Back on Board

[GNRi1959]

Glad to have made a return visit to IRM. Have I missed much!

Edited October 5, 2021 by GNRi1959

[jhb171achill]

Good to see you back, Tony!

[GNRi1959]

Are there are any ready to run Irish rolling stock  on the market yet?

[Blaine]

18 hours ago, GNRi1959 said:

Have I missed much!

A very comprehensive range of RTR GNRI stock, produced by IRM. Now long sold out and commanding very high prices. They were produced due to One person said they were leaving the hobby due to a lack of RTR GNRI stock and they obliged that person

Edited October 6, 2021 by Blaine

[jhb171achill]

31 minutes ago, GNRi1959 said:

Are there are any ready to run Irish rolling stock  on the market yet?

In terms of RTR, not a big lot that wasn't there when you were here before, though IRM have several modern-image wagons since. Naturally, we're all keenly awaiting the A class locos this week!

Provincial wagons brought out a CIE cattle truck and "H" van as kits in comparatively recent times, and Murphy Models had the 121 class diesels. Can't think of others....

[DiveController]

On 6/10/2021 at 4:39 AM, Blaine said:

A very comprehensive range of RTR GNRI stock, produced by IRM. Now long sold out and commanding very high prices. They were produced due to One person said they were leaving the hobby due to a lack of RTR GNRI stock and they obliged that person

OK, THAT's IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!! I'M LEAVING THIS SITE IF WE DON'T GET SOME CIE BUILT STOCK TO GO WITH THE EARLY A CLASS

 

 

(God knows how many likes this is going to get, what HAVE I done!.... )

[GNRi1959]

The GNRi UG and his big brother the U Class on a bit of test track. Out of their boxes for the first time in a couple of years and running like a dream. Some new rolling stock arriving this week to get me started again.

Edited October 12, 2021 by GNRi1959

[GNRi1959]

Here is a brake van kit I built during the week, I have yet to fit the handrails but this won’t be possible until the magnifier and fine drill bits arrive!

[Galteemore]

That looks terrific!

[GNRi1959]

Would anyone have the time to provide a wiring diagram for the sketch attached. I’d like to be able to isolate a loco in the passing loop, electro frog pointwork by Peco, it would be much appreciated, thanks.

Edited October 23, 2021 by GNRi1959

[Galteemore]

Nice plan. I’m leaving the wiring to the experts, but that right hand crossover would probably look better a bit further right - allow a decent 4-4-0s worth of headshunt as a loco release. Otherwise you will have to leave the passenger stock out in the bondu every time you run round, creating a shunting move that would be both unlikely on the prototype and inconvenient to you!!

[Mayner]

51 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

Nice plan. I’m leaving the wiring to the experts, but that right hand crossover would probably look better a bit further right - allow a decent 4-4-0s worth of headshunt as a loco release. Otherwise you will have to leave the passenger stock out in the bondu every time you run round, creating a shunting move that would be both unlikely on the prototype and inconvenient to you!!

Station looks familiar and the tracklayout is prototypical!  It will be interesting to see if Tony models a working Horse Tram. 

[jhb171achill]

2 hours ago, GNRi1959 said:

Here is a brake van kit I built during the week, I have yet to fit the handrails but this won’t be possible until the magnifier and fine drill bits arrive!

Superb job!

[Northroader]

[GNRi1959]

That was really kind of you Northroader, thank you so much. I can now order my track and accessories.

Edited October 24, 2021 by GNRi1959

[GNRi1959]

Tomorrow, if I get my birch ply delivered, I'll be baseboard building 

[GNRi1959]

Here is the baseboard, almost complete. I have marked a rough pencil guideline on top and hope to order track soon. The fiddle yard section is 700mm and the remainder 1.8mts.

Edited October 28, 2021 by GNRi1959

[Patrick Davey]

Neat work! 

[StevieB]

Fast and tidy work. Looking good.

Stephen

[GNRi1959]

Are fiddle yards normally concealed at the front or is that for exhibition only?

Edited October 29, 2021 by GNRi1959

[Galteemore]

It’s up to you really. At shows it’s often hidden to aid ‘the willing suspension of disbelief’. The idea being that you’re effectively putting on a stage show so the backstage area is off limits to the punters!

