that any I took. But on the subject of memories there was plenty of time to wander around and no restrictions on going anywhere. The loco was a 141 class, and after we arrived in Fenit the driver uncoupled from the train and drove it up the line and parked it in the cutting outside the station. He left it idling there unoccupied all afternoon. There was a very sad end to the day in that on the way back to Cork that evening the train crashed into a vanload of travellers at an accomidation crossing and several were killed.

I was on that tour in 1972 and if I remember rightly the turntable was still working. I also visited the branch a year or two later on a local when the Cork- Tralee train was extended to Fenit on summer Sundays.

Its hard to believe that its over a year since my last post. What a year it has been. I got the layout to the stage where all the track was laid and fully operational. I did spent a lot of time running trains for the grandkids and am hopeful the the hobby might not be lost on future generations. I had a dress rehersal for a full operating session and then life intervened. The two of us were rattling around a large house that was impossible to heat, using perhaps a third of the living space so we made the momentus decision to downsize and sell the house after 32 happy years there. I had to dismantle the railway, pack it all up and put it into storage in my daughters attic. We were very lucky, we got a good price for the house and found another close by that meets our needs, a key one being space in the garden for a timber room for my model railway version 2.1. The selling and buying took six months and then after moving in in December we made the decision to completly refurbish the new house and so are currently homeless but actually are lucky to be able to stay in any of our three kids houses, the one condition being that we help look after the grandkids. While I haven't posted very often this site has been a constant in my life keeping me in touch with the hobby over the last year. I really appreciate what everyone contributes and IRM for running an add free service. I have a great team of Romanians working on the house but have assumed for myself the role of clients representative, resident engineer , assistant plumber, assistant electrian, assistant dogsbody. The result being no time for modelling. We hope to move back in around Easter. Below is a picture of the timber room that I was allowed purchase. Its nominally 16 x 12 in old money, about 15'8" a 11'8" internally, fuly lined and insulated. It is currently being used for storing our furniture so I hope to have vacent possession in a couple of months. I am currently designing version 2.1 of the layout so more to follow.

I think if you were to analyse the market, the vast majority of your customers are aged from 50 to 80 who are able to remember what a railway looked like. Loco hauled passenger and freight trains have now almost dissappeared, track has been rationalised and we are left with silver green tubes which transport a lot more passengers a lot more efficiently but don't generate any interest from the younger demographic. The only model train that kids are exposed to nowadays is Thomas the tank engine. I am smack in the middle of the above age bracket and growing up was able to observe much of what was still a victorian steam railway albeit with diesel locos and 1950's and 1960's rolling stock. I worked in CIE during the 1980's so have chosen this era to model. I am extremly grateful to both Paddy Murphy and IRM for producing incredible scale models at very reasonable prices. I have bought full price examples of almost all the models that been produced so far that could have run somewhere in Ireland in the 1980's plus or minus a decade. The magnasite wagons seem to have been a commercial disaster which is a real pity as they are such beautiful models. I will buy Park Royals, H vans GSVs, C Class, Jeeps, 20 ton Brake vans etc etc as soon as these are produced. I am sorry to say that the ICRs just don't row my boat which why I didn't order any.

Be careful what you wish for as your wallet may not be able to stand the pressure. Chatting to Fran at Wexford he hinted that both a break van and a GSV were needed to go with all the wagons and coaches they were producing. He also mentioned that not one but two loco announcements would be made this year.

My priority wish list if anybody from IRM reads this: GSVs to go with the Cravens and Park Royals, BR vans perferably but would accept an unrebuilt DEW van as an alternative Either a 20 ton or 30 ton brake van to go with all the Bulleid stock now on order. A re-engined C class The footbridge that we were already promised My origonal intention was to only buy what ran in the 1980's but the recent offerings have reset this to 1970's and 1980's I know I will probably buy whatever is produced but the layout is filling up. 10 years ago I did not think I could ever be in this situation

Really interesting video. It brough back many memories as I travelled on that RPSI tour behind 186 in 1972. The dedication that this group of people have shown over the last 40 years really is amazing. It also shows just how powerful the farming/ landowner lobby is and how negligent CIE have been in preserving the right of way for the state. I am probably in the minority here but I am a great beliver in the economic and social benifits of greenways. I see no justification for rebuilding the line to Foynes. Ireland is just too small for rail freight other that a few specific freight flows which are completly dependent on the location of a small number of factories. At the moment we have concentrates in containers from Ballina to Waterford, timber from Mayo to Waterford, Botox from Castlebar? Tara Mines? CIE had a network of container gantries all over the Island but transhipment costs killed the market. Why are we fixated in investing in a form of transport that is 200 years old. Why not think outside the box? At the moment most freight in an out of Ireland travels to and from Europe in standard articulated trailers which are rolled on and off ferries by special tractors. A road tractor delivers the trailers to and from the port. They are currely building a huge number of storage bays in Rosslare for holding the trailers before pickup or after drop off. Why not move the ports inland? My sugestion would be dedicated carriagways for transporting standard articulated trailers from ports to an inland hubs. Instead of diesel trucks the tractors would be unmanned electrical vehicles, powered by low voltage electricity (not batteries) similar to luas trams. The trailers could be transferred direct from the boat to the system. The carriageway could be single width with passing places to minimise construction costs. The whole lot would be controlled by AI to maximise efficiency and reduce energy consumption. While it would not be quite as efficient as steel on steel for that part of the journey, the benifits of a single mode of transport from factory to port and vise versa would far outweigh the extra energy costs which would still be green electricity so no additional carbon. Perhaps the line from Rosslare to Waterford could be converted to trial out the system? There is no reason why the network could not be extended to include city suburb to city suburb carriagways.

