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

[Brack]

42 minutes ago, Irishswissernie said:

plus Alan has now completed the Provincial wagons cattle trucks

Family effort - I got beth to paint the snails and numbers as she has steadier hands, then eleanor did the washes and weathering on two of them (under supervision).

[JasonB]

7 hours ago, Irishswissernie said:

 

I always enjoy watching areas develop on this layout. Lovely stuff. 

[Irishswissernie]

I hope to crack on with Four Masters station building over the next few days providing if COVD strikes it will not be to severe.

[Irishswissernie]

A bit more done to Four Masters station buildings

[Irishswissernie]

Not getting much done due to Doctors, Hospital appointments etc plus the main PC is still knackered, however I have finished Four Masters station Building although the paintwork is a bit ropey. Livery is the original Sligo & Donegal Junction railway blue.

Edited January 24, 2022 by Irishswissernie

[Irishswissernie]

Not much progress in 2022 on Glengarriff & Four Masters Bridge due in part to various 'holidays' courtesy of the NHS but also because to keep me occupied I am cataloguing and identifying several thousand negatives from the 1930's to the 1960's where the information is recorded on the back of prints  but with no links to the relative negative.

This view shows the solution; I have scanned the negatives sleeve by sleeve to give me a positive which can be enlarged on the PC to assist in matching the print. Also in view is my study which has now been re-arranged to provide a 4 feet  x 2' -6'' space for a 009 layout basically a roundy-roundy . 2 Ffestiniog Peco/kato small 0-4-0stt arrived yesterday to go with my Double Fairlie. Construction will have to wait until the prints/negs task is completed.

Finally a couple of views of the Ballyshannon-Sligo Local behind 124 & 192 crossing the Drowes River.

[Irishswissernie]

Its hard to believe but here are views from some 70 years ago of Sligo & Donegal Junction Railway No 5 on the morning Ballyshannon Goods crossing the Drowes River.

 

[StevieB]

Lubbly jubbly.

Stephen

[jhb171achill]

On 2/7/2021 at 7:07 AM, Irishswissernie said:

Propelling wagons into the Mill siding. I just missed the train arriving from Ballyshannon and managed to catch a view of the loco on the bridge as it reversed in to the siding with the 3 wagons.

Same as happened on the Barrack St branch in Dundalk right until the end….

[Irishswissernie]

Having cleared the decks of several thousand negatives (well nearly - some 100+ Irish due this week) I think its time to crack on with Ballyshannon S&DJR aka Alum Bay and to this end the board has been moved from the loft to my den where I can at least sit down whilst constructing buildings etc. I have more or less worked out buildings etc so hopefully can now crack on with construction.

[Irishswissernie]

Scenics etc have commenced on Ballyshannon (Donegal Junction) station.

[Irishswissernie]

A bit more done; ground formation and rough back scene painting, on Ballyshannon (Donegal Junction) station. As it also has to double as Alum Bay the stock illustrated is great Southern rather than Great Southern!

[Irishswissernie]

Back in the day the Sligo & Donegal Junction Railway in a desperate attempt to stave off buying diesels purchased third hand No 49 ex GNRI 149. Now do I weather it and re-number it, it had already lost the '1' so it might now lose the '4' and become S&DJR No 9.

[StevieB]

It looks so at home.

Stephen

[Irishswissernie]

The Magnesite wagons redundant after the closure of Ballinacourty were transferred to the S&DJR and here we have a couple of views of 036 at Glengarriff and on the Drowes River Bridge with one of the first trains.

 

[StevieB]

What traffic are the redundant magnesite wagons being used for on the SDJR.

Stephen

[Irishswissernie]

I think its some kind of Barytes. There are huge deposits along both shores of Lough Melvin. The first deposits were discovered near Garrison which is now in Northern Ireland and thus when the S&DJR was built it subsequently ended up being a cross-border railway and remained independent. The Garrison branch was truncated in the 1950's and no longer crosses the Border, however the S&DJR remained independent working its own lines until the mid 1970's sustained mainly by the mineral traffic. As the steam locos wore out Irishrail diesels increasingly took over the traffic working particularly as after partition freight traffic through to Ballyshannon and County Donegal had grown. The S&DJR owners have now contracted all traffic working to Irishrail.

Whilst writing this rubbish I should perhaps also point out that the Glengarriff in the above photos is the Glengarriff at the mouth of Gleniff and not the one in County Cork which appears in many of the earlier photos on this thread. The two stations are remarkably similar though.

[leslie10646]

Ernie

Garrison Branch?

I wonder if my Dad used it much getting to his barrack at Garrison as a constable in the RUC in the late 1930s and early years of WW2 (that bit is true!). Model railways are great - we can make the story up as we go .......

The layout looks great. That river bridge is very nicely done.

Edited July 22, 2022 by leslie10646

[Mike 84C]

I wonder how many of us on this thread read S&DJR and thoughts of a well known cross country line in the south of England spring to mind?  I know I do!  

