Clogherhead - A GNR(I) Seaside Terminus

[Galteemore]

Hope the recovery goes well Patrick. Lovely to see 205 looking so much at home.

[Patrick Davey]

So here’s his week’s progress:

Concrete wave barriers for the beach and coping stones on the sea wall:

Access boardwalk for the signalman (this will need weathered as the cabin is disused) along with bedding in of the cabin and a chain link fence around it:

 

[Patrick Davey]

No idea how I managed to upload an empty post….. hopefully admin can delete this one and the empty one because I can’t see how to delete posts

Edited January 6 by Patrick Davey

[Patrick Davey]

A bit more detailing today: the beach now has a nameboard, along with two typically garish beach huts and a food kiosk, all made from mount board, they will be weathered of course, to reflect the dilapidation theme of the project.  Progress was also made on the promenade and the wave defences, more on this tomorrow I hope.

[Patrick Davey]

Even though the railway is not as busy as in former years, the beach is still popular with families, so the emergency services need to put in an appearance from time to time.  Pictured at Clogherhead beach today is an ambulance from Dundalk.  With special thanks to Kevin Enright @Louth of this parish who kindly donated the ambulance to me when he discovered he had two - this is the impressive Oxford Diecast Dundalk Fire Service ambulance.  Thanks, Kevin!

[Tullygrainey]

It’s all coming to life as the details go in. Great work Patrick

[Patrick Davey]

Getting impatient to get the sand down on the beach so time to improve access!

Both units are made from mount board covered in Das Clay, the larger one will eventually form part of a path which will run from the station to the beach.

[Galteemore]

Loving this. Like the lifebelt cabinet on the sea wall too. 

[jhb171achill]

Operational possibilities for this are quite varied given the quiet setting.

I understand it's 1960s. So, you've excursions from Dublin to start with. That could be anything from a GNR railcar set (with one carrige each in black'n'tan, green and GNR navy & cream; or some such other combination!) to a loco hauled train. And here's where we get variety. Anything from a GNR steam loco (up to 1963), or an A, C or (post-1963) B141 would go in there. Carriages could be just about anything. You'll get ex-GN mainline stock (brown, even; or blacknktan or green), CIE laminates of various types, even a Craven or two later on, Bredins and (probably quite often) old ex-GSWR wooden-bodied stock as used latterly on Donabate seaside excursions etc. At the end, old GNR vans, new tin vans.....

If the place still sees any goods traffic, a few Provincial "H" vans will deal with that. Could there have been any reason to load the odd Bullied open with sand?

Now and again a UTA excursion can arrive. Ex-NCC and ex-GNR coaching stock in UTA livery, with a "Jeep" or ex-GNR 0.6.0 up front would seem appropriate. Also, ex-GNR railcars in UTA livery.

QUITE a mix; thus, an excellent choice for a "mini"-layout.

[Patrick Davey]

2 hours ago, Galteemore said:

Loving this. Like the lifebelt cabinet on the sea wall too. 

A few more details arriving shortly too, to complement the cabinet 

[Patrick Davey]

Safety first - a lifeguard lookout is on the workbench this evening.  Definitely one of my weirder scratchbuilds!

 

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

Very tidy work Patrick.

[Patrick Davey]

A few appropriate details added today, from the excellent Scale Model Scenery range: noticeboards & lifebelts.  I am currently working on some very fiddly deckchairs and windbreaks too for the eventual beach, and I have also created the path which links the station to the beach.  Coming very close to the moment when I can add the actual sand from the real Clogherhead beach, hopefully tomorrow for that

Edited January 13 by Patrick Davey

[Galteemore]

Great stuff. SMS range is really good and they seem a nice friendly company. I get their weekly customer email which is a nice round-up of modelling expertise- often images of their products in use. I hope you’ll be sending them pics of Clogherhead.

[Patrick Davey]

1 minute ago, Galteemore said:

Great stuff. SMS range is really good and they seem a nice friendly company. I get their weekly customer email which is a nice round-up of modelling expertise- often images of their products in use. I hope you’ll be sending them pics of Clogherhead.

I might do that, indeed, once I have everything in place

[derek]

19 hours ago, Patrick Davey said:

Safety first - a lifeguard lookout is on the workbench this evening.  Definitely one of my weirder scratchbuilds!

 

Excellent work on that Patrick

[Patrick Davey]

Beach progress.

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

Typical Irish beach in summer, empty because it's pissing down

Lovely work Patrick, very realistic.

[jhb171achill]

15 minutes ago, Gabhal Luimnigh said:

Typical Irish beach in summer, empty because it's pissing down

Lovely work Patrick, very realistic.

There needs to be a rusty supermarket trolly, some used nappies, cigarette ends, plastic bags, beer bottles and burger wrappers.....

[Patrick Davey]

I think the beach is largely finished.  An important scenic tip is to use as much colour variety as possible, especially with scatter material, so adding some darker and thicker material has helped the image of the shoreline I think.  It also gives the impression of a buildup of seaweed although I might develop this further using black thread and PVA glue.

