Belmullet

[David Holman]

All gleaned from the good Mr Gravett. If you've seen Arun Quay, you'd never believe there was a join down the middle, such is the way he's used the car body filler.

 There's always Iain Rice's jigsaw joins, but they don't lend themselves to crating up for transport.

[Broadstone]

I read in the Irish Times earlier this week (my Wife has a subscription and it's a very good newspaper) that Belmullet has the highest rate of Covid in the the Republic at the moment!

Nothing to do with railway of course but I thought you might be interested.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/coronavirus-search-belmullet-still-has-highest-rate-but-how-is-covid-19-spreading-in-your-area-1.4470444 

[David Holman]

The rate was over 1300 in my part of Kent recently, though in East Sheppey, they topped 2500. There are three prisons there though! By the by, the local accent there is known as 'Swampy', while a full 'sleeve' type tattoo is known as a 'Sheppey Arm Warmer'  in these parts, so it's not just Kerrymen who come in for some stick!

[David Holman]

1900s trains

 It's been a while since I shared some photos of Belmullet, so here are a few photos of the trains I'm assembling for the 1900s period.  Whether I'm at home, or at exhibitions, I like my trains to have a real purpose, which in turn helps to assemble rakes that I hope are representative of both the period and local area. Belmullet is imagined to be served by no less than four 'pre-grouping' companies [rather like Sligo], so we have the SLNCR, WL&WR, MGWR and GS&WR.

 First up is a freight from the Sligo Leitrim. Harbour branch loco 'Lark' [aka Timoleague & Courtmacsherry's St Mologa] brings coal wagons up from the quay, then Small Tank Fermanagh arrives with a rake of cattle wagons. While Fermanagh goes on shed for turning & servicing, Lark shunts the two trains, so that the coal can go back towards Ballina and the cattle vans go down to the harbour. The two rakes rotate, turn and turn about - so it is either coal coming in by sea for domestic use, or arriving from the Arigna mines for use in either the distillery or by local shipping.

 The second freight is a mixed one, hauled by my Coey 101 class 0-6-0. This serves the station goods shed and is made up of wagons from different companies. At the moment, I'm experimenting with using Lark as the station pilot/shunter. Being small, it is ideal for shuffling wagons about, with the return trip eventually departing from the bay. Currently, most wagons are Sligo Leitrim, but the plan is to build one or two from GSWR, MGWR and WL&WR, plus a DSER short van is also underway. Rails to Achill has a photo of one of these, so I reason it could have made it to Belmullet as well.

 As for passenger traffic, we have the MGWR Mail Goods, plus a two coach GS&WR train. The 101 is doubling up on this for now, but eventually I hope to build either an F6 2-4-2T or another        4-4-0, maybe one of the 6'6 versions. There is also the WL&WR Mail Goods, but photos of that are on my workshop thread, from last week.

 Running trains has thrown up a few problems. One of the point motors needs adjusting, for some reason the turntable is not sending power to the track, plus the new signals need linking to the control panel. This will mean getting to the underside of the baseboards, which is always a pain, though with the hope that we may yet be getting back to exhibitions later in the year, there will be further work required to ensure the layout is both presentable and transportable, so the bullet needs biting...

[David Holman]

It is either a Sunday, or [as per jhbachill], there are a number of special trains that have just arrived and their locos are on shed for servicing. Either way, a few pictures of the newly installed and bedded in turntable

[jhb171achill]

That last pic - PURE Achill!!!! Turntable an'all!

Absolutely beautiful - top class in every respect. Wow factor.....

[David Holman]

The last couple of weeks have been busy with other stuff, including the need to get Fintonagh ready for the Bexhill Show, but attention now turns to ensuring Belmullet is ready for its debut at Uckfield on 16th & 17th October. At least, that is the plan anyway. Hence, the turntable has been bedded into the surrounding scenery, while I've done bits and pieces to disguise the baseboard joins. In addition, the leading edge of the baseboards has been given a hedgerow border, the latter made from rubberised horsehair covered in scatter material.