[Irishswissernie]

The initials came in handy when I was looking for transfers to letter up the rolling stock - not that I have done any yet!

[JasonB]

On 21/7/2022 at 8:33 AM, Irishswissernie said:

The Magnesite wagons redundant after the closure of Ballinacourty were transferred to the S&DJR and here we have a couple of views of 036 at Glengarriff and on the Drowes River Bridge with one of the first trains.

What a fantastic shot. Love it. 

[Irishswissernie]

Rumbling dis-content on the S&DJR!

In the 1960's the S&DJR management were intent on sticking with steam power and had picked up ex GNRI 205 on withdrawal by NIR. The loco was a favourite of the then Loco Superintendent and was restored to its GNRI livery and properly maintained. A few years later he learnt that NIR had withdrawn UG 0-6-0 49 ex GNR 149 and accordingly, as mechanically he thought it shared many features with the 4-4-0, he persuaded the Board to acquire it too rather than invest in more expensive new diesels.

Hurriedly placed into service it soon became apparent that 49 or 9 on the S&DJR was basically past it, however increasing traffic and some difficulty in hiring further CIE diesels meant that it had to soldier on. S&D Loco crews were becoming increasingly dis-contented with having to continue with steam, especially when comparing their lot with colleagues on the diesels and No. 9 bore the brunt of their disenchantment.

The writing for steam was on the wall and here we have No 9 paused whilst shunting the local trip, sharing a brew with their luckier mates on A3r.

[Galteemore]

Excellent. 49 was a real pet loco in the last days of steam and very smartly turned out on occasions, complete with white buffers. The two UGs were the last tender locos to be in steam in NI in company service. Photo link from Flickr 

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by Galteemore

[jhb171achill]

On 9/8/2022 at 6:50 PM, Galteemore said:

Excellent. 49 was a real pet loco in the last days of steam and very smartly turned out on occasions, complete with white buffers. The two UGs were the last tender locos to be in steam in NI in company service. Photo link from Flickr 

 

I remember them well! My last sighting of them was the two of them parked up together in Adelaide, I would guess maybe 1966.

[Galteemore]

On 9/8/2022 at 1:21 PM, Irishswissernie said:

Rumbling dis-content on the S&DJR!

In the 1960's the S&DJR management were intent on sticking with steam power and had picked up ex GNRI 205 on withdrawal by NIR. The loco was a favourite of the then Loco Superintendent and was restored to its GNRI livery and properly maintained. A few years later he learnt that NIR had withdrawn UG 0-6-0 49 ex GNR 149 and accordingly, as mechanically he thought it shared many features with the 4-4-0, he persuaded the Board to acquire it too rather than invest in more expensive new diesels.

Hurriedly placed into service it soon became apparent that 49 or 9 on the S&DJR was basically past it, however increasing traffic and some difficulty in hiring further CIE diesels meant that it had to soldier on. S&D Loco crews were becoming increasingly dis-contented with having to continue with steam, especially when comparing their lot with colleagues on the diesels and No. 9 bore the brunt of their disenchantment.

The writing for steam was on the wall and here we have No 9 paused whilst shunting the local trip, sharing a brew with their luckier mates on A3r.

This has sent me down a nice byway. UG 48 was sent to York Road in 1967 to assist 27 in pilot duties. On steaming, however, it was too far gone to be of any use. History repeating itself perhaps, Ernie! 

Edited August 13, 2022 by Galteemore

[Irishswissernie]

I have been weathering although my eyes (well the one that works a bit)  is not quite what it was but here are a few views  from the early 60's at Glengarriff (Co Sligo)

Edited August 16, 2022 by Irishswissernie

[Billycan]

The litter on the apron looks so realistic.  Great photos.

[Irishswissernie]

I have added a couple more JM Design wagons, pictured here behind A30 along with a few others from the same stable. They await adulteration er painting etc.

 

 

[jhb171achill]

Outstanding stuff, Ernie.

[Rob]

The viaduct looks top class

[Irishswissernie]

A set of the Hattons 'Generic' 6 wheel coaches arrived today which will be re-lettered for the Sligo & Donegal Junction. 

[Irishswissernie]

I've been experimenting with taking stills off the old Sligo & Donegal narrow gauge layout video. 

A bit dangerous as I'm now getting the urge to build another but probably not a good idea now.!

[David Holman]

Doing a few track plans helps me. It either develops the idea, or just scratches an itch! With me, the Swilly periodically comes up - not helped at the weekend by new books on the Donegal Society stand!

[Irishswissernie]

A quick visit to Glengarriff today .

 

[Irishswissernie]

Class 201 appear occasionally on the Sligo & Donegal line. Here is 203 with a Fertiliser Special crossing the Drowes River.

I have decided to concentrate on 2 eras steam/early diesel and circa 1990-2000 so 3 Class A's and a 121 are for sale in the ADVERTS. The latest batch of fertilisers have finally arrived today in the UK outback; (unfortunately one wagon had a broken bogie pivot in the box so I will be contacting IRM to get it sorted.