Arigna Town - this week's scenery

[David Holman]

Straight out of Martyn Welch's book, The Art of Weathering, David.

Halfords grey primer to start, followed by their matt black. The top coat is an air brushed mixture of Humbrol 53 gunmetal, 133 bauxite and matt/dirty black in equal amounts. One 95% dry, I then go with weathering powders, using the set sold by Roger Freestone. This seems to make the powders stick without resorting to any extra varnishing. A dusting of talc provides the final finish. Hope that helps.

[StevieB]

Richard Chown has written several times in the model railway press about the development of Castle Rackrent into a much bigger scheme of things. The one I particularly remember was the Castle Rackrent, Moygraney and Pacific in the Railway Modeller. I still have a read every now and again.

 

Stephen

[DLTaylor]

Hi David,

Thanks very much for that, but my apologies, I meant the green one!

Dave.T

[Mike 84C]

David, if you plan forward enough, Eddie Stowbart transport could be an option. Might be better than a parcel carrier. And give the sort of publicity they like. Go for it you know it makes sense!.

Mick

[David Holman]

Hi David,

Thanks very much for that, but my apologies, I meant the green one!

Dave.T

Oops!

If the green 'small tank', that is Richard Chown's. He told me he had it professionally painted and am afraid I did not ask about the colour.

If the railcar/bus, the green is Ford Laurel Green from Halfords and the cream is Model Colour Ivory acrylic, brush painted

[StevieB]

Castle Rackrent also appeared in Model Railway Journal No 202 under the title Fair Day at Moygraney - another excellent read.

 

Stephen

[David Holman]

Thanks Stephen, I'd forgotten about that.

[DLTaylor]

Oops!

If the green 'small tank', that is Richard Chown's. He told me he had it professionally painted and am afraid I did not ask about the colour.

If the railcar/bus, the green is Ford Laurel Green from Halfords and the cream is Model Colour Ivory acrylic, brush painted

 

Thanks very much Dave, the Railbus is a beauty. Wondering how I can create an "English" version!

Cheers, Dave.

[Mayner]

David,

 

Thank you for posting your preserved article on Castle Rackrent. I have never managed to catch up with it in the original format. I've seen articles on the expansion. Mr Chown's bridges are extraordinary and very slightly intimidating. I've no hope of making anything in that manner.

 

Paul

 

For those that have not seen it not bad for 40+ years the original Castle Rackrent station.

 

[video=youtube;Nn-cEovjHsk]

 

The layout is based on the WLWR Tralee & Sligo extensions in the 1890s and can appear in different configurations up to100' in length with several stations and includes a junction with the MGWR

[David Holman]

Somehow managed to book myself into four shows in five weeks, with Canterbury last week and Southampton this weekend. The former is a nicely run local show, where there was a good selection of layouts, the latter very much more ambitious. Twenty odd layouts in a collection where you wouldn't mind getting 'worst layout' award, such was the standard. As it was Pempoul got the nod from the judges, just ahead of St Merryn [P4 gem, based on Padstow] with Arigna not far behind I was told - which will certainly do me!

However, one of the best bits was being next door to Andy Cundick's proper Arigna - and very good it is too. Even had the 4 wheel bicycle based track inspection trolley, as seen in Portillo's Railway Journeys a couple of week's back - though he did get a bit of gentle teasing for it not being motorised. Quite how you'd do that in 4mm scale is anyone's guess...

The Southampton Club also lay on a fine array of demonstrators, including Tony Wright [locos] and Jeremy Clifford [2mm timescale]. Took very little persuading to join them, their wives & the Gravetts for a curry on Saturday night & very fine company they were too, with conversation ranging far & wide.

As usual, met several people who knew Leitrim well so it was lovely talking to them. However, am thinking that there is a bit of an omission on my figures, with no priest or nuns, so must look out for at least one of each.

Re the latter, remember on one of the early appraisal courses run for school staff, found myself with two secondary school headteachers, one of whom was indeed a nun. We had to go off and practice what we had been taught. The room we were sent to was a bedroom, complete with a video camera on a tripod. We had to record our discussions and review after. As we were packing up, we heard a noise outside and on opening the curtains found the window cleaner outside. He however, was looking in a a room with a kingsized bed, two men, a nun and a video camera. How he didn't fall off the ladder I'll never know, but his face was a picture. Our nun thought it was hilarious too.

Packing up after the show was a nightmare as it was chucking it down with rain - probably the worst conditions I've ever done this in. However, back home, everything seems ok, but some checking needed before Doncaster in two weeks time

[David Holman]

If you go to RM Web's exhibition pages, on the Canterbury show pages there is some video footage of Arigna, after some views of Sanford & Bamwell. The sounds are not mine, they were dubbed on after.

By the by, well worth getting hold of the latest Model Railway Journal. Martyn Welch has at last been persuaded to share his latest developments in the art of weathering. Lovely stuff!

