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I have already replied to the above in DJ Dangerous's thread 'Why Do People Remove Photographer's Watermarks' in the 'Letting Off Steam' Forum, but to reiterate, thanks to @DJ Dangerous for defending me and sincere apologies to @Jonathan Allen. I did not and have not removed a photographer's copyright watermark from any photographs. In the above instance I copied the photo from a general images website, not Flicker, unaware that I was infringing any copyright. I always try to acknowledge photographers and indeed on my Larne Harbour Station thread have referred to photographs in various books which have been helpful to me in his project, and there are many brilliant photographs out there. So again please accept my sincere apologies.

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The Signal and Telegraph Gang have been working on the six rod run for a few weeks now. The run is being assembled in two sets of three rods each. The first set being assembled is the set furthest from the running rails. Looking down from the bridge on the Olderfleet Road gives a good impression of what has been achieved so far.

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The set being assembled has already been connected to the associated levers in the cabin.

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The cranks are arranged at different heights to prevent any one rod from fouling any other.

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The rod furthest from the running rails is connected to Lever 21, which controls the point giving access to the Short Up Siding with buffer stop (yet to be included).

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The next rod is connected to Lever 19, which controls the point giving access to the Longer Up Siding (which extends beyond the scope of the layout) and hence to the Short Up Siding and the final rod of the three, as far as I can ascertain, connects to Lever 6, which gives access to the siding behind the Signal Box which runs along parallel to Harbour Road.

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All photos are my own (no copyright necessary). 🙂

............ the gang have to wait now on more rodding being delivered to the harbour, so will probably move on to something else, maybe a wee bit less labour intensive. I'm hoping maybe a few ground signals or maybe some work on the platform canopy, more soon ................

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Thanks @murphaph and @Galteemore for your encouraging comments. The long term plan is that the points will work to allow for some shunting within the confines of the station area and provide some operational interest. For example, as mentioned above a few times, shunting some Brown Vans or the ex GNRI Parcels Van into the Short Up Siding for unloading of mail bags for Stranraer.

I plan to build the Upper Quadrant Semaphore Signals as accurately as possible (have already started building from MSE parts). Larne Harbour was the only installation of Upper Quadrant Semaphore Signals in Ireland, so a unique signature feature! At the moment, I think 'working' would be beyond me, but we'll see how it goes! There will be three sets of semaphores, so maybe I will be able to achieve one working and there will be a number of Ground Signals, the most prominent being a double one just in front of the cabin, controlling shunting into the platform roads, so I may attempt to get that one working.

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7 hours ago, LARNE CABIN said:

The rod furthest from the running rails is connected to Lever 21, which controls the point giving access to the Short Up Siding with buffer stop (yet to be included).

 

7 hours ago, LARNE CABIN said:

The next rod is connected to Lever 19, which controls the point giving access to the Longer Up Siding

My favourite sidings, seriously, must be something to do with me arriving on the ferry at 9am with no sleep.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Time for some more work on the canopy. As mentioned in a previous post, the photo in Ian McLarnon Sinclair's Along UTA Lines (courtesy Station UK 29829) has been used as the best available end-on view. I've made a sketch from that and then modeled using Plastikard and 1.5mm x 0.5mm Plastruct Styrene Strips. I've used 5mm, 6mm and 7mm strips to model the pattern as close as possible. The long platform section has 125 strips!

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This is the valence now added to the stantions and the rear corrugated roof added.

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I have not put in the roof on the front section yet, as I am hoping to include some translucent corrugated strips.

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This photograph is by Des Fitzgerald and is produced in Derek Young's The Ulster Transport Authority in Colour. As mentioned before, it has given me a lot of detail about the platform face and the state of the trackbed in the platform area and also helps a lot in proportioning a model in limited space. For example, a 46 foot Jeep will sit between the start of the platform ramp and the Swan Neck Lamp and then the distance between the Swan Neck Lamp and the Station Nameboard etc., so it allows me to realistically model the start and give some perception of a very long platform........