Some modellers have now, however, incorporated the FY into the layout proper for a mix of aesthetic/artistic/practical reasons. Giles Favell, a stellar modeller who works in theatre in real life, has his FYs on full show, simply painted black so the audience can immediately tell what’s stage and what’s offstage….looking at your set up there I think you’ll need to be able to access it from the front so personally I wouldn’t put a cover on it……

Edited October 29, 2021 by Galteemore

[Broithe]

I, and possibly a good few others. like to see the fiddle yard for many reasons, not least of which is the opportunity to see all (or most) of the stock that is available, if not actually in use on the scenic section at the time.

Also, the various arrangements that people use for interchanging stock can also be a great interest, some can be quite ingenious, keeping the size down, but not suitable for the 'real' part of the layout.

In an exhibition setting, a passing viewer may get a better sense of the whole possibilities of the layout than he might by a watching few minutes operation via the scenic section. having seen other stock in the yard, he may make a point of passing by later, in order to catch it in use.

However, it is your layout.

[David Holman]

At exhibitions, what Galteemore and Broithe very much applies. Many layouts are operated from the rear at shows and some blank off the fiddle yard to use as information and display boards. A shame, I think as I not only want to see what trains will be used, but also how they are being managed.

 Giles Flavell's set designs really do work, because of clever lighting and so on - you really don't notice the fact everything is in the open.

 The more conventional approach is to frame the scenic area, like a picture. This means adding side frames and a pelmet across the top. The side frames only need to be about 10cm wide, but can be very effective at hiding where track exits the scenic section, if planned carefully. Iain Rice the master at this of course and his book 'Cameo Layouts' explores the presentation side of things in great detail.

 A pelmet doesn't just hide the top of the sky, it can help with lighting. Another Rice idea, my pelmets sit about 2cm out from the front edge of the layout and have an LED strip which means the front edge is well lit. If you only have light coming from the back of middle, this part of the scene can be in shadow.

 The moral of the story is the more thought given to the start of the project, the better chance it has of succeeding in the long run. It is also probably why I keep building new layouts, in the hope of eliminating mistakes made in the previous ones!

[Mayner]

A concealed fiddle yard works well where a layout is operated from behind such as at exhibitions, but can be a nuisance if a layout is operated from the front.

The fiddle yard on my Irish narrow gauge layout is partially concealed and all the shunting/fiddling has to take place on the scenic part of the layout.

 

[jhb171achill]

Excellent work, Tony!

[GNRi1959]

What work around is there when your fiddle yard is accessed by a bridge or tunnel when  the prototype doesn't have one.

[Galteemore]

Use a view block like a building at front of the layout - that will help disguise the transition. Here’s an old N gauge layout I built. You can see how the factory essentially distracts from the line exiting stage left

The same principle was used on my 7mm layout - seen here under construction. The white building essentially disguises the brake van about to leave ….even a siding with a wagon strategically parked can work.

 

Edited November 2, 2021 by Galteemore

[GNRi1959]

Great idea, I think there is a goods store I can use, what do your actual opening look like them, if you don’t mind 

[Galteemore]

3 minutes ago, GNRi1959 said:

Great idea, I think there is a goods store I can use, what do your actual opening look like them, if you don’t mind 

Here you go. Note how the holes are only as big as they need to be, and how the skyline is higher than the holes. This is an old Richard Chown dodge / a ‘hole’ in landscape strikes the eyes as less odd than a hole in the sky! The layout is built to be viewed side on so this area is designed to be within peripheral vision and not viewed full on like this! 

Edited November 3, 2021 by Galteemore

[GNRi1959]

Thank you so much, that works really well.

[GNRi1959]

What's the scene on the other side of the viewing area, in the fiddle yard?

[Galteemore]

Just bare black painted board…..should add that the layout is lit by a lighting rig from above so that also draws the eye in away from the edges. This may give an idea of what it consists of…

Edited November 3, 2021 by Galteemore

[Irishswissernie]

You could just plant a large tree and undergrowth, trees are far higher than buildings and there were plenty on the south side of Fintona station though unfortunately not far enough up the exit to the junction.

[Northroader]

I’m with Ernie on this. Here’s a video clip of Pempoul, a model done by the Gravetts, who are total masters of scenery. Just watch how the train exits at the right hand end, small insignificant trees in front and behind.

 

[Broithe]

57 minutes ago, Northroader said:

...Pempoul, a model done by the Gravetts, who are total masters of scenery.

 

I've seen it in real life a few times, it is an absolute masterpiece.

Exemplary in every respect.