 In order to make the layout presentable, the front will be given a pelmet and side wings to frame the scene, while skyboards will raise the rear scenery by about 30cm. These will all be separate pieces that will need to break down for transport. Speaking of which, I also need to ensure the layout will fit in the car. This is a Skoda Karoq, which has removable rear seats, effectively turning it into a small van. However, with the baseboards crated up in pairs, plus trestles and supporting beams, pelmets, lighting and information boards at the front, some careful planning is needed - especially as, in having the layout with two distinct operating periods, there is quite a lot of stock to take with me too. It is at times like this, I find myself envying Angus and his 5p workbench as I'm looking at around 18-20 A4 box files.

[Noel]

That'a absolutely gorgeous David. Sublime and the track work is stunning. Reeks of atmosphere. Subtle blending of all the elements. Love the back scene too, fits in really well. Hats off. 

[David Holman]

Presentation & Transport

 Taking a layout to exhibitions is a curious form of madness. You spend hundreds of hours making the thing, only to separate it into parts, load it in a car or van & then bump it across the country to the venue, before [only a few hours later] doing the whole thing again to get home.

 The last few weeks have been working towards all this, so have included a few photos of what I do, mostly based on many years hard experience and watching what other do too. I think my ideal layout would either be an inflatable one, or maybe like a pop up book - quick to set up and take down, so you are on your way home almost as the last punter departs! The reality is that getting set up inside an hour and being on the way home in half of that is about as good as it gets. Larger layouts can easily take two or three times that, even with a big crew.

 Setting up Belmullet is as follows:

• It starts with two adjustable steel decorator's trestles on to which are placed two long [T section] beams. Being over 3.5m long, these break down into shorter sections for transport.
• The four baseboards are crated up in pairs, using 6mm plywood rectangles. Once separated, the middle scenic board goes on the beams first, followed by the two outer ones. Alignment is by pattern maker's dowels and M6 bolts and wing nuts hold everything together.
• The fiddle yard board, which has its own fold down legs, is then bolted on. After, the five 'skyboards' are bolted to the back and ends of the scenic sections
• Lighting comes next. There are two folding brackets covering the two scenic baseboard joints, with a plywood panel on the front at each end. The former go on with quick mount plates, the later are bolted. Three pelmets, with integral LED light strip are fitted with QM plates. then a second strip of LEDs is added above the centre line of the layout.
• The drapes go on next, to hide the underside of the layout, then three display boards, with info about the layout and models are added to the front.
• Underneath, all the electrical connections need to be plugged together and likewise the control panel and loco controller

 All this, along with four large shopping bags holding the stock boxes, plus what I call the 'sundries crate' [full of odds and ends, plus various transformers] and the all important tool box, has to fit in the car. In my case, this is a Skoda Karoq which, once the rear seats are removed, assumes van like proportions. However, as the last few photos show, space it tight!

[Galteemore]

Looks great David and thanks for the reminder to those of us who are mostly show ‘consumers’ of just what it takes to put on a show. Hope Mrs H appreciated having such a quality layout erected in her home - what a privilege! 

[David Holman]

Bit of negotiation always needed beforehand and to be fair, this only happens as a first time set up. It is just too much of a pain to lug everything out of the workshop. 

[David Holman]

Rehearsals

 After so much time working with my early 1900s stock, it has been nice to get out the 1950s stuff from the original Arigna Town layout, as part of the first phase of operational practice for Uckfield.     So, we have mainly SLNCR stock, alongside 1950s CIE. Most of this has been pretty well 'run in' over 30+ shows, so it has been a pleasure to see how well the locos operate again. 

 When developing an operating sequence to use at exhibitions, I like to keep things fairly simple - so complex shunting moves are [mostly] out and instead we have a steady flow of trains in & out of the station, occasionally aiming to have two on scene at once. I've standardised on Dingham auto couplings, and though these work pretty well, things are complicated by the fact that the fiddle yard is a turntable, while locos also get turned in the station. Hence the Dingham method of having a hook on one vehicle, latching onto a loop on its neighbour doesn't always work and it is very easy to have two loops or two hooks face to face - not good at all...

