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October 1969 on the south waterford line.

Thanks Nelson, they are not presfix. The transfers are tan CIE broken wheels with "CIE" in the center in white. If left in water long enough the tan print will fall off. I have some white broken wheels which are even older and stored in the same place and they work fine.

I have some Rail Tech decals which are two years old and now wont seperate from the backing sheet when dipped in water. They were stored in a plastic pouch in a drawer and were not in any envoirment with extremes of heat or humidity. I have tried using warm water but that wont work either. Any ideas?

I notice Abbeydorney station is flipped on your plan. If the design was adapted to a double deck layout with a helix and turn back curve between Abbeyfeale and Listowel both Abbeydorney and Listowel could be viewed from the West with the station buildings and goods stores against the backdrop which would be visually more appealing and the main line run could be increased.

[video=youtube;4upI7-reYJE] The caption says the 60's but the presence of 186 would indicate June 1972 the occasion of the RPSI North Kerry railtour.

Blue insulation foam can make a great temporary backdrop for photos. Here a piece was propped up on a step stool in the aisle hiding the fiddle yard behind it.

A50 on a goods train at Keilys Cross.

I used a thick high grade card I found at a craft store. A bit expensive, $7 for a 24' by 30" sheet but is very strong and stable. It is available in a variety of colors including black which was used for the platforms in the photo. It has a very slight texture and to my eye looks like relatively new tarmac. I also used it for roads but painted it grey to represent an older surface.

Nothing really new here except the cattle wagon on the Waterford goods at Glen More. Two more are in the works. I am feeling a little sad that the scenery is essentially complete although there is much detailing and improvement which can be done. This is the first time I tackled scenery on a layout and it proved to be very enjoyable.

I love it. Any chance of a photo of the plasticard chassis. Did you manage to keep the flywheels?

I have been trying to adapt the Dapol cattle wagon kit to look more Irish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pdQ3z1Ji8U Anyone like T Rex? Just got "The Slider" album on CD and it currently lives on our player.

Here you go. Sorry about the picture quality, I'm using a mobile phone camera which hasn't enough resolution for such close up shots. The effect is far better in person especially at normal viewing distances.

That would require considerable investment in rolling stock and infrastructure. I suppose I could just put it on the credit card........

[video=youtube;AX32nT4Jn-A] Thanks for the nice comments and information on crossing keepers cottages. In the meantime here is a short video tour following the Waterford Cork Bell liner showing the scenery progress to date.

Just a short addition to my previous post, before applying ground cover the scenery is painted with a tan colored paint. The color was chosen to match the soil in the area based on photos showing beet harvesting I found online.

The base board is built from half inch insulation foam board glued to a frame made from one by two inch pine with bracing about every foot. (sorry about the imperial measurements but that's what is still used here) This is supported around the walls on inexpensive shelf brackets screwed into the wood framing. The result is strong and lightweight. During construction realizing that having the trackbed elevated even half an inch above the surrounding scenery in many areas would greatly add to the realism of the layout sections of foam were cut out, dropped a half inch into the framing and secured with hot glue taking care to reinforce the foam under the track. If I were to do it again I would use two layers of foam making the job easier. The final contours are established using Woodland Scenics plaster gauze and Sculptamould. The stone walls are made from cat litter mixed with white glue and formed on the layout on top of the ground cover. Use just enough glue to get the cat litter to bond and don't over mix it which will cause the granules to disintegrate. When it dries there is often some shrinkage which causes gaps which can be filled with more cat lit glue mix or covered with foliage. I also apply a little ground foam where the bottom of the wall and scenery meet to hide any gaps and give the impression of tall grass and weeds at the foot of the wall. Start by building a few sections on some scrap foam or cardboard to get a feel for it before trying it on the layout. For grass I use Woodland Scenics light green coarse foam and for hedges and bushes Light green clump foliage and olive green bushes.

Thanks Gerry, unfortunately they don't seem to have a website and I'm finding very little information online. Are they still available?

Over the weekend the last of the ground cover and stone walls were done leaving the scenery basically complete although much detail work can still be done. The trees on the layout will also be redone at some point to improve them and better represent mid to late October. The time has also come to start on the Studio Scale Models semaphore signal kits, a task I'm not particularly looking forward to. I'm much more at home building scenery than soldering tiny parts together but I'm sure they will add immensely to the character of the layout. I'm also looking at options for the crossing keepers cottage at Keilys Cross. In the meantime here are a couple of photos taken today. Anything to avoid getting the soldering iron out!

Cork Waterford goods train at Keilys Cross.

All the track work is level. I have noticed the same thing in photos both at the east and west fiddle yard approaches where the layout is viewed from the inside of a curve and the scenery rises gradually to the level of the road over bridges. Here are a few more photos of the recent progress. The West side of Glen More road bridge. The fascia needs to be touched up following scenery work. Keilys Cross level crossing and the occupation crossing leading to the beet loading siding. Stone walls and hedges will be added next. The next major project will be installing a black curtain with velcro behind the fascia to the floor. The intended effect is hopefully like a museum exhibit or aquarium where only the subject matter, in this case the layout is illuminated. Thanks for all the positive feedback which has given me so much encouragement with this project.

Waterford Cork goods at Glen More. The basic scenery is now all done on the layout but much detail has yet to be added.

Scenic work is underway at Keilys Cross level crossing. A crossing keepers cottage is planned to the right of the crossing which will hide the transition of the road into the backscene.

Ground cover and bushes were put in around Grange road bridge and the fascia and valance painted black. The photos were taken with only the layout lighting on which is how the layout is intended to be viewed and operated.

There has been much progress in the last week due to a few days off before starting a new job. The new west end fiddle yard was built and the point and road over bridge on the west side of Grange put in.