PaulC

A thoroughly enjoyable visit to UMRC exhibition today. My son particularly enjoyed the Meccano presentation and was more than tickled when he could play with models off of one of their tables. It was a pleasure to meet John with his Campbell Riverside layout. I spoke to a chap, Derek, from I think the MRSI, regarding station plans. He had given me some advice for sourcing similar plans for Ballymena Station but for the life of me I can't remember the source he suggested. If anyone is attending or knows Derek, perhaps he or she could ask for me. Anyway, thanks to the UMRC for the show, I will be back next year.

I will indeed John. I've already put the feelers out with Mrs C so I'm halfway there. Paul

Never attended before but I will try to be there.

Good lord, what stunning modelling skills on display there. That cab interior is something to marvel at, it's just magnificent. I haven't read any of the other pages in this thread, is this 00 scale? Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Paul

Woodwork on the baseboards is now complete. This overly protracted job got tedious and combined with the fine weather made it less than enjoyable to work in but now it's done I feel an element of rejuvenation combined with apprehension on starting the next phase. With some track loosely placed and the shape of the raised trackbeds it's now possible to get a feel of how the layout will look when permanently laid. The north end of the main station sees the track feed round from the branchline and the main line run. This is where the main pointwork will feature with the two road station shed sat in the upper corner and a goods siding on the lower side. The lower baseboard will have an access road sloping down from the upper board to the main road with the station and its upper level platforms the main feature here as per the prototype. Moving south out of the station the tracks will run over an embankment with the town featuring on both sides. The bridge is not as per the prototype but I liked it from the last build so wanted to incorporate it in to this. The low relief buildings may have to be replaced with something else as the dimensions don't quite work at present for what I have in mind. Going back to the north end, the trains loop round the corner with the branch-line at the rear beginning it's decent to the lower level baseboard. Having swung round the joining board the mainline is on the upper tier with the branchline crossing beneath The branch enters the outlying station with the mainline sweeping round behind. The branch then continues under the mainline again and will end in a fiddle yard off the back of the main layout (yet to build). Enough of this image posting; kids are in bed, Mrs C is watching some rubbish so I'm off to the loft. lol Paul

I'm not sure a wagon has ever been described as beautiful before but that's the word I'm going to use here. Just superb weathering produced there and by the sounds of it by using a very simple technique. Bravo. Paul

Excellent results chaps. Every one of those responses has proved invaluable and just what I was looking for. 33Lima's photographic guide is a little daunting to me but the end result is just so exquisite I'm going to have to take a go at producing one. Off to eBay now to look up some suitable donors. Please avoid bidding on Mk2 coaches for the next week or two. Paul

One of the reasons I joined this forum was to tap in to the vast resource of information available from fellow forumers on Irish Railways. To that end I have a couple of questions to pose. I want to produce a Class 80 train in the maroon(?) and blue livery of the late 70's. I've had a browse through the forum but haven't quite got my answers so hence the thread. Apologies for any repitition of requested advice that has gone before. What are suitable donor coaching stock and engine stock to produce such a train? Do they require much modification other than a repaint and decal application? If they do, where can I go to find the relevant info to do these modifications? Is there a thread or member who has produced a step by step guide on one of these conversions in the past? Any and all information will be gratefully received. Paul

Tony, please let me know how you get on with the Transport Museum. I contacted them a couple of months ago with the same enquiry regarding Ballymena Statuon but never received a reply. Now, that may have been down to the general enquiry email address I used and not the curator hotline! If you get success, I will give them another go myself. Paul

Good God man, that is magnificent work. Stunned. Paul

What is it they say about tardiness? Or was it cleanliness? Whatever, I acknowledge my slow responses to Noel and BTB in particular. Noel, thank you for your comments on my workmanship - I hope to replicate and even improve on them in this new incarnation. BTB - that old adage forever rings round my head and keeps me calm when those occasional rivet counters raise their heads. Reporting on layout progress is thus - nothing to see here. The glorious weather has got in the way of woodworking. I did sit for two evenings this week and build a Parkside wagon and then discovered I've run out of red primer when it came to painting so that's halted too. Paul

Colin, I won't rule it out entirely but I'd ask you not to hold your breath either! I'm actually more persuaded by the inclusion of a tram system. A proposal was made for one linking the main station with outlying villages as far as Portglenone. Paul

Lovely work on thos Beets wagons Robbie. I love the notion of running off a number of wagons at one time to produce an immediate rake of ready to run wagons. What tends to slow me down is when it comes to the painting and the tedium that can bring. Your efforts are giving me an enthusiasm to look at a couple of kits again though. Paul

