Arigna Town - this week's scenery

[David Holman]

Many thanks JB - especially for your help with the colours

[jhb171achill]

The right colours on a model really show it up as well as possible. Each to their own, I know, but personally I think there's nothing worse than an excellent model painted wrongly.

 

But on your layout it's not just the attention given to getting liveries and weathering right, it's the whole atmosphere it recreates. Looking at those pictures, I can almost imagine the smell of turf smoke from the cottage next door, and the coal smoke and hot oil smell from the engine..... the attention to all details is great, down to the puddles on the ground.

[David Holman]

Did bit more detailing on the cattle and thought it might be interesting to show them on the layout. As they are not fixed at the moment, there is a choice between having them in the meadow or on the cattle dock. They are vaguely modelled on black Dexters - a breed that seems fairly common in Ireland. Having them black all over also hides the current lack of detail. Maybe after York, I'll do a bit more on them. If any of the IRM.com fellowship is at the show, please come and say hello this weekend. The Friesians are Slater's white metal models.

[minister_for_hardship]

Friesians wouldn't be that common in 1950's Ireland, native Irish and British breeds of cattle would have been found in every pasture.

 

 

Edited March 31, 2015 by minister_for_hardship

[David Holman]

Thanks Minister - at least this one is easily cured with an all over coat of black. Hopefully a few Irish Moyles will come along later.

[jhb171achill]

There are three types of cattle in Ireland. The brown ones are for beef and dairy herds, the black and white ones for Guinness, and the cream ones for Bailey's Cream.

 

That's what I tell tourists, anyway.

[David Holman]

Genius, as is Guinness!

[David Holman]

Spoke to many people while at the York show over Easter, however, the highlight was undoubtedly the gentleman who shared with me some fascinating items from the effects of the late, great Desmond Coakham. Seems that, in 1924 Beyer Peacock made a sales pitch to the SLNCR for a new Garrett locomotive. A basic outline drawing shows the beast to be a 2-6-2-2-6-2, 62 feet long and weighing in at 112 tons. Maximum axle load was just 12 tons. Other details on the drawing suggest it would be superheated with a tractive effort of nearly 33 000lbs on driving wheels of 4'6" diameter.

Needless to say, there is no record of the Sligo showing any interest in this loco and as far as Arigna Town is concerned, its scale length of almost 18" [435mm] is longer than the available head shunt, while in the fiddle yard, its train length would be limited to just 4 wagons!

One must assume that Beyer Peacock were trying to sell one of their existing standard designs, so it would be interesting to know which one. It would have certainly created a stir across the borders.

[minister_for_hardship]

Recall reading somewhere that the CB&SCR were also offered a Beyer Garrett at one stage.

[jhb171achill]

Maybe BP had one leftover from, say, an Indian or Australian 5'3" order which was reduced?

[Mayner]

The Garratt is mentioned in Neil Spinks' SLNCR book. The 1920s proposal may have been to replace the two Avonside 0-6-2T locos withdrawn around the same time. The SLNCR was skint at the time and bought a pair of elderly GNR 4-4-0s which did not last very long and were in turn replaced with ex GNR 0-6-0s which had worn out by the time the SLNCR went shopping for new locos in the late 1940s.

 

A Garratt appears to have been again considered but Lough Erne & Lough Melvin ordered instead.

 

A Garratt would have appeared attractive in reducing operating costs and train milage, possibly with a single daily goods replacing the two scheduled goods/mixed workings. At least a second Garratt would have been needed as a standby to cover maintenance. Its hard to imagine how a Garratt would have performed or how the SLNCR could have safely handled heavier longer loose coupled trains over those grades and curves.

[jhb171achill]

Very substantial track upgrade would have been necessary, and added to the cost. In senior's time, when he inspected the SLNCR's PW (as a freebie, as they couldn't afford their own civil engineer!) he found their track, eh, interesting.

[Mayner]

The SLNCR probably would have got by without spending too much money on the track, a 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garratt would probably have been easier on the track than the indigenous 0-6-4Ts and GNR 0-6-0s. Garratts were used successfully to haul heavy ore and freight trains in Tasmania in conditions similar to the SLNCR high rainfall, sharp curves, steep grades light grades indifferent track maintenance.