2126810223_Phase2eCanopy.thumb.JPG.3ae2b5b467c2c89dcb63065d787d1b59.JPG

........... and so this is my version, so far. Gaugemaster GM816/819 is an almost identical version of the Swan Neck Lamp, but very difficult to source at the moment. I have a rake of UTA carriages so all that is missing is the Jeeps. Just waiting on IRM! 🙂 

2021697958_Phase2fCanopy.thumb.JPG.a7ac89f594920442f5dfe3a9494f3b98.JPG

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  • 2 weeks later...

And now for something completely different, as they say. At the harbour I have recently been focusing my attention on ground signals. In 1969 there were eight ground signals still in place at the harbour. I will include five of these on my layout. Omitted is the signal linked to Lever 26 which controlled exit from the minor harbour sidings to the Down Main Harbour Siding line, which was connected to the Down Main Line, and I have lifted these ridings ie. no room for them. Also ommitted is the double stacked signal linked to Lever 16 which controlled entry to the Down Main Harbour Siding. This is omitted because although the Down Main Harbour Siding is still in place in 1969, it is about to be lifted (and I only have room for the start of this siding).

For 4mm modelling there is very little available, mainly the Ratio 465 plastic kit and the MSE fret. The Ratio kit is decidedly GWR. The lamp and back blinder are totally wrong for the LMS! I have built up two Ratio signals and adapted them as much as possible, but very difficult in such a small scale!

This is the signal controlled by Lever 17 which controls exit from the Down Harbour Road Siding, which runs behind the Signal Cabin, out unto the Down Running Line.

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This is the signal controlled by Lever 18 which controls exit from the Up Long Siding and eventually out unto the Up Running Line via the Upper Quadrant Shunting Signal controlled by Lever 20. Lever 18 controls two ground signals, this one, and another for the Up Short Siding with buffer stop. Two discs controlled by the one lever, so some more research to be carried out there! Perhaps half pull and full pull! We'll see.

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I have cut out and glued on the little triangular back blinder to make it look more LMS prototypical.

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To be honest, I am not really too happy with these. They're not up to the standard I like to attain, so I'll probably use this as a learning curve and start again using the MSE fret.

This leaves the double stack ground signal almost in front of the Signal Cabin. This signal is controlled by Lever 22 and controls access to the two platform roads. The top disc controls access to the line on the left, ie. Platform 2, the former Narrow Gauge Platform and the bottom disc controls access to the line going straight on, ie. Platform 1, the main and long platform. I have decided to put a lot of effort into this one and build it as carefully as possible and provide for a future working disc signal. This causes an authenticity problem though. Larne Harbour was resignalled by the LMS in 1932/33, so the ground signals are most likely, and look like, the older type, but it's stated that the older type LMS Ground Signal dates from 1934! In order to have any chance of a working signal I have decided to use poetic licence and use the standard 1941 LMS ground signal as produced by MSE, and also this handy little fret produced by Palatine Models. The discs on this are particularly good. Any working stacked discs I've seen are made from the 1941 pattern.

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This is an extract from Michael H C Baker 's photo in Irish Railways Past and Present showing the double stacked disc signal controlled by Lever 22. The signal at the top left is the exit single from the minor harbour ridings omitted on my layout and the signal bottom right is the exit signal for the Long Up Harbour Siding, modelled above.

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This photo, courtesy of RMweb Permanent Way, Signalling and Infrastructure gives an enormous amount of clear detail on the 1934 LMS.

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So more a learning process here than actual progress. That's enough for ground signals for now! Some more point rodding has been delivered to the harbour, so it's back to that now. Something that looked very difficult a few months ago now seems very simple compared to working signals!

 

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Looks well so far. The cycling coach Dave Brailsford talks about marginal gains and the cumulative effect on a teams performance - the small steps that add up. This is a classic example of marginal gains at work. Every piece of point rodding, every ground signal, adds to the composite picture of Larne Harbour. The whole thing is coming together so well.

