GVS and Adelaide lookalike

[islandbridgejct]

Very nice. Will look this up on rmweb.

 

Alan

[Hunslet 102]

Thanks again for the positive replies guys The 70s was a great era for the vast amount of various stock that was in use and the GNR section of NIR seen most of what was around at the time.Within the space of 4 short years between 1970-1974,NIR had no fewer than 6 different types of railcars that could all be found on the GNR section,with only the AEC railcars which were withdrawn in 1972 and the 80 class that arrived in 1974 not being seen together.For the record,the other railcars were BUTs,MPDs,MEDs and the 70 class.NIR also introduced the Hunslets in 1970 with the DH shunters arriving the year before.CIE also had a varied amount of stock that came North,with regular visitors being A and C class loco's,B121s,141s and 181s and also CIE railcars.Add to all these the varied coaching stock for both companies,from Cravens,Park Royals and Laminates to AC supertrain mk2s,with similar vintage stock to MK2s on NIR and then all the different types of freight,modelling this era at this time is just a joy

[Glenderg]

Oh that is nice Hunslet, I missed it for some reason. The guinness containers - more info required please, they are the doozy! As for the shots, I love the mixed goods traffic. I think it sums up that era more than cravens and railcars somehow. Lovely work. Richie

[Hunslet 102]

Oh that is nice Hunslet, I missed it for some reason. The guinness containers - more info required please, they are the doozy! As for the shots, I love the mixed goods traffic. I think it sums up that era more than cravens and railcars somehow. Lovely work. Richie

 

Thanks Glenderg.The Guinness containers are from the Provincial Wagons range,nice items they are too!Freight operations are probably my favourite operation on the layout,maybe because I would wile away most of the day watching the freight operations at Adelaide freight yard,although it was always great to see either the NIR Hunslet or the CIE 141 or A class powering through with the Enterprise.Happy days!!

[Sulzer201]

Great shots there Hunslet 102, and that PW gang is great, very atmospheric and I remember seeing many such crews and it was tough manual work. I love Merlin too, in traffic what was the max speed of the 3 Hunslets and were they ever overhauled in inchicore works?

[Hunslet 102]

Great shots there Hunslet 102, and that PW gang is great, very atmospheric and I remember seeing many such crews and it was tough manual work. I love Merlin too, in traffic what was the max speed of the 3 Hunslets and were they ever overhauled in inchicore works?

Thanks Sulzer201.The PW gangs back then put in a shift for scant reward.The Hunslets had a max speed of 80mph and I would doubt if they were ever overhauled at Inchicore as they were owned by NIR solely who had their own loco works.

[krose]

Thanks Sulzer201.The PW gangs back then put in a shift for scant reward.The Hunslets had a max speed of 80mph and I would doubt if they were ever overhauled at Inchicore as they were owned by NIR solely who had their own loco works.

 

Where the NI loco works always at yorkgate?

[Hunslet 102]

Where the NI loco works always at yorkgate?

 

The loco works at York Road have always been a main works in NIR days,but when the Central line was reopened to the then new Central station and Queens Quay and Great Victoria St stations were closed,a new works was built at the former County Down loco works beside Queens Quay station.This was in 1976 and thus the Hunslets were serviced here as it was closer to Central station and as York Road was still not directly linked to Central,this would not happen for another 20 years!,it made sense as the only way to access York Road from Central was via Antrim,a bit of a trek giving as the crow flies the distance between the two was only a couple of miles!!

[Guest hidden-agenda]

Brilliant i love it.

[Hunslet 102]

Another scene from the 70s,circa 1975.

 

The above 2 photo's show the NIR weedkiller train in action,the usual for the time,one man working while the rest look on!Actually,come to think of it,it is still the same today!!

 

These next 2 photo's show the full length train with an NIR DH class loco in charge.There is a real life photo of this train in the questions and answers section under the title CIE weedkiller train,which is the next project on the to do list.

[Sulzer201]

Great atmosphere in this work Hunslet, hi viz vests are yet to be compulsory and the flat bed and diesel shunter are excellent. Was that loco of the class built in Belfast by H&W? The 80 class driving trailer and train are also magic. I remember as a young boy being brought to Dublin and seeing one of these, or the blue HLs. They were refreshing and modern in appearance compared to the stock I was used to seeing on the DSER.

[heirflick]

great scenes again hunslet, you have a layout to be proud of! have you a model of the metro vic C class repainted to NIR livery?

