Shelton Abbey NET Nitrate Factory, Arklow

[dave182]

Hi Guys.

 

With the prospect of me (finally!) getting a room to build a layout in, I've been slowly building up a collection of rolling stock and bits and pieces. I'll have a space of about 12' by 12' and have decided to resurrect an idea I've had for a layout before, based in Wicklow and with freight being at the fore, and with the Shelton Abbey Fertilizer Factory as a feature. (I attempted this in N gauge a few years ago but lost interest). Along with the factory, I am hoping to fit in a commuter station 'Annaghmore' and a small port scene, both drawing inspiration from Arklow I suppose, but maybe the port will be rail linked for additional interest.

 

Anyways, I've always been facinated by the factory at Shelton Abbey. The wonderful picture below from 'National Geographic' really captures it. As a youngster I regularly travelled on the train to Enniscorthy, and passing through the beautiful scenery around Rathdrum, then suddenly emerging into this cloud-covered valley with a big mysterious factory was always something facinating!

http://www.nationalgeographicstock.com/ngsimages/explore/explorecomp.jsf?xsys=SE&id=104041

 

Having researched a little more I realise that the Factory was a real case of love/hate. Lots of issues with pollution and health and safety, but a serious source of employment in the area for many years, and closed prematurely in 2002.

 

So, I've started in ernest to build a representation of the Factory, which is going to be huge by the looks of things! The starting point is the huge concrete tower (which still stands today) and surrounding buildings. West of this was a massive set of sheds (might still be there, green in colour) where pallet fertilizer railway wagons were loaded. In front of all is the Avoca River which I intend to include, and finally there was a yard with 5 or 6 sidings and specialist unloading facilities for incoming Ammonia tanker trains from Marino Point in Cork.

 

I had to start somewhere so tonight I finally got the finger out (along with all my notes, pictures and measurements!) and here is an evenings work!

 

I will keep the pictures coming over the coming weeks to update on the build. I will start a new thread in the 'layouts' section when I get the actual layout started. If anyone has any pictures from the factory I'd be delighted to see them as I have very little to work with at the moment!

 

Regards, Dave

[krose]

Thats a good start Dave, and a fantastic picture form NatGeo there. Looks like you may need a bigger crane for the top of that tower though

[201bhoy]

Sounds like a great layout! 201s and double headed 141s on the ammonia and 071s on the mk2s!

[jhb171achill]

Rare visitors to shunt there were not only the "E" class, but at least one "G"!

[BosKonay]

Oh wow!!!

[Blu Bianco]

Very exciting project, Dave. Be definitely keeping up to date with your progress!

 

I often went by there too, it was certainly an 'atmospheric' experience. Also magical in the dark, with the sidings yard all lit up by those old styled lamps and the twinkle of all the lights of the plant behind the rising steam and smoke.

 

The yard seemed huge. Now, all the lines have gone, it just looks really sad.

 

Theres very little footage out there of the plant, just a snippet from this Telerail DVD which you may have already.

 

 

I think this short clip cuts off in the middle of the bit about the plant though! If you don't have the DVD, there maybe some copies out there in Marketplaces online but as to how much more it would show that you don't know already it is questionable. But maybe worth picking up if you're into it anyway.

Edited January 19, 2013 by Blu Bianco

[Weshty]

Dave

 

That is going to be awesome, best of luck and hopefully I'll have the Ammonias out in time for you.

 

Weshty

[dave182]

Thanks for the comments guys! Yes, I have the above mentioned Telerail Video which gives glimpes of the unloading of the tankers and the plant itself. Des, looking froward to your Ammonias release! A small update- I've layed everything out this afternoon and this baby is going to be big!!!

I'm looking at 8' by 4' (which I'm limiting myself to so it doesn't get completely out of hand!) so we have on the right the large tower (using porridge cylinders for the body of the tower), then on the left the large sheds, where the fertilizer was stored and palletised. There was a single track (I think?) came across the Avoca river to this side where Pallet Fertilizer wagons were loaded. Running through the middle then will be the river, and in front of all this I'll be able to place the sidings for unloading the tankers. (In real life this is further away from the factory, but space dictates). Finally at the front I will have the single line running to Arklow and beyond. As this forum is about buildings I'll keep on topic. Nearly all of this model will be built using plasticard, which I like working with. The plan is to get the skeletons of the building put together, after which I can spend time adding details, painting, etc. I'll have a small bit of room behind the main buildings to do a back drop of various chimneys and tanks and cylinders, which hopefully will add to the atmosphere. Blu Bianco reminded me how magically wierd the factory looked at night with its massive flood lights- I'll have to give that some more thought when I get round to building the layout proper. Finally, I'll tie the whole lot together with the bridge across the river and the pipe network that ran all around the factory.

[BosKonay]

Now that's truly impressive!!! Am very much looking forward to this!!

[scahalane]

ambitious and I like it, keep it up.

[Sulzer201]

Great idea, a key part of our industrial heritage in model form. Best of luck with it and looking forward to more pics.