 Ultimately, passenger trains work well enough, with a hook on the loco and loops on each of the end vehicles, so electro magnets can be used as uncouplers. The same applies to rakes of freight vehicles - an incoming goods has hooks on each end of the brake van and a rake of wagons can be easily swapped over [three links in between each rake]. Where it all falls down is when you want to shunt individual wagons off a train, in this case the 'mixed fish', where I want the J19 to be able to  move the brake van from one end of the train to the other, dropping off a van in the bay and picking up a new one. Despite many furrowed brows [and even more rude words], I have yet to come up with a sequence that only uses magnetic uncouplers, so for this train three links and the shaky hand still rule. Perhaps I'll set a challenge, to see if anyone out there can come up with a solutions. In the meantime, here are a dozen or so photos of what will be on show at Uckfield in a month's time. Trains are as follows:

• SLNCR goods, with 0-6-4T Hazlewood swapping a rake of wagons in the good shed
• CIE passenger: G2 2-4-0, two 6w coaches and two fitted vans. This is just an out and back, but given a bit of variety by the railbus/railcar arriving at the same time
• Turf & tarps. Two trains: first the G class Deutz shunter propels tarpaulin wagons from the distillery, which are then exchanged with ancient 6w coaches converted to carry turf, brought in by the J26 0-6-0T
• SLNCR passenger: Sir Henry & two bogie coaches, meeting up the the railcar or railbus, as above
• Mixed Fish: the J19 and various vans, along with an old 'glasshouse' brake van swap a wagon with one in the bay.

 Hopefully you can see what is going on below.

[Galteemore]

Wonderful stuff David. Just full of 1950s magnificence.

[KMCE]

Pure quality.........as always.

[David Holman]

Uckfield Exhibition

 Belmullet makes its exhibition debut at the Uckfield Show this weekend. It's always worth visiting, with a very high standard of layouts and I've often said that if there was a prize for worst layout, I'd still be happy to be given it!

 Seems as though the last couple of months have been spent on little else but getting the layout ready - test running, fine tuning and making all the presentation elements such as pelmets, fascias and lighting. How effective it has all been waits to be seen - experience of over 100 shows tells me that there is nothing like dismantling your layout, loading it into the car and bouncing it over miles of tarmac is not the best recipe for reliability! There is also the constant thought that I might leave something important at home...

 The upside of all this is to meet new people, enjoy reacquainting with familiar faces and revel in the company of like minded modellers, including the all important traders. An added bonus on Saturday is that Galteemore is coming over and bringing some of his locos and stock. It is likely therefore that this will mean the largest gathering of 7mm scale, 36.75mm gauge, SLNCR stock anywhere in the world[!]. Indeed, am not sure anybody else other than us two are doing the Sligo in this scale/gauge, though there will be some of Richard Chown's stuff knocking around still of course. Anyone reading this, who can prove me wrong, is more than welcome to come along over the weekend. Running rights will be extended to anyone with 36.75mm stock.

 The idea this weekend is that we will start with the 1950s stock and change over to 1900s trains after lunch. This means I'm taking pretty much all my stock, so if there are any breakdowns, there are plenty of options. Sunday morning will carry on with the 1900s finishing off with the 1950s again in the afternoon.

 The photos show everything crated up & ready to be loaded into the car tomorrow afternoon. There's the four baseboards, crated up in pairs; all the presentation and lighting stuff comes next, then there are five bags of stock boxes. Finally there is a bag of all the electrical stuff [transformers, extension leads, controllers and the like] along with the all important tool box and what I call the Sundries Box, which includes everything from bits of hardboard for levelling the layout, drapes, meths [for track cleaning] and the vital box of bolts and screws that will hold everything together. On a trial run a few weeks ago, everything fitted in, but looking at it now, I still have my doubts. Wish us luck!

[KMCE]

That is some collection of material - hope it all fits & best of luck with the show.

Most importantly - have fun!

