Northport Quay

[Galteemore]

Excellent and inspiring work. Looks as if a short SLNC mixed has just run in with tar for the local roads, too….

[David Holman]

Things are slowly moving forwards, away from the backscene now. The harbour office has been finished & decided it would make sense for there to be a gate to guard against public access to the quayside, so made one from plastic strip and added a couple of hefty gate posts too. The sea wall has been worked on, with representation of large stone blocks scribed on to the Das coating - Donaghadee harbour the inspiration here.

 Also thought it would be useful for there to be some lighting & found a standard lamp and a wall bracket one in the spares box, which have been added. At the moment, these have been painted red, to match the doors on the big warehouse [based one ones at Rathmelton], the idea being that this is the colour scheme of the harbour company.

 Saying the public will not be allowed on the quayside is not actually true though, as it is envisaged foot passengers will make their way across the tracks and down steps to a small ferry which will take them to/from a group of unspecific off shore islands. Some thin balsa has been put down to indicate where the board crossings will be & as such mark a major piece of future work, namely the ground cover, which will be a mix of granite setts and larger stone blocks. A fair bit of Das clay and a lot of scribing to be done eventually. 

 

 One of these days, the temptation of the Clyde Puffer kit is going to get the better of me, though am still looking at ways of adapting it into a small coaster - giving it a high forecastle  and moving the funnel behind the wheelhouse is currently favourite. In the meantime my GSWR passenger train has been posed for some pictures to help set the scene.

[Galteemore]

Lovely. Nice subtle work with convincing background vistas. 

[Patrick Davey]

Just superb David!  Impressive blending of the backscene with the gate and wall - great stuff!!

[murphaph]

2 hours ago, Patrick Davey said:

Just superb David!  Impressive blending of the backscene with the gate and wall - great stuff!!

Yeah it's really well done isn't it. Very hard to see where the real stuff ends and the backscene begins.

[David Holman]

Thanks folks! Works better in photos, than reality, because photos are only 2D. However, things like the walls, gates, buildings and so on all help to break up the view. Smoke and mirrors really.

[Mike 84C]

That looks really first class David, I'm looking hard to see the join!!! And I failed! Please can I come and you know, operate your railway, one day?

I can only hope the back scene for Bantry turns out as well as yours, I live in anticipation!

[Mike 84C]

Regarding the Puffer, Is it street scenes that do one of those print yourself  puffers?  I did wonder if splicing two together , bit of a cut and shut job and a longer hold or even a fore & aft hold might work? or would it make the hull a bit too narrow looking? Just chuking balls in the air now.  

[2996 Victor]

Just a thought, but this arrangement on the West Somerset Railway at Blue Anchor could possibly be adapted 

 

The whole scene is looking fabulous, if I may say so! I just hope I can pull off a similar result when I get building..... Your approach to the backscene and how it melds into the three-dimensional scenery is masterful. 

Thanks for sharing,

Mark

18 minutes ago, Mike 84C said:

That looks really first class David, I'm looking hard to see the join!!! And I failed! Please can I come and you know, operate your railway, one day?

I can only hope the back scene for Bantry turns out as well as yours, I live in anticipation!

Can we arrange a rota?

Edited April 17, 2022 by 2996 Victor

[Northroader]

The layout is looking really good, and that train just fits in nicely. Regarding the puffer, if you had a mast and Derrick in front and behind the hatch, would that help it look more like a coasting vessel? Drawing off an old IoMSP boat here, a bit larger.

[David Holman]

The Puffer does indeed come with a mast and derrick, while am fairly sure the photo shows a 'Vic'. Victualling ships were built after WW2 as tenders to service large warships parked off shore. Vic 96 is preserved and lives in Chatham Dockyard and very fine she is too. Built as late as 1948, she could pass for anything built in the previous 70 years, with her vertical bow. Am eventually hoping my Puffer will look like similar to the ship above.

 Future prospective operators note that Northport Quay is already booked to appear at the Uckfield Show in October 2023, after which am hoping it will alternate with Fintonagh at future shows. Not saying Belmullet will never go out again, but it is quite an undertaking to move and exhibit, so will probably just be a home layout. NPQuay is very much designed to be easy to move and transport and as all exhibitors know, layouts all get heavier as we get older...

