Four Masters Bridge, Glengarriff & other former Irish models/layouts

[Irishswissernie]

I had my Flu jab this morning bright and early 8am and also as a result of a BOGOF managed to have a needle in both arms (free Pneumonia offer) So I gave up work on the cattle bank fencing and cleaned the track so I could try out one or two trains.

A couple of Sligo & Donegal layout locos make their appearance, not many people remember that the S&DJR acquired several ex GNRI  & SLNCR locos in the 1957 closures. From the SLNC in debt settlement and from CIE , ex GNRI locos not required on the dismemberment of the company. This was to cover the expected increase in traffic to Co Donegal via Sligo on closure of the Irish North Western etc.

 

 

Edited October 20, 2020 by Irishswissernie

[jhb171achill]

Absolutely classic stuff, Ernie - you've obviously been carefully browsing a certain "massive photo archive", given the great levels of realism!

[Noel]

Fabulous. Love it. Reeks of atmosphere and realism 

[Georgeconna]

Quite nice, I do like the Cameo of the disused engine / goods shed with the wagons parked along side. Nice little bit of Dereliction adds to the atmosphere instead of everthing being just so.  

[Irishswissernie]

Cattle bank developments

 

Edited October 24, 2020 by Irishswissernie

[Irishswissernie]

Work continues on the 'dereliction-ing'  of the cattle loading bank. I need to get the shrubbery and small trees planted.

 

 

As regards the Sligo and Donegal Junction, the wood has been acquired and the building site cleared. The actual size of the base boards established and detailed work

on the track plan underway. Here are a few views of the proposed layout with a revised scheme which uses the Glengarriff fiidle yard and with a few alterations to the off scene trackage it should be possible to run Sligo fiddle yard , - S&DJR station - hidden loops - Glengarriff - Glengarriff fiddle yard giving a running route of some 60 feet without any point changing.

The actual location is envisaged as being at the crossing of the Drowes River at a place now known as Four Masters bridge south of Bundoran. In the past it appears to have been called Mullanaleek Bridge and the site of a Corn Mill and Kiln. Mullanaleek for Bundoran could well be the layouts eventual title.

 

Edited November 11, 2020 by Irishswissernie

[Irishswissernie]

Over the last few days I have constructed the baseboards for the Sligo & Donegal Junction. All that is holding up construction is some wire and tube for the points as this has to be included at the same time as track laying. Sourcing a couple of  points took some time as there is a great shortage at the moment due to an upturn in layout construction during lockdown.

The original detailed track plan and wiring diagram appears to have been eaten by one of the dogs so I am sketching it out on the boards and working out running/shunting moves etc whilst waiting for the wire & tube which has "allow 28 days for delivery" on the advertising. Well parceling up 5 yards of 2mm tube and wire and then squeezing it into a large envelope and then finding a courier or perhaps Royal Mail with a delivery slot to send it can be quite daunting. I struck it lucky with the pack of 10mm track pins and the 2 rolls of cork underlay from 2 different dealers who  both managed to get them to me next day. 

[Irishswissernie]

The last few days have been tense and traumatic  as Madame and one's youngest daughter who still resides with her husband here, have decided that its time the Christmas decorations went up and the house generally tidied/ dusted etc. I thought COVID meant that Christmas was cancelled but no its all systems go and when was I going to do my bit. 

Well they can't complain I have and here are the photos to prove it. Glengarriff has been spruced up and the piles of plastic bits tools, brushes paint pots etc tidied away. In addition the new layout is coming on. I can't really lay any track until the viaduct is constructed as I am planning on open topped girder spans with the rails supported on longitudinal beams laid on stone piers.

 

[Irishswissernie]

I wasn't going to get a black n Tan 121 but thinking that in a couple of years time I will probably wish I had; thought better of it.

This is the 'Insurance' shot. All locos arrived safely with only one loose coupling across the deliveries. I'm thinking that if I go the same way with the A Class I might have to rebuild Glengarriff as a Diesel depot. Well no! I prefer the countryside.

Edited December 23, 2020 by Irishswissernie

[burnthebox]

OK GM, you worked on the railways, go on admit it, no wonder those loco’s are all in line, pulling traffic up & down, there real loco’s aren’t they, aren’t they...  still can’t pick you out in any cab.....
BTB

 

[Patrick Davey]

Jeepers - 10 121s............ gulp.......

[Brack]

Dad - thought I'd report this on your thread (given this is your commission).

