Cilldargan

[Mayner]

Looking great Frank the whole shebang stock buildings scenery you almost hear the Cork & Waterford accents as the crew of the ballast train discuss the upcoming Munster Hurling final at Dungarvan.

 

I wonder has the District Manager's brother in law who works for the Duke of Devonshire http://www.lismorecastle.com/location taken over local freight operation using redundant D Class from Dublin?

 

The old Duke built & owned the old Fermoy & Lismore and maybe the Dukes great great great Grandson took it back from CIE and ran it as a short/regional operation in the 1960s?

Edited August 5, 2012 by Mayner

[FrankS]

Hi Guys,

I thought it was time to post a few photos to show that we haven't been asleep down here in Cilldargan.

Thanx to Wennaire the Double-headed Rosslare Express can now be seen pounding through Castlecromerby on its way to the boat for Fishguard ~

 

The Ballast Siding is now in operation and these pictures show ballast wagons being loaded and D.303 shunting the ballast sidings ~

 

Meanwhile # 190 shunts the Irish Cement Distribution Centre ~

 

 

Finally, I'm very taken with the use of open top containers and plan to represent the Cawoods Coal Trains and the Scrap Containers which ran from Dublin NW to Irish Steel on Haulbowline Island in Cork Harbour.

Also I like very much the traffic which went to Asahi Chemicals at Ballina. Not so much the special chemical containers, but more the coal and oil trains with the demountable oil tanks and open top coal containers. Even with my 'elasticated' versions of history and geography. Ballina is a bit off my patch so I've Put my muti-million Euro support (doesn't every railway need a fairy-godfather ??? )

behind a new Courtaulds Man-Made Fibres factory at Waterford which will, like Asahi, receive its Chemicals, Oil and Coal in demountable containers and ship out its products in Bell line ISO Containers.

 

Here we see B181 hauling a coal and oil train past the East Cilldargan Sugar Beet loading dock which is getting ready for the coming campaign. The two towers were part of an unsuccessful scheme to load the beet using hydraulic lifts, which failed and they've now reverted to the old fashioned trailers tipping directly down into the beet wagons.

In actual facts, the two towers disguise (hopefully) two of the supports for the IKEA shelving which the railway runs on at this point.

[FrankS]

Ah, sorry about that, got my photo numbers mixed up

THIS is the photo I SHOULD have uploaded showing # 190 shunting the Irish Cement Diostribution Centre at Castlecromerby ~

[201bhoy]

Lovely photos! Where is this based on again?

[scahalane]

Looking great, nicely photographed as well.

[FrankS]

Hi 201bhoy,

In my fevered imagination it's on the old GS&WR route from Mallow to Waterford and on to Rosslare. The rumours of it's closing were greatly exaggerated

I'm always on the lookout for traffic we can 'pinch' from other 'far inferior' routes to and from Cork, Limerick, Waterford , Rosslare and Wexford

[Flying Scotsman 4472]

Some great shots there Frank and the layout really looks great. More pictures please.

[201bhoy]

Hi 201bhoy,

In my fevered imagination it's on the old GS&WR route from Mallow to Waterford and on to Rosslare. The rumours of it's closing were greatly exaggerated

I'm always on the lookout for traffic we can 'pinch' from other 'far inferior' routes to and from Cork, Limerick, Waterford , Rosslare and Wexford

 

Yeah I wanted to have a big variety of traffic as well... Dublin's the best place to base a layout on if you want a variety! I'm happy enough with hte stock I'll have in my layout though

[heirflick]

frank....beautiful layout - well done!

lovely to see that you havnt forgot the steamers...love the mogul!

[BosKonay]

I had to double check to make sure this wasn't the real thing!!!

 

Absolutely gobsmacking!

 

[burnthebox]

Absolutely bloody brilliant matey, so realistic, I feel like driving down the N!! just to have a closer look I just love all the pic's now, how long was it in the planning, oh & where's the video please,

[josefstadt]

Fantastic layout. Love the pic of the ballast wagon being loaded with the stone 'pouring out of the front end loader's bucket.

[enniscorthyman]

Very nice scenes there Frank,well done.

[FrankS]

Thanx Guys,

Looking through my photos I came across this B/W shot taken in the 1950's when the Cildargan section shunter was Sentinel 0-4-0Vertical Boilered 0-4-0T No. 281. This was slated for withdrawl under the GSR but managed to survive long enough to be preserved by the RPSI, and is based at their Southern depot at Mallow ???

 

As for YouTube ~ so far I havn't managed to get my brain around how to do it - too much tampering with history, probably:x

[Shinkansen]

Hi Frank, your layout pics dont look much like models.... theyre more like the real thing. Lovely camera work and nicely done scenics/models

[FrankS]

Thanx Shinkansen, Very nice of you to say so,

I try, although I've got a long way to go. My son is a VERY keen photographer and I try to pick up pointers from him, not to mention his cast off camera's. A tripod is absolutely essential, I generally try to compose my photos and take them from a fair way back so I can later crop them to cut out baseboard edges, etc.

