N Scale Ballywillan, Co Longford.

[Kevin Sweeney]

On 23/2/2022 at 9:44 PM, David Holman said:

By all means use a drone to build your backscene, but have a think about the viewing angle you want for your layout, as the horizon may be lower than you think.

 

You were right, it took 25 meters of altitude to bring Lough Sheelin into the picture, so the drone plan is dead. I did how ever get some good aerial shots of the station.

Looking south towards Inny Junction.

Looking north towards Cavan

Edited February 25, 2022 by Kevin Sweeney

[jhb171achill]

Didn’t realise there was so much left of that station, including the signal cabin!

Superb stuff…..

[Kevin Sweeney]

1 hour ago, jhb171achill said:

Didn’t realise there was so much left of that station, including the signal cabin!

Superb stuff…..

All that is missing is the track, signals, water tank and cattle pens. Everything else is still there and very well preserved.

Edited February 25, 2022 by Kevin Sweeney

[David Holman]

So, 25 metres, approx 80 feet, so 160mm above the layout in N. Not a lot when you think about it to get that view.

[Kevin Sweeney]

1 hour ago, David Holman said:

So, 25 metres, approx 80 feet, so 160mm above the layout in N. Not a lot when you think about it to get that view.

The sun was against me, my positioning was wrong and I had no idea what I was at. If I go back for another try on a better day I should do better but this image gives some idea of the landscape I have to play with for the back scene.

[Kevin Sweeney]

On 13/2/2022 at 8:35 PM, Mayner said:

Gilligan's pub/farmhouse inspired a 4mm model but I never got round to the other buildings

Do you have any images of the pub or the model of the pub. There is a big extension added to the south gable, if I can't get any images of original southern end, I may have to do some conjecture.

[Mayner]

Just the two photos in my 17th Feb post, the modern addition appears to have been built in what used to be a walled garden.

Its nice to see that the original farm yard and buildings appear largely un-altered.

Longford County Council should have the planning/building consent application including drawings for the new extension and alterations to the existing buildings.

The model was intended to be part of a 'view blocker" to a fiddle yard, the rear of the building is freelance and has since been butchered into two low relief buildings on Keadue my Irish 3' Gauge layout

 

Inspired by "Gilligan's" I built the model about 30 years ago using Wills Scenic materials, but still need to complete 'bed in' the models on the current layout/diorama.

[Kevin Sweeney]

3 hours ago, Mayner said:

Its nice to see that the original farm yard and buildings appear largely un-altered.

Longford County Council should have the planning/building consent application including drawings for the new extension and alterations to the existing buildings.

BINGO. I got the planning drawings online at L.C.C. website. I have front and rear elevations, and the ground and first floor plan. No conjecture needed. If only I had such detailed plans for every model.

The farm buildings are perfectly preserved.

I looked up Ballywillan in the 1901 census returns. There were three people whose occupation was Victular. Their business was supplying goods to the military.

[Galteemore]

Textbook stuff on how to do research. All part of the discipline of trying to recreate the past and shows what a variety of avenues may be involved. It also shows the leaps of imagination required to envisage an Ireland without the internal combustion engine and modern supply chains, and what that meant in how people lived- hence your victuallers.

This aspect is not always well recorded in books, and I had no real idea of how crucial rail freight had been just up until before I was born in 1971. Growing up in NI, I saw no real freight traffic and so was staggered to read in a chance article  the sheer variety of goods that passed in and out of Dromahair in the 1950s - simply because there was no other way of getting stuff there. I think this info was originally in Michael Hamilton’s SLNC book but is cited here…https://dromahairheritage.wordpress.com/2018/04/27/s-l-n-c-r-and-dromahair-station/

It’s a long quote but gives an idea what rural freight flow could be….

Egg export was a big trade on the railway in those years too, both from Manorhamilton and Dromahair.  Stuart J. Gilmore ‘s were egg shippers as was John Beirne of Drumkeeran. The latter shipped three wagons every week to Sinclairs of Glasgow.

In the pre-Christmas period turkeys travelled in large numbers. They were unloaded, plucked and re-packed in Belcoo. There was always a rush at that station for the wagon with the hen turkeys. Pluckers got 3d for plucking a hen and 4d for the harder job of plucking a cock.

Another item of interest leaving Dromahair station was eels. These were caught in early Summer on Lough Gill and surrounding lakes by Fermanagh fishermen. Every morning six large wooden cases of eels packed in ice and weighing a cwt. were sent to Billingsgate Market in England.

During the war years, 50 wagons of turf left the station every week for Fuel Importers Ltd.,Barrack Street, Drogheda. The turf was cut at Greaghnafarna, Tullynascreena, Corglancy and Raemore and brought to the station by S.L & N.C.R and C.I.E. lorries. Leitrim Co. Council workers were responsible for loading the turf into the wagons. The lorry drivers were Tom Corcoran and Paddy Conway for C.I.E. and Stephen Murphy, John Roche and Frank Lee for the S.L & N.C.R.

Inward Goods.

