patrick

I had the great pleasure of meeting Barry in 2012 while Maureen and I were on vacation. I was looking for a copy of "The Irish Metrovic Diesels" and it was suggested that a copy might be found at the IRRS in Dublin. We were greeted there by a very friendly member who regrettably informed us that they did not have a copy for sale "but here comes the author right now". While talking with Barry a copy of the book was unearthed somewhere which he signed. It was Maureens first trip to Ireland and everything seemed to go our way. The previous weekend we ended up in a pub with Geno of Four Men and a Dog after a concert in Clare. And in two weeks it only rained once!

Something a lttle different, a video showing how the layout fits into the room. It is planned to paint the valance and fascia (not yet completed) black and hang a black curtain underneath hiding the shelves so as to focus attention on the layout.

I agree with iarnrod and BosKonay. I would love to see the MIR range covered.

This past weekend the ballast crew were at work. Glen More was the first section of the layout started and one of the last to see ballast. I'm getting more dissatisfied with the backscene of the layout and am hoping to redo it soon. It lacks consistency and in several places the hills are too high.

They had excellent material to work with also.

Wonderful. They did a great job on Rails Through the West.

As part of a feasibility study for an extension to the layout bench work was mocked up using cardboard and hot glue. Since the benchwork ends at the foot of the stairs I felt it was advisable to see how it would work out before proceeding. It is hoped that there will be sufficient space to extend the west end of Grange station to include the point for the passing loop. At present both tracks through the station go past the platforms, under a road bridge and directly into the fiddle yard. The extended benchwork will work fine but I believe Peco set track curved points will need to be used in the fiddle yard. The whole thing took about an hour and is so much better than trying to draw it out on paper.

If it wasn't for the Silver Fox A class I wouldn't be modeling Irish Railways. When I started the railway I had practically no experience modifying or scratch building rolling stock and A class and 141/181 were the minimum requirements to effectively portray the era I wanted to model. My goal is to create a realistic plausible model railway which is fun to operate in a prototypical manner and striving to produce an A class up to the standard of Paddy Murphys GM's would not get me far down that road even if I had the ability to do so. At some stage the models will be upgraded, either with the SSM detail kit, when I am more confident in my ability to do a good job of it, or with a new model which will hopefully come on the market. For now when I view the layout in action I don't see a diesel model of questionable accuracy hauling a string of nice looking containers on underframes loosely modified to represent an Irish prototype all running on narrow gauge track. What I see is the Cork Waterford Bell liner travelling between Grange and Glenn More. I would never have started the layout if it was not for the Silver Fox A class.

The new brake gear looks fantastic. It improves the model no end!

Well done. This type of product is just what we need to encourage modellers to build their own rolling stock. Unfortunately I cant think of a prototypically sound reason to run a bubble train on my South Waterford line.

A quick look at "The Locomotives of CIE and NIR" will show that there is no "standard 20 foot chassis" There are variations in plates lift rings and brake gear between different wagon types and possibly in within classes also. A simple white metal kit consisting of solebars and bufferbeams which could be detailed as required may be the answer but for now the availability and price of the Dapol Prestwin is hard to beat. Its also easy to assemble, comes with wheels and couplers (if you choose to use them) and runs well.

Will it also be published by Colourpoint? This is really a great year for fans of the North Kerry with this new book and Alan O' rourke's excellent "The North Kerry Line"

Changing eras for now involves running the black and tan and black diesels and the Park Royal railcar for the 60's session. For the mid 70's session super train liveried diesels are substituted for the black diesels and the railcar and now we can run the new Bell liner also. All the rolling stock remains on track in the fiddle/staging yards, one track used to store any stock not in use at the time. At some stage I hope to acquire more prototypically correct coaching stock for the 60' session.

Yes indeed it is. These are a wonderful detail which scream rural Ireland. As soon as I saw them at your table at the show in Dublin in 2012 I had to have them. The layout has received some wonderful comments regarding the detail of the scenery. In fact its not very detailed. Getting a few signature things right like color, the stone walls and gate give the impression of far more detail than there is. (Anyone looking for these gates can find them on the Studio Scale Models website.) (

I am a little worried here since I am trying to model south Co Waterford! Rails Through The West has been a huge inspiration and resource and I am eagerly waiting a follow up. I seriously considered modeling Ardrahan and Croughwell but I didn't have the space, even small prototype stations are really long.

I have one which was inspired by the photo below. Its run on the late 60's operating sessions on the layout. We also run a mid 70's session. http://www.flickr.com/photos/holycorner/6749914191/in/set-72157628999720825/#

Here is a video showing the Bell liner run the length of the layout and the extent of the scenery so far.

Its always a treat to see new photos of the layout. How did you model the roadways?

Wonderful stuff John. I look forward to each new post.

After posting the last photo I was alarmed to notice how narrow gauge the track looks when viewed from a camera placed on the layout. The above photo is more of a viewer perspective of the layout. An advantage of high level benchwork is that that it makes the narrower gauge less obvious.

Six down, three to go. Hopefully this weekend will see the completion of all nine wagons of the Bell liner. Later this year when C-Line introduce their Bell reefer two will be added to the train, eleven wagons and a locomotive being the maximum length the fiddle yard will hold. The last few weeks has seen a lot of scenery building and I am looking forward to cleaning up the layout and railway room and getting back to some operation. The new Bell liner will greatly improve the mid seventies operating session.

I found this on You Tube last night.

These images are from an e mail sent out by Silver Fox a few days ago.

You mention that your available space is reasonable for OO but tight for 21mm. This leads me to ask about minimum radius for 21mm gauge based on your experience. This is something I have often wondered about.