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Last Birds Eye View was October 2020, so I thought it was time for an update. 6' x 2' board (to fit into 6' x 2' alcove). Olderfleet Road bridge bottom left corner, rough stone wall along siding along Harbour Road. Harbour Road and walls of Aluminum Works top left, house shown in many photos bottom right, and possibly Lobitos Storage Tank! Eventually, I hope to paint backscenes on three sides to give perspective. Long way to go, but enjoying it so much................

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Edited by LARNE CABIN
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  • 3 weeks later...

The 4th run has now been installed, right down to the bridge (or the fridge, in this case) .......

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and connected to the lever frame.

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The 4th, 5th and 6th runs will have to be installed one at a time as the curve makes it difficult to install more than one run at a time and keep the alignment correct. Each outer run becomes slightly longer than the previous run, so a little insert has to be deployed to keep the alignment correct.

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This caused a right rumpus when the P W Inspector turned up unexpectedly to see how the gang were getting on! The Gang Foreman got a right telling off. I caught this conversation between two of the older and more experienced men in the gang. They were relating what they had overheard, with some amusement, I might add!

"Yer man maun be doon frae Bellamaina hey, hes a bit o ane strang brogue, yer man says 'onie eejit kens thon ootside o a bend be a wee bit langer nor thon inside, sae yis shud hae stairted on thon ootside rin an shoartened thon rins as yis moved in ........ noo yis hae tae lengthen iverie rin as yis move oot, bot sure a sappose yis is doin a good jab o it' ".

Translated into English that reads "The man must be down from Ballymena [a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, many of it's population having a strong Ulster- Scots accent], he has a strong accent, he says 'any idiot knows the outside of a curve is a bit longer than the inside, so you should have started on the outside run and shortened the runs as you moved in ......... now you have to lengthen every run as you move out, but I suppose you are making a good job of it' ".

So there it is, we all learn as we go along, and the Gang Foreman will know better next time!

Hope to get the 5th and 6th runs completed soon and then have a look at signal pulleys!

[and yes, for those who guessed, I did get the dialect idea from @jhb171achill. I love the way Jonathan has introduced the backwater country Irish railway craic on Dugort Harbour. I hope to introduce a few County Antrim Ulster Scots scenarios at Larne Harbour as the project develops!].

As a wee taster, Barney, tha porter, wus doin the crossword in the local rag on a wee break between landins an leavins when the oul fella frae tha geng cum danderin alang tha platform. "gie me ane clue" tha oul fella says. "14 across, 4 letters, Drunk with Whisky" says Barney. "FULL ......Bloody Full" says tha oul fella.

(obviously, SODA was the correct answer, so God knows how the other clues ended up)

I don't want to give the impression that this was typical of the Larne Harbour Station that I'm modelling in 1969. All the staff, including these two boyoos, took their jobs very seriously and were proud to work for the railway and most spoke with a perfectly understandable Norn Ireland accent!!! Like everywhere else there were the exceptions, the well known characters, and it is these characters that we will meet from time to time during our visits to the harbour.

 

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23 hours ago, LARNE CABIN said:

The 4th run has now been installed, right down to the bridge (or the fridge, in this case) .......

1146464741_Phase2fRodding.thumb.JPG.79be823fe7e482c8b1b157a8b728576e.JPG

and connected to the lever frame.

202347188_Phase2gRodding.thumb.JPG.f56089ad5cedb9bad078202517012b2b.JPG

650406908_Phase2hRodding.thumb.JPG.8e1c71ec4fe014f648dfbc73e7bcc975.JPG

The 4th, 5th and 6th runs will have to be installed one at a time as the curve makes it difficult to install more than one run at a time and keep the alignment correct. Each outer run becomes slightly longer than the previous run, so a little insert has to be deployed to keep the alignment correct.

1211466980_Phase2iRodding.thumb.JPG.4c602398ace239a9308247df31eefa3b.JPG

This caused a right rumpus when the P W Inspector turned up unexpectedly to see how the gang were getting on! The Gang Foreman got a right telling off. I caught this conversation between two of the older and more experienced men in the gang. They were relating what they had overheard, with some amusement, I might add!