Am I right in thinking that this show doesn't have trade stands present? Paul

DC and OB, thanks for that info. Paul

So, following my introduction I thought I'd open up a thread for my current loft layout project. I've slotted it in to the Irish Layouts thread but it maybe doesn't suit it perfectly as firstly it's a fictitious location but based on the track plan in Ballymena and secondly it will have predominantly BR themed stock running on it. Should the moderators feel the need to move it across to the BR outline layouts I completely understand. Anyhow, my intitial layout proved to be more problematic than it was worth and after three years building I lifted the lot to begin again. I was more than happy with some of the building work I had done on it but the track work left a lot to be desired. Here are a couple of pictures showing what I had achieved. With the track up it was time to come up with a new plan. Following a number of failed attempts I realised the best solution was a mere two miles from home - Ballymena Station. Having viewed a number of OS maps from different eras I opted for a representation of the track plan from the 1960's. Rather than the single line extending north to Ballymoney and south to Antrim I have elected to make it a double mainline. As many of you will know, Ballymena had quite a large Narrow Gauge operation serving Larne in particular but also the Antrim Glens. 009 is something I have no experience of and am not quite ready for that learning curve so this narrow gauge line will instead be represented by a branchline serving similar outlining country stations, one of which will be modelled on the opposite side of the layout. At this point I should say that the layout stretches the length of the loft in between the V's of the joists on both sides on 2 foot wide boards to a length of 14 feet and connected by foot wide boards to a length of 6 feet. The intention is to model the original Berkeley Dean Wise station building that was replaced by the current monstrosity in 1980, the signal box and the old engine shed. Research keeps bringing me to dead ends in the quest for reasonable photos of the station platform side. Ideally, I would like to source original architectural drawings but this is probably pie in the sky. So, where am I at? The baseboard construction is well on its way to provide the relevant elevations to allow for the embankments extending out of the station crossing Galgorm Road.While this is ongoing I'm continuing my pursuit for more information on the buildings surrounding the station in the hope of unearthing more nuggets. Hopefully board work will be finished in the next few weeks and I can begin track laying. More to follow. Paul

BTB, in answer to a couple of your questions, I am working at a mid 60's themed layout to allow for that transition between steam and diesel. I've always had a thing for all those early BR diesels so the layout will see a lot of those running. Having spent time researching my local station I've seen a lot of NIR stock and would now like to have a go at modelling some of them too. Therefore, the plan is to have a relatively nondescript scenic background to enable me to operate whatever stock I want when I want. I'm working in the loft with a current footprint for the plan of 2' wide boards running a length of 14' down each side of the loft with a 6'x1' connecting board at each end. There may be options in the distant future to expand further in to the main floorspace but for now there is plenty to work with. Rather than post photos here I'm going to launch a layout build thread instead and begin posting there. Off to do that now. Paul

Thanks for the welcome chaps. In answer to a couple of questions, I have plenty of photos of the old layout build but only some very dull timber work photos of the new one. Once I'm settled in I'll get a thread up and running on the layouts section. Not sure what the forum protocol is for posting. Do you prefer a link to an outside photo hosting site or do you post directly here. Old Blarney, I'm aware of RMWeb but it's a site I'm rarely ever on. I wasn't aware of their Irish section either so I must take a gander at that. Paul

Hello from Ballymena. Just a short introduction to anyone who is remotely interested. :)My name is Paul, almost 42 and from Ballymena. I've been beavering away for the last three years creating a OO layout in my loft called Galgorm Hall documenting its progress on the New Railway Modeller forum. At Christmas I had an epiphany - it was rubbish! The track plan didn't work, the track had been poorly laid and I wasn't enjoying being a part of it anymore. Up it came and a blank canvass was created. Galgorm Hall Mk2 is now being based on the Ballymena station circa 1960's. I've been using OS maps to create a representation of the tracks as they looked then and aim to build the signal box, old Berkeley Dean Wise designed station building and perhaps the old engine shed. I'm also trying to get a model railway club off the ground in the town. It's proving a slow burner but between four of us we have just completed basedboard construction for a 12'x8' modular OO layout. As part of my ongoing reasearch for my own layout I stumbled upon Irish Railway Modeller and thought I should really join a community on my doorstep. I'm looking forward to having a good browse round the forum to see what others are up to and hopefully learn a thing or two about Irish rail transport - I know diddly squat! If anyone else is from my neck of the woods I'd be delighted to hear from you. If you aren't, I'm still delighted. Time to go forum browsing. Paul