Drogheda MacBride Station And Platin Cement Factory

[dropshort105]

They can be frustrating alright, mine is scratch built, but the same general idea of threaded rods and lots and lots of bolts. It's my second helix so nowhere near as frustrating as the first one was. Older locos with traction tyres don't do so well on them, I replaced the tyres with an American stuff called Bullfrog Snot, it makes for a serious reduction in wheel slippage. Will post a pic later when I clear all the tools and whatnot off it.

Edited February 22 by dropshort105

[dropshort105]

Worth a mention ,is the radius reduces with the curve, I get away with radius 2 and 3, but 1 causes problems.

Edited February 22 by dropshort105

[derek]

21 hours ago, Anders112 said:

 

 

 second hand horny R609 and r607 curves as I’m short a few.
 

 

HORNBY?

[Anders112]

3 hours ago, derek said:

HORNBY?

They also came with pink fuzzy dices too dam autocorrect…have never edited anything as quick in my life

[raymurph]

Very excited to see how this excellently researched layout progresses. Fair play for making a helix, a real challenge I'm sure!

[Anders112]

A lot of progress has made on the layout in recent weeks. Both helix’s are up and running,successfully connected underneath by a very sparse fiddle yard (extra points ordered and need some figuring out). Here’s a quick video of 183 with some bubbles on a successful run “up and over” both helix’s. 

 
   

 

ive roughly done out the track plan for both the station including the middle road,the sidings of drogheda engine shed and crossovers for the navan branch.

The points starting the middle road on the north end of station 

 

 

 

engine shed yard looking from platform 1

 

 

 

 

Buckie’s bridge,112 comes form the navan branch to go with a cabra cement.

112 and 21 bulk cements wait green signal to go to north wall. While a pallet cement train waits on the navan branch.

It’s a big step in the right direction.still some work to be done to the track in terms of getting the correct shape and making sure the platforms will be evenly spaced out. 

while I’m delighted that the helix’s are working,the transition from the helix to the baseboard is putting a bit of strain on the motor of the locos due to the slope. Going to start brainstorming ideas of the next couple of days.

but it’s good to have the trains running again. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Dave 

[Anders112]

Quick update on the layout.

Fiddle yard is 99 percent complete. 

LED lights have been fitted to bottom level of layout (Fiddle yard).

Platforms have been roughly cut and primed using a spare can of Halfords grey primer. Ramp ends still need to be added, have to decide if I’m going to go for platiscard surface or get one of those paper platform transfers online.

Bridge for that goes over Buckie’s sidings on the Railway terrace road has arrived. 
 

Here is a quick video of the updates so far of the whole layout 

 

 

 

[Anders112]

a wide picture of the layout- Main station on top level,fiddle yard underneath. Connected to two helixes both sides 

Lima 207 in the centre of the action in the fiddle yard. Made up of Two yards full of sidings. 

Peco Model scene double tunnel Bridge acting as the Bridge at the south of the station. 

Cue the reenactment of actions shots form the 90s 078 pulling out some MIR Tara mines kits. 
080 with Connolly to Belfast Enterprise 

 
 

 183 has ran around its cement bubbles from platin and will drop them off in Dundalk to form a liner train for Belfast. 

Action on the Navan branch

078 sitting with the morning Laden Tara mines and 127 and 143 with the Platin to North wall bulk cement. Bubbles are a 3D kit I got from Owen O Neil a few years ago 

183 Brings the Weed sprayer train over the boyne viaduct to be stabled in the yard overnight. Sprayer train made of Irish freight models van,3 IRM oil tanks (which will soon be painted yellow). Enda Byrne flats and sliverfox tool van. 

[JasonB]

Brilliant stuff. This is really starting to take shape now. 

I'm looking forward to watching this progress. 

[dropshort105]

Underground yard wil station on top, exactly what I did, tricky, but pays off when it runs right.

[Anders112]

On 28/6/2026 at 9:36 AM, JasonB said:

Brilliant stuff. This is really starting to take shape now. 

I'm looking forward to watching this progress. 

Thanks for the support Jason really appreciate it

On 4/7/2026 at 8:19 AM, dropshort105 said:

Underground yard wil station on top, exactly what I did, tricky, but pays off when it runs right.

In fairness yours is really well done and I like the fact that your helix is hidden as well. What radius is your helix ?

The helix has really gave me more space and allows more locos to stored underneath but comes with its limitations and doesn’t suit all rolling stock or running operations are limited. 

For example my Lima Nir mk2s pictured below can take the inside curve no problem but IRM nir mk2s keep derailing due to the slope and radius combining to make the second radius curve even sharper. 

42 flats can take it no problem once there is a load on them,empty flats seem to derail. 
Cravens and Murphy’s mark 2 no problem taking curve but can become uncoupled.

IRM two axle- bubbles and ballast- no problems at all 

I’ve had also two locos derail on the helix and met the concrete floor…thankfully survived. Working on installing barriers.