[Galteemore]

Looking forward to it David. ‘Enniskillen’, of course, has developed a significant fault tonight which I have spent much time fettling. She will need a new driving wheel in due course but a bodged repair has been done. She’s been cleaned and lubed and currently purring away up on blocks….hopefully she’ll behave ! 

[Broadstone]

I would love to be able to visit this show  and see Belmullet David, having been a great admirer of Arigna Town. And I would of course bring some Irish 36.75mm stock. But I'm a long way, away and in any case doing the York Marathon on Sunday. I hope the show goes well, I'm sure it will. Best wishes, Paul (Broadstone).

[David Holman]

Thanks Paul. Hope the marathon goes well. Good training for a weekend of exhbiting!

[Galteemore]

Well, what a fantastic day that was. As a guest - and very incompetent - operator, it was such a privilege to see this layout at work. An amazing parade of locos and stock: the early stuff (which I’ve only seen in photos till now) is truly stunning. Lots of images follow….

It was great to bring some stock to air on Belmullet - even my crude little ‘Titania’ had an airing. A particular highlight for me, though, was what I think must be the first time since Oct 1957 that two ‘large tanks’ have been together! The last occasion was when Enniskillen- the final SLNC loco to be in steam - hauled a wagon clearance train past Sir Henry slumbering in Manorhamilton shed.

David very kindly let me plank my ‘lockdown loco’ on the track to meet her long lost sister. Interesting to compare their chimneys - Sir Henry sports his original Beyer one, whilst Enniskillen has the post 1950 GN tapered one. It was also enthralling  to see Sir Henry’s inside motion twirling about.As some of you know, the SLNC is practically in my DNA….so it was delightful to see so much of it today.

My loco’s overwide footsteps precluded her from the offered passenger duties but at close of play Enniskillen did try her hand at a cattle train. Do forgive my self-indulgence if she keeps photobombing these images….after a year’s work in the building, was lovely to see her on such a stage and in such company on Belmullet’s fiddle yard….

 

Thanks David - a wonderful day. If I get a second chance I’ll hopefully manage fewer gaffes - and shave Enniskillen’s footsteps to a more prototypical depth!! 

 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by Galteemore

[jhb171achill]

Truly superb!  Galteemore, I hope Mr Holman went easy on you...... !

[jhb171achill]

David, your blow-by-blow account of all that is involved in exhibiting a layout like this is truly inspirational, and I am sure that most who attend these shows haven't a clue about a fraction of what goes on in the background.

In terms of the overall concept of railway modelling as a general subject, this is something not often covered - and all the more informative for that; thank you for sharing it.

As always, absolutely stunning stuff from the Land of Holman (sorry, west Mayo!).

[Galteemore]

10 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Truly superb!  Galteemore, I hope Mr Holman went easy on you...... !

He was very patient, JB, and somehow was always looking the other way when the most egregious operational errors occurred…..

[jhb171achill]

20 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

He was very patient, JB, and somehow was always looking the other way when the most egregious operational errors occurred…..

Don't tell me that you let an ICR in there......!

[David Holman]

Report to follow, but it was great to have a fellow Sligo fan operating for the day, as well as providing lots of new info. Enniskillen every bit as good as it looks in the photos while the little single was a treat.

 Electrical problems (eventually traced to the controller plug/socket plagued much of the morning, but things settled down pm. All to do again today!

[irishmail]

32 minutes ago, David Holman said:

Report to follow, but it was great to have a fellow Sligo fan operating for the day, as well as providing lots of new info. Enniskillen every bit as good as it looks in the photos while the little single was a treat.

 Electrical problems (eventually traced to the controller plug/socket plagued much of the morning, but things settled down pm. All to do again today!

Up the Rovers! 

 

[scahalane]

Wow! I just love this layout.

[J-Mo Arts]

Very nice to meet you David, and thanks for taking the time to chat today, the layout and stock are even better in person. Those are some lovely photos of yesterday too; Galteemore's Enniskillen looks well with her sister loco. Looking forward to seeing some 3ft gauge next exhibition!

[Northroader]

Good trip to Uckfield on Sunday, and well worth it to see Belmullet, and meet David. Thanks for the craic, as they say, and I can report that the layout works as well as it looks, really smooth running from the loco fleet. Wonder what is going to appear next?

