Gort Station

[Noel]

For next winter I've been pondering the idea of doing a smaller portable layout loosely based on Gort station around 1970.  Rough track diagram below which has already been highly compressed but still requires nearly 8ft on two 18" x 4' base boards joined end to end. EDIT: ended up as two 5ft x 2ft base boards

Snippet from OSI map

There is a fabulous photo of the station on page 29 of "Rails Through The West" from around 1970 showing a hive of goods traffic activity for what was a busy market town. Link below to photo on Ciaran Cooney's album eiretrains.com 

http://eiretrains.com/Photo_Gallery/Railway Stations G/Gort/IrishRailwayStations.html#Gort_20101216_004_CC_JA.jpg

I've been studying as many online photos as possible get a handle on the changes over the years. One of the bizarre things is it seems (unless my eyes are deceiving me) is that the water tower was dismantled and rebuilt stone by stone further back from its original position when the railway line reopened to make way for the new longer platforms. If anybody can point me to more online photos of the track layout circa 1960s and 1970s I would very much appreciate it. If I do go ahead with this I plan to use Peco code 75 flat bottom rail and electrofrog points.

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by Noel

[GNRi1959]

Noel, its a promising looking arrangement and you have captured the design well. You may have to start soon though because the Irish winter is here!

[snapper]

The water tower was moved during the renovation, possibly due to a preservation order.

This document include some great information for you,

Page 1 has scale drawings before the reopening

page 12 has detailed drawings of the signal box

Page 13 has a great set of drawings for anybody modelling a modern IE footbridge

http://gccapps.galwaycoco.ie/viewexternaldocuments/ViewPDF?ref=1387517

http://www.eplanning.ie/GalwayCC/AppFileRefDetails/08443/0

Galway Co Co Planning reference 08443

There is more information in the other planning applications but the one linked seems to be the best

The O'Dea Collection has one picture from 1969 http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000307634

And I came across this one on flickr but the entire album is worth looking at 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2018 by snapper

[Noel]

2 hours ago, snapper said:

The water tower was moved during the renovation, possibly due to a preservation order.

This document include some great information for you,

Page 1 has scale drawings before the reopening

page 12 has detailed drawings of the signal box

Page 13 has a great set of drawings for anybody modelling a modern IE footbridge

http://gccapps.galwaycoco.ie/viewexternaldocuments/ViewPDF?ref=1387517

http://www.eplanning.ie/GalwayCC/AppFileRefDetails/08443/0

Galway Co Co Planning reference 08443

There is more information in the other planning applications but the one linked seems to be the best

The O'Dea Collection has one picture from 1969 http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000307634

And I came across this one on flickr but the entire album is worth looking at 

Thank you very much for posting that @snapper. It is invaluable and your links have already solved a number of queries I had. Really appreciated. Noel

[Noel]

I've managed to compress the size a little more after looking at the drawings posted by snapper.

[Noel]

Version 5 below fits on two 4' x 18" boards. Further compression and adjustments were made last night and a little poetic license with the length of the south end of west platform.  Need to be able to get two coaches and a loco alongside without compromising the goods yard shunting, as this station was predominantly used for freight.

[Robert Shrives]

Great looking idea and with prototype being straight as a die then  an easy track lay drawing looks like set track would do well   but is to be 21mm gauge  if a micro - a thought I was having having got a set of C&L 18.83 gauges and experimenting with micrometer and washers. ..

Robert 

[snapper]

Out of interest, what planning software are you using?

[Noel]

2 hours ago, snapper said:

Out of interest, what planning software are you using?

RailModeller Pro on a mac

Version 6 of Gort track plan as it continues to evolve through iterative process. 