[BabyGM]

Very impressive

Looking forward to seeing more

[Glenderg]

Congrats Dave on jumping in both feet first! I'm very impressed straight away with you work so far, and I have a vision of what you're trying to end up with, which should be stunning, particularly the night time shots. Richie

[Shinkansen]

Nice work Dave. Great to see something different such as industrial builings being serviced by rail traffic being part of a railway layout. Have seen this done plenty on American HO layouts but it's good to see it in an Irish context for a change. Looks like it took acres of plasticard to build what you have already! Will be watching with great interest. Keep up the good work

Tom

[Dave]

Stunning work there Dave, I'm looking forward to seeing you layout progress. Well done

[Kirley]

Very impressive start Dave, I see you have been doing your homework.

Looking forward to see this progressing to the layout stage.

[Kirley]

Dave I was browsing through some DVD’s and in Rail Freight Today Ireland (TeleRail), it did a bit on Ammonia Trains arriving and now they were unloaded as well as the Fertiliser wagons leaving with the finished product. Little on the buildings, more on how it worked.

[enniscorthyman]

That is fantastic,and keep the updates coming.

[heirflick]

watching with interest!

great clip from telerail too:tumbsup:

[patrick]

It sounds like a great theme for a layout. A port could also serve Tara mines traffic as Arklow did for a short time in the 90's.

I look forward to seeing more.

[dave182]

So it's been 3 years since I started this thread (slightly embarrassing!) but finally some progress! I've claimed some space in the shed; enough to give me a layout of 8' x 6', plus a fiddle yard coming off the front of the layout in an L shape, which is great because I can have lots of rakes ready to go. Might look at removable cartridge setup even? Anyways, to start, a non-picture! But I'm excited none-the-less as it's the first baseboards I've laid down since I was a teenager!

 

 

Still a lot of work to be done on the underframe, but getting there. So your imagination is required here. This is a very rough outline of what I think I can fit in the space. It's a single line, over 2 levels. At the front of the layout, on the lower level, is the station area, representing Arklow I suppose. On the upper level is the Avoca River, with the factory complex on the north bank, and the Ammonia tank car unloading facility on the south bank, as per the real site. The theory here is that empty Pallet Fert. train would pull in to siding off the main line, and reverse across the river into the factory. This is not prototypical, but a space saving compromise that I'm happy with.

 

 

When you've finished sniggering at my autocad masterpiece there, you can look at the next picture. Here I've roughed out a couple of bits of track to see if my plan is possible. The A Class sits in the Factory Yard in the background, across the river. I think this will work visually and operationally. I could reasonably fit the loco plus 3 or 4 fert wagons on the straight, and the loco can then be shunting wagons across the river in 2's or 3s. The 141 is sitting at the Ammonia tank unloading facility. Again, my understanding is that the 6 tank + 2 Barrier consists were split in 2 in real life, so I can get away with shorter sidings here. Finally the Mk2 coach would be sitting on the main line on the upper level, and I've another 2' to play with in front of this point, where the station will go.

 

 

I've finally some time on my hands so I hope to tip away at this over the winter! I'll keep posting as it progresses, and comments and encouragement always welcome!

Edited November 13, 2016 by dave182

[Glenderg]

Great stuff! Tus maith, leath na h-oibre and all that

(A good start is half the work)

 

My only concern with a board that deep is the reach limit, which is somewhere between 750 and 900mm. I assume you can work on the inner more unaccessible parts and then shove it back into the corner?

[scahalane]

Surprised nobody has done an ammonia depot yet. Looking forward to this one.

[JasonB]

Same here,I like the thinking behind this,looking forward to it.

[Kirley]

With your expertise this is one to look forward to, it's bound to be innovative.

[DiveController]

Great stuff! Tus maith, leath na h-oibre and all that

(A good start is half the work)

 

My only concern with a board that deep is the reach limit, which is somewhere between 750 and 900mm. I assume you can work on the inner more unaccessible parts and then shove it back into the corner?

 

I think the continuous loop from lower to upper levels will help to optimize the gradients. A cutout with a removable scenic where the Avoca is might help, along with a baseboard height high enough to get underneath if necessary if the board can't be moved. Access to the tunnels?

[Mayner]

Its an ambitious plan, its appears to have a lot in common with John Allens original 6X4 Gorre & Daphetid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorre_%26_Daphetid. with the looped 8 main line station at the front edge and a branch line and industry at the back

 

I would definitely recommend an operating well perhaps 2'X4' in the centre, this would help to separate the Arklow and Shelton Abbey scenes. Operation is likely to be restricted by the short length of the passing loop at Arklow and the lack of another loop or hidden staging on the main line.

 

A double track main line might be a better option to keep two reasonably long trains running on the main line and a third at Shelton Abbey.

 

With the space available the loose coupled era with wooden and corrugated opens and a C Class pilot shuttling wagons between the marshalling yard and the factory might be a better option otherwise fertiliser trains are likely to be restricted to 2-3 bogie wagons