Started laying cork and ballasting this week,will send one photos when done

 

[dropshort105]

On 18/8/2026 at 12:20 PM, Anders112 said:

Thanks for the support Jason really appreciate it

In fairness yours is really well done and I like the fact that your helix is hidden as well. What radius is your helix ?

The helix has really gave me more space and allows more locos to stored underneath but comes with its limitations and doesn’t suit all rolling stock or running operations are limited. 

For example my Lima Nir mk2s pictured below can take the inside curve no problem but IRM nir mk2s keep derailing due to the slope and radius combining to make the second radius curve even sharper. 

42 flats can take it no problem once there is a load on them,empty flats seem to derail. 
Cravens and Murphy’s mark 2 no problem taking curve but can become uncoupled.

IRM two axle- bubbles and ballast- no problems at all 

I’ve had also two locos derail on the helix and met the concrete floor…thankfully survived. Working on installing barriers.

Started laying cork and ballasting this week,will send one photos when done

 

I had a few similar problems, locos with traction tyres get bad wheel slip, I replaced the tyres with a paint on stuff from the US called bullfrog snot, don't know where they came up with the name, but it works, my radius is 2 and 3, i replaced all of my couplers with knuckle couplings, coaches with sprung buffers had the buffers retracted and held back with a spot of super glue, had issues with the park royals, had to make a minor mod to the bogies, they work fine now, bubbles etc, no problem, anything longer than that without bogies is a issue, six wheel coaches, forget about it. I did have issues with Murphy's 071 but it seems to have bedded itself in now and is running fine, 121s 141's 181's run great, 601 runs alright with five wagons so long as the track is good and clean. Speaking of cleaning, that's a problem, solved by buying two lilliput track cleaning tankers on fleabay, I panted them up yellow and disguise them as part of a weed train.

[Anders112]

On 19/8/2026 at 9:22 PM, dropshort105 said:

I had a few similar problems, locos with traction tyres get bad wheel slip, I replaced the tyres with a paint on stuff from the US called bullfrog snot, don't know where they came up with the name, but it works, my radius is 2 and 3, i replaced all of my couplers with knuckle couplings, coaches with sprung buffers had the buffers retracted and held back with a spot of super glue, had issues with the park royals, had to make a minor mod to the bogies, they work fine now, bubbles etc, no problem, anything longer than that without bogies is a issue, six wheel coaches, forget about it. I did have issues with Murphy's 071 but it seems to have bedded itself in now and is running fine, 121s 141's 181's run great, 601 runs alright with five wagons so long as the track is good and clean. Speaking of cleaning, that's a problem, solved by buying two lilliput track cleaning tankers on fleabay, I panted them up yellow and disguise them as part of a weed train.

Is this the stuff ?dosent seem natural to put bright green “snotty” substances on well sought after models

https://bullfrogsnot.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqlEroWL_Qlx9ugtRziXP8_ldq233YPb1TITRgbqdIWIZw8T9Ge

I have also had problems at time with 071 and a class on the helix but strangely no problems with Murphy’s 201s 

[Anders112]

Ballasting and cork. 
Big step forward this week. Main station and Navan branch ballasted. This was my first time ballasting a model railway layout,was quite nervous at the start but delighted with the results 

Track was taken up. 2mm Cork was cut between platforms to keep the right height for the platforms when I put plasticard on the surface of it. Track was relaid, the middle road Track was spaced using a Peco 6ft gauge. 

Some future proofing and advanced thinking about Dcc . Before gluing the ballast,I placed pl80 pre soldered track joiners on all the points. drilled a small hole on the top baseboard. Taped up underneath for clearance. When I get the funds to go to dcc these droppers will be Conndctdf to the bus 
 

Ballasting. Track was painted with railmatch sleeper grime and Frame dirt before ballasting. 

Finished product- after two days of drying, The three roads and branch line are ballasted. Hairy moment when the cork started to swell upwards but thankfully settled when dried. Pretty happy how the ballast,still some spots to cover and some tidying. 

a quick snapshot of the layout vs an Arrow in 1995 and 192 with some cravens. 

[jhb171achill]

Hard to imagine the modern Drogheda station with the big grassy bank at the back where the railcar sidings are now!

[dropshort105]

19 hours ago, Anders112 said:

Is this the stuff ?dosent seem natural to put bright green “snotty” substances on well sought after models

https://bullfrogsnot.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqlEroWL_Qlx9ugtRziXP8_ldq233YPb1TITRgbqdIWIZw8T9Ge

I have also had problems at time with 071 and a class on the helix but strangely no problems with Murphy’s 201s 

Yeah, that's the stuff, not to worry, it's clear when it is dry. I've not had any wheel slip issues with the Murphy's locos, 182, 121 or 071, I suppose it depends on what it's pulling, 10 wagons work fine, 4 coaches are fine, have not tried any rakes bigger than that. The 071 was derailing, but as I say, seems to have mysteriously fixed itself.