Edited June 20, 2018 by Noel
fixed image

[Noel]

The idea of a Gort station layout has been inspired by the iconic photos of Gort in Jonathan Beaumont and Barry Carse's wonderful book 'Rails Through The West'.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rails-Through-West-Limerick-Illustrated/dp/1780730063/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538517346&sr=8-1&keywords=rails+through+the+west

Planning for Gort layout has been proceeding with many iterations of the track layout tried and measured for rolling stock fit and shunting operations possible.  Era will be 1960 to 1974 which covers Black'n'Tan era but the odd bit of early flying snail green sneaking in.  The layout initially will be a shunting layout, with the option of adding 'roundie' loop and 3 lane fiddle yard at the back in the future in case I ever exhibit. With that in mind I have made one small change to the 1960s track plan and that is to place a point and short head shunt at the Athenry end of the station in place of the catch point that was on the original.  This would facilitate independent shunting operations from 'roundie' running on the main line by another operator. For now this will be it on two boards, the main station 5ft x 18in and 4ft x 18in (right of red line below)

Version 9 of track plan.

Photos below reproduced here with permission

Gort early 1970s with pick up goods traffic. A hint of the beginning of containerisation is evidenced by the 20ft Bell container mixed in with the 2 axle wagons just south of the water tower.

A supertrain livery Sulzer 101 class waits with empty beet train heading back towards Athenry while B130 arrives from Athenry with goods train.

Gort

This is a beginning . . . Easter is supposed to be the end?  

Edited October 2, 2018 by Noel

[jhb171achill]

Best of luck with it, Noel - it will be a masterpiece!

[Noel]

11 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

Best of luck with it, Noel - it will be a masterpiece!

Thanks JB.  Oh no pressure then. Hopefully it will be an enjoyable learning experience using new materials and techniques acquired along the journey. 

[jhb171achill]

Yes - me too with Dugort Harbour - it’s many many moons since I kit bashed or made anything!

[jhb171achill]

When I visited Gort first (on a service train) about 1975/6, it still had the old enamel GSR station sign on one platform.

[Noel]

First Gort baseboard was constructed yesterday while on a visit to WMRC club house.

Glass cloth used to strengthen the plywood joints.

[Noel]

More modular baseboards under construction. Under license from WMRC  

Cabinet maker dowels added. Now ready for glass tape to reinforce the joints.

 

Its a very long time since I made baseboards.  This alternate method is interesting yet very fast due to hot glue gun.  In the past I used to screw and glue ply baseboard surfaces to wooden framing.  I would have preferred 4x2ft boards for portability in any vehicle, but these 5x2ft will still fit in the back of many cars with the back seat folded down and despite being 5ft long they are light for carrying.

[Noel]

Some progress this evening 'testing' the viability of the track diagram. Roughly laid out old bits of track and tri-ang toy structures to get an idea if the track lengths would fit as intended and if the loops and sidings would accommodate the amount of goods wagons that I would need for shunting operations. Checked points did not straddle baseboard joins and cross members would not interfere with location of point motors underneath. 

Spend a few hours adjusting rough track positioning and lengths to see what goods wagons would fit and how shunting might operate.

As a shunting layout it fits on two 5ft x 2ft boards. Approx track positions marked and point motor holes to see if they were clear of the baseboard cross members and braces. Gort Station was primarily for goods traffic with limited passenger traffic.

Next up seal baseboards with paint, drill wiring holes, apply cork surface, seal cork with paint, and then dry assemble code 75 track to double check all fits.

EDIT: abandoned idea of cork because of its poor sound characteristics, instead went with closed cell dense foam, two layers, one over entire baseboard and a second layer for track bed. This ensures ballast glue never comes into contact with base board so no sound bridge.

Edited August 4, 2021 by Noel
Lexdysia again

[jhb171achill]

That's looking REALLY nice!

One thing though - it's seems common to see these tapered end platforms on many layouts. I know they're standard Hornby stuff, but tapered platform ends were almost unknown not only in Ireland but anywhere else, with the sole exception of where travels were converging either side.

The only example I can think of in Ireland is the south end of the Loop Junction Platform (still extant, of course) at Downpatrick.

