Who might have built a line to Craggy Island

[Bob49]

My Sister knowing I'm a Father Ted fan bought me a "Visit Craggy Island" t-shirt and a Go on, go on.... Mug for Christmas and this has given me an idea for a little layout set in West Co Clare. 

So I have now have might of built a line? And what gauge would they have used?

Marc

[Galteemore]

Is it an island or a peninsula? If west Clare then an extension of the existing 3’ gauge system is highly possible. If 5’3 I’d suggest GSWR or WLWR as the most likely candidates. 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Galteemore

[Bob49]

I was going to presume it was a island connected by a thin strip of land. In a similar way that Roa Island, nere Barrow-in-Furness, and Lindisfarne (Holy island) are.

[Robert Shrives]

Given the shady going ons and generally shambolic life style might it had some thing totally off the wall. Perhaps electric tram style or another go at a monorail solution.

Mind you I can see a grubby C class and some park royals and tin van with a certain lady saying "go - on, go on etc" as hapless driver tries to start the loco. 

Gets coat and heads for door.

Robert 

  

[Broithe]

Intensive pilgrimage travels to the Holy Stone of Clonrichert would have kept the line open.

Knock managed to get an airport from a similar set-up.

[jhb171achill]

5 minutes ago, Broithe said:

Intensive pilgrimage travels to the Holy Stone of Clonrichert would have kept the line open.

Knock managed to get an airport from a similar set-up.

The Holy Stone thing I can see, but sure the airport at Knock would be a bit far-fetched…..

[jhb171achill]

2 hours ago, Bob49 said:

My Sister knowing I'm a Father Ted fan bought me a "Visit Craggy Island" t-shirt and a Go on, go on.... Mug for Christmas and this has given me an idea for a little layout set in West Co Clare. 

So I have now have might of built a line? And what gauge would they have used?

Marc

Recalls teenage ideas I had about a layout based on an imaginary narrow gauge line on Achill Island….

That’s the thing about a fantasy layout - you can have the Flying Scotsman hauling Festiniog stock with a De Dietrich driving trailer on 7ft gauge track, and no-one can say it’s wrong….. but IF such an island had existed, and IF it had a railway, it’s reasonable to assume a branch off the West Clare….. Now, THAT would be nice, and very easy to operate; a single Walker railcar, for example…. and a loco and few wagons for the goods….

[Broithe]

Fantasy layouts can be as bizarre as you like and still have a level of credibility.

Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch would be well beyond ridiculous, if it wasn't real...

[Galteemore]

8 minutes ago, Broithe said:

Fantasy layouts can be as bizarre as you like and still have a level of credibility.

Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch would be well beyond ridiculous, if it wasn't real...

Yep. Look at their loco crew….

[Bob49]

An extension of the West Clare seams the best fit. So to that end I have ordered a copy of the Taylor book to start with. Once I have some drawings building the stock probably won't be that difficult making 3ft NG points on the other hand might be more of a challenge, I hate make track in any scale or gauge.

 

[jhb171achill]

3 hours ago, Bob49 said:

An extension of the West Clare seams the best fit. So to that end I have ordered a copy of the Taylor book to start with. Once I have some drawings building the stock probably won't be that difficult making 3ft NG points on the other hand might be more of a challenge, I hate make track in any scale or gauge.

 

What scale will you use?

[Bob49]

Not sure yet as everything will have to be made from scratch it's a case of what will look best in the space. The whole thing will have to fit into 10ft by 2ft max.

[Robert Shrives]

Short cut for track could be Peco HOm track, 12 mm gauge flat bottom rail, wide sleeper spacing.  so at 4mm scale  10 foot long would give a reasonable space for a terminus to fiddle line. 

 

Robert    

[Northroader]

I see it as pretty basic narrow gauge, sort of Bord na Mona without the peat wagons, just a wagonmaster diesel and a converted caravan on overgrown sectional track.

Edited December 26, 2023 by Northroader

[Galteemore]

Got to be narrow gauge. Cue lots of discussion as to whether it’s a small railway or a far away one.

[DiveController]

12 hours ago, Broithe said:

Intensive pilgrimage travels to the Holy Stone of Clonrichert would have kept the line open.

Knock managed to get an airport from a similar set-up.

It would have had a strong freight service to ferry the roads back and forth to the east side of the island for storage in inclement weather, transporting the impermanent way so to speak. A ‘lifting train’ would have been necessary of course

[Horsetan]

It's an island off Galway, "near to where they're dumping the oul glow in the dark", so there wouldn't have been a railway link to it. An isolated island line might have been 3ft gauge at most.

Would the line serve that whole Chinatown area?