Latest update! I bought the 12mm plywood and 2 x 1 softwood in B&Q in Liffey Valley about 10 or more years ago. At the time their standard plywood was very good quality and they would also cut it accurately for customers. Their 2x1 softwood was straight with very few knots or other defects. I screwed 400mm high hardboard directly to the wall for the backscene. The upper part of this will be covered in a cloudy sky wallpaper but I am not yet sure what I will use for the lower part. I have never got this far on a layout before so scenery is going to be something new to me. The track is now laid. For the scenic part of the layout I first laid out the points and track roughly until I had the track layout finalised. I drew a centre line on the plywood and glued Midwest Products cork trackbed down using a spray adhesive. I then screwed the track to the cork using 5mm x 1.2mm screws that I sourced on line. This means that if I change anything in the short term all the track will be recoverable. I will only consider ballasting the track when I am 100% happy with the track layout and operations. In both staging yards I laid the track on two layers of a rubber packing material. Control is a Roco Multimaus DCC master and slave controller. A ring main of 2 x 1.5² solid wire runs under the whole layout. Droppers are soldered to spade connectors and up through the plywood to the rails. The spade connectors are then inserted into crimp connectors clamped to the 1.5² wire. I tested all the trackwork as I went along with my Kato GP35 which runs jewel like. Ferrybank Yard On the left is the carriage siding, double track main line in the middle, three track yard with headshunt and pallet unloading siding on the right, and oil siding in the corner. Peninsula. Showing the four track north staging yard (Dublin). The kickback siding is electrically isolated so I can use it as a programming track. Junction The main line comes around the corner through the tunnel which will be replaced by a hill and a dolomite quarry in that corner of the layout. There will be up, down and bay platforms, the bay has a run around track. I plan to put a cement silo close to where 142 is in the photograph. The track on the front right may possibly be extended over a disused turntable to a loco shed. Junction and branch The main line curves around passing a beet siding and through the backscene into North staging. The branch line also curves around passing what will be the magnesite factory into the branch station. I have a Walthers ADM grain silo kit which I will install in this area mainly as a view blocker to hide both the tight radius curve on the branch and also the main line exiting to staging. South Staging This is a four track yard behind the backsene shown in the previous photo. The double track main line comes from Ferrybank over the lift out section and into the yard. On the left is the continuous run connection, The centre track has a run around and the right hand track has a kickback siding behind the door. The lifting flap was designed so that it can be installed with the door either open or closed. Main line For the main line between the two stations I lowered the baseboard so I could install a bridge. The next stage is to unbox all my Murphy Models and IRM stock accumulated over the years, fit chips to all ten Irish locomotives, and start to play trains. I am in the process of drawing up a timetable based on the traffic flows that would have been standard back in the 1980’s when I worked in CIE. Typical passenger operations envisaged are: 3 x Dublin Waterford return trains per day – 2 sets will be needed – Mk 2 or Mk 3 or Craven / park royal gen van 3 or 4 x Wexford – Junction return – 1 or 2 may be extended to Waterford 1 set needed craven park royal gen van 1 x Friday only Down train and 1 x Sunday evening or Monday morning only up train Craven Park royal gen van 1 x NIR special – Mk 2Bs Freight Flows Up and Down Scheduled liners – sundries / containers Dublin Junction Ferrybank Waterford Fertiliser paths Dublin Junction Ferrybank Waterford Cement path Dublin Junction Oil/ magnesite train Waterford - Ferrybank - Drinagh Dolomite train Junction - Drinagh Beet pick up Drinagh Junction - Waterford- South Staging Through Trains - Dublin direction to Waterford direction Tara ore Lisheen ore (Dicky Taras’) Up and down ballast Up and down Gypsum Other freight flows will depend on models that become available in the future Traffic generators at each location: Ferrybank: Oil siding Fertilizer or pallet cement siding Container and marshalling yard Junction: Dolomite quarry sidings Pallet unloading siding with cement silo Old goods siding with shed and bank 1 spare siding (possibly Beet?) Drinagh Magnesite factory sidings for oil dolomite and magnesite Goods siding for beet loading

I suspect I know where this rumour came from. Due to a work connection I became friendly with someone who worked in engineering for a company in that area. His family home was built on the trackbed of the old Tullow branch. When he heard I was interested in trains he brought me home to show me the "Loco" that he had built in his garden. It's very hard to describe but it was basically a full size "locomotive" built out of scrap parts that he was given by his company. He had the whole thing set up as an outdoor kitchen and barbeque. It wasn't based on any prototype and owed a lot to his imagination but it looked great and was a real showpiece and talking point.

These carriages really look amazing. I received mine on Tuesday and I immediately set up a test train with my first chipped loco Murphy Models 142. Everything worked fine until I put the driving trailer coach on the track and I then immediately got a short. If I take the carriage off the short goes away. all the other carriages are fine and look really well with the lights on. The instructions say a decoder may be fitted to control the directional lighting. I am already in communication with IRM and they say that if the blanking plug is removed, the directional lighting will be disabled but the interior lighting will still work. Has anyone else tried to use them on a layout with DCC control and got the same problem?

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.

Held off until now as my layout is based around CIE in the 1980's away from the Belfast line I have been trying to limit purchases to models that will actually run on the layout. These models just look too good to pass on, so have ordered a trainset I will now have to include a path for a visiting special in each operating session