A collection of Irish Models

[Mayner]

Nice to see the WLWR coaches scratchbuilt in plasticard. I attempted coach building in plasticard in the 80s but at the time was put off by cutting out the lace like beading on the majority of panelled coaches.

Its possible the Dublin & Meath Brake vans passed into WLWR ownership. The Athenry and Ennis operated its line (an the Athenry & Tuam) with ex-D&M locos and stock before the Waterford and Limerick took over working of the lines North of Ennis. The Athenry and Ennis appears to have been in a similar financial situation to the Bishops Castle Railway using hand me down locos and stock and the County Sheriff (Galway or Clare?) at one stage seizing the train. 

G R Mahon published a series of articles in the IRRS Journal during the 1870s which provides an annual review of Irish Railway activities during the 1870s including the working of the Ennis and Athenry with ex-D&M locos and stock.  

[David Holman]

Thanks John - this may well explain why Richard built the D&M brakes. An all crimson lake consist now beckons too.

[Branchline121]

This is sort of random, but does anyone have a photo or diagram of a Dublin & Meath or Navan & Kingscourt loco? Thanks in advance.

[David Holman]

 With the WL&WR stock now AJ'd, attention turns to GS&WR vehicles. My F6 2-4-2T recently got the best loco award at the club competition, so this seems a good place to start. Worth mentioning that one reason the AJs are such a protracted process, is that I first need to remove the Dinghams and in most cases refit screw or three link couplings as well...

 Anyway, have always thought the F6 were pretty little engines; built for the Kerry branches. My reasoning is that they were also tried out on the [fictitious] Belmullet line. The model is built from an Alphagraphix etched brass kit. Mostly conventional, but a bit more complex because of the curved footplate. The lined black livery looks very smart to my eyes - not a million miles from the lined BR black I remember at the end of steam.

 Number 42 has a short train made up of two six wheel coaches. The first class one is another AlphaG etched brass kit, while the brake third is plastic card and strip on an AlphaG etched chassis. The combination is the ideal train length for Northport Quay. The photos also show how lighting affects colour - look at the final picture. Both coaches are the same colour and in daylight look like the rear one!

[jhb171achill]

45 minutes ago, David Holman said:

 With the WL&WR stock now AJ'd, attention turns to GS&WR vehicles. My F6 2-4-2T recently got the best loco award at the club competition, so this seems a good place to start. Worth mentioning that one reason the AJs are such a protracted process, is that I first need to remove the Dinghams and in most cases refit screw or three link couplings as well...

 Anyway, have always thought the F6 were pretty little engines; built for the Kerry branches. My reasoning is that they were also tried out on the [fictitious] Belmullet line. The model is built from an Alphagraphix etched brass kit. Mostly conventional, but a bit more complex because of the curved footplate. The lined black livery looks very smart to my eyes - not a million miles from the lined BR black I remember at the end of steam.

 Number 42 has a short train made up of two six wheel coaches. The first class one is another AlphaG etched brass kit, while the brake third is plastic card and strip on an AlphaG etched chassis. The combination is the ideal train length for Northport Quay. The photos also show how lighting affects colour - look at the final picture. Both coaches are the same colour and in daylight look like the rear one!

That whole train is a beauty! And WELL deserved win as "best engine".

 

[Mayner]

On 19/3/2023 at 3:50 AM, Branchline121 said:

This is sort of random, but does anyone have a photo or diagram of a Dublin & Meath or Navan & Kingscourt loco? Thanks in advance.

There is very little published information on Dublin and Meath locos, the best source is the IRRS library. 

John O'Meara published a paper on the history of the Meath Road in an IRRS Journal during the early 1950s and GR Mahon published a series of papers during the 1970s on developments on Irish Railways during the 1860-70s which included info on the Dublin and Meath and disposal of its locos and stock. 

The D&M locos and stock appear to have been acquired under a hire-purchase/leasing agreement with the "U K Rolling Stock Company" a 19th Century equivalent of a modern Vehicle Leasing/Finance Company

One loco D&M No7 an 1862 Fossick & Hackworth 2-4-0 nicknamed 'Drag all" was absorbed into MGWR stock and re-numbered No 11 Meath when the Midland took over working of the line in 1869, some of the other locos and stock appear to have passed to the Athenry and Tuam. By all accounts 'drag all" was considered the only D&M loco to be in reasonable working order.

The Navan-Kingscourt appears to have been worked by the MGWR from the onset with the line opening to Kilmainhamwood in 1871.

 

[GSR 800]

12 minutes ago, Mayner said:

By all accounts 'drag all" was considered the only D&M loco to be in reasonable working order.

 

Fitting name then...

3 hours ago, David Holman said:

 With the WL&WR stock now AJ'd, attention turns to GS&WR vehicles. My F6 2-4-2T recently got the best loco award at the club competition, so this seems a good place to start. Worth mentioning that one reason the AJs are such a protracted process, is that I first need to remove the Dinghams and in most cases refit screw or three link couplings as well...

