Keadue (Keadew) re-appraisal

[Mayner]

My modelling projects tend to go through short bursts of activity followed by long hiatus, I started Keadue shortly after moving to New Zealand nearly 20 years ago so its once again to decide whether to finish of abandon the layout!

I started acquiring locos and stock roughly 30 years ago picking up a Worsley Works C&L 4-4-0T some coach and wagon kits at the Greenwitch Club Narrow Gauge Expo in Tolworth approx 30 years ago, picked up another 4-4-0T a couple of Branchlines T&D 2-6-0T kits and more rolling stock kits after I returned to Ireland in 96 where I spent 3 months working on a construction project in Leitrim and exploring the remains of the C&L.  I picked up Bemo (Shinohara) HOm track on points at the Kivoli Centre in Bala North Wales a few years later and eventually started Keadue as a "quickie" layout in our home office after moving to New Zealand while converting the garage into a railway room for my American N Gauge and On30 narrow gauge.

We moved home shortly after completing the garage conversion and started the scenics and eventually extended Keadue while making a decision whether to converting out garage on our new home into a railway-room workshop.

 

  

8L posed at Keadue with the daily mixed the station building is based on Drumshanbo before the addition of a second storey in 1917. The Building is constructed in Wills Scenic Material sheets with my own etched windows, chimney pots are whitemetal by Scale Link bought at an exhibition in Brighton during my 1st weekend living in London in 1986!  The coach is built using a Worsley Works set of part with some detail added. CIE Posters were downloaded from Pinterest featuring the Holiday resort of Bray and one of CIEs new diesel trains with a silver A Class and new silver coaches and CIE Coach Tours just to upset the regular C&L section passenger.

The most recent narrow gauge project was to complete a rake of 4 C&L open "crib" cattle wagons, but they are decoration at the moment because I mislaid my stock of Kadee HOn3 couplers ordered for these wagons and the coaching stock.

 

Low relief buildings built using Wills Material packs and windows, the covered access way to the yard at the back is typical feature of the region. The car is assembled from Scale Link Austin 7 whitemetal kit

The house is based on "Gilligan's" of Ballywillian, but seems to have lost its License a bit run down (Wills Cement Render sheet) and no name Guinness sign, the building was originally a full depth model from a layout set in Longford/Westmeath built during the late 80s signal is an SSM GSWR signal, car is another Scale Link kit possibly a larger pre-War Austin. No-one to be seen but fairly common in smaller towns and villages in the Mid West, possibly listening to Micheal O'Hare from a race meeting at the Curragh or an inter-Provincial at Corke Park.

The Carriage Shed (Wills Roof. planked plasticard, nickel silver rail) is a bit of a vexation. The siding badly needs packing-relaying as cross-level are badly off coach bodies strike the side of the shed, I over-wetted the siding ballast and the MDF roadbed in this area became became quite badly swollen fortunately without disturbing the main line and running loop small mercies.

 

The other recent project in this area is the coal dock based on one at Ballinamore assembled fro. m individual wooden sleepers, coal is semi-bituminous from a closed local mine.

Loco shed is based on the smaller C&L sheds again Wills Material sheets with doors in plasticard. I need to line the interior in whitewashed stone and add a workbench. Don't ask about a pit!

I need to add foliage/fencing to make this area look more overgrown.

3T waits to depart with a Cattle Special based on the loco a C&L stalwart in 1950s condition, I need to sort out couplers for the locos and stock, while I attempted to standardise on Kadee HOn3 I am tempted to convert to B&B couplers (a compact UK version of the Bemo/Continental loop coupler which I successfully used in EM gauge.

6T runs round the curve from the reserved to the road-side section, this scene was inspired by Ballyduff and Kiltubrid on The Tramway though I need to sort out the area behind the bridge and improve the backscene, the original intention was to represent the Arigna Mountains in the background. The C&L 4-4-0T used to 'stick" on the curve, the problem largely solved after I relayed the tack in this area 2-3 years ago.

A cavalcade of enthusiast cars have pulled over to film 6T approaching with a laden coal special, 6T was drafted onto the section in 1956 apparently freshly painted in black, with 6t hand painted on the buffer beam rather than the usual transfer number, 6T was in the usual decrepit state and ended her days working demolition trains after the system closed in March 1959.

 

One of the remaining challenges is disguising the entrance to the fiddle yard, I originally planned to fit a model Kiltubrid Halt on the curve near the bridge but the baseboard was too narrow for the road railway and station building, though the rear of the building would be a reasonably effective fiddle yard view blocker. Its likely the window and kitchenette/bathroom? in this area is likely to be a post closure alteration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 17, 2023 by Mayner

[David Holman]

Lovely stuff John. Oozes atmosphere.

Edited May 18, 2023 by David Holman

[Patrick Davey]

I absolutely love everything about this John!