 

I think the main problem would have been handling longer heavier trains and finding the money to pay for the locos. The SLNCR did not have the money to pay for Lough Erne & Lough Melvin when they were completed in 1949 and Stormont underwriting the hire purchase agreement for the two locos in 1951. The SLNCR mainly benefited the ports of Belfast & Derry and Merrion Street was unlikely to be willing to subsidise the SLNCR to compete with CIE for Sligo-Dublin freight traffic

 

There was also the little matter of whether the boiler unit or power bogies would fit in the erecting shop at Dundalk Works

[David Holman]

Fascinating stuff - thanks chaps. Must go back to my Sprinks history of the line though as I don't remember reading about the Garrett.

By the by, at the York show, noticed that one wheel on the rear axle of the rail bus was working loose. As it is only a Slater's wagon wheel [with a slice of a Corgi road bus wheel to give the Howden-Meredith effect], it was a simple case of removing the body to get at the wheel and add a drop of cyano. However, with the body removed, then noticed that there was nothing holding the motor to the gearbox! Both grub screws were absent and I have no idea how or when they disappeared. Only the downward pressure of the bus body on the chassis was keeping the gears meshed. May well have run the whole three days at York like this and for all I know the previous two outings as well. Anyway, found two new grub screws and [unsurprisingly] the model now runs somewhat more quietly...

Edited April 9, 2015 by David Holman

[paul greene]

Hello David,

 

Good to see you again at York and get my first look at your brilliant layout in the flesh! It looks very good indeed and I just love the Irish scene you have created and the great variety of authentic trains and credible 'might have beens'. Everything seemed to run very well indeed, grub screws or no.

 

I hope you and your operating crew had an enjoyable weekend at the show. I took Kilbrandon last year and they really do look after the operators very well indeed. It was a very good show overall and I thought that Arigna Town was the best layout there, but I may be biased!?

 

Cheers,

 

Paul

[David Holman]

Thanks Paul, the general impression I got was that folk like the fact that the layout is just that bit different from the norm & other shows so far confirm that. Reinforces the idea that the Irish scene has much to offer & it is a shame that the broad gauge seems to put a lot of people off. Still think 7mm is much easier to do than almost any other [because of the axles/wheels & Alphagraphix], though your S and Mick's 3mm make better use of space available and indeed, require much more effort and skill. Am still yet to come across any other 'correct gauge' layouts on the exhibition circuit, apart from the legendary Castle Rackrent, though would love to be proved wrong!

Spoke to David White [slaters] on Sunday & he says they have sold quite a few 7mm broad gauge axles to folk in Ireland, so maybe there are some models out there we haven't seen yet.

York's 'après show' was very good - dinner with the Gravetts always good fun & we were joined by Mike & Julie Edge, plus Bob Alderman [Guild] too. Then there was the Normanton & Pontefract, crew. These guys are legends at the Chatham Show. At the club dinner, they all turned up wearing dickiebows and sporting ferrets, flat caps, racing pigeons etc.

Next job to get ready for Epsom.

[minister_for_hardship]

Maybe BP had one leftover from, say, an Indian or Australian 5'3" order which was reduced?

 

The one the CB&SCR was offered was a 0-6-0+0-6-0 in around 1910 when the Beyer-Garratt concept was pretty new.

Might start a new thread on Irish 'might have beens' as I have more details on this.

[josefstadt]

Might start a new thread on Irish 'might have beens' as I have more details on this.

 

Sounds interesting. Looking forward to hearing more about this subject.

[Mike 84C]

Minister, the might have beens is a brilliant idea:tumbsup:

[jhb171achill]

A "might have been" that I'd love to see was:

 

800 Maedb

801 Macha

802 Tailté

803 Deirdre

804 Grainne

 

And.... A GNR blue 4.6.0......

 

And the completed Ulster & Connaught Railway, with dining car on the 3ft gauge from Newry to Galway. Fantasy-world as it sounds, it was actually planned and a bridge under the GNR at Keady remains to this day as the only construction ever carried out. Locomotives would have been LLSR type tender locos, possibly eight coupled as well as six coupled.

