Waterford & Tramore Railway Digital Layout + Documentary in Progress!

[Bullet_Wanderer]

Hi folks! Hope this is okay to share here, as it's not a traditional layout by any means but hopefully in the Irish Railway Models spirit! At the moment I'm working on making a documentary on the old Waterford & Tramore railway, and as very little remains of the real thing I'm recreating Manor Street Station and Tramore Railway Station and the surrounds! The video will be about 30 - 45 minutes long, probably split into two parts for YouTube, going over the history of the railway from the beginning to the bitter end, my digital 'layout', created in Blender, is based on the railway in 1947 as by that time it had my favourite class of engine, the MGWR E Class / J26 Class, running the show in three, and of course the infamous crash was that year too, which I've recreated.

I'd love some suggestions on what you'd like featured in such a documentary, or any stories you might have in relation to it you think worth sharing! As it is, I'll be taking my Royal Enfield Bullet 500 along the ghost of the railway sharing the history and visiting any sites along the Waterford/Tramore road related to the railway. Also was cheeky and got in touch with Tramore County Council about the project, they let me into Tramore station to take some videos of what's left of the interior for now, until it's turned into some kind of commercial business later this summer. In my perfect world I'd have it opened as a café/bar with a museum dedicated to the history of the Tramore train but that's a story for another time! For now I'd like to show you what I've got, starting with Engine 555 leaving Manor Street Station!

For the moment in terms of rolling stock, I've modeled the J26 Engine, an MGWR 6 Wheel Carriage, The "Hearse", and some wagons. What's missing mainly would be the Clayton railcars and maybe the Irish AEC Railcars, which I'll model if time allows. Aiming to have this done by August! I've chosen to do this in an animated style, as I'll be including some 2D Animated Characters too to fill out the scene. Here's some close ups, starting with the J26.

And the Hearse and MGWR 6 Wheelers.

In terms of the stations themselves, Tramore is more completed, I created the area around the train station and railyard using old maps as well as some handy aerial photos I found taken in 1933 I believe! But a lot of the images I based it on I found through this forum, so thank you all very much! It's still a work in progress of course, but i'm happy with how it's progressing.

Quite a few reference photos for this area of the station, which I believe were the toilets?

And the exterior of Tramore Station itself, I started off modelling this but I actually need to go back and model the doors and whatnot, got carried away filling out the rest of the area! Having the real thing still standing and being able to look at it helps!

I'll leave the photos at this last one now, a work in progress of the engine bursting through the wall on that fateful day, you'll have to stay tuned for the fully animated version 

 

For now thought I'd love to hear your thoughts, any suggestions for the documentary, any tips or stories to do with the old railway, or maybe any glaring issues with the rolling stock I've missed with my amateur eye? If you happen to have any artefacts or photos from the railway I could show, I'd love to get in touch! Thanks for reading if you made it this far 

[jhb171achill]

Wow! That is QUITE a project! Yes, the Claytons and the railcar set would indeed look good. You've obviously done your research well!

[Horsetan]

1 hour ago, jhb171achill said:

Wow! That is QUITE a project! Yes, the Claytons and the railcar set would indeed look good. You've obviously done your research well!

Did the Tramore line have any signals as such? I don't remember any in the photos I've seen....

[jhb171achill]

23 minutes ago, Horsetan said:

Did the Tramore line have any signals as such? I don't remember any in the photos I've seen....

Only latterly! For most of its life it didn’t. 

[Colonel]

A virtual layout...

Guess it had to come sometime and am certainly not belittling such an intriguing project as clearly a lot of work and research has already taken place. The skills are different, but the end product will be fascinating. Looking forwards, with developments in AI, we could get see virtual time machines that could take us back to any point in railway history that we fancy.

 It may not be railway modelling as we know it, but it still has much to offer.

[Flying Snail]

Plenty of great modelling going on here - as David says, its different but thats what makes it interesting to me. I'm looking forward to seeing this documentary if it will be publicly available?

[Metrovik]

As someone who is (sort of) in the process of modelling the w&t this is honestly incredible. Captures the site perfectly!

[Patrick Davey]

Very interesting and very impressive!

[Bullet_Wanderer]

19 hours ago, Horsetan said:

Did the Tramore line have any signals as such? I don't remember any in the photos I've seen....

It had two signals, one just after the platform at both stations, can't find the one I found of Waterford, but it can be seen on the bottom right of this one in Tramore:

12 hours ago, Colonel said:

A virtual layout...

Guess it had to come sometime and am certainly not belittling such an intriguing project as clearly a lot of work and research has already taken place. The skills are different, but the end product will be fascinating. Looking forwards, with developments in AI, we could get see virtual time machines that could take us back to any point in railway history that we fancy.

 It may not be railway modelling as we know it, but it still has much to offer.

Cheers! Someday if the money is there and I have to time develop the skills, I would love to take it into real life, but for now this will have to do! No AI used here though

10 hours ago, Flying Snail said:

Plenty of great modelling going on here - as David says, its different but thats what makes it interesting to me. I'm looking forward to seeing this documentary if it will be publicly available?

Thank you! And yup it will be publicly available, I'll be having it up on my YouTube channel, i'll be sure to share here when it's completed!

3 hours ago, Metrovik said:

As someone who is (sort of) in the process of modelling the w&t this is honestly incredible. Captures the site perfectly!

Thank you! I've actually been silently following your Beagnach End topic from the shadows waiting for an update for a while now

[jhb171achill]

I've said this before, but I am always interested in exploring possibilities for mini layouts with good operational potential, where a lot of interest both in scenic and operational terms can be crammed into very lirttle space. The W & T must be among the best candidates! In the 1950s, the Clayton pairs and about 2 or 3 elderly antique six-wheelers and three locos; but in latter days a single railcar set in use, with an extra power car and intermediate to extend it to a five-car set - the entire stock on the line!

If this line had survived, I'd put money on a guess that today it would be operated by a pair of 26 class 2-car sets. Maybe the 27 class bubble cars would have ended up there at some stage!

For someone with very limited space and budget for modern railway models, a combination of a 2 or 3-car Silverfox "AEC railcar" and two IRM Park Royals would be a good approximation. Sets of points expensive? Your whole layout would only need a couple!

[Metrovik]

2 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

 Sets of points expensive? Your whole layout would only need a couple!

Or none if modelling tramore in Railcar days!

37 minutes ago, Bullet_Wanderer said:

Thank you! I've actually been silently following your Beagnach End topic from the shadows waiting for an update for a while now

Unfortunately, the aul Leaving Certificate is getting in the way of my modelling at the moment. I'll get back to it soon. Just a month or two to go....

[Tullygrainey]

I know very little about the skills and techniques in use here but I can appreciate how much work has gone into this. Fascinating stuff! Looks great. Keep us posted.