[PJR]

Looking forward to this layout developing

 

[Noel]

5 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

That's looking REALLY nice!

One thing though - it's seems common to see these tapered end platforms on many layouts. I know they're standard Hornby stuff, but tapered platform ends were almost unknown not only in Ireland but anywhere else, with the sole exception of where travels were converging either side.

The only example I can think of in Ireland is the south end of the Loop Junction Platform (still extant, of course) at Downpatrick.

Hi JB, Thanks, yes I knew that, I just chucked bits to approximate where the real ramps will go for sizing.  The ramps will be as per the track diagram and not tapered.  

PS: And there will be no Hornby toy bits allowed on Gort!  

[jhb171achill]

2 minutes ago, Noel said:

............And there will be no Hornby toy bits allowed on Gort!  

Excellent!!!!

So no class 08 shunters, James the engine of colour, or Flying Scotsmen either!

[Noel]

8 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Excellent!!!!

So no class 08 shunters, James the engine of colour, or Flying Scotsmen either!

No indeed. Most of the structures will have to be scatch built or kit-bashed.  Platforms will be scratch built. B&T B141s will be the order of the day.

PS: But I might run a Black'n'Tan livery GM 201 class through it just for fun.  

[jhb171achill]

Shabby grey J15s (and a few Midland gems from Mayner) and BnT 141s will also be the order of the day at Dugort Harbour, which takes shape as we speak in the workshop of Baseboard Dave. I have one black "C", though I'm on the lookout for a decent green one too.

[Mayner]

I  always had a soft spot for Gort, most of the yard was retained and used for storing redundant wagons after the end of wagon load traffic. A lot of cement and possibly fertiliser traffic in later years appears to have been in connection with the merchants yard which was at a lower level than the railway, I remember watching a forklift off loading bagged cement off a train parked on the main line and delivering the pallets direct to the merchants yard.

Adding a head shunt improves the operationally flexibility of the station as a train from the Athenry direction can now enter the Ardrahan-Gort section while a train is shunting the yard. I would be inclined to reverse the crossover from the main line to the yard to allow a train from Limerick to run directly into the headshunt/layby and shunt clear of the main line. A further crossover controlled by a ground frame could be added further out to allow North bound goods trains to depart without setting back into the station. There was a similar arrangement for south bound cattle specials from the Up yard in Tuam

This allows two trains to cross at the station while a goods is recessed in the layby or shunting the yard, a common arrangement on the Galway Line and Mayo Road. Goods yard head shunts were fairly uncommon on the Limerick-Sligo line, Ennis & Tuam being the main exceptions, I guess traffic traffic levels never justified the investment.

[Noel]

8 hours ago, Mayner said:

I  always had a soft spot for Gort, most of the yard was retained and used for storing redundant wagons after the end of wagon load traffic. A lot of cement and possibly fertiliser traffic in later years appears to have been in connection with the merchants yard which was at a lower level than the railway, I remember watching a forklift off loading bagged cement off a train parked on the main line and delivering the pallets direct to the merchants yard.

Adding a head shunt improves the operationally flexibility of the station as a train from the Athenry direction can now enter the Ardrahan-Gort section while a train is shunting the yard. I would be inclined to reverse the crossover from the main line to the yard to allow a train from Limerick to run directly into the headshunt/layby and shunt clear of the main line. A further crossover controlled by a ground frame could be added further out to allow North bound goods trains to depart without setting back into the station. There was a similar arrangement for south bound cattle specials from the Up yard in Tuam

This allows two trains to cross at the station while a goods is recessed in the layby or shunting the yard, a common arrangement on the Galway Line and Mayo Road. Goods yard head shunts were fairly uncommon on the Limerick-Sligo line, Ennis & Tuam being the main exceptions, I guess traffic traffic levels never justified the investment.