"Yer man maun be doon frae Bellamaina hey, hes a bit o ane strang brogue, yer man says 'onie eejit kens thon ootside o a bend be a wee bit langer nor thon inside, sae yis shud hae stairted on thon ootside rin an shoartened thon rins as yis moved in ........ noo yis hae tae lengthen iverie rin as yis move oot, bot sure a sappose yis is doin a good jab o it' ".

Translated into English that reads "The man must be down from Ballymena [a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, many of it's population having a strong Ulster- Scots accent], he has a strong accent, he says 'any idiot knows the outside of a curve is a bit longer than the inside, so you should have started on the outside run and shortened the runs as you moved in ......... now you have to lengthen every run as you move out, but I suppose you are making a good job of it' ".

So there it is, we all learn as we go along, and the Gang Foreman will know better next time!

Hope to get the 5th and 6th runs completed soon and then have a look at signal pulleys!

[and yes, for those who guessed, I did get the dialect idea from @jhb171achill. I love the way Jonathan has introduced the backwater country Irish railway craic on Dugort Harbour. I hope to introduce a few County Antrim Ulster Scots scenarios at Larne Harbour as the project develops!].

As a wee taster, Barney, tha porter, wus doin the crossword in the local rag on a wee break between landins an leavins when the oul fella frae tha geng cum danderin alang tha platform. "gie me ane clue" tha oul fella says. "14 across, 4 letters, Drunk with Whisky" says Barney. "FULL ......Bloody Full" says tha oul fella.

(obviously, SODA was the correct answer, so God knows how the other clues ended up)

I don't want to give the impression that this was typical of the Larne Harbour Station that I'm modelling in 1969. All the staff, including these two boyoos, took their jobs very seriously and were proud to work for the railway and most spoke with a perfectly understandable Norn Ireland accent!!! Like everywhere else there were the exceptions, the well known characters, and it is these characters that we will meet from time to time during our visits to the harbour.

 

A highly respected late RPSI volunteer and I were having a conversation about dialects in Quinn’s in Drumcondra years ago, after an RPSI meeting in Connolly station. He was a native of Larne originally, born and bred, and he referred to somebody who was being unnecessarily awkward or cranky as “thran”…… he would use that term himself. He had a huge vocabulary of what he said the “Ballymena and Larne men from out the narrow gauge” might have been familiar with.

Wish I could remember them all, though few were printable!

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I love it! Living abroad I miss the distinctive regional accents found in Ireland and the UK.

Perhaps a case for phonetic script or even subtitles in the Larne and Dugort Harbour threads.

I thought I understood most Irish accents until I met a couple of IE inspectors (possibly from Drogheda or Co Louth) while working near the line near Gormanstown and I could not understand a word they were saying!

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

A short little shunt up the Narrow Gauge line!

Mid and East Antrim Council have developed and installed five Information Boards along the Inver River Walkway, basically the trackbed of the Ballymena and Larne Narrow Gauge Railway. The Boards cover the development of Larne, the port, industry, churches, schools, even the football pitch, now Inver Park Stadium. Also, the wildlife and fauna along the river, salmon, herons, kingfishers etc.

The fifth board is placed roughly between Station Road, where the Broad Gauge entered the town, and Narrow Guage Road, yes you've guessed it, where the Narrow Gauge entered the town, and is largely devoted to a brief history of the Narrow Gauge Railway.

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It is refreshing to see The Council providing such interesting historical information and hopefully the younger generation will appreciate and learn a little from them and not vandalise them!

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On 1/9/2021 at 4:49 AM, Mayner said:

I love it! Living abroad I miss the distinctive regional accents found in Ireland and the UK.

An English girl I used to work with once said she loved my Northern Ireland accent. "I can teach you to speak Northern Irish if you like" says I. "Go on then" says she. "Okay, type this - I GOT A SHEET OF PAPER AND STUCK IN MY TYPEWRITER." (Shows how old this story is!) Anyway, she types this in. "Right, type that last bit again BUT replace all the vowel letters with an 'A'" says I. She does so. I said, "Now read aloud what you just typed in the second time"...

