Peter

A bit of progress on my layout... Newbridge ballast pit and hill is taking shape. I have my first bit of machinery, a bulldozer. Caravans arrived, for er, the traveller camp on the Curragh. The small hill will feature the square of trees in the last photo.

Haha. It is. Well spotted. Come hell or high water I'm getting this layout finished soon. I spent more time staring at it last year.

Here's a few photos of my progress with my layout. One photo shows the Curragh platform on the main line between Newbridge and Kildare. It also shows the bridge next to it and the level crossing nearby. There's a certain amount of artistic licence with the positioning of it all. Another picture shows the Curragh siding with central platform. The bare grass patch on the left is for the goods shed and the bare patch on the right is for the spectator stand at the Curragh racecourse. The final picture shows the siding to the ballast pit outside Newbridge. I made the hill from expanding foam which I think worked nicely. Still some shaping to do etc. The fiddle yard on the left will be covered by a back scene.

Now to find a rock crusher, and other heavy machinery in n scale. I might have to take a visit to Shapeways.

As always I'm amazed at the knowledge on this site. There was indeed a ballast pit outside Newbridge which I'm including in the layout. I have a small siding and I put down a hill using expanding foam which I'll shape to leave a rock face.

That's brilliant. Thanks for your help folks. Now I know what to get.

Howdy folks, Does anyone know where I might find some pictures of railway ballast pits in Ireland? I'm trying to get an idea of the kind of machinery used in them. I'm finally making some progress with my n gauge Curragh layout. Thanks, Peter

Any update on this Eoin? I'm making good progress with my n gauge layout and an Irish loco would be amazing.

Wow, what an amazing resource. Thank you.

Hi folks. Does anyone know a resource where I can find finishes for buildings, to download and print? To be exact I'm looking for a blockwork finish, concrete finish, and corrugated iron finish. Thanks.

Spotted this loco and carriage outside the small train station in Salou. Nicely displayed.

I was visiting a friend in Utrecht last weekend and spent a few hours in the railway museum. Some beautiful examples of locos from all eras of Dutch rail. I love the styling on them. A nice way to spend an afternoon in Utrecht.

There is little to none ready to run in n gauge. And I would be interested in n gauge.

Keep up the good work. Stick me on the order list ;-)

A friend gave me this yesterday. He got it from the yard by east wall. Nice little piece to display in the house.

jhb171achill I will make all the fencing be a carriage width from the track. Thanks for the suggestion. I added some scatter to the vinyl mat yesterday. What do ye think? There will be a road where the black tape is on the right.

Thanks Paddy. The baseboard is 5' x 3'. My simple fiddle yard allows me to add a train to either track while keeping two trains running. There will be a square shaped wooded area to the left of the layout inside the two loops and a ballast hill at the right of the layout inside the loops.

Thank you for the kind words. I started putting in some lineside fencing. I have it placed where the ballast meets the grass. What do ye think? Should it be further away from the track?

Want. Seriously impressive work.

Enniscorthyman, should the finish for the orange paint be gloss, satin or matt? Thank you.

Hi David. The plan is to use scatter material on top of the mat to bring the scenery to life. I'm also going to put down some gorse bushes and trees. The area on the right of the layout will have a biggish hill to look like the ballast pit outside Newbridge and there will be a small hill on the left side of the layout.

Finally have some pictures to share of my layout. Pictures show freight wagons passing the Curragh platform, trains travelling up and down the main line and a loco and coaches parked in the Curragh siding. The grandstand in the Curragh will be bottom right of the layout, a goods shed just above the siding. I'm using a Woodlands Scenics grass mat for simplicity. I'd love to know your thoughts.

I'd be very interested in Irish RTR or kit in N gauge. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread.

Does anyone know the exact grey colour of the current grey and yellow class 071? Thank you.

Thank you very much