Hi John. Thanks for the suggestion and it makes a lot of sense. I am already considering not proceeding with the head shunt I added to the plan and instead revert to my original track plan with just the authentic catch point. Gort had unusual shunting arrangements on the main line with traffic coming from the Athenry direction, hence the unusual goods loop which allowed a loco  coming from Athenry to drop off a few leading wagons in front of goods shed and run around back to the main line, coupling up to the train and then proceeding on to Ennis and Limerick. Traffic coming from Limerick/Ennis direction used the main loop to uncouple from train allowing loco to simply shunt a few leading wagons by reversing them into the goods yard from the main line. I presume the driver would have needed the staff to do this movement unless there was another outer home signal a few hundred meters NE towards Athenry, but I can’t find any evidence of that. Reciprocal movements when picking up wagons. 

Edited October 19, 2018 by Noel

[jhb171achill]

I will ask Barry Carse. He knows of the procedures there.

[Noel]

Verified and adjusted track positioning was marked on the ply baseboards, then transposed onto grease proof paper roll in advance of the baseboards being sealed with grey primer.

Edited October 20, 2018 by Noel

[Noel]

Gort update. Baseboards completed, trestle mounts in place, ready to transpose track layout from grease proof paper on to painted baseboard surface ready for closed cell foam track bed cutting. I elected to use common 'saw horses' as baseboard trestles as they are light, fold flat and saved me a lot of effort making them from 2x1 timber. Believe it or not the came from Amazon UK with free post and arrived 48hrs after ordered. Now everything is ready to get going proper.

Baseboards now stable on trestles ready for next phases of work to proceed

Trestle tops fit snugly into grooves under plywood baseboards. Each baseboard is 5ftx2ft and made out of ply using WMRC system,

Gort track plan. Designed to function end to end as a shunting layout but with the future option of adding a roundie loop to join the Athenry and Limerick ends.

Before the baseboards were painted I had roughly test laid some track dry to check rolling stock formation lengths in loops and sidings, transposed same on to grease proof paper so it could be transferred back onto baseboards after painting. Now to lay the closed cell foam track bed underlay.

This photo was taken about 8 weeks ago when I loosely arranged track to to test length of loops, sidings, etc against rolling stock formations to see such would fit and ensure points would not sit over baseboard crossmembers underneath (ie so point motors would be unencumbered). After this track positions noted on baseboard top, then transposed on to grease proof paper for later re-instatement.

 

[PJR]

Looks great Noel. Looking forward to seeing more postings about this layout.

[Noel]

I was all set to attack the layout today with track laying, etc, BUT sense prevailed and I decided a delay was necessary to seal and paint the undersides of the base boards. Less haste now could save more time in the future. I'm usually itching to get some track down and trains running.

• This will make them more moisture resistant, more stable and therefore less prone to warping over extended periods of time
• help seal the glass fibre tape bonds a little more where there had been any dry patches from the PVA.
• provid a sealed underside surface for using double sided tape, etc, to help align point motors, and glue cable ties to the underside of the baseboards, etc.

[StevieB]

Looking very good. I particularly like the trestles.

Stephen

[Noel]

Platforms under construction. It's easier to lay tracks against existing structures for clearances, etc, than size structures to fit track afterwards.

[Noel]

This is the usual method I have used in the past to make platforms using Peco edging and plastic card sheet cut to shape and size. I'm planning to face them with rough stone sheeting to give that rural west of Ireland granite look.

[Noel]

Revised track plan. This will operate initially as an end to end shunting layout but may eventually have a loop around the back for continuous running with a 3 lane fiddle yard out of sight. Loads of operating potential for typical 1960s to early 70s pick up goods traffic before the great bogie and container infestation  

[NIR]

One of my mother's big childhood memories was a train journey from her local station Ballyglunin to Gort, I have memories of Tuam station myself from the period you are modelling so I'll be following this. Strangely enough I notice Gort goods yard is pretty much the same trackplan as my own proposed layout, so thanks, now I know it actually works!

Edited March 25, 2019 by NIR