Edited August 25 by dropshort105

[DJ Dangerous]

This looks amazing. Something about the lovely curve of the platforms seems so unique.

[dropshort105]

Your bubbles look great, how did you weather them ?

[raymurph]

Ballasting looks Great  

[Tractionman]

On 24/8/2026 at 11:06 PM, Anders112 said:

Ballasting. Track was painted with railmatch sleeper grime and Frame dirt before ballasting

I am contemplating this as my next step! Can I ask, did you spray paint the track or brush paint it, and which ballast did you go for for this, it all looks really good.

Cheers,

Keith

[Anders112]

On 24/8/2026 at 11:43 PM, jhb171achill said:

Hard to imagine the modern Drogheda station with the big grassy bank at the back where the railcar sidings are now!

Drogheda has gone through many changes in the last 30-40 years.

even look at the change in view from Buckie’s bridge.It has lost a lot of his character from vegetation to big changes in track work with the crossovers being moved south of the bridge in late 90s and more sidings due to the Railcar being opened in 2002! I could do a huge massive post on the changes of Drogheda during this period 

 

Edited Tuesday at 21:54 by Anders112

[Anders112]

On 30/8/2026 at 11:42 PM, dropshort105 said:

Your bubbles look great, how did you weather them ?

Thanks very much for the lovely comment @dropshort105. The weathered bubbles are actually a 3d model form own o Neil so i didn’t mind giving them a go with weathering. I just a hand brush and some concrete weathering powdering from my local model shop.
https://eirehobbies.com/products/concrete-grey-weathering-powder?_pos=16&_sid=5047b23d0&_ss=r

Mostly done with dry brushing and go a lot lighter on the sides than the top 

I actually have 3 different types of bubbles on the layout- or as I say a lot of bubble trouble! 
1) Own o Neil’s 3d printed kits 

2) some Mir kits my dad bought me when I was a younger,unfortunately we never got to finish them together but they were my first try at a kit. They didn’t come out as well as the 3d kits but are very handy for acting as bubbles that need to be repair outside the engine shed 

3) IRM bubbles- I just can’t and I mean can’t do it… there just so well finished and don’t want to make a mess of them. I bought some on Facebook that were lightly weathered but even at that I still think it would be a crime to weather them.

all the bubbles. I used some photos form Flickr for hope when trying to do the weathering ,I can share the photos here if you would ? I hope this helps

[Anders112]

14 hours ago, Tractionman said:

I am contemplating this as my next step! Can I ask, did you spray paint the track or brush paint it, and which ballast did you go for for this, it all looks really good.

Cheers,

Keith

Hi Kieth, I actually bush painted it first before putting any ballast down . Here was my first test piece of painting on a scrap piece of plywood.

In this photo you can see the difference between the non painted point and the painted track. It does actually make a difference. The grey ballast also slightly dulled brown sleeper grime and left a dusty finish on the track. Then rubbed down with a track rubber on the tops of the rail 
I used woodland scenics grey Fine ballast for 99 percent of the bit glued. This was after a disaster start, I was told to use medium ballast by the man in the model shop but when I put it down it was too large in scale  for what I wanted to achieve.so I hovered it all up and got the smaller finer

 I did how ever use a mix of fine and medium ballast on the navan branch as form some photos I saw it was more coarse on it

On 31/8/2026 at 6:58 PM, raymurph said:

Ballasting looks Great  

Thanks very much Ray, happy with hkw it turned out, still a few bit more sections on the layout to do around the points! Then it will be onto weathering the track,using lots of brown and black for all the grime and dripped diesel on the track

[Tractionman]

6 minutes ago, Anders112 said:

painted it first before putting any ballast down

brilliant, thanks very much for this @Anders112 and the pics too good to see!

cheers,

Keith

[Anders112]

On 27/8/2026 at 11:22 PM, DJ Dangerous said:

This looks amazing. Something about the lovely curve of the platforms seems so unique.

Thanks @DJ Dangerous.Theres just something about the 3 roads bending away and the train rounding the corner to stop. It’s even more unique when you have long trains in all three tracks. Leads to a rabbit hole of hours of fun 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Anders112]

11 minutes ago, Tractionman said:

brilliant, thanks very much for this @Anders112 and the pics too good to see!

cheers,

Keith

Anytime, forgot to mention in my reply,I actually use the bottom of IRM orange container to flatten the ballast to an even level. I felt brushing it with a paint brush some created some uneven spots between the track. 

I glued it using a syringe of Pva glue and water with a drop of fairy up liquid. 
If you have my questions feel free to drop me a line here or a private message

Edited Tuesday at 22:09 by Anders112

[Blaine]

Currently on display in Drogheda Tourist Office

[ttc0169]

Really enjoying the ongoing build and photos -it will be a fitting tribute  to your father who I’m sure would be delighted to see Drogheda in miniature form. 
Well done so far