Clogher Valley Project

[NIR]

On 4/24/2020 at 8:53 PM, David Holman said:

 

The parallelogram loop (offset exits, equal sides) really does add flow to a layout, where the more prototypical trapezium loop (inline exits, unequal sides) would look much too compressed.

So alongside the principle that offset mitigates linear compression (eg: Minories) maybe we should add that a loop only looks as good as its shortest side?

Edited April 26, 2020 by NIR

[Galteemore]

It’s probably in Euclid somewhere....qualified by Freezer’s First Law...

Edited April 26, 2020 by Galteemore

[Midland Man]

Mr David 

The layout is amazing and would make me want to make a model of the Dublin and Blessington railway as it reminded me for some reason. Keep it up.

[David Holman]

Seem to remember the track plan mostly evolved around the use of Y points, rather than the usual left or right. In Cyril Freezer's booklet on track plans for small spaces (mine is priced 2/6, which dates me somewhat), at the back are 10 generic plans where he showed how a six foot terminus could be reduced to 4' 6" by using all Y points.

 The result is contrived to say the least, but Y points can be useful. On Belmullet, the turnout to the goods shed is a Y, but the Marcway version, where the distance from the toe to the clearance point is just 12" on a 6' radius point. A Peco Y in 0 gauge is the same as as left or right hand point, where the distance from toe to clearance is more like me 18".

 So, used carefully, Y points can be good space savers, likewise slips and three ways, though these were much less common in Ireland where space mostly wasn't a problem.

[David Holman]

Had an email from Railway Modeller today. My article on Fintonagh, with excellent photos by CM Editor Andrew Burnham, will be in the June edition of RM, due out next Thursday.

[2996 Victor]

Hi David,

my copy of the June '20 Railway Modeller has just arrived, and I just had to say that Fintonagh looks absolutely superb (as expected!).

Well done, sir, on another fantastic layout!

With kind regards,

Mark

[2996 Victor]

Reading the RM article again - is it me, or have Messrs PECO drawn the track diagram incorrectly?

Kind regards,

Mark

[David Holman]

Just had me scuttling into the workshop to check!

 The fiddle yard is slightly different as the line to the exchange sidings doesn't go on to the turntable now. Tried it, stock was liable to fall off when being turned at shows. My fault, as that was on the sketch I gave them.

 The only other thing I can see is that the track from the turntable goes straight into the shed, which is therefore at an angle to the platform. There again, it is not unknown for me to miss the glaringly obvious!

[2996 Victor]

11 minutes ago, David Holman said:

Just had me scuttling into the workshop to check!

 The fiddle yard is slightly different as the line to the exchange sidings doesn't go on to the turntable now. Tried it, stock was liable to fall off when being turned at shows. My fault, as that was on the sketch I gave them.

 The only other thing I can see is that the track from the turntable goes straight into the shed, which is therefore at an angle to the platform. There again, it is not unknown for me to miss the glaringly obvious!

Hi David,

It may be me (probably is!), but isn't the connection to the exchange sidings shown trailing instead of facing (or vice versa!)?

Not that it matters, it's a fabulous layout and I do hope to be able to see it in action one day!

Kind regards,

Mark

[David Holman]

You are indeed correct Mark. The line to the exchange sidings comes off the loop and wagons have to then reverse off that into the front siding.

 Fairly sure I supplied the correct plan, but these things happen and am certainly more than happy with the article as a whole, especially Andrew's photos. RM and CM have come on a long way in recent years - some of my first articles, back in the '90s had only small pictures, with no colour either.

 The fee is very generous too. £35 for each page, which considering I only supplied a sketch plan and the text, to me ain't half bad and is already reinvested in a new loco kit!

[2996 Victor]

1 hour ago, David Holman said:

You are indeed correct Mark. The line to the exchange sidings comes off the loop and wagons have to then reverse off that into the front siding.