 

Progress...

(The other 2 are in various stages of painting).

 

I've begun to remove flash from the cattle wagon parts, put a few of the sides in hot water for 5 mins then under a big flat lump (actually a NEMA23 stepper motor, but it was weighty, flat and next to me when I needed a weight) for a few days.

 

Cant say I love batch building, especially the brake gear!

 

The supplied thin staples for the door springs were a pain - you're supposed to do 2 staples together so they're wide enough, but every time I tried to trim or bend a pair they would split and separate somewhere. A look in the tool cupboard turned up some Stanley 6mm heavy duty staples which are the correct width to use as single staples, a bit thicker, but I think they look alright, and they're certainly more robust.

 

They're not quite finished yet - when the brown wash I used to suggest rust dries I'll do a little work with weathering powders.

[Galteemore]

Those look great ! 

[Irishswissernie]

Thanks Alan,

They look great and hopefully I can come over and collect them once lock down ends - possibly before the arrival of the A Class locos.

I've actually done a bit of modelling this weekend. This is the road bridge at Four Masters under construction. This will form the backdrop to the girder railway viaduct which is planned to have an open deck hence it will have to be built before any tracklaying on the extension from Glengarriff can be laid

Edited February 28, 2021 by Irishswissernie

[Brack]

Thanks all - the kits themselves are nicely made, and theres a lot of texture to the wagons in terms of rivets, strapping and corrugations, so painting is just highlighting what is already there, if that makes sense.

The instructions describe using diluted b&q tester pots of paint. I didnt fancy that! Working from photos the wagons seem to have been unpainted, but the zinc galvanisation weathers to a slightly blue light grey. I used a can of u-pol acid etch primer (it works fine on plastics, and gives a much lighter gray and slightly finer finish than standard halfords gray primer) which looked about right for the base colour.

The underframes were originally painted. I mixed up some lner wagon grey, a bit of br bauxite and a few drops of black and put a few drops of water in to thin it a bit, then smeared it over the underframe. As each brush load of this was used, the drying remnants were used to dry brush the rivets on the wagon bodies. A few spots of corrosion were dry brushed on in bauxite. Looking at photos the bottom of the bodies and where the rivets were takes on a slightly brown colour where the rust stains it, this was done by putting army painter soft tone wash on those bits (not all over as you might often use a toning wash). This allows you to make the corrosion slightly different on each wagon.

On our allowed christmas visit I was handed a bunch of kits to build for Dad - following the 4 opens there are 3 cattle wagons and a van to build. 4 wagons finished in 2 months is pretty good going for my modelling these days, but hopefully i can get the rest finished a little quicker! These arent my first irish models - a few years back i built dad a few of the ssm/dapol tank wagons and produced a rake of 11 bubbles using Dapol prestwin kits, my own 3d printed bodies and the ssm detail etch, before they became available rtr, which obviously look better than my efforts, but don't smell as minty (that nice cement effect is toothpaste/water).

At some point I'll get more done on the sligo tanks as well.

[Irishswissernie]

The railway viaduct over the Dowes River at Four Masters Bridge under construction. I am constructing the deck first and then building up the piers to meet it. Hopefully this will avoid messing up the track levelling.

[Irishswissernie]

The Drowes River Bridge Deck is ready for painting so I took a few photos to check out the layout sight lines.

Edited March 8, 2021 by Irishswissernie
Missed the 'R's out of Drowes River - Its an age thing when you get past your 3 score + 10 men often have problems with their 'R's !

[Irishswissernie]

The Drowes River viaduct at Four Masters Bridge is now awaiting painting. Its still in 7 separate pieces to facilitate painting. Just chanced putting a wagon on it rather than a pair of 121's

Construction is Plasticard, Plastruct  odd bits of wood and plaster hole filler. 

[David Holman]

Nice one. Will certainly look forward to seeing it in situ.

[Noel]

Stunning

[Galteemore]

Shades of Owencarrow or Gleesk. Very nice.

[the Bandon tank]

That looks super.

[JasonB]

On 10/3/2021 at 1:45 PM, Irishswissernie said:

 

Excellent build. Impressive looking structure. 

[Irishswissernie]

Drowes River Bridge basic painting now completed. 

 

[Galteemore]

Suitably green after that west of Ireland dampness. Nice work.

[jhb171achill]

Looks brilliant, Ernie - excellent stuff.