[Paul 34F]

David,

 

Looking forward to seeing Arigna and yourself at Doncaster on Saturday. Have a good journey

 

Paul 34F

[Paul 34F]

Dear All,

 

I had the pleasure of meeting David on Saturday at Doncaster Racecourse. Arigna is impressive in the photo's, but it is just as good in the flesh. Despite the obvious simplicity of the track layout, it is obvious that the Operator can get quite absorbed in operating the station, especially with eight different trains (including railcar's) to run. Any errors were down to distraction on my part!

Anyway, here's some of my pictures from my phone.

 

 

Paul 34F

[jhb171achill]

I love that model of coach. No. 4.

[David Holman]

Thanks for the pictures, Paul - it was great meeting everyone at Doncaster. A very good show & we were extremely well looked after. Most welcome too, given the weather on the way up and the traffic on the way back. About to do it all again at Tonbridge this weekend, then a few weeks off until Luton/Hitchin at the end of April. Between now & then, am hoping to make some changes to the way the layout is exhibited - again!

First up, the Iain Rice 'Ulysses' type supports of separate trestles & beams will be replaced with integral folding legs - two on the fiddle yard and one pair each on the scenic boards. Having paired the four boards for transport, this has worked well this year, so though adding the legs will increase overall weight, I move the boards by sack barrow now. Hence can cut down the number of trip required to/from the car from 9 to 5 - significant when I paced it at 130 metres each way at Doncaster!

Am also going to fit auto-couplings to at least some of the trains. Having previously thought Dinghams would not work [because they are 'handed' and all trains on Arigna are reversed], realised that I can easily use Dinghams on both passenger trains, while even the goods trains will only need both hook and loop on the brake vans. More of this in a few weeks.

Reason behind all this is Iain Rice's new book 'Cameo Layouts'. Am absolute must read if you build exhibition layouts and just as inspiring if you don't. Iain has an entertaining style of writing and has pretty much been there & done it where exhibiting is concerned over the last 40 years.

Well worth a look.

[Jim]

A masterpiece

[GNRi1959]

This is a fascinating layout. It oozes detail, realism and life.

It is one to draw much inspiration from, well done and thank you for sharing.

[Mike 84C]

Thanks for posting your excellent photographs Paul, we missed each other by a day!

Tony,your post says it all and its very enjoyable to operate as well!

[bantree]

Superb buildings and scenery.the signal cabin is a masterpiece

[Paul 34F]

Mike,

 

David mentioned you were going to be at Doncaster on the Sunday. It is a pity we missed each other. However, I'll have to pay a visit to the Sleaford club sometime soon.

Thank you for your comments re the photo's. Not bad for an iphone6.

It is a fascinating layout and more than justified the trip to the show.

 

Paul

[David Holman]

A few changes have been made to the layout recently, essentially to make exhibiting a bit easier, as per entry 295. Crating the boards together has not only cut two journeys to/from the car, it also means the layout is protected if loading takes place when it is raining. This worked well for Tonbridge & since then, have gone on to replace the beams and trestles with integral, folding legs. Have used these in the past, but Ulysses worked well. So, another couple of journeys avoided.

At the moment, have just put Dinghams on the two passenger trains and fitted a single electro-magnet. This seems to work well, so will test under exhibition conditions at the end of April at the Hitchin 0 Gauge show. Fingers crossed, should be able to fit Dinghams to the ends of freight stock rakes too, though likely this will not be as reliable as everything gets turned in the fiddle yard.

[David Holman]

An aspect missing from the layout thus far has been the presence of members of the religious community & it is a little surprising to find that 7mm scale nuns and priests are hard to come by. However, at the Woking show a couple of weeks ago, was delighted to find a pair of nuns from the Master Piece stand. Cast white metal, they are a tad small, with the standing figure barely 5' tall. However, am guessing nuns in the 1950s were not prone to wearing high heels - apart from ne'er do wells at fancy dress parties perhaps???

Anyway, a quick Google on nun's habits in the 1950s [& ignoring the direction certain threads wanted to take me], gave all the info required for painting - essentially black, white & [pale] skin tone. The ladies join what is now quite a throng on the platform, though unlike the other figures, they will not be glued in place, so expect to see them also turn up at Fintonagh some time. Still looking for a priest though.

 

Also not fixed down are my road vehicles & repeated removal for transport meant that, by the end of the Woking show, all were in need of repair - mainly replacing wheels that had come off. Quickly done, but the Austin A35/Somerset has been missing for a while because I made a mess of touching up paintwork. Matt black brush painted on does not sit well with the same colour from an automotive spray can. However, eventually got round to remedying things by the old trick of using T-Cut. Applied with a cotton bud and subsequently polished off with a soft cloth, it does a really good job on paintwork. Unfortunately, like the nuns, the A35 is too small, being an old Dinky model. These were probably either 1:48 or 1:50. Not especially noticeable on their own, the A35 does not pass muster against my Vanguard Models A35 van, which IS to 1:43 scale. Corgi Classic buses pose the same problem, but don't get me started on that one!