[David Holman]

Thanks folks, it was great to meet you all at Uckfield, though anyone who went on Sunday got a far better deal than Saturday...

 Got to Uckfield for opening time on the Friday evening & spent the next two and a half hours carefully setting everything up. Far too long, but I was on my own, so would hope to halve this, now I know more about what I'm doing, especially as needed another hour setting out stock and doing basic running tests on Saturday morning. It was all going well at this point, but it seemed as soon as the public came in, problems began.

 Running became increasingly erratic. At first we thought it was something to do with the single slip and indeed later discovered a stray strand of wire was creating an intermittent short on the power feed to one of the Megapoint panels. However, the real elephant in the room turned out to be my Gaugemaster hand held controller, which eventually just packed up completely. My spare is another Gaugemaster, but a more basic model which doesn't even out power delivery as well as the other, so operators were still struggling to drive the trains smoothly. At this point, I was looking round the traders to see if anyone had any controllers for sale. Coastal DCC was right next door, but my stuff is analogue...

 Suddenly there was a moment of inspiration from regular operator John - have you checked the lead to the controller plug? And there it was, a loose wire in the five pin din plug. Two minutes with the soldering iron and all was [mostly] well, apart from my nervous system that is! By now, it was lunchtime, so decided to swap the 1950s stock for the 1900s stuff. A bit of a faff, to say the least, but finally got everything changed over & ran this for the rest of Saturday and all day Sunday.  At last, things started to settle down & the only major problem after that was the failure of 0-4-2T 'Lark', which I've since found out has both a slipping main gear wheel and a broken slide bar set on one side. Substituted the J26 - wrong period, but better than the Deutz diesel!

 The highlight of Saturday was having Galteemore and his son helping to operate, while the icing on the cake was having Enniskillen and the 2-2-2T on the layout as well. Have included a few photos below, to go with theirs, along with an overall view of the layout itself, once set up.

 There are certainly things I would do differently. For starters, it is not practical to change periods part way through the day. Far better to give a whole day to one period & if it was a one day show, then it would have to be one or the other. Indeed, Friday evening setting up looks like it would be essential, while packing everything up takes time too - it was 75 minutes before I got away on Sunday. Compare that to Fintonagh, which can be set up in 45 minutes and back in the car in 15 after a show. It certainly makes you wonder.

The next appearance certainly won't be for a while. Fintonagh has several outstanding bookings to fulfil from 2020, including Allypally, Tonbridge and Nailsea. Southampton, Tonbridge and Epsom have expressed interest in Belmullet, but not until at least 2022/3. Right now, I'm looking forward to doing some modelling for a change as I haven't made anything since before the summer and have several projects I want to do.

  Once again, many thanks for all the kind comments and especially the operators, because I could not have done it without you.

[Galteemore]

You dealt with it all very graciously David / more than I would have ! As the only 7mm Irish standard gauge layout out and about these days, I do hope we see more of it - especially if you have a year in your workshop to produce a few more gems…..I do think that the time switch adds a real extra dimension to the layout but appreciate the point re allocating one period to each day. And having 2 lots of rolling stock in 7mm is a hefty transport issue! 
 

Here’s a harmless piece of nonsense that I dreamt up when I got home…. not sure how this squares with the @jhb171achillview of alternative history - but here’s Enniskillen and coach no 4 departing Rosses Point and arriving at Belmullet on the Saturdays only train…..

Edited October 18, 2021 by Galteemore

[David Holman]

Nice one!

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, Galteemore said:

You dealt with it all very graciously David / more than I would have ! As the only 7mm Irish standard gauge layout out and about these days, I do hope we see more of it - especially if you have a year in your workshop to produce a few more gems…..I do think that the time switch adds a real extra dimension to the layout but appreciate the point re allocating one period to each day. And having 2 lots of rolling stock in 7mm is a hefty transport issue! 
 