 As for back scenes, I do a lot of browsing through photos in books [the Beaumont/Carse volumes are excellent for this] to look for ideas, though good old Google can be good too. Often, it is no single scene that gets chosen, instead I tend to bookmark elements that seem interesting and try to combine them into something that fits the space available. The Blue Anchor signal box and crossing is a great example for development by the look of it.

[David Holman]

Am pondering what, if any, signalling might have been at Northport Quay. One engine in steam would have been the rule, but with a passenger service, at least one point just after the tunnel would have needed a facing lock. The other three points would probably have been worked by hand levers.

 Am assuming there would have been a home signal, off scene, on the other side of the tunnel, with a starter for a train leaving and a ground signal controlling entry to the loop, probably worked off the point.

 There's not room for even a small signal cabin, so am thinking maybe a four lever ground frame, on the platform and unlocked by the single line staff, will suffice.

 Any thoughts welcome.

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, David Holman said:

Am pondering what, if any, signalling might have been at Northport Quay. One engine in steam would have been the rule, but with a passenger service, at least one point just after the tunnel would have needed a facing lock. The other three points would probably have been worked by hand levers.

 Am assuming there would have been a home signal, off scene, on the other side of the tunnel, with a starter for a train leaving and a ground signal controlling entry to the loop, probably worked off the point.

 There's not room for even a small signal cabin, so am thinking maybe a four lever ground frame, on the platform and unlocked by the single line staff, will suffice.

 Any thoughts welcome.

Ground frame, yes. 

The West Cork was fully signalled to Skibbereen, but the extension to Baltimore was less so. There was just a 4(?) lever ground frame there, and a solitary starting signal. You'd be fine with that - and it DID have passenger services, and with staff-&-ticket it was even possible to have 2 trains present!

Westport Quay didn't have regular passenger trains, but it did have one in the 1964 steam tour - and signalling there was also minimal. I visited this line just before it was lifted and as far as I could see each set of points was simply lever operated - there wasn't even any ground frame that I could see.

[Mayner]

Technically there is no requirement for signals at a terminal station with One Engine in Steam working where the ground frame is locked by the Single Line Staff.

I once volunteered as a Guard/Shunter on a UK Heritage line with one train working where all ground frames were locked by the staff, our (fully working) home and starter signals were mainly for show, the main function of the signals indicate to the driver (and fireman) that facing points were correctly set and locked.

Traditionally the staff was carried on the loco, with the guard responsible for operating the frame and for controlling the run round/shunting movements.

A more flexible arrangement would be for a porter/signalman based at Northport Quay to operate the frame and signals, there is no requirement to lock the frame with a porter/signalman present which would open the prospect of a second train with staff and ticket working or a loco shunting the yard while the Passenger/Mixed is off scene.

Valencia Harbour is a good example of a station where the signal box was replaced by a ground frame (worked by the staff?) possibly with One Engine working to and from Cahirciveen during the 1930s

A 4 lever frame should be adequate for Northport Quay 1. Down Home, 2 Facing Point Lock 3 Crossover Main line to Loop, 4 Up Starting signal. Movements from the main line to the loop could be controlled by hand signal, with a ground signal to control movements from the loop to main line. The crossover at the pier end of the station is likely to be controlled by weighted point levers or tumblers.

Ground frames and working signals was pretty much an optional extra at goods only terminal stations such as Kingscourt and Foynes during the 70s and 80s, points were operated by hand lever or crow bar and padlocked for facing moves by special passenger trains.

 

[David Holman]

Many thanks John, much appreciated!

[David Holman]

 The last couple of weeks, have been spent tidying up the platform area, something I'd been putting off because of concerns about getting colours and textures right. Salvation came in the form of Gordon Gravett's book on Scenics. At the back is a really useful guide on the effect of talc, sand, chinchilla dust, etc on different coloured gloss enamel paint. 

 First though, I needed to address the 'fill in' pieces of the platform, intended to disguise the baseboard joint as it simply wasn't working. The vertical face of the platform was given a new piece, which when scribed and snapped for the joint hides the crack really well. The platform surface was then relaid, but instead of 20thou paving slabs across the gap, I used filler instead, which has subsequently been sanded smooth and scribed to represent the slabs. This part of the surface was then painted with gloss pale grey, mixed with a small amount of gloss tan, then liberally dusted with talc Once dry, the whole lot was vacuumed clean, then gone over with grey weathering powder, making sure this was worked into the cracks between the slabs.