"A GAT A SHAAT AF PAPAR AND STACK AN MY TYPAWRATAR"... From Norfolk to East Belfast in one easy move..... For their tea that night she cooked her husband FASH AND CHAPS......  

Edited by Lambeg man
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The six rod run is now complete! All rodding installed and all connections made to the lever frame. A few minor alignment adjustments to be made before the P W Inspector comes down again from Ballymena later in the week (so expect some more Ulster-Scots dialect again soon!).

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Note that no ballasting had been attempted yet! I am hoping to include some signal pulleys etc. before any ballasting.

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When I first started out on the rodding, I thought after a few attempts, why am I doing all this, it's a huge task, but then I thought of the ultimate aim, realism and a photo of a model that someone has to look twice to decide if it's real or not. @Noel 's Gort Station is truly inspirational and something to strive to emulate.

The six rod run is now complete! All rodding installed and all connections made to the lever frame. A few minor alignment adjustments to be made before the P W Inspector comes down again from Ballymena later in the week (so expect some more Ulster-Scots dialect again soon!).

1329848717_Phase2jRodding.thumb.JPG.30da93f5a9b81d2525832d1862990529.JPG

Note that no ballasting had been attempted yet! I am hoping to include some signal pulleys etc. before any ballasting.

573707855_Phase2kRodding.thumb.JPG.98a33d44a8fe67128c418a8f163cc23f.JPG

1844343044_Phase2lRodding.thumb.JPG.3ecbd02da67503f0c2fc04fa86530a0c.JPG

375615850_Phase2nRodding.thumb.JPG.2563749ad1388accaaeae3324248fb9e.JPGI324196192_Phase2mRodding.thumb.JPG.423ac82210258b346ef5b40a8627eff7.JPG

When I first started out on the rodding, I thought after a few attempts, why am I doing all this, it's a huge task, but then I thought of the ultimate aim, realism and a photo of a model that someone has to look twice to decide if it's real or not. @Noel 's Gort Station is truly inspirational and something to strive to emulate.

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On 5/10/2021 at 2:25 PM, jhb171achill said:

What did you use for the point rodding and associated gubbins?

@jhb171achill , the point rodding, cranks, downset drive joints etc., are all Wills Kits, SS89 Point Rodding and SS90 Point Rodding Extension Kit. It is very difficult to neatly line up the rods, so I watched a video on Utube which showed how to put a little styrene strip under each join. This makes it much easier to line them up neatly and makes a much more sturdy joint. I used Plastruct Styrene Strip 0.5mm x 1.5mm for this. 

Edited by LARNE CABIN
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A wee bit of craic at Larne Harbour Station, with Barney, the Porter

We have briefly met Barney in a previous post. He will be with us throughout this project, along with other station staff, including the Signalman, Shunter, a few members of the P W Gang and a few other characters, including one of those photographer guys who went around taking photos of the last days of steam in the late 60's. Watch this space!

Barney was born in Belfast in the early 1920's. His father worked in Harland and Wolff Shipyard and so did Barney for a while before getting a job as a cleaner at York Road Shed. He was courtin (dating) a Carrickfergus girl, Emma, and when they married went to live in Carrick and then Larne and so Barney got a job as a porter at Larne Harbour Railway Station.

Due to his Belfast upbringing and schooling Barney had a profusion of Norn Ireland sayings. He was renowned at Larne Harbour for his craic and banter  (social gossip and friendly exchange of teasing remarks), and indeed his yarns (long rambling stories). Everyone was greeted with a friendly 'Bout ye'  (Norn Ireland greeting for 'How are you') and a farewell of 'Keep er lit'  (encouraging remark). 

Barney loved and enjoyed his job, it was 'Wee Buns'  (enjoyable and really easy), except for when the 17:05 Non Stop Boat Train was delayed due to the late arrival of the steamer, which was quite often, when Barney was Up to High Doh  (stressed out) having to get passengers and their luggage on board as quickly as possible so that the 17:05 could get away as soon as a path became available at least as far as Magheramourne Loop.