Remember also the whole West side of the island broke away in a storm, so there isn't actually a West side anymore.

[Bob49]

Surely that would be an ecumenical matter 

[Metrovik]

Also when the weather's bad on the island they take the roads in and keep them in a big warehouse on the east side, would the railway lines follow suit?

Have a train solely for shipping these

[jhb171achill]

On 26/12/2023 at 4:36 PM, Bob49 said:

Not sure yet as everything will have to be made from scratch it's a case of what will look best in the space. The whole thing will have to fit into 10ft by 2ft max.

2ft wide will just give enough room, I think, for a curve in N gauge; thus N or 009 track to represent 3ft gauge, so maybe a build scale of about 3mm-ish to the foot, if you7 want a circuit. Anything bigger in  scale, it'll be an end-to-end layout.

[David Holman]

Speaking of isolated, narrow gauge railways, what about the one near Clifden that was built to serve the Marconi wireless station?

 Seem to remember it was 2' gauge and mainly built to carry peat as fuel. A Dick, Kerr 0-4-0T steam loco was used, though perhaps more famous was the Lancia railcar on which Alcock and Brown were taken after crash landing nearby at the end of the first ever transatlantic flight in 1919.

 Apparently, the line had no passing loops, but there was a turntable at each end, in best Irish practice.

 Might make an interesting project - would be tempted to use 7mmNG, with Peco 16.5 track. Hornby 'Smokey Joe' engines are cheap as chips and easy to convert to the larger scale by adding a taller chimney and cab. Wagons and coaches [very much freelance] could be simple to bash from 00 doners, while something like the Lancia railcar is likewise possible with [say] a Corgi classic doner body. I once made a 'rail lorry' in this scale from the Lipton's Tea Van. 

However, for a Father Ted timescale, maybe a Bord Na Mona type diesel might be more appropriate, with a Landrover as the railcar? The great thing about freelance projects like this is nobody can say you are wrong!

[jhb171achill]

Yes, it was 2ft gauge - but also, a small number of the mostly-now-defunct BnM lines were also 2ft, though the majority were 3ft; I travelled in the 1980s on the 2ft gauge one at Ardara, Co Donegal.

[Bob49]

Were the 2ft lines built with ex WD(ROD) equipment bought surplus after WW1? This scenario was quite common in the UK. 

[Galteemore]

23 minutes ago, Bob49 said:

Were the 2ft lines built with ex WD(ROD) equipment bought surplus after WW1? This scenario was quite common in the UK. 

Certainly happened at the Glenfarne timber railway in N Leitrim c1919. 2’ gauge including an ex WD HC well tank once used to construct Tallaght aerodrome outside Dublin.  Picture credit….http://www.leedsengine.info/leeds/histhc.asp.

[Broithe]

There is 2' track on the Curragh, for the firing range, I believe. A little overgrown now.

[Galteemore]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/36034969@N08/5634800408

 

[Killian Keane]

9 hours ago, Galteemore said:

Certainly happened at the Glenfarne timber railway in N Leitrim c1919. 2’ gauge including an ex WD HC well tank once used to construct Tallaght aerodrome outside Dublin.  Picture credit….http://www.leedsengine.info/leeds/histhc.asp.

 

[Bob49]

KB Scale used to make one in 0-14 but it has been out of stock for some years.

[Bob49]

The West Clare Railway book arrived safely this morning. Had a quick flick through. From first glance it looks like a one stop shop. Enough stuff to keep me busy for a while.

Once I have updated my website for all the new stuff that I have done over the last few months it will be full steam ahead with this project. 

The exhibition managers for my local shows have asked if I have anything in the pipeline for this year. That being the case I will have until the end of September to have something running. No pressure then.

[Northroader]

If you’re after the West Clare, or most of the other Irish narrow gauge lines, there’s a retired English priest called Roger Farnworth who has done a thoroughgoing research on the line. I marvel at his output and quality of what he does. Just to get you started:

 

https://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/04/08/the-west-clare-railway-part-1-ennis-to-corofin/

 

[skinner75]

Possibly the Brennan Monorail system?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUYzuAJeg3M

a pretty crazy idea, which I only discovered for the first time over Christmas

Edited January 3 by skinner75

[Brack]

On 3/1/2024 at 3:48 PM, skinner75 said:

Possibly the Brennan Monorail system?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUYzuAJeg3M

a pretty crazy idea, which I only discovered for the first time over Christmas

The prototype is in the NRM at York, used to be in the interesting bit with all sorts near the signalling training layout and the large scale kitson meyer.

 

I've often wanted to build a working one. It has been done in japan by a couple of modellers.