For many years grocery and hardware supplies for Dromahair, its hinterland and surrounding towns came by rail –sugar from Tuam, bread from Derry, flour from Pollexfens of Ballisodare, biscuits from Jacobs of Dublin, cigarettes from Carrols of Dundalk and the list goes on. One item in particular was of special interest to the children. On Friday evenings in Summer, Paddy Downey of the Post Office collected an insulated container of ice-cream from Kevinsfort Dairies in Sligo. Mrs. Downey sold it in the Post Office and many, then children and now in their twilight years, can still remember the joy of a twopenny ! The shopkeepers nearest to the station were Pat Mc Goldrick, John Ward, Marie Travers, James Latten and William Parkes.

Larger consignments arrived at the station too. Cement from Drogheda Came in 12 ton wagons for Gilmores and O Haras and for Frank Dolan of Drumkeeran . Sheets of tin in ½ ton consignments came from Thomas Henshaw & Co. Dublin for Gilmores and Robinsons. Indian corn was railed from Dublin every month—12 wagons each carrying 12 tons. Whiskey, beer, cider and Guinness arrived for the local pubs The largest licenced premises was Jeiters.

Looking up the Jeiter family shows an amazing story for a small place like Dromahair…who knows what you might find out in your project?!

.Joseph Jeiter, father of Paul, died in 1915. He came from Saarbrücken in Germany, a qualified baker, and arrived in Manorhamilton in 1880. His first business was in Manorhamilton, where he married Mary Doud from Cavan. They bought the Abbey, with a thatched roof, in 1895 and rebuilt the front combining English and German architectural styles. His widow and Paul’s brother Frank managed the business, until Paul eventually took over. Frank worked as a cook in New York’s famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel for a couple of years before returning in 1930 to help the family business. His cooking had a good reputation. Many wedding receptions were hosted by the hotel. Paul Jeiter also worked, as an engineer, in New York, where he did some maintenance jobs on the Brooklyn bridge and tunnel construction under the Hudson River, and he too returned in 1930. His business acumen and technical innovations were widely admired

 

 

 

Edited February 26, 2022 by Galteemore

[Kevin Sweeney]

5 hours ago, Galteemore said:

Textbook stuff on how to do research. All part of the discipline of trying to recreate the past and shows what a variety of avenues may be involved. It also shows the leaps of imagination required to envisage an Ireland without the internal combustion engine and modern supply chains, and what that meant in how people lived- hence your victuallers.

This aspect is not always well recorded in books, and I had no real idea of how crucial rail freight had been just up until before I was born in 1971. Growing up in NI, I saw no real freight traffic and so was staggered to read in a chance article  the sheer variety of goods that passed in and out of Dromahair in the 1950s - simply because there was no other way of getting stuff there. I think this info was originally in Michael Hamilton’s SLNC book but is cited here…https://dromahairheritage.wordpress.com/2018/04/27/s-l-n-c-r-and-dromahair-station/

To take that story of the importance of the railways back even further, I often think about how they revolutionised the world. My home town of Kilnaleck, Co Cavan, is the place in Ireland probably farthest from a navigable waterway. Before railways, water was the cost effective means of freight transport, road transport was prohibitively expensive.  In the USA in the age of carting it cost as much to transport goods 20 miles inland as it did to ship them from Liverpool to the USA.

In the 1821 census there were a lot of artisan trades in the town. Kilnaleck was a hive of small scale manufacturing. Lots of people in the linen and apparel making trades. They were even two nailers, making nails. Once Ballywillan opened and slashed the cost of transport, that would have been the end of these artisan producers, who would no longer have been able compete with factory produced goods.

We modern people like to think we live in a time of unprecedented change. But I think no people ever experienced such rapid change as those who lived through the coming of the railways. The railway literally made the modern world.

GENUKI: Kilnaleck 1821 census, Cavan

[Kevin Sweeney]

MGWR cottages. The Ballywillan cottages have been modernised so these are based on the railway cottages at Crossdoney. This is version two, the first build went into the bin. When I had them finished I realised the windows were too small. Act in haste, repent at leisure.

I have one station building left to do, the L shaped shed next to the station house. I am going to come back to this, the next build is Gilligan's pub.

Edited February 27, 2022 by Kevin Sweeney

[Kevin Sweeney]

Almost there with Gilligan's pub. Just the chimney pots, flashing, sills and downpipes, left to do. The good weather is causing serious delays in my modelling, I need some bad weather to drive me out of the garden and back indoors.

[Kevin Sweeney]

Progress so far on Ballywillan.

I've started work on the first barn in Gilligan's farmyard.

[Noel]

This is shaping up to be something very special and unique. Excellent capturing the essence of a real place. Class

[Kevin Sweeney]

Progress so far on Gilligan's barns.

I had a day out in the big smoke, it was great to get away on the train, and I came home with a 3d printer. The plan is to make barrels, crates and other cargo. Should also be possible to make a cart and some other farming accoutrements for Gilligan's yard. Being a complete novice to 3d printing and CAD it is a very steep learning curve and so far all my output has been binned. But I'm making progress.