[ttc0169]

Superb photos there Hunslet of a unusual train,

And great attention to detail-well done.

[Dave]

Great layout, nice atmosphere. Well done

[Kirley]

I see you are still hitting your usual high standard. I am very impressed with your DH, it really looks the part.

Your workmen bring the scenes to life, may I ask who makes them and do you paint them yourself?

[Hunslet 102]

Thanks for the feedback guys,much appreciated.Here are some answers to your questions

 

Sulzer201-the DH locomotive was not a type built by H&W.There were 3 of these locomotives in total and they were built by English Electric in England in 1969.All 3 were preserved at one point by the Irish Traction Group,but 2 then ended up working again in Sri Lanka and the other one ended up somewhere in Wales out of use I believe.

 

Heirflick-no I dont have a model of the NIR MV class.These loco's were purchased by NIR around 1984,so a bit beyond the era I am currently modelling.I do have a good amount of blue 1980s stock to hand available for the layout,so an MV may be something I will model in the future.I am currently on the lookout for a Q kits C class to model the CIE version for my 70s layout.

 

Kirley-I am sure the figures are old Bachmann figures that were supplied on a sprue,a bit like the old Airfix type figures and these have been hand painted.

[scahalane]

Superb shots, lovely detail in them.

[Kirley]

Kirley-I am sure the figures are old Bachmann figures that were supplied on a sprue,a bit like the old Airfix type figures and these have been hand painted.

 

Top mark for your figure painting Hunslet

[patrick]

I love the layout since I saw it on RM web last year. Any chance of a trackplan?

[Hunslet 102]

Thanks again for all the positive comments guys

 

Kirley-I hand paint everything,part of the hobby I really enjoy.

 

Patrick-I will see about posting some form of trackplan,it may end up being a hand drawn one! The trackplan for this layout was all in my head,I tend to do it the old fashioned way,start pinning the track and see if it matches my thoughts!! It works for me.The actual layout is only about 10ft in length x about 5ft wide with an operating station in the middle.The layout is just a glorified oval,with GVSt station on the inside of the back baseboard and Adelaide freight yard on the inside of the front baseboard.At the back of the continuous lines are the hidden sidings.Operation takes the form of something like the following.A DH will marshal coaches from the carriage sidings and run them into GVSt for the Enterprise.The Hunslet will then back unto the coaches and take the train out unto the outer line,do a few circuits and then head into the hidden sidings.Trains coming from the hidden sidings cross over to the inner track,do a few circuits and then enter GVSt.Goods operations do the same operation only go in and out of Adelaide freight yard.It all means I can do prototypical running in a small area,but without it all seeming too cramped,food for thought for those that have limited space like myself.

[patrick]

[quote=

I tend to do it the old fashioned way,start pinning the track and see if it matches my thoughts!! It works for me.

 

What looks good on paper may not look great on the baseboard. There is no substitute for seeing track in position to evalueate how a finished scene will look like. We tend to get too optimistic about what we can achieve in the space available, pinning down some track can be a valuable reality check. On my layout the only scale trackplan I drew was the main line to ensure sufficent space for aisles.. The minimum radius chosen was 26 inches because a track laying template was available (the options were 22, 26 or 30 inches) and after laying out a curve with flexitrack and double sided tape on the kitchen counter top under controlled conditions (Maureen was not at home!), it was found that the craven coaches looked acceptable on it. From this plan baseboard demensions were worked out and the space available for stations evaluated so I had an idea what might be acomplished. The track plan was then finalised on the baseboard. Your approach oviously worked for you, the layout has an uncluttered feel to it. I look forward to more photos.

[Hunslet 102]

Have actually done some work on the layout for the first time in months,one of the problems of a loft layout in winter.I have eventually got round to ballasting the station area with a mixture of grey and brown ballast that was then dry brushed with ground down charcoal.I also weathered the platform surfaces with the charcoal to give them that well used look.Great Victoria Street in the 70s towards the end of its life was a murky place,especially the ballast and sleepers that were particularly covered in grime.Below are a couple of photo's of the progress so far,the whole area still has the be soaked with a pva/water solution to finish it off

[heirflick]

excelent -very impressive!

[BosKonay]

Very very tasty

[Hunslet 102]

Having got back into doing some work on Great Victoria Street station with the ballasting over the weekend,it was necessary to test everything was still working having been soaked with pva/water.Below are a few more photo's that hopefully recapture a feel of scenes from the 70s on NIR.