 

The Enniskerry railway was another where construction just about started, then nothing.

Edited April 14, 2015 by jhb171achill

[David Holman]

The Ulster and Connaught! One of my fantasies too JB. Probably completely bonkers, but manna from heaven for the modeller. Many times have contemplated doing a scene/section, for [as you say] a great excuse to run the larger Swilly locos alongside smaller stuff such as the Clogher. Yet to make my mind whether it would be better to do in 21mm gauge/7mm scale, 18mm gauge/6mm scale or 32mm gauge/1:29 [Gauge One-ish]. The latter especially appealing because of the size. One day...

[Warbonnet]

A "might have been" that I'd love to see was:

 

800 Maedb

801 Macha

802 Tailté

803 Deirdre

804 Grainne

 

 

A member of the MRSI is working on this in O Gauge I believe....

 

The GNR 4-6-0 would've been sweet. such a pity about space constraints in Dundalk!

[DiveController]

A "might have been" that I'd love to see was:

800 Maedb

801 Macha

802 Tailté

803 Deirdre

804 Grainne

If someone would do an injection moulded plastic rtr, I'd buy all five (even if the prototypicalists disagree)

 

 

 

(No rivets were counted during the time it took to write this, and any mention of rivets, pristine or weathered, is purely coincidental)

Edited April 15, 2015 by DiveController

[jhb171achill]

So would I, Dive!

 

That's two on the list.....!

[The Derry Road]

First class piece of modelling,hats off to your abilities sir, TDR

[Garfield]

I see the October edition of Railway Modeller features an article focusing on the locomotives and rolling stock of Arigna Road. Should be well worth a read.

[David Holman]

GG is correct, the layout's stock gets a photo feature with extended captions. However, little in the way of change scenic wise so, with stock needing checking prior to going to Worthing in a couple of weeks, thought it might be of interest to go through how the layout is operated at shows.

We don't work to a timetable, but do operate a set sequence, in order to illustrate the types of trains which might have run on the branch, had it actually existed. Control is analogue, using a Gaugemaster handheld unit, while both points and signals are all wire in tube; couplings are three link and screw links. The underlying concept of the layout is that each train has a simple routine - enough to keep operation interesting, but [hopefully] not too taxing, so everything runs smoothly.

First up is the mixed train, with Fermanagh, bogie brake third coach No 9, two vans and a brake. Shame it can't have more wagons, but this is all that will fit in the fiddle yard. On the layout, we can see that the cattle dock is full of vans waiting for the later goods train, while the siding to the goods shed has a range of vans, including a horse box and parcels van.

The pictures show Fermanagh arriving & then it sets back the train, in order to run round. First though, it visits the turntable, then picks up the brake van and moves it to the stop blocks. The main shunt is the to pick up the rest of the train [coach included] and shunt into the goods siding to pick up two more vans. The vans/coach/vans sandwich then shunts back to the platform, where the coach and two new vans are attached to the brake van. The incoming vans can now be shunted into the goods siding and Fermanagh can then return to its train, couple up and be ready to depart.

Next time, the coal & mine trains will feature.

[jhb171achill]

Absolutely brilliant! I love to see things like that happening at shows, argh than the same train endlessly going round a circuit for hours! (Though that has its place too).

 

What marks Arigna Road apart is the extremely detailed accuracy and realism of the ground scenery and rolling stock, including the accurate make up of trains and method of operation. Can't wait to attend an exhibition somewhere, sometime, to see it.

[David Holman]

Thanks JB.

20 odd years of exhibiting has gradually taught me that simple layouts can look effective, especially if there is enough scenic interest to occupy the viewers between trains. However, they can be quite demanding to operate properly & though we don't use head/tail lamps, most train movements are properly signalled and we run at realistic speeds.

I feel it is important to have a brief pause once a train has stopped in the station, before setting back into the loop to run round. Putting signals back to danger is the usual trick. Happily, the track rarely causes problems, though operator error is another matter! Three link couplings are a pain, even in this scale, while screw links require the tongue to be bitten from time to time - though I'm sure people know what we are thinking...