Real officianados of railway photographers will note that the A35's number plate is none than that of Dr Ian Allen, better known for his photos in East Anglia. Not sure he ever went to Ireland, but these photos may prove otherwise & isn't that H.C. Casserley's Austin 7 in the background? Now he certainly DID visit & on more than one occasion...

 

[Noel]

Superb scenes David. Its so real it looks like the set of a 1950s movie.

Edited September 24, 2017 by Noel
Lexdysia

[GNRi1959]

Pure class, I wish I was there

[bantree]

Absolutely brilliant-a masterclass in detail

[burnthebox]

Absolutely mega, ( reminds me to get my NCT done ).....! Details are just perfect....

[Glenderg]

That is just "right", top job as always. When can we see this layout in the flesh... I'm willing to travel!

[David Holman]

Not 'over the water' any time soon, I'm afraid. Cultural last November was my only excursion that way thus far. A four day trip for a one day show! Would not have missed it for the world, but with a 300 mile drive just to a ferry port it is quite an undertaking...

Coming up at Farnham in October, Brighton in November, Lincoln in February and Derby in May. Guildex (Telford) in September, plus Warley next year are other trips north.

[Andy Cundick]

See you at Brighton Dave i'm there with Valencia and at Warley next year with Courtmacsherry(Arignas there this year)Andy.

[murrayec]

Hi David

 

Great scenes, those nuns are talking about the length of that colleen's skirt, and she is trying to make it longer- I think one of the nuns was her teacher some time back, and they don't get on!

 

Eoin

[David Holman]

September 30th 1957 saw the closure of the GNR route through Enniskillen to Omagh & Derry. As a result, the Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway promptly perished too because its sole line from Sligo to Enniskillen now had nowhere to go. There were proposals to keep the line from Enniskillen to Omagh open as a [very] long siding, to enable the SLNCR to still have an outlet, but this came to naught and of course would not have lasted for long as Omagh lost its railway in 1965.

In my version of the SLNCR, the railway would almost certainly have had a future for many more years. Between 1902 & 1914, the railway considered various proposals for a line to tap the Arigna coalfields. Nothing happened of course, but my model assumes a line was built, jointly with the Midland Great Western. Running south-east, then south from Dromahair, it skirted the shore of Lough Allen, before turning west to reach Arigna. A short branch to the foot of Kilronan mountain [meeting an aerial ropeway from the coal mines] would have no doubt scuppered the Cavan & Leitrim's narrow gauge branch.

However, being wholly in the Republic the SLNCR Arigna Branch may well have survived the 1957 closure of the mainline. Indeed, from 1959 onwards, Arigna coal was sent to a small power station on the shore of Lough Allen & given the Arigna branch would have gone past its front door, it seems safe to assume the railway could have survived until the power station closed in 1991.

Now, Arigna Town's fiddle yard is actually full & has been for some time, but I still have hopes of doing a diesel period one day. Maybe the mine engine, 'Lark', would have kept going long after the end of steam on the branch. Alternatively, a G Class [Deutz] diesel could have been just the thing. Any mixed freight would presumably have been in the hands of C class or 121 diesels, while one would hope Railcar B would have stayed on to deal with local passenger. I do actually possess a DCC controller, so could even consider adding sound - assuming chips exist from the Deutz, C, etc, plus a Gardener diesel, of course!

Anyway, to commemorate the anniversary, I've taken a few new photos, from slightly different perspectives. The usual 'exhibition' trains all feature, though some are a bit longer than normal, as I don't need to be limited to five wagons and a brake in this instance. Depending on what order the photos upload, there is the map of the system as I imagined it [which now comes up on a Google search for SLNCR!], then the mixed train, cattle train, excursion, MGW excursion, coal train, stores train & the railcar.

The SLNCR was a fascinating, unusual & highly individual railway, so this is my tribute 60 years after closure.

[murrayec]

A great tribute David, has to be the only one of it's kind

 

It will be great to see diesel period one day....

 

Eoin

[GNRi1959]

David, fascinated by this layout.

Furthermore, I was looking in an old box of railway photos and found some that may interest you.

 

Ballinamore to Arigna train at Cornabrone 1954

Lissadell 0-6-4T lying derelict at Manorhamilton 1954

Ballinamore 1954 with Arigna train and Dromod train in station 1954

 

Theres a few others, some really amazing shots. They are all detailed on the back in pencil by the photographer and printed on

beautiful Ilford paper. I would be delighted to give them to you if you PM your home address.

[David Holman]

If anyone is interested, there is a short piece of video on RMweb from the Farnham show last weekend. In the exhibition section, easy to find.

[jhb171achill]

I love the three old six-wheelers in CIE livery!