[the Bandon tank]

I love the overgrowth on the top of the bridge supports.

[burnthebox]

Hi  Irishswissernie & I hope you won’t mind me asking you about the size of this layout, as I had planned a layout similar to yours, but life got in the way.   Anyway can you please tell me what’s the length & width of this layout, I do notice that one side is wider than the other, & if you don’t mind would you send the details in ft. & in. please btw that’s a mega looking setup you have, & modelling skills,

Paul

[Irishswissernie]

Hi Paul, the original layout containing Glengarriff and the fiddle yard etc is 10 feet x 5ft-3 ins . There are 6 baseboards. 2 end boards 5'-3'' x 2'. these are separated by the main fiddle (1ft wide) and the back fiddle yard (6'' wide) They are 6 ft long. These 4 boards have no scenery on and if the layout was dismantled could be transported relatively easily. In front of the back fiddle yard are the scenic boards for Glengarriff each 3ft long x 2 ft wide. They were designed to be taken out and could be stored box-like screwed together facing each other. It is possible to run trains without the scenic sections in place as the continuous run still exists. One other criteria was that I  sometimes want to run long trains so the 3 longest fiddle yard loops can hold a 20 wagon + 2 baby GM's. The longest loop will hold 10 Tara's and 8 Fertilisers at the same time.

The operating well is therefore 6 ft x 20 inchs - not very wide but neither am I! 

The original idea with the removable scenic part was so that I could build other boards displaying different scenarios covering my NER/Scottish models and possibly USA or 7mm narrow gauge without having to build a lot more fiddle yards etc. 

This concept however has been modified owing to the passage of time and a consequent lack of cooperation from my knees and back!

I decided therefore to give up on the switching scenic boards idea and instead build an extension which could also include more elaborate scenery. Four Masters Bridge is the result. L shaped 5ft x 8ft.

Maximum overall layout size is 15 feet x 8 feet. This extension is dual purpose, Irish modelling wise it is the Sligo & Donegal Junction railway but it will also serve as a station on the Caledonian & North Eastern Junction railway a direct line from Morpeth then over the Border into Scotland to Carstairs on the West Coast Mainline. This will be late steam early diesel in both Irish and UK formats. The scenery in both areas is very similar.

There will be some loss of the original fiddle yard capacity when operating in S&DJ or C&NE format but this will be offset by a new 7 road fiddle yard at Four Masters.

Hired a drone to take some views from up in the rafters.

 

Edited March 17, 2021 by Irishswissernie

[Brack]

And then there were 4...

Who knows, might even have your Vans built by the time you're allowed to come and get them!

(The second tanktainer is now fully stripped and ready for the second attempt at painting).

 

 

Edited March 17, 2021 by Brack

[Irishswissernie]

Looking good Alan. Started on the last bridge for Four Masters (Small railway overbridge over a minor road) Hopefully might have some track laid  by the Summer Hols!

Just watched a program called "Walk The Line" at 7pm on BBC4. Belcoo via Enniskillen to Bundoran. Had some shots of SLNCR & GNRI including film. Not sure what films of a WT and some colour Dundalk Newry & Greenore (I think) were doing in it though. Plus no scenes of the Sligo & Donegal Junction. Its just vanished , air brushed from memory 

Edited March 17, 2021 by Irishswissernie

[Irishswissernie]

Four Masters Bridge. The rail bridge over Edenville Road is now awaiting painting and here are a couple of shots showing their position on the layout.

Also just arrived today S&DJR No. 5 from OOWorks

Edited March 20, 2021 by Irishswissernie

[jhb171achill]

Is that one of Roderick’s CBSCR tanks, the GSR 472 class?

[Irishswissernie]

It is. He has listed them on E Bay (all 3 liveries) at £280  which is a £1 more than his web site but then on E Bay I get 280 Nectar points so save 40P! Postage £9 UK Special Delivery. He has listed 2 more green ones available. Purchased Thursday, posted friday, left on the step this morning as the van roared off into the distance.

I don't know how clued up OO Works are on selling to the EU so deducting VAT (They may be too small to be VAT registered even) So it may be an idea for someone in the EU  to check out if E Bay does this on the Global Shipping Program for this particular model.

Nice  heavy loco which negotiates 17 inch curves and points.

Edited March 20, 2021 by Irishswissernie

[DART8118]

Nice one.  Would you know what tender goes with that and how suitable is it for converting to DCC?