I also visited the exhibition of railways drawings at the Irish Architectural Archive, on Merrion Square, well worth a visit if your in the area. I got some photos which may turn into future scratch builds.

Irish Architectural Archive – Cartlann Ailtireachta na hÉireann (iarc.ie)

 

[Galteemore]

Excellent. The corrugated roof has real character. 

[connollystn]

A former neighbour of mine lived in a gate house near Ballywillan station and remember distinctly them mentioning that they lived near Lough Kinale so that could the name of the lake in the background and not Sheelin. They moved to Longford following the closure of the Cavan branch. Looking forward to the completion of your layout.

[Kevin Sweeney]

3 hours ago, connollystn said:

A former neighbour of mine lived in a gate house near Ballywillan station and remember distinctly them mentioning that they lived near Lough Kinale so that could the name of the lake in the background and not Sheelin. They moved to Longford following the closure of the Cavan branch. Looking forward to the completion of your layout.

Kinale is the nearest and most visible  lake, but nearby and visible in the backscene will be both Sheelin and Bracklagh lake. Thankfully we are not short of lakes in this part of the world. Strangely most locals don't call the lake Kinale, they call it Killana.

[David Holman]

10 hours ago, Galteemore said:

Excellent. The corrugated roof has real character. 

Likewise! What did you use for the roof?

[Kevin Sweeney]

48 minutes ago, David Holman said:

Likewise! What did you use for the roof?

This is the pdf I printed from Inkscape. The roof texture is glued onto 200 gsm card, cut to size (not on this printout). The white edges are painted with a dark marker.

The secret is to pre bend the card before gluing the texture sheet, use a workable glue like PVA and get all the wrinkles out before the glue is dry.

 

[Kevin Sweeney]

Finished Gilligan's farm sheds. I have yet to build the sheds next to the station house, and have a few finishing touches to put on Gillian's pub and barns.

I've started work on the road bridge at the north end of the station. I have completed the abutments but have no images of the bridge itself. I remember it as a child but only recall it was a metal bridge. Lacking any images I'm just going to use a Scalescenes plate girder bridge kit.

Almost there with the buildings.

[Kevin Sweeney]

Gilligan's barns and the current state of the farm yard. On the base board the pub will be raised higher in relation to the barn, than in these photos.

 

 

[David Holman]

A fine scene is developing!

[Galteemore]

Wonderful stuff. My grandparents farm had an outbuilding just like that with an external staircase. All whitewashed walls and red timber work back in the day. Really nice work and atmosphere is building well.  You’d have a lot of customers if you launched this as a kit !

Edited March 11, 2022 by Galteemore

[Kevin Sweeney]

2 hours ago, Galteemore said:

Wonderful stuff. My grandparents farm had an outbuilding just like that with an external staircase. All whitewashed walls and red timber work back in the day. Really nice work and atmosphere is building well.  You’d have a lot of customers if you launched this as a kit !

I doubt I'll get round to making a kit, not right now anyway. In the future who knows.

Vernacular farm buildings make very nice models.

[Kevin Sweeney]

I made some progress, the sheds next to the station, are ready to roof. Time to start thinking about the baseboard and terrain.

My main distraction from Ballywillan this week was Bellmont, I'm working on a small Anglican church.

[Kevin Sweeney]

I'm still attempting to build an Anglican church. The first version has gone in the bin, after being used for some varnish tests, this is version 2, it's St Patrick's, Church of Ireland, Kildromfertan. About a mile north of Kilnaleck, Co Cavan.

 

 

[Kevin Sweeney]

Almost there with my Anglican Church.

[Galteemore]

40 minutes ago, Kevin Sweeney said:

Almost there with my Anglican Church.

As Henry VIII might have said….

Seriously, that’s great work. I am very familiar with this style of church and you have captured the look nicely.

[jhb171achill]

10 hours ago, Galteemore said:

11 hours ago, Kevin Sweeney said:

As Henry VIII might have said….

 

Don’t let him near it or he might burn it down when he’s killed a few more teenage brides!!!

Seriously, excellent work.

[Kevin Sweeney]

N scale labourers cottage.

Again this not for the Ballywillan layout but for the Bellmont layout. All pressure is off for Ballywillan right now, as I've completed all the buildings and I'm waiting for summer to take the photos for the backscene. So I have two months to do the baseboard and scenery. In the mean time I can keep doing new buildings for Bellmont. I'm working now on a Glebe House and farmyard.

[popeye]

Just perfect. 

[Northroader]

Just room enough for a tidy layout in that second bedroom upstairs.

[Kevin Sweeney]

After a break of several weeks working in the garden, I'm back doing some modelling again. Still waiting for the leaves to come out to do the back drop for Ballywillan, but will start on the base board in the next few days. In the mean time I working on some more buildings for my Bellmont layout. This is my progress so far on the mill, which is a model of Ballyheelan mill, in Co Cavan.

[2996 Victor]

Just been catching up with this: absolutely amazing architectural modelling! Please keep the pictures coming

Cheers,

Mark