 Anyway, have always thought the F6 were pretty little engines; built for the Kerry branches. My reasoning is that they were also tried out on the [fictitious] Belmullet line. The model is built from an Alphagraphix etched brass kit. Mostly conventional, but a bit more complex because of the curved footplate. The lined black livery looks very smart to my eyes - not a million miles from the lined BR black I remember at the end of steam.

 Number 42 has a short train made up of two six wheel coaches. The first class one is another AlphaG etched brass kit, while the brake third is plastic card and strip on an AlphaG etched chassis. The combination is the ideal train length for Northport Quay. The photos also show how lighting affects colour - look at the final picture. Both coaches are the same colour and in daylight look like the rear one!

A very nice engine indeed. Will have to get one myself from alphagraphix sometime...

[David Holman]

The rest of my GS&WR stock has more than a hint of Richard Chown about it. First is a brake van that I got in the same bid for the D&M brakes. Scratchbuilt, Richard used a range of materials including wood, plastic and metal. The second picture shows the underside, with its wooden base; it also shows the mounting point for the Alex Jackson couplings he used. At first, I removed these, but recently have put them back. Looks like I need to repair the right hand footsteps!

 The second item is a 101 [J15] class 0-6-0. I was at the Gauge 0 Guild Convention in Telford, a year after he died, when I was offered the chance to buy some of the remaining items from Richard's estate. Among some wagon and coach wheels, plus some signals was an unmade etched kit by Terry McDermott. Incredibly, Richard had originally bought it in 1998, apparently a bit of an one off & inside the box was a letter from Terry to Richard, reminding him he still owed the postage!

 Although needing wheels, gears and motor, there were instructions & so on the 20th anniversary of Richard acquiring it, I made a start on the kit. It proved an interesting, if challenging build, not because there was anything wrong with the etchings - far from it, but the 101s are complex beasts with their curved footplate and outside springs on the tender.  Adding lined black livery further complicated the task... However, it has made up into a very nice model. I built it as one of the later, Coey, engines and it is proving to be a good runner, not least because I put pick ups on the tender wheels as well.

 I eventually built a couple of other GSWR wagons. One is a fairly straightforward 'semi' - one of those vans with the centre section of the roof covered with a tarpaulin, so it can double up to carry livestock. The other is one of those completely open cattle wagons [ie, devoid of a roof]. I've not seen many models of these & thought it would make an interesting subject. A lot of plastic strip went into the body work, while it is also a much shorter wagon than usual.

[Noel]

Delightful atmosphere

[Tullygrainey]

Lovely stuff David

[Patrick Davey]

All splendid vehicles David and I am full of admiration for your prolific scratchbuilds and modifications - those turf loads must have taken a long time to prepare, are the carriages full of the chopped matches or have you inserted a raised level inside each vehicle so less turf is required?

As always, quite inspirational!

[Rob]

Top quality.... as always

[David Holman]

On 3/4/2023 at 11:02 PM, Patrick Davey said:

All splendid vehicles David and I am full of admiration for your prolific scratchbuilds and modifications - those turf loads must have taken a long time to prepare, are the carriages full of the chopped matches or have you inserted a raised level inside each vehicle so less turf is required?

As always, quite inspirational!

Thanks Patrick (and everyone), the turf wagon/carriages have a false floor about 5mm below the top. I used a tool called the Chopper, which is a simple guillotine affair with a razor blade as the cutter to chop the matches.

 Really hoping to get back to some actual modelling soon. Converting to AJ couplings is taking a lot of time, while next up is going to be the whole presentation of Northport Quay (lighting, pelmet, fascia), along with fitting in the car for going to shows. All made worse by the fact I have several unmade kits to build too, which is very unlike me.

[David Holman]

Waifs and strays

 A few other bits of stock complete my broad gauge models, for now. First is 'Lark', though others will recognise it as Timoleague and Courtmacsherry Tramway loco 'St Mologa'. Yet another Alphagraphix/Tyrconnel kit, this tiny engine proved a bit of a challenge with its outside cylinders creating fagpaper clearances. However, it is a pretty engine & I assumed that Hunslet built a second one for the Arigna Mines, where it was named 'Lark' - one of the spare sets of plates from the J26 kit. It will eventually morph into the Northport Quay shunter.

 Another exile is a DSER van, though justification for this comes from a photo of one in the Rails to Achill book. Scratchbuilt in plastic sheet & strip with white metal fittings.

 Slightly more tenuous is this little industrial loco, which was actually my first ever 7mm scale model. Can't even remember what the kit was, while it has languished, unloved, for more than a few years, awaiting new wheels and chassis. Its main purpose has been to practice painting & lining! Note how it is even smaller than 'Lark'.

 Finally, for now, a sign of things to come, with another Alphagraphix J26 kit, though this one is going to be finished in full MGWR livery - see Galteemore's workbench thread for one he built earlier. The picture on the box is actually my own model & my first broad gauge engine, while the photo kindly supplied by Roger shows some of the differences when the prototype was first built.

 Looking back, it is remarkable to think that I joined this forum in 2012, so have actually only been modelling Irish railways for about 12 years. There is the narrow gauge stuff as well - more of which anon...