 

 

 

The above photo shows the DH shunter removing a couple of brown vans from the rear of a recently arrived AEC railcar set to platform 4.A BUT set is resting in platform 3 while Hunslet 101 Eagle is in platform 2 waiting to depart to the sheds having arrived with the Enterprise earlier.The coaches from the Enterprise have already been removed to the carriage sidings.An MED railcar is in platform 1 waiting to depart with an all stations to Lisburn service.

 

 

The above photo is a closer view of the difference between the AEC and BUT sets.The AEC set has still to be completed and once complete,another AEC and BUT sets are to be started.

 

 

The above photo is taken from the other side of the layout and shows the Hunslet making its way to the sheds with the MED ready to follow with its train to Lisburn.

Edited April 1, 2013 by Hunslet 102

[heirflick]

love the livery on the railcars!

[Sulzer201]

Great stuff Hunslet.

[Kirley]

Great to see your progress Hunslet. GVSt is really taking shape especially with your Railcars giving it a special atmosphere of the 70's.

I would love to see your progress on the AEC & BUT sets, maybe you might consider an entry in the Workshop Section?

[Hunslet 102]

Thanks for the comments guys.You are right Heirflick,the livery on the early NIR railcars really suits them.The Oxford Blue and Cream livery from their GNR days was also very smart,when I next get round to doing my next set I will probably paint one of the coaches in this colour for a bit of variety,as there was evidence of this livery still being in use in the early 70s.

Kirley-I will see about starting a workbench thread on my next build of AECs and BUTs.Before them,an MPD railcar set will be done,I could include that in a future thread also.I am currently working on my early 70s CIE weedkiller train,which is vying with the actual GVSt build at the moment for the time available,everyday life really does get in the way of modelling

[Hunslet 102]

The following few photo's are some more scenes from 1970 on Northern Ireland Railways.They show the changing face of NIR,with brand new Hunslet 102 Falcon pushing the NIR Enterprise towards Dublin,passing a UTA Jeep,now under NIR ownership.The Jeep is making a rare visit to the GNR section of NIR,having travelled round from York Road via the Antrim branch with an Engineers train.Loose coupled CIE wagons awaiting collection back to Dundalk are in the siding beside the main line.

 

[Hunslet 102]

Having recently just about finished my B101 kit and having nearly completed the early 70s weedkilling train,I thought it was about time to release it unto the network to control the weeds (cobwebs!) on the layout.The following photo shows B105 in charge of the motley bunch of wagons that was the early CIE weedkilling train in the 70s.It is on its annual visit to the NIR system,which was normally around June.In the early 70s,the weedkilling train would be changed over at Portadown,with generally an NIR loco,usually a DH class taking the train round the NIR network.The B101 class were a rare visitor to the north,I know that the class got as far as Portadown for the weedkiller train changeover,but no evidence of them venturing further than Portadown has come to light.Anyway,on this occassion,NIR had no motive power available,thus the view of the Sulzer pushing towards Belfast with the weedkilling train.

 

 

 

 

The following photo shows B105 still on weedkilling duties,passing a couple of B141/B181s.One is in charge of the CIE Enterprise,comprising cravens and laminate stock,while the other is shunting loose coupled wagons just recently arrived from Dundalk.Although this is a shot on NIR metals,it is a picture that could represent any part of Ireland in the early 70s.

 

.

Edited June 30, 2013 by Hunslet 102

[Glenderg]

Superb Hunslet - you'll have poor heirflick in a tizzy! a wonderful scene ! richie

[heirflick]

tizzy isnt the word..gobsmacked is more accurate!! beautiful job on the weedspray train Hunslet! - any chance of a few close up shots please?

[Kirley]

Nice work on the Sulzer, it deserves some close up photographs of it's own as well as the weedkiller train.

Looking forward to your MPD railcar set workshop thread. I want to do one also and hope to learn from your project.

[Hunslet 102]

Thanks for the positive comments guys,much appreciated.I will take some close up shots of the Sulzer and weedkilling train once I finish the complete train.The ancient coach has been sanded down and the correct window profiles cut out and I am just finishing off a new roof for it and westhy's brake van needs to be finished to complete the whole train.It has been an enjoyable project to work on with a lot of the info and photo's gleaned from site members,so thanks to all who helped in the questions and answers section.

 

Kirley,whenever I make a start on the MPD I will do it via a thread,but seeing some of your own work on your own thread,I think I will be picking your brains also,they do say two heads are better than one!