 

BTW - I thought I had an expensive hobby, until I was photocopying my son's custom declaration form for the equipment he was taking on a photographic trip to Hong Kong, I went weak at the knee's when I saw the values - If I had the money he's spent on photographic gear, I could open up in competition with Paddy Murphy

[BosKonay]

Can you give us some basic pointers Frank, on how best to photo layouts, models?

 

It would make a great resources for all of us who's know-how is point a phone and press the button

[FrankS]

Boskonay foolishly said ~

Can you give us some basic pointers Frank, on how best to photo layouts, models? Well, My son will be amazed, somebody asking ME for advice on photography

I've always fancied myself as a school teacher, so I hope you don't end up regretting the request

 

Anyway, for what it's worth. I have no particular skills or technical expertise, my digital camera is just a point and press Olympus with fixed settings and 8x digital zoom, discarded 3 or 4 cameras ago by my son. I do not understand depth of field and all that sort of thing, and I don't particularly want to ~ I've got more than enough hobbies and interests to last me until my 125th birthday, without adding photography. So, If I can take halfway decent model photos ~ anyone can

 

Tripod ~ The absolute essential for taking photos of models is a tripod, no matter how upright and sober you are, you can't hold a camera steady enough for small things like models. The tripod doesn't have to be a supa-dupa professional one, mine cost me the equivalent of about 45 euros from a local office/computer/stationery store. But it must have plenty of adjustable height to get above your baseboard level.

 

Lighting - I almost always take my model photos in daylight to get pretty even lighting. I did make myself a couple of 8' high light stands (IKEA shelf ends with a garden floodlight attached to the tops) with the idea of placing one each sideof the scene I wanted to photograph. But, I hardly ever use them, as I've found the artificial light to be too harsh and the shadows cast by them to be too strong.

 

Composition - If you're going to get reasonably realistic photos, then you've got to have a reasonably realistic scene to take them on. No matter how beautifully made and weathered a model it's not going to look in any way realistic if the background is dominated by coffee cups and screwdrivers.

 

I guess my layout is about 50% complete, but rather than have it all at the same level I've deliberatly adopted the policy of bringing one section of the layout

up to about 95% completness purely with taking photos in mind. Which explains why most of my photos are of Castlecromerby station and area. The section running down the other side of the room is now about 75% complete and I'll take more photos along there as it reaches the stage of being "photo-graphical".

This is the area where I took the recent photos of the ballast loading area and the beet loading dock in the background ~ I zoomed in on the 'good' area and, hopefully, the viewer doesn't realise that a few inches on either side is the mess and chaos associated with a model railway under construction .

 

When you've set up the scene you want to photograph have a good look through the viewfinder and see what is in the background, If it's not compatible with your model scene, remove it, change your angle a bit, or try to hide it. Earlier in this this thread there is a photo of a Woolwich Mogul crossing the Blackwater Bridge. This bridge has no scenery behind it as it's the "duck-under" to get into the layout area. To hide the background of bookshelves I pasted a section of a commercial background sheet on to a 2 x 4 piece of MDF and temporarily screwed it to the timber either side pf the bridge.

 

Take plenty of photos. These days we are lucky that we are not paying out good modelling money for prints of photos which are often bad, sometimes ugly and only occaissionally good

It costs us no more to take 1 or 10 photos of the same scene with a digital camera so change your angle slightly, change the vehicles in your train around, move the train backwards and forwards a few inches, etc. You can't tell looking through the viewfinder, but when the photos are blown up on your computer screen and you compare them, you'll soon pick out which ones have 'worked' and which haven't. Try and look at your photos on the computer before you destroy your created scene, that way it's easy to take a few more If something strikes you as nearly right but would be better without that van which blocks the view of the wagon behind, say.

 

It's amazing how often some incongruity (good word, probably spelt wrong will leap out and smack you in the face on your computer screen, but you never even noticed it on the layout.

 

Finally, Most of my photos I take from a fair way back so that on the computer I can edit them and crop out the bad bits and it zooms in on the bits I want in the photo. My layout suffers from being too flat and the baseboards too narrow (Castlecromerby is only 15" deep) but I've got no choice. That section of the layout runs in front of a 12' long window, and my previous layout, which was 30' wide caused S.W.M.B.O. to heap even more than usual amount of s**t on my shoulders, because for 3 years she couldn't get in to clean the window

But, you can do a lot with your choice of backscene, to make it look deeper.

 

I hope this hasn't been too boring and might have been some help. The important thing is to have a go, take some photos and put them on this forum. Even If your layout is overall only 10% complete, spend a weekend to bring one section up to the standard you eventually want the whole layout to be, and take some photos on it. The people here are very supportive and when they praise your photos it does your ego the world of good - If they don't like 'em, well, you can always just mumble S*d, em and go and find some online porn to look at

 

Cheers, from Kangaroo country.

[Glenderg]

Not boring at all Frank, and mighty useful. Gonna take one thing really useful from this [if anyone has seen me workbench photos]

No matter how beautifully made and weathered a model it's not going to look in any way realistic if the background is dominated by coffee cups and screwdrivers.

