Gortalainn

That's looking very well Derek, great inspiration for when I can get some time at home to start on my own layout. The road looks fantastic now you've put some sandpaper to it, that fence isn't too far off what you'd see at the new junction from Clon to Reenascreena either!

Looks very well! I'm a big fan of that bridge, it really looks the part. I agree with @irishthump re the black, the only roads I've seem to be pitch black are if they're freshly laid or if they're soaked after a good shower. I find a blue-grey with hints of brown can look very convincing, so a pass of the sandpaper would do it wonders, especially in the middle to replicate darker patches in the tyre tracks.

When they get PISed they're observed to sway more than usual and occasionally end up in places they don't normally go, often bringing paraphernalia such as traffic cones with them on their travels - when you see them in Cork things are very bad Jokes aside, it seems they have an extra screen inside. See the pictures on this page: https://quaestor.ie/passenger-information-systems/

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Cheers Darius, it's because of that 3-rail system that I'm asking. Looking at the manual for the unit I'm looking at, it seems to be compatible with all kinds of track, it's not 100% clear if that's just Marklin branded versions of it though... I'm after reaching out to Gaugemaster now anyway, we'll see what they say. Thanks for the tip. Kevin

Hi folks, During a visit to a German model shop I got a chance to try one of the Märklin DCC controllers. I was quite impressed by it, but when I asked if the Trix version would work with the Hornby track I have at home the lad in the shop didn't know. I was wondering if any of ye might have any experience with using one, and if ye had any success on the Hornby track? On top of that, would I be able to use any decoder in the locos or is there a specific one I'd need to get? Thanks a million! Kevin

Looking good! I'm looking forward to seeing this progress. A few pointers: - The lads are right about the crossing, you don't want to be spitting cars right out onto an active line! @DJ Dangerous has a good idea with the DAS clay/card. - I'd be a bit concerned about the radius of your innermost curves, I think you might have issues trying to get longer stock around them. If you have the space, it might be an idea to move the current inner loop outside of the outer loop using a wider radius track. - It might be worthwhile making those sidings into some sort of a freight yard with a through line. I'm sure you could fit some sort of a Timesaver/Inglenook shunting puzzle-esque setup across the middle if you reworked your points on the mainline, allowing you to keep your shunting operations off it. What are you thinking in terms of scenery?

Glad it worked out for you, it's looking very nice. You wouldn't even know that it was turning the mat black.

Got a few more signs finished. I'm hoping they'll be able to give more context to the location of the layout and how it ties together once they're in place. The freight depot sign is based off the one at the entrance to the depot in Mallow, I've attached a screenshot from Google Maps (2009 imagery) for anyone interested. Let me know if ye want any signs for your own layouts by the way, I'd be more than happy to put some together!

That's true. You're making great progress though, looking forward to seeing everything come together.

Now that looks the part! As @Broithe and @derek said though, not complete yet

That's fair, I can see why. He'd be well to advertise on this forum too, I'm sure he'd have more customers that way.

Still only Photoshop work to show - I'm hoping to have some actual progress to show around the end of the summer. As I'm planning to scratch build my signals, I drew up some arms for the semaphores and faces for the shunt signals. Here's where I took some creative liberties regarding the era I'm modelling, I've always been a fan of the dayglo arms so I went for the more modern system. I put some dwarf signals in there too, but I couldn't find out anywhere if they were used on the Irish network at all... If not, what was used in their place? I used to have a bit of a knack for poster making so I threw one together to see if I still have it, but it looks like I'm a bit out of practice... I added a filter to give it some age (whereas in reality it was more so to hide my mistakes) and plan to have it hung up in a corner of a station to act as a forgotten relic of sorts.

Looks to be coming together very nicely. We'll be expecting to see a loco on that turntable soon!

Not sure if Adverts fits under the Ebay watch so feel free to move this if needs be, but Millipede over there has a good selection of Irish stock (seems to be mostly Silverfox models?) at very reasonable prices. Might be of interest for those looking for more specific stuff. https://www.adverts.ie/member/1578437/ads/page-1/

I've seen people use a watered down PVA spray for a number of stuff on their layouts, might be worth giving it a try to see if it still turns your mat black when it's diluted. If you're very stuck apparently the blue Pritt stick dries clear!

Thanks @Metrovik. Threw them together using a photo from the cabin in Rosslare strand, photoshop is a very powerful tool! Excellent, cheers David.

I put a few signalling plans together to try distract myself from ordering a 121... I'm not sure if I'm going in the right direction with them at all, so any tips/guidance would be appreciated

@jhb171achill Cheers! That's the plan, I'm thinking I'll print them on 300gsm and stick two together to make them double sided. That should get them roughly to the right width

No progress on the layout unfortunately, as I'm still out of the country. I did manage to get a start on some signage in the meantime - I've attached some examples of station boards as well as some road signage made to specification using the 1962 Signs Regulations. I'm not quite sure about the scaling of the station signs, so if ye have any advice please do let me know! The biggest sign is the one with the Killarney Junction logos, being 4.5cm long x 1cm high

Thanks Derek. I'm working with a roughly 8x12ft space total, so I'm limited in terms of length. I'll probably have to run shorter than prototypical rakes when it comes to the longer stock - time will tell! I'm out of the country for a while so I won't be able to look into proper measurements until I'm back

Hi folks, I’m recently after getting my interest in the hobby back after a few years. Currently in the early stages of planning a layout. I'm looking at a “what if” scenario along the south coast of Cork, so it’ll show a very heavy GSR influence and likely some aspects of the CBSCR. I previously had a plan for a layout called Gortalainn Junction (hence my username), but after learning a few new techniques and skills I’m hoping to expand on that plan. I’m thinking of a half hidden “roundy roundy” loop centred around a large station with a goods yard on an upper layer, moving down with what will (hopefully) be a subtle transition to a fishing village on a rural branchline and a hidden set of sidings on the lower layer. That should allow for some interesting passenger and freight movements. While I’ll mainly be basing it around a 50s-80s/90s timeline, I won’t be sticking too tightly to any rules/prototypical running with it, so rivet counters can make road Don’t be surprised to see a modern IR liveried 201 next to a J15 at some point, I’m only looking to have a bit of fun with this plan, so if it interests me it fits in my view. I will welcome any tips/constructive criticism though, especially with signalling and track layout. Most aspects of the layout will be scratch built, as I am running on a very tight budget. I’ve attached a very rough MS Paint sketch of what I’m thinking to give an idea, it’s by no means to scale, just designed to point me in the right direction. It won't be winning any beauty contests but it does the job! I started out with AnyRail but hit the free version’s limit of 50 pieces… Place names are all fictional and are designed to poke fun at the anglicisation of them – Irish PME here!

A friend of mine (irishtrains on instagram, for photo credit) sent me this shot last night, taken the day of the incident. Could be just me but it seems it's got a decent bend in the middle?

Yeah, I knew the wagons were used for braking force, any idea why they replaced the second tank/container with the spoil though?