A lot of the details here are from the excellent Scale Model Scenery range, they can be a bit fiddly but are worth the patience and effort because they are very fine and make a big difference.  The deck chairs in particular produced some innovative swear words, but overall I’m happy with the result.  There isn’t enough room to employ resin to represent the sea but the sand is actual sand from the real Clogherhead beach

[jhb171achill]

The level of detail on that beach alone is just fantastic.

[David Holman]

Nice one - and think you are right to avoid the sea itself. Waves can look great in photographs but (beyond ripples) start to lose something in reality. The shoreline detritus works really well and is not something you see very often.

[Keano30]

On 15/1/2024 at 10:10 PM, Patrick Davey said:

I think the beach is largely finished.  An important scenic tip is to use as much colour variety as possible, especially with scatter material, so adding some darker and thicker material has helped the image of the shoreline I think.  It also gives the impression of a buildup of seaweed although I might develop this further using black thread and PVA glue.

A lot of the details here are from the excellent Scale Model Scenery range, they can be a bit fiddly but are worth the patience and effort because they are very fine and make a big difference.  The deck chairs in particular produced some innovative swear words, but overall I’m happy with the result.  There isn’t enough room to employ resin to represent the sea but the sand is actual sand from the real Clogherhead beach

Just fantastic, it’s so realistic I love it. It’s inspiring to look at. 

[Patrick Davey]

Thanks everyone for the continued encouragement, and positive comments!

Things have got a bit dark on the layout over the past day or two, in fact, you might possibly say I have lost the plot…..

Edited January 18 by Patrick Davey

[Galteemore]

It’s certainly been quite the undertaking. I hope you are wreathed in smiles. Great work - looks well. 

Edited January 19 by Galteemore

[Tullygrainey]

Dead good! A monumental achievement Patrick. 

[Northroader]

Ye’ve left no stone unturned with your modelling there.

[Patrick Davey]

AN ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATION FOR THE CROSSLEY DEBACLE?

In the late 1950s, the Great Northern Railway staff at Clogherhead terminus became aware of strange happenings taking place in and around the station.  Things started to get particularly weird once CIE took over in 1958, and it was quite noticeable that the new diesel locomotives which were beginning to appear would regularly break down at Clogherhead terminus, noticeably more frequently than they would elsewhere on the system.

One dark winter’s evening in 1959, the Clogherhead stationmaster, Mr. Sandy Castles, was locking up the station after completing his paperwork for the day, following the departure of the last evening service to Drogheda.  As he turned the key in the station front door, he became aware of the soft tones of Gregorian chant drifting on the wind from the direction of the church which overlooked the station.  Not wishing to investigate on his own, Mr. Castles quickly mounted his bicycle and rode off into the night.  Similar happenings had been reported by other railway staff working late in the evening, so the head porter and renowned outdoor pursuits enthusiast Cliff Walker decided to do some research to see if he could find an explanation.

After studying historic maps and other sources, Cliff discovered that the church and graveyard were built on the site of an ancient abbey founded in the year 876 by a holy man of the sea, named Gannet the Great.

Gannet had been appointed as the abbot of the community, despite having no prior experience.  The community had a particular interest in the conservation of seabirds, and other prominent members included Friar Fulmar and Brother William, who was also the barber for the community, rejoicing in the name of Razor Bill.  The abbey was ravaged by the Vikings around the year 1000, with the most feared Norseman of them all being the later inventor of snooker, the flame-haired Inoff the Red.

Many years later, a community of lay sisters set up home in the abbey grounds, always keeping a respectful distance from the holy men.  Two ladies of that time have been named in historic sources: Sisters Kitty Wake and Gilly Mott.  Gannet the Great was himself renowned for his prowess in the cultivation and cooking of potatoes, whereas Fulmar was more of a seafood connoisseur: Gannet was therefore known as The Chip Monk, whilst Fulmar became The Fish Fryer.

The abbey, and the members of the community, have long since passed into history, although reports of strange apparitions are not uncommon.

Local tradition has it that the spirits of Gannet and his community were very happy when steam locomotives appeared on their old lands, because of the puffin.  It is also believed that they strongly disapproved of the new forms of motive power which began to appear in the late 1950s, so there may well be an alternative explanation for the unreliability of the Crossley-engined locomotives.

And, unsurprisingly, this was their favourite seabird.

[David Holman]

Am sure there must be plenty more where that came from - no mention of brother Red Shanks, famed for his bright socks?

[Tullygrainey]

And don't forget the bloke who runs the hire service on the beach - Rowan Boat

[Patrick Davey]

1 hour ago, Tullygrainey said:

And don't forget the bloke who runs the hire service on the beach - Rowan Boat

Brilliant!!!!!

[Patrick Davey]

Working on two small but important areas this evening.

The exit from the platform directly to the forecourt, to facilitate better passenger flow on busy days:

And the wall at the far end of the station:

 

 

Edited January 21 by Patrick Davey

[Noel]

2 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said:

Working on two small but important areas this evening.

The exit from the platform directly to the forecourt, to assist with passenger movements on busy days:

And the wall at the far end of the station:

 

 

Stunning

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

Lovely work 

[Patrick Davey]

Working on bedding the Clogherhead station building into its immediate surroundings - the ground was built up using DAS clay, and now vegetation is being added.  A bit more work needed but I’m getting there!