Guilty as charged, m'lud.

 

Richie.

[Shinkansen]

Hi Frank,

Some excellent advice there regarding the photos. Natural light is absolutly essential for half decent pictures, as is use of a tripod/stable surface. Have started using the 2 second delay on my own camera to take 'shake free' pictures once a shot has been composed. Failing that, taking heaps of photos from different angles and cropping/keeping the better ones also helps. Talk about Photography being an expensive hobby is right, have looked into it in the past... Will be sticking with my Panasonic compact thank you very much!

Keep up the good work.

Tom.

[BosKonay]

Many thanks indeed Frank - will put some tips to use and see how I get on!!

[heirflick]

agree with the lads, some great - and simple advice! never considdered a tripod!

[Kirley]

Some good pointers -thanks Frank

[FrankS]

New Power on Cilldargan :

a two-unit Windhoff MPV No. 790/791

Repainted by Leonardo da Anthony - Lovely job, Thanx mate.

 

Storm clouds are gathering as the brand new Windhoff MPV unit passes Cilldargan House on a test run.

As you may notice, the "quality" are visiting in their Daimler limo - wonder who it is

 

Actually it could be me !!!! Seeing as a Black Daimler Limousine is my favourite mode of transport in Ireland

I'll tell you a funny story about me and Daimler limo's and Ireland : ~

In 1968 when I first visited Ireland to meet my future Mother-in-Law and family, I, naturally wanted to make a good impression, and arrive in something a little more up-market than the CIE bus. Problem was, I didn't have a driving licence, my mode of transport in Liverpool was a much-loved Lambretta scooter.

So, I arranged for a hire car (Ford Zephyr) to meet us at the boat and drive us up to the country (Co. Meath).

 

But, when we arrived we were shocked to learn that the hire car people had overbooked, and run out of Ford Zephyrs and had sent instead a black Daimler limo which had carried Princess Grace of Monaco the week before. So, we bit the bullet and drove through Dublin like the King and Queen of Ruritania ~ spoilt slightly when we got the driver to stop at a suburban shop to pick-up some fruit to eat along the way

 

All went well until the driver announced that it was taking longer than planned and he'd have to stop in the town to phone his base. As you can imagine, Bernadette was horrified at the idea of being seen in a Daimler Limo in the main street of the town where she knew everyone and everyone knew her. The car was still moving when she shot out of it like an Exocet miisile and disapeared down a side street to meet us again outside town.

 

As expected, she didn't see the funny side of it, but her Mother thought it was hilarious, and made the driver stay for tea and of course, me being an ignorant Protestant instead of a god-fearing Catholic lad thought it was all great fun. Had a frosty couple of days out of it and had to paint the cow shed roof as my penance But, I still fondly remember the look of horror on her face as the limo turned down the main street of the town

 

Cheers,

Frank Savery,

District Manager, Cilldargan CIE

[FrankS]

Cilldargan House ~

Hi again, boring you with my boyhood reminiscences, I forgot to mention that there is a bit more to Cilldargan House than meets the eye

If the visitor lifts the stable block he'll find within a working mini-diorama made by Viessmann

Of course, this being a family-orientated forum, I can't show any x-rated pictures BUT, If anyone interested cares to have a look at a short YouTube video ~

They'll get the general idea

[BosKonay]

[Glenderg]

Jaysus! Love the Daimler story, so parochial and innocent! Richie.

[Flying Scotsman 4472]

New Power on Cilldargan :

a two-unit Windhoff MPV No. 790/791

Repainted by Leonardo da Anthony - Lovely job, Thanx mate.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3763[/ATTACH]

Storm clouds are gathering as the brand new Windhoff MPV unit passes Cilldargan House on a test run.

:

Cheers,

Frank Savery,

District Manager, Cilldargan CIE

 

 

 

Great to see everything got there safely Frank, amazing to think that what was sitting in my paint shop a few weeks ago is now on the other side of the world. ENJOY

[Flying Scotsman 4472]

Cilldargan House ~

 

They'll get the general idea

 

 

 

BRILLIANT I got to get me one of these to hid on the layout somewhere.

[FrankS]

Cilldargan House - again

Actually this is the module I'm using :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsHUJMqM1mQ

but, I couldn't find the video yesterday.

 

PS - If your computer makes an odd noise while checking this out - it will be my wife muttering that someday I'll have to account for my sins

[BosKonay]

'only the germans'

[Flying Scotsman 4472]

Who is the stockist for these in the UK

[Guest hidden-agenda]

I,m sure some one will be along shortly to announce their releasing a resin copy of it.

[Flying Scotsman 4472]

I,m sure some one will be along shortly to announce their releasing a resin copy of it.

 

Resin would be to stiff :dancing:

[FrankS]

Hi Leonardo,

I don't think there is a UK stockist, I deal with Reynaulds in the USA, cheaper than Germany

https://www.reynaulds.com/

 

Very reliable and honest.