 The rest of the platform surface was given a coat of gloss black, then covered in chinchilla dust, which provides a nice gravel effect. The coping stones were done slightly different to the main paving slabs, using a darker gloss grey, with the talc again. Meanwhile the platform wall [Wills random stone] needed filling with DAS clay where the separate sheets join together. All the stone wall sections have been painted with a fairly dark grey, the dry brushed with lighter grey and individual stone picked out in places.

 Another addition has been the station name board, simply made with the lettering done on the computer, printed and then stuck on a sheet of 20thou plastic. This was then framed with 40x60 strip and the two posts made from 125x60 strips laminated together.

 The last few pictures have a SLNCR flavour, with Small Tank 'Fermanagh' arriving with a short mixed train. Following Mayner's advice, a four lever ground frame has been placed at the end of the platform, though this still needs setting up properly. You may notice the trees have changed too. For some reason the Woodlands Scenics 'crumb' was refusing to stick to their polyfibre, so removed all the foliage and replaced it with the same firm's scenic matting. Whatever the reasons, this seems to stick much better.

[BSGSV]

Lovely job this.

Re signalling, the layout is similar to Loughrea or Ballinrobe minus one siding. The 1890 practice for those had a working distant (a practice later abandoned), home and starter (the latter on the platform before the fouling point with the loop crossover) and one lever operating the crossover near the tunnel to the loop, the facing point lock and a point detector on the turnout from the loop. A five-lever frame (four working one spare) would easily fit into the type of Railway Signal Co. (the usual MGWR contractors) cabin used at Ballinrobe. Such a cabin might be only 10' wide and 7' long, the dimensions of the 1918 cabin at Loughrea, would be spot on apart from the concrete blocks. Such a building might fit between the water tank and tunnel?

[Rob]

Lovely @David Holman- very good indeed!    Very realistic. 

[Noel]

Stunning. Those photos are almost like the set of an 1950s movie in rural Ireland. 

[David Holman]

2 hours ago, BSGSV said:

Lovely job this.

Re signalling, the layout is similar to Loughrea or Ballinrobe minus one siding. The 1890 practice for those had a working distant (a practice later abandoned), home and starter (the latter on the platform before the fouling point with the loop crossover) and one lever operating the crossover near the tunnel to the loop, the facing point lock and a point detector on the turnout from the loop. A five-lever frame (four working one spare) would easily fit into the type of Railway Signal Co. (the usual MGWR contractors) cabin used at Ballinrobe. Such a cabin might be only 10' wide and 7' long, the dimensions of the 1918 cabin at Loughrea, would be spot on apart from the concrete blocks. Such a building might fit between the water tank and tunnel?

Thanks, that's good to know, though having put the water tank at the end of the platform now limits the view from any signal cabin/hut. Do like the thought though, so maybe the water tank could yet be moved a tad. As per Fagin, the situation is under review!

[2996 Victor]

6 minutes ago, Noel said:

Stunning. Those photos are almost like the set of an 1950s movie in rural Ireland. 

Shhhh!

Great progress, David, just as the others have said. The use of talc is an interesting one - looks like another book I need in my library

Cheers,

Mark

[2996 Victor]

4 hours ago, David Holman said:

Salvation came in the form of Gordon Gravett's book on Scenics

Is this the book you mean, David?

https://wildswanbooks.co.uk/Books/Modelling-Grassland.htm

Cheers,

Mark

[David Holman]

That's the one, Mark. Alongside The Art of Weathering by Martyn Welch, one of the most useful books you can have. Gordon has done two excellent books on modelling trees too.

[2996 Victor]

8 minutes ago, David Holman said:

That's the one, Mark. Alongside The Art of Weathering by Martyn Welch, one of the most useful books you can have. Gordon has done two excellent books on modelling trees too.

Oh, my aching wallet!

Thanks, David

[Galteemore]

Good books are always money well spent, and worth it if they help you raise your game. Excellent work as ever, David. That image of Fermanagh rolling in is sublime. 

Edited May 1, 2022 by Galteemore

[BSGSV]

21 hours ago, David Holman said:

Thanks, that's good to know, though having put the water tank at the end of the platform now limits the view from any signal cabin/hut. Do like the thought though, so maybe the water tank could yet be moved a tad. As per Fagin, the situation is under review!

Cabin view blocked by water tank sounds like Boyle!

[Northroader]

I think when you’ve got a small layout, the water tank/signalbox situation is either/or, both together is going emphasise a cramped look. The same thing happened on my line.