 Fairly sure I supplied the correct plan, but these things happen and am certainly more than happy with the article as a whole, especially Andrew's photos. RM and CM have come on a long way in recent years - some of my first articles, back in the '90s had only small pictures, with no colour either.

 The fee is very generous too. £35 for each page, which considering I only supplied a sketch plan and the text, to me ain't half bad and is already reinvested in a new loco kit!

Hi David,

There's no doubt that the article and photos do fair justice to your superb modelling, and the fee is a nice little bonus, I'm sure!

I hope you'll forgive my little observation on the track diagram, though - it was a combination of OCD and worrying that I'd completely lost the plot (again!).

Kind regards,

Mark

[David Holman]

You and me both by the sounds of it! 

 

[David Holman]

Just received some new waterslide transfers from Old Time Workshop. Met proprietor Simon Thomas in an earlier era [ie at a model show] & he was keen to broaden his range to include CVR wagon decals. Each pack costs £6.40 and in that you get enough for  six wagons. Does 4mm scale, 00n3 too, including West Clare. Haven't applied them yet, but they certainly seem very nice.

 

[DLTaylor]

Hi David,

I've just been reading back on Fintonagh, particularly regarding your excellent backscene work.  I really need to do something similar with Bridport, but my 2D landscape painting skills are seriously rusty!

Please can I ask what sort of paint you used on Fintonagh?  Is it acrylic?  Presumably on a whiter background? And did you employ any particular technique?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

All the best, Dave.T

[David Holman]

Correct, David on most counts!

 Start with a coat of white emulsion, but I add some acrylic grey, blue, purple (in very small amounts) to create the sky. Once dry, then draw on the scene in pencil and then use acrylics for the main areas. Finer work is put on using felt pens of various thickness. Crayons and pencil shading gets used too.

 I try to keep the palette muted, with ever lighter shades into the distance, but still find that difficult and often have to tone things down further.

 There was an interesting article by John Birkett-Smith in MJR a year or so ago on backscenes, where he overlaps different layers for buildings and scenery which seems to work well. I've always leaned heavily on John Ahern's little book on model buildings, which has a useful section on blending 3D into 2D.

 Hope that helps!

[DLTaylor]

Thanks very much David, that helps a lot.  I will have to look through my arty daughter's various sets of paint etc.

And I've just remembered I've got a copy of John Ahern's book tucked away somewhere!

Thanks again, Dave.T

[David Holman]

After a long break, Fintonagh is on the road again next weekend at the Bexhill Show. For those of you who can't get to Sussex, here's a video. Will try to post some more later.

https://youtu.be/wbBw9sZIirg

Edited August 8, 2021 by David Holman

[PJR]

No Video David, saying its private

[David Holman]

Damn! Will alter the settings later. However, it is taking about an hour to upload to YouTube. Is there a quicker way? Tried uploading straight to this site, but as well as being slow too, nothing there when it had finished.

[David Holman]

Have made the first one public, hopefully and here's the other half of the sequence

[David Holman]

And another...

[jhb171achill]

Love the subtle weathering too - adds to an already exceptionally high standard of realism.......

[PJR]

Brilliant stuff, well done

[David Holman]

Fintonagh at Alexandra Palace next week

 Six months on and Fintonagh is on the road again - twice in fact, because after Allypally, it is going to Nailsea the following weekend, so that's a weekend with the Gravetts and Gordon is helping me operate.

 Alexandra Palace, or The London Festival of Model Railways, is a splendid, if challenging place to exhibit. Heaven knows how much it costs to hire the place, though suspect Warners Magazines [aka BRM] underwrite it to a significant degree and can only think the fees for trade stands are rather high. The bureaucracy is pretty formidable too, but am certainly looking forward to being a small part of a big show again.