What is interesting [indeed disappointing] is that younger/inexperienced operators can have little understanding of how a railway is run. Not their fault, because shunting is so rarely seen on the real thing these days. I'm no expert, but remember one awful occasion with a previous layout. Left a couple of club members in charge while I went to lunch with the advice to 'just shunt the goods train'. Quickly realised this was not understood, so expanded with 'run train into loop, run round, move brake van to stop blocks and then swop wagons from train with those in the sidings'. Technical terms which fell on deaf ears. When I returned 20 mins later, the operator was moving wagons around BY HAND, with a crowd three deep looking on. I seem to remember I wasn't happy, not least reminding him that these folk had paid good money to see trains run properly. Sadly I don't think he'd ever done much more than run his own trains round in an oval. Some serious tuition took place over the rest of the day, and things did improve, but I still see poor operation all too often at shows - sometimes by folk who ought to know better.

[jhb171achill]

That's why that layout isn't just a "pretty face", but is of considerable educational and historical value and interest.

[Hunslet 102]

Well done in getting the layout into print with RM. Really enjoyed it in New Irish Lines and on here,well deserved recognition in the national magazine.

[David Holman]

Thanks H - it is always nice to get something published and what is more you get a nice cheque for it too!

 

While I'm here, might as well add the coal train pictures. This is the only time there are two trains on the layout. The theory is that 'Lark' [aka St Mologa] brings loaded coal wagons down from the mine & these are swapped with a stores train, brought up the 'mainline' by MGW E class 0-6-0T.

The E arrives first, its short train comprising a carriage truck with a portable generator as a load, then an open wagon loaded with pit props, plus two more opens containing oil drums and drainage pipes. SLNCR brake van 6 brings up the rear. The E moves the train to the goods siding, then pushes the brake to the platform stop blocks & retires to the turntable siding, where it can take water from the tank.

Lark then arrives with 5 loaded coal wagons. It runs round, picks up the stores wagons from the goods siding and then reverses this train on to the brake of the coal train. Once the latter is uncoupled\coupled, Lark can depart back up the mine branch. The E class can then come off the water tank and propel the loaded coal wagons back to the other brake, so it too can depart, this time for Sligo or wherever the fuel is needed. Perhaps one day, this will just be a short journey to the new power station being built on Lough Allen & eventually, it may even be diesel powered?

At exhibitions, there is a reverse sequence to this, with Lark bringing an empty stores train down from the mine and the E class returning with coal empties. The coal loads [and the pit props] are removable, but at shows we rarely bother and so far, nobody has commented. Just goes to show that one can have too much detail, perhaps?

See the upload has once again managed to put the photos in the wrong order. Hopefully folk can work out what the correct sequence should be.

[jhb171achill]

So, "St Molaga" has at some stage been sold by CIE to the mining company? Sheer genius!

[StevieB]

I, too, subscribe to the view that model railways should be operated realistically.

At the recent Warwick and Leamington at the Royal Showground, Stoneleigh, there was a beautiful model of Sidmouth in Devon but all that happened was that a passenger train came into the station, the loco ran round and off it went to the hidden sidings - where was the freight traffic? But I have also been the victim of gremlins which meant that a train could only run from one end to the other and back again, and that was at the Warley Show at the NEC.

Congratulations on such a realistic model.

 

Stephen

[David Holman]

Been there, got the T shirt, Stephen - probably a whole drawer full by now. The most recent gremlin attack was at January's Orpington show, when a short on the points at the station throat effectively froze the whole layout. Given there are only 6 wires between baseboards 2 & 3, it was doubly frustrating. Took an hour to sort out & ended up cutting the wires to the two plug/sockets and hard soldering them. A lot easier to repair back on the workbench, instead of upside down under the layout! Thankfully, my other operator was able to chat to the public & it seems there was enough static interest on the layout to keep them amused - which is more than I was...

Seems no matter how well you prepare, journeying to a show and unloading/setting up can still cause problems. The ones that annoy me are the 'built in' ones that the owner/operators of the layout haven't bothered to fix since the previous outing, or indeed at all. Not just the working bits either - saw a layout only this year that had clear footprints on the back scene! Like many things in life it can be a shame when we remember these more than the good bits, which out weigh the former many times over of course.