Barney was brought up to be neat and tidy and to him if something wasn't pristine it was boggin (very dirty). When the new 70 Class in their gleaming Maroon and Oyster Grey Livery made their first appearance at the harbour in 1966 they were parful  (a good thing, a high compliment), but the oul boys on the P W Gang were scunnered  (depressed) that steam was all but gone! "Boys a dear, thon there diesels be takin ivver"  they'd gurn (moan about something).

In the winter months, with an icy wind coming off The North Channel, Larne Harbour Station was baltic (icy cold) and passengers were foundered  (very cold) and eager to get into a warm  carriage. If a carriage door was left open too long someone would shout "were ye born in a field"  (close that door, it's causing a draft). It was even worse if It was teemin (raining heavily), but the harbour had a decent canopy

Norn Irish people have a tendency to describe everything as "wee". It's a prefix we can add in front of pretty much any word. A local stopping train left at 10:35 and there was nothing else till after noon and Barney would go up to the cabin about 11:00 for a wee cuppa tae (that's tea) or on Friday after he finished work he would take a wee dander (a short walk) across the road to the Olderfleet Bar for a wee pint, and when it was time to go home he would always say "Ats us nai"  (meaning that's us finished). Emma was Dead On (OK, in agreement) with this arrangement, but if Barney ever came home steamin  (having had too much to drink) he would be in the dog house for a week. At home there was no doubt that Emma was the Station Master!

Edited by LARNE CABIN
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On 17/10/2021 at 1:03 AM, LARNE CABIN said:

A bit off track, I know, not prototypical UTA 1969 and unlikely, but I couldn't resist posting these pictures of 027 arriving at Larne Harbour this morning.

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Just about possible NIR borrowed/hired a complete CIE train set (and possibly motive power) on at least one occasion for a Loyal Order special possibly to Londonderry in the 70s, I suppose its just about possible a CIE turned up at Larne on the weedkilling train.

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There are three sets of semaphores within the area being modelled. The simplest is the single shunt signal connected to Lever 20 and controlling exit from the Up Sidings out unto the Up Running Line. The second is the bracket signal, close to the cabin and connected to Lever 30, controlling exit from the Down Harbour Sidings out unto the Up Running Line. The third is the impressive and defining feature, the Platform Starter, with the two main Signals, the Up Platform 2 Starting Signal connected to Lever 31, ,the Up Platform 1 Starting Signal connected to Lever 32, and the two shunt signals, Lever 11 from Platform 1 and Lever 12 from Platform 2.

As my first project, I have started with the bracket signal. There are two reasons, first I have never built a signal before, so this will give me some practice before attempting the challenging Platform Starter and secondly, if I have this signal in place it will allow me to begin completing the area around the cabin, telegraph poles, ballasting etc.

I have used this 1985 photo, ©Jonathan Allen, to give me the detail of the signal, position, size, structure etc., it really is a sturdy structure........

335367909_LHSignal301985.jpg.598b91a3bf2142efcd630eadfc370909.jpg

© Jonathan Allen

It's amazing how you can look at a photograph time and time again and not see the obvious. I pondered for months on how this signal connected to the lever frame, as there was no evidence of any pulleys etc. on the ground! Then it just dawned on me. If you look closely you can see just above the rail, a rusty signal wire, passing through a pulley post to the crank at the base of the signal base post.......

........ and again here we can see the rusty signal wire continue to the box and presumably enter the locking room via the hole created by removing a few bricks.

458010338_LarneHarbourCabin.jpg.3e0925a6432ba8ee6d553e6c8fddb129.jpg

© Jonathan Allen

So, having researched the prototype, it's time to start the model............

790194410_Phase1aSignals.thumb.JPG.1ebd8d8018d885c8bf14587853f9e4c6.JPG

To get as an authentic look as possible, various materials have been used. The base post is Plastruct Styrene Rod, 4.8mm square, the trimmers are made from plastikard and the bracket is of course from a MSE fret.........

174415308_Phase1bSignals.thumb.JPG.5538056a5ed9a553596551e08d7c9fcb.JPG

.........the landing has been added, MSE fret, and the base for the doll, plastikard .........

273196899_Phase1cSignals.thumb