  Fintonagh is all of 3 metres long, but the pre-show routine remains the same:

1. A thorough clean of the layout itself, which means carefully vacuuming everything, while lifting the dust with a soft brush.
2. This soon shows where any repairs or fixing of loose items needs to take place
3. Found the scenery needed a bit of freshening up, so 'reseeded' patches of grass, weeds and flowers, plus teased out the tree foliage while I was at it.
4. All locos cleaned and serviced, which means oiling the mechanisms, cleaning wheels and checking pickups.
5. Likewise all rolling stock, setting the wheel back to backs [19.2mm] while I was at it.
6. Test everything - including going through the operating sequence several times
7. Set the layout up in the lounge to make sure everything I need to take with me is ready. The list includes the beams and trestles it sits on, along with the lights, pelmets, fascias and all the electrics - plus the toolbox, of course.

 This should go some way to making the show as stress free and enjoyable as possible - both for me and my fellow operators. With a bit of luck, there will be time off to see the rest of the show too, especially the traders. I've been building up quite a shopping list.

 Meanwhile, a few pictures that focus on less often seen corners of the layout and if you are coming to the show, please say hello.

[Galteemore]

Excellent stuff David. Great to see Fintonagh out and about again. Know what you mean about traders. Was at Gauge O Guild Kettering show on Sat, much time being spent with various traders-showing various bemused stallholders arcane photos of Irish rolling stock and asking ‘have you any springs like that ?’……and significant sums of money passed from me to Slaters, not to mention Premier Components who have a natty helical gearbox on offer….

Edited March 10, 2022 by Galteemore

[Noel]

Absolutely beautiful. A lesson in subtle blending and realism. 

[David Holman]

Starting to recover from Allypally - it was a great weekend, but shows at large venues are really hard work!

 AP is a fine venue, with lots of space and height, so it is not as stuffy as many shows, where you often have no idea what the weather is like outside. However, Cultra is very much the best in my experience, not least because of the surroundings...

 The best  part of the weekend was catching up with so many folk we'd not seen over the last couple of years and it was lovely to see a fair few from this forum, plus Mick from Ballyconnel Road too, with pictures of his latest 3mm scale loco. 

 Special mention to Galteemore and his son Tim for all their help on Sunday. Operating a terminus-fiddle yard railway all day demands a lot of care and concentration, especially with just the three of us. There wasn't a great deal of time off compared to Saturday, when there were five operators. Their help was invaluable at the end too. Fintonagh can be dismantled in 5 minutes, but AllyPally, while vast, is a nightmare to get way from, especially as some of the stewards are more than a bit 'jobs worth'. It took me nearly half an hour just to get my car from the car park, then it was a case of carrying the layout and equipment down three flights of stairs. Yes there are two goods lifts, but that would have taken even longer, with all the other stands trying to get out of just three exits.

 My shopping was limited to just some A1 sheets of plasticard from Eileen's. Like all oil related products though, this stuff is getting ever more expensive. However also got two new books and am already enjoying Rails Through Tipperary. The other is a new one by Giles Flavell on Radio Controlled Models. Giles is well known for his 7mm scale working cranes and lorries, but there is a section on locos too. Whether I'll understand it all, let alone replicate anything is another matter, but you never know...

[Galteemore]

Very pleasant day it was too, David - thank you! Really enjoyed being immersed in County Tyrone for a few hours. 

[David Holman]

Fintonagh was meant to be going out this weekend too, for the Nailsea Show. However have had to cancel because of Covid. Not me, but the friends we were staying with.

 Next outing therefore will be Expo Narrow Gauge South at Eastleigh on 23rd April.

[Galteemore]

Sorry to hear that David - hope they recover well.

[Broadstone]

It was great to see you at the weekend David and meet Galteemore - we small band of Irish Railway modellers must stick together! Fintonagh is superb. It is bursting with atmosphere, a triumph of the imagination but with firm links to the prototype inspiration of the CVR. And it works so well and I kept popping back, always something new to see. 
Its brilliant how you have linked the railway to the town and the backscene to create a real place. I also liked the shop names for those in the know....