[David Holman]

You may well be right. Changes are being explored!

 

[David Holman]

 A few furrowed brows and much head scratching later [along with some splinters!], the area between the tunnel mouth and the platform has been rearranged. Thinking about it, the water tower was probably too close to the track and certainly blocked the view along the platform into the tunnel. To correct this, I've cut a section out of the platform ramp and moved the water tower along a bit. In the space this creates, there is now room for a four lever ground frame, for which I'm making simple corrugated iron shelter. There is possibly room for small PW trolley [hand powered], parked at right angles to the track.

 The practicalities of all this are we have a lever for the locking bar, another for the point, plus one for the home signal [beyond the tunnel] and another for the starter. The latter is one of Richard Chown's, that I picked up at Guildex four years ago and been looking for an excuse to use it ever since. The ground signal by the point is assumed to be moved with the point blades. Nothing is fixed down yet, but the pictures hopefully give an idea of what I'm aiming at.

 On a completely different front, I've also been brooding over a more exact location for Northport Quay, which up until now has been vaguely deemed to be somewhere between Sligo and Belmullet. However, I also wanted to give a plausible reason for my coaster and have been increasingly drawn to the area between Ross Port, on Broadhaven, through Blacksod Bay, past Achill Island and down to Westport. This section of the coast looks fairly sheltered from the worst Atlantic weather & somewhere that a small coaster might find plenty of work serving both the islands and small mainland communities.

 Now, I've always been a bit of a geographer & it is clear that glaciation has had a significant impact on this part of the world, so have expanded that theme to produce the sketch map below, where the sea level has risen a few metres [or the land has sunk] to create a slightly altered coastline.

 This means that Belmullet is now an island, not a peninsula and Achill Sound is likewise too wide and deep to cross by causeway. There is actually a short canal at Belmullet, linking Blacksod Bay with Broadhaven, but under my new scenario, both Achill Island and Belmullet can only be reached by boat, for which my coaster will eventually be ideal. Like as not, there will be steady trade along the whole coast from Ross Port all the way to Westport as shown by the dotted lines on the map.

 As for the all important railways, I've created the town of Northport, near the coast opposite Belmullet [now on the island] with, like Westport, a short branch to a Quay station and harbour. Note that, like the line from Galway to Clifden, trains would first have to reverse in or out of the station. The railway to Northport runs from Ballina, so there is no need for a line to Achill [sorry JB!], which instead is served by the coasters and ferries.

 At the moment, this scenario works so well for me that I'm seriously thinking of renaming Belmullet to Northport & I've drawn a sketch of the terminus below the map. All the other elements stay the same with the four companies running into Sligo [MGWR, WL&WR, SL&NCR and GS&WR] all having running powers into Northport. No other changes will be needed to the Belmullet layout [other than a new station nameboard].

 So, what could the Ice Age do for your layout...?

 

[jhb171achill]

That is REALLY looking good now! (Must do a map to show where "Dugort Harbour" is supposed to be!)

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, David Holman said:

 A few furrowed brows and much head scratching later [along with some splinters!], the area between the tunnel mouth and the platform has been rearranged. Thinking about it, the water tower was probably too close to the track and certainly blocked the view along the platform into the tunnel. To correct this, I've cut a section out of the platform ramp and moved the water tower along a bit. In the space this creates, there is now room for a four lever ground frame, for which I'm making simple corrugated iron shelter. There is possibly room for small PW trolley [hand powered], parked at right angles to the track.

 The practicalities of all this are we have a lever for the locking bar, another for the point, plus one for the home signal [beyond the tunnel] and another for the starter. The latter is one of Richard Chown's, that I picked up at Guildex four years ago and been looking for an excuse to use it ever since. The ground signal by the point is assumed to be moved with the point blades. Nothing is fixed down yet, but the pictures hopefully give an idea of what I'm aiming at.

...............so there is no need for a line to Achill [sorry JB!]

 

 

[Westcorkrailway]

6 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

 

Perhaps “Rails to Northport” and “Rails to Dugort” is in order 

[2996 Victor]

1 hour ago, David Holman said:

So, what could the Ice Age do for your layout...?

[David Holman]

Love that little guy!

[jhb171achill]

6 minutes ago, Westcorkrailway said:

Perhaps “Rails to Northport” and “Rails to Dugort” is in order 

And there's me wondering this very day what to write about next!