GNRi1959

I have absolutely nothing of Irish passenger stock so tonight I bought this set NEW off Ebay @ £200. I think they are quite rare and although this type of thing never ventured on the Derry Road, its simply something Irish to start my collection. It is expensive but surely its worth it. Whats your opinion Wrenneire?

Colin, anything is possible - there are no rules! I have a running space of almost 6metres x 350mm, enough to provide a 21mm shunt.

JBH, this thread on 5'3" has got me interested too. In the absence of a do-able representation of Omagh I just could use my 2.9m shed length for a 21mm test track and sidings. Building wagons and locos has much more appeal to me that running 00 gauge locos round in circles.

I printed the full size 00 gauge plan from RailwayModeller Pro tonight and it took ages. If I were to glue all the pages together and lay them out on the floor I may be able to redesign to run it around the walls, however its an enormous plan.

This picture at Omagh shows the broad gauge head-on, you can see why it is visually much better looking than 00.

I often thought about a simple board 1.5m x 300mm, with a length of track and one siding built in 21mm and used as a test track to get you started.

jhb, I have to take my hat off to you, it's a great idea. The argument for modelling 21mm and not 16.5mm is as valid as re-painting British outline wagons and slapping a G N transfer on the side.

JhB, I was in the same boat some time during the year and although it always sounds like a pleasing challenge, I found it difficult in every way. This is my personal opinion and I wouldn't want to put you off. If you really want to explore it I have a few items that I will gladly give you without any cost. I bought some track work and sleepers off the S4 Society shop when I joined and I bought them as a sample just to see what lay ahead of me. Just some fine scale track, sleepers and 21mm gauge. They are sill in the original cardboard tubing, free to a good home. If you want them, PM a postal address. If not, theres no harm done.

The almost complete station using Railmodeller Pro.

Jhb, I have the option of running a board across to do a continuous run however I want to work with the plans and available space to see what works best. I am hoping to build in 00 gauge, however N gauge may be an option. At the top end of the baseboards I have yet to place two small triangular sections it to ease ease the track around the curves. I won't do that until I organise securing the baseboards to the frames below and start some serious layout design.

Thanks Noel, here's the start of my track plan using your old favourite 'Railmodeller Pro' - great piece of software for the Mac. I am tracing out the parts onto an engineers drawing of Omagh and then making the changes to make it workable in the space I have.

Things are starting to take shape. Framing almost complete complete. 9mm ply sitting loose on the 60x20mm baseboards. Have to mark out layout drawing full size on boards and then cut and elevate the ply to form the embankments and trackbed over the roadway. They are deliberately narrow (350mm wide) baseboards as that is enough to run double track and sidings, it also leaves me with space in between to set up worktable and move freely.

After a break, taking time to re-focus, I have now almost completed installing the NEW framework and baseboards for my layout. The layout concentrates on the Derry Road and its connection to the Enniskillen line. The previous structure was removed and replaced with a framework that gives me two options, an end-to-end U- shaped layout measuring 350mm wide around three sides 2900mm x 1650 with the option of adding an additional unit, at a later date, to complete a circuit and give continuous running. This 00 gauge layout is a major rethink on Omagh maintaining the core layout of the station but using some modellers 'licence' to allow things to work. The framework also provides good storage space below. The fixed framework is 44x32mm with separate modular 9mm ply modular baseboard tops measuring 750x350mm. Photographs will follow, once all the carpentry work is complete.

Peter, I had excellent results using curtain wire (the white plastic coated flexible type used for net curtains) and fine brass wire running up the inside of it. The wire was turned at 90degrees up through a hole in the baseboard and through the centre of the tie-bar. At the other end it came out to the front of the baseboards when I pushed and pulled them to open and close the point. Worked well using small bell wire clips to fix it to the underside of the baseboard.

After one full year of teasing ideas around on this forum today I finally started setting up my baseboards for my model of Omagh GNRi Station in N gauge. I have installed a baseboard measuring 2100mm x 800mm giving me a compact baseboard with lots to offer in this smaller scale. The sketches look good and after weeks of thought I have moved its progress over to the N-Gauge forum.

Taking a break from this forum....... back soon in N

Mike0, this was quite a challenge and your results are Excellent.

JB, that was a very informative response. Thanks for taking the time to do so and I do appreciate you having a look on line. 00 gauge in the space I have would mean short sidings, short goods trains and sacrifices at every corner. To be honest, modelling Irish can be difficult enough without running into space problems. I'm thinking seriously about this. Are there any other N-gauge Irish models around?

Noel, good question! A few weeks ago I set out my proposed layout on the makings of a 10x6 sheet of birch ply. I set out my curves and three lines of track work as a basis for my track plan. Without losing too much working space in the centre of the layout, it was almost impossible to get in all the components I wanted, especially a turntable and engine shed which was situated on the line out of Omagh towards Dungannon. If working in 00 in my shed is going to mean big sacrifices - no continuous running, no turntable and limited sidings well I have to consider N-gauge. Its not ideal but I hope to visit a local model shop this weekend to handle the N-gauge stock just to give myself an idea of what size it is in relation to 00. To be realistic about it, if I have to move to N to get everything I need down, thats the way I will go. Any advice?

I must admit I know little, or nothing about GNRi coaching stock. Is anyone aware of any N-gauge coaches that are available RTR that are similar to GNRi and UTA stock pre-closure. I would appreciate any info.

Heirflick, just a little progress tonight. Managed to prime the Hornby RTR shell wagon thats pretty close and fit levers to the weedsprayer. Delicate work with lots of eye strain

The start of work on the GNRi weed spraying wagon with brass w-irons, whitemetal axleboxes and single brake shoe in place. Ready to take the whitemetal lever.

Rich, Sorry, my posting does seem rather unusual. My apologies. I have the original track plan, I have the many sketches. I know where I want the plan to go and how to achieve it. There are several aspect to Omagh. The general station area, the sidings at the North cabin, the Engine Shed and turntable and the Goods Yard. These will feature around a circuit of track work so rather than an end to end. At either end I have a bridge, so as trains pass under either the bridge on the Derry Road or bridge on the Portadown bound line this gives me the scenic break to run trains out of sight and into the return loop. Yes, it was a poorly worded post with an equally poor response!

Rich, you haven’t been reading my previous posts where I discuss the baseboard size, have you? Also, it’s never been a secret that I am modelling Omagh. Armed with the original GNRi engineers drawing I will be arranging this vast station area around the baseboards that I have specified above. Does this look like I don’t know what I’m doing? I have sketched and scribbled for months and have several ideas in mind, when the baseboards are in place it will be so much easier to arrange these ideas around the space. so if anything takes the biscuit it is a hasty response from you my friend. TonyMcGartland (Logged Out)

Thanks for the pointers. Looking at 8x4x 9mm birch ply I am thinking along the lines of 8no. 700mm x 350mm wide sections, giving me a total of 2100 x 1400 x 350mm wide. I plan on running 00 on this layout size, is it adequate, I think it’s pretty good. Finally, I don’t plan on exhibiting, the sections allow me to build at work and drive home