And I picked up a few great tips about baseboard construction and support. As a committed exhibitionist (!) these things are very important and I may try the beams etc on my next layout.

Blakey Rigg has a few years on the circuit but I'm actively planning a return to the 5'3" in S. I will probably start a thread myself as I try to get a believable scenario for a place where the GSWR (I have a lot of stock from Kilbrandon) and the MGWR came together - difficult as they were at loggerheads! Its narrowed down to something based on Athlone Midland, Ballysodare or, outrageously Liffey Junction (assuming that the GSWR line joined the MGWR west of Broombridge. Or a mythical west coast terminus inspired by Galway. I have a lot of thinking to do, particularly as it may be my last layout!

See you in Uckfield David. 

[jhb171achill]

3 hours ago, Broadstone said:

……….,believable scenario for a place where the GSWR and the MGWR came together - difficult as they were at loggerheads! Its narrowed down to something based on Athlone Midland, Ballysodare or, outrageously Liffey Junction (assuming that the GSWR line joined the MGWR west of Broombridge. 

I had considered this in the past and two possibilities came to mind. 

1.  A branch from Athenry to somewhere not far away - maybe Loughrea if the Midland branch hadn’t been built? - owned by one company with the other having operational rights. Not beyond the wit of mankind, as at one time the MGWR had permission to operate from Athenry to Limerick.

2. The Birr - Portumna line is reopened as part of a Loughrea - Portumna - Birr line - this was actually proposed.

 

[StevieB]

My personal favourite would have been a line from Dungarvan to Youghal, cutting half an hour off the journey time of the Rosslare Express.

Stephen

[David Holman]

6 hours ago, Broadstone said:

It was great to see you at the weekend David and meet Galteemore - we small band of Irish Railway modellers must stick together! Fintonagh is superb. It is bursting with atmosphere, a triumph of the imagination but with firm links to the prototype inspiration of the CVR. And it works so well and I kept popping back, always something new to see. 
Its brilliant how you have linked the railway to the town and the backscene to create a real place. I also liked the shop names for those in the know....

And I picked up a few great tips about baseboard construction and support. As a committed exhibitionist (!) these things are very important and I may try the beams etc on my next layout.

Blakey Rigg has a few years on the circuit but I'm actively planning a return to the 5'3" in S. I will probably start a thread myself as I try to get a believable scenario for a place where the GSWR (I have a lot of stock from Kilbrandon) and the MGWR came together - difficult as they were at loggerheads! Its narrowed down to something based on Athlone Midland, Ballysodare or, outrageously Liffey Junction (assuming that the GSWR line joined the MGWR west of Broombridge. Or a mythical west coast terminus inspired by Galway. I have a lot of thinking to do, particularly as it may be my last layout!

See you in Uckfield David. 

Thank you kind sir!

Blakey Rigg has great atmosphere and really captures the top of the Moors. What an amazing place it must have been.

 If I was starting again (and knew what I know now), then it would definitely be S for me - big enough for detail, small enough to fit in a reasonable space. Plus a track gauge of 63/64ths of an inch as added idiosyncrasy!

 Good to know that all the stock you made for Kilbrandon will be seen again too.

[Broadstone]

On 24/3/2022 at 1:03 PM, jhb171achill said:

I had considered this in the past and two possibilities came to mind. 

1.  A branch from Athenry to somewhere not far away - maybe Loughrea if the Midland branch hadn’t been built? - owned by one company with the other having operational rights. Not beyond the wit of mankind, as at one time the MGWR had permission to operate from Athenry to Limerick.

2. The Birr - Portumna line is reopened as part of a Loughrea - Portumna - Birr line - this was actually proposed.

 

Thanks for the suggestions JHB, I will look into them. 

As an aside, may I be so bold as to say that I brought your very fine new book "Rails through Connemara" at the Alexander Palace model show and I am now thoroughly enjoying reading it. A great book about a wonderful railway. I have explored much of it (we have friends in Headford) and the landscape is so beautiful.