Here’s a harmless piece of nonsense that I dreamt up when I got home…. not sure how this squares with the @jhb171achillview of alternative history - but here’s Enniskillen and coach no 4 departing Rosses Point and arriving at Belmullet on the Saturdays only train…..

Crew change at Crossmolina?

[David Holman]

After much pondering, I have decided to offer Belmullet a new home, so would be keen in hearing from anyone interested in taking it over.

 In other words, it is available free of charge

 The simple reason for this is that it is 7mm scale 36.75mm gauge [correct 5'3] and while I may be willing to sell a small amount of stock [see later], essentially whoever takes it on needs to be able to build/commission their own stuff to run on it. Other things any new owner needs to be aware of are:

• The layout comprises three scenic boards, each 120cm x 62cm
• The new owner will need to build a new fiddle yard, as Belmullet's original one is now being used with Northport Quay. 
• In its intended terminus-fiddle yard mode, the overall space required will be 5m x 0.6m, although there is no reason why it couldn't be extended into something bigger.
• I live in Kent, which is a long way from Ireland, to say nothing of the expensive ferry fares. The new owner will need to collect it from my house, though it should fit in a reasonable hatchback/estate car, requiring an overall space of 120cm x 90cm x 45cm when crated up for transport. If it went to someone in the UK, I might be able to help with delivery if not too far away.
• Points and signals [with bounce effect] are worked from a custom made Megapoints panel using servos via small mother boards on the layout. This comes with its own transformer.
• For working the trains, the new owner will need to provide their own controller and transformer. The layout is wired to run from a Gaugemaster hand held unit, via a 5 pin DIN plug.
• The layout can be operated from either the front or the rear
• The layout sits on longitudinal beams [on top of kitchen base units] in my workshop, so the new owner would need to  provide their own supports
• Although originally built for my Arigna Town layout, ten years or so ago, the baseboards are structurally very sound and [since conversion to Belmullet], all the scenics were renewed and most of the buildings are only two-four years old.
• Track is Code 100 flat-bottomed rail on copper clad sleepers. Points were all made by Marcway of Sheffield, while the plain track was built by me.
• The turnable works from a simple hand cranked mechanism.

 Please note: this is not  a layout for anyone looking for an instant 'train set'. It has been built to a decent standard, requiring hundreds, if not thousands of hours, of my own time and skill. Any new owner will need to be competent in carpentry, basic electrics, soldering and general modelling skills. On this basis, it might make an interesting Club  or group project.

 The reason I am willing to let Belmullet go, is simply because I need the space in my workshop. The layout was built to be an exhibition layout, but after just a single outing, I realised it was too much effort for me to take out and it seems a shame for it not to be used.

Stock

 While, for reasons already explained, I am not asking any money for Belmullet, were I to provide any stock, this would have to be paid for, not least because locos coaches and wagons would be fairly easy to sell on and I have no intention of being that charitable!

 The items that could be for sale are as follows

• Midland Great Western J19 0-6-0. Built from an Alphagraphix/Tyrconnel brass kit. Price £300, being solely the cost of the kit, plus motor, gears and wheels
• Deutz, G class, 4 wheel diesel shunter. Built from a set of Worsley Works etches, with much added detail. Price £180, as above
• Up to 15 four wheel open wagons and vans, all scratch built by me representing SLNCR, MGW and GS&W prototypes. 
• The new owner will need to decide on their own couplings. I have used three links, Dinghams and Alex Jacksons over the years, so these vehicles currently are a mixture of the above - or none at all.
• I am willing to sell these at £15 each. Bearing in mind 7mm scale wagon wheels cost £10 per vehicle, while cast buffers, W irons and brake gear are each at least £5 a set, along with both locos, a new owner would get my time, effort and skill for free.

 So, there you are. If anyone is interested, I suggest you first look through all the posts on this thread, in order to get a feel for the layout. After that, send me a personal message if you wish to discuss things further. I need to be confident that whoever takes the layout on will be able to enjoy it and not simply someone wanting it for profit. Everything is in working order, though it has only been operated occasionally over the last two years.

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

Someone is going to have a great layout free gratis, it's such a pity that you are on the other side of the water, fair dues.