[NorthWallDocker]

John @Mayner, just found your writings here about Keadue, after re-reading your RMWeb blog from 2013-2018 (which I saved to 64 pages in two PDFs).  Grateful for all your teaching through your writing and photographing.  Inspiring me to plan for building my own C&L / MGWR modular layout in 2024, starting perhaps with Dromod.

I'm wondering if you could guide me about four questions that remain unanswered (or that I missed):

1.  Stewart Hine's 1970s MR article about DPDT switches for layout sections -- might you have a more specific citation that I could pursue?

2. Did you ever decide upon an optimal wider dimension of depth than the 12 inches of the shelf layout?

3. What minimum radius of track curve would you recommend for a Worsley Works ex-CB&P 2-4-2T locomotive model or your Branchlines C&L Stephenson 4-4-0T?

4. If you were to re-design Keadue for enjoyable operation, based on what you've learned, what specific new features would you include, or change?  (I note the problem with the carriage shed area's MDF warping the track plane, for example, because it became over-soaked.  But I'm also reading a lot of complaints about insulation foam as a base, even with a plywood substructure.)  

[Mayner]

NorthWallDocker quite flattered that my writing about Keadue inspired you to build a C&L/MGWR layout.

1. I don't have anything more specific on Stewart Hines Model Railway Magazine wiring article, but may be covered in his  "Model Railways' Haynes explains series 1977. https://www.amazon.com/Model-Railways-Haynes-explains-Stewart/dp/0854295461/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 

I decided to try similar principals on Keadue using Blue Point machines with locally operated points and walk around control, eliminating the need for a control panel and section switches.  The only section switches on Keadue are a number of switches that allow locos to be isolated on the turntable loco shed road.

1. Wiring

Probably simplest to explain through wiring diagram of the crossover between the Main-Line and the yard at the Boyle/Sligo end of the yard, the arrangement at the Arigna/Ballinamore end of the yard is similar. The layout is currently controlled by two hand held controllers (1 Gaugemaster, 1 club project) that plug into DIN sockets in the baseboard fascia.  Two sockets feed the main line at either end of the station, the main line feeds are conventionally wired at the toe end of the crossovers from the Main Line to the Yard.   A third socket feeds the yard through a "heel feed" to the loco-shed road, locos on the yard are controlled by the "Yard Controller" when the crossover between the main and yard is normal allowing a train to run on the main line under control of the main line controller while another loco is shunting the yard.

Reversing the crossover points allows trains to arrive and depart from the loop using a main line controller while simultaneously allowing locos to move/turn in the loco yard.

I used the Blue Points on Keadue to test the concept for more complex application, using for routing power using the auxillary switches on Tortoise Switch machines on a future layout potentially using signals to control track power, but that's another days work!

2. Shelf baseboard width.  I tend to use 12" as a maximum baseboard width on shelf or book case layouts in both N and 4mm, the relatively narrow baseboard with also helps make scenic sections look longer. I have set up 18" wide shelf baseboards for a future layout, (on extended  proprietary brackets), currently used for storage has shown no signs of movement in over 10 years!

3.  Minimum radius. The 90º curve on the Tramway Section is approx. 2' radius, though may be tighter in places. The Branchlines C&L 4-4-0T was designed with the bogie which slid on a central pivot complete with side control springs, which could be challenging to set up and reduced side to side movement. I converted both my C&L 4-4-0s to a more conventional bogie pivot arrangement, though the bogie wheels sometimes short on the inner edges of the whitemetal outside cyliners.

Its likely to be more challenging to identify a workable minimum radius for the ex-CBPR 2-4-2T with their long wheel base and radial trucks fore and aft. I usually drawn or prepare a mock up of the chassis and wheels to check clearances on curves before assembling a loco. It may be worth contacting Phil 3150 who built a model of 10L from a Worsley Works set of parts.  

4. Learnings:  Keadue has evolved considerably during the 20 years since we moved to New Zealand. Originally intended as a self-contained shelf layout designed to fit an 8'X1' space in the home office and a test bed for readily available baseboard material and foam track underlay. The layout was extended to an L shaped terminius to fiddle yard (11'X6') shelf layout with scenic works substantially complete just in time for a Model Convention in which delegates visited the layout 8 years later!  Apart from maintenance and some additional stock I have done very little work on Keadue since the convention.

The main lesson has been not to use MDF as a trackbase material if planning to use water as a wetting agent when gluing down ballast, at the time I used MDF as it was difficult to source good quality stable plywood from builders merchants or DIY superstores. I now buy ply from a specialist ply and veneer stockist.

Although I have an almost life long interest in the C&L, I tend to switch between projects, scales and prototypes which had a knock on effect on Keadue.

 

 

 

Edited January 3 by Mayner

[Mike 84C]

I used the Blue Point point control, on our club layout Bantry, to avoid having a central control panel with lots of wiring and to keep things simple. They are hand worked with bicycle spokes and we are very happy with them. So far no failures, that is a rather fatal statement to make!  

[NorthWallDocker]

John, thank you.  More learning for me, so appreciate.  The electrical aspects of railway modeling are definitely my weakness, so having examples helps me learn.