Edited April 8, 2023 by David Holman

[Westcorkrailway]

35 minutes ago, David Holman said:

Waifs and strays

 A few other bits of stock complete my broad gauge models, for now. First is 'Lark', though others will recognise it as Timoleague and Courtmacsherry Tramway loco 'St Mologa'. Yet another Alphagraphix/Tyrconnel kit, this tiny engine proved a bit of a challenge with its outside cylinders creating fagpaper clearances. However, it is a pretty engine & I assumed that Hunslet built a second one for the Arigna Mines, where it was named 'Lark' - one of the spare sets of plates from the J26 kit. It will eventually morph into the Northport Quay shunter.

 Another exile is a DSER van, though justification for this comes from a photo of one in the Rails to Achill book. Scratchbuilt in plastic sheet & strip with white metal fittings.

 Slightly more tenuous is this little industrial loco, which was actually my first ever 7mm scale model. Can't even remember what the kit was, while it has languished, unloved, for more than a few years, awaiting new wheels and chassis. Its main purpose has been to practice painting & lining! Note how it is even smaller than 'Lark'.

 Finally, for now, a sign of things to come, with another Alphagraphix J26 kit, though this one is going to be finished in full MGWR livery - see Galteemore's workbench thread for one he built earlier. The picture on the box is actually my own model & my first broad gauge engine, while the photo kindly supplied by Roger shows some of the differences when the prototype was first built.

 Looking back, it is remarkable to think that I joined this forum in 2012, so have actually only been modelling Irish railways for about 12 years. There is the narrow gauge stuff as well - more of which anon...

That at molaga model always has me drooling . Stunning peice of work

[David Holman]

 Before moving on to narrow gauge stuff, thought I'd include some of my broad gauge infrastructure, starting with signals. I found the three doll signal [controlling three level crossings] on the Sligo Leitrim particularly interesting & there were most of the parts required to make it from Wizard Models, while there are various useful books available to help too. It controls the entrance to Belmullet loop and also acts as the advance starter. Saxby and Farmer equipment seemed to be much favoured by Irish railways, so went back to Wizard Models for more bits and pieces to make the two doll starter at the platform end.

 Signals are fiddly things to build, even in 7mm scale and, especially on an exhibition layout, rather vulnerable too, so both can be unplugged for transport. Initially, the three doll signal was worked by simple wire in tube, but when Arigna Town was rebuilt as Belmullet, I used servos with Megapoint circuit board control, which includes a nice 'bounce' feature when returning to danger.

 On Belmullet, two of the Arigna Town buildings survive. One is the station, the other the signal box. Both were developed from Alphagraphix card kits, but using very different techniques.

 The signal box is based on the one at Manorhamilton and was built around a core of 1mm thick perspex, adding walls from plastic sheet [Wills 4mm 'random stone'] and windows from plastic strip. It has a fully detailed interior using a set of Springside castings. The station is modelled on the one at Florencecourt [also SLNCR], this time using a substructure of 5mm foam board, with a mixture of card and plastic for the details, like doors and windows. I clearly need to straighten a couple of chimney pots though...

 When I created Belmullet, a key scene was the loco shed. This includes a small sand drying plant [based on one at Athlone], plus one of the splendid MGW 'fortress' coal and water towers [Sligo]. Both are built around a foam board core. The shed itself is another MGW building, built using photos of the one at Ballaghadereen. Locosheds can be awkward things to build, because they are not only open at one end, but also have to do without a base, so they can be placed over the track. This one is foam board again, covered in DAS clay, which was then scribed to represent the stonework.

 So, there we are - a summary of my stuff thus far. Anyone interested can look up details in my Workshop, Belmullet and Arigna Town threads, but I thought it would be nice to produce a brief summary as an antidote  to those AJ couplings!

[Tullygrainey]

Lovely stuff as always David. The scribed stonework on that engine shed and the signal box is spot-on. And I'm a fan of your painted street scene backdrops. There's a coherence to all your work which creates not just a layout but an atmosphere. Inspiring.

[David Holman]

Made a mistake re the locoshed, which is covered with Wills random stone sheets. The water tower is DAS on foamboard, with the rendered parts represented by water colour paper.

[Galteemore]

Great stuff as ever. Agree with Alan / there is a real overall sense of cohesion to the composition. Many layouts have an excellent set of individual items on show which just don’t ‘gel’. There’s a consistent picture here which adds so much atmosphere. Must have a think about how to do my signal box….,

 

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

Lovely work

[Tullygrainey]

6 hours ago, David Holman said:

Made a mistake re the locoshed, which is covered with Wills random stone sheets. The water tower is DAS on foamboard, with the rendered parts represented by water colour paper.

 As an inveterate user of those Wills sheet, I should have recognised them! Water tower looks great. I like the idea of watercolour paper render. Will steal that at the first opportunity 

[LARNE CABIN]

Hi David, love those infrastructure photos, particularly the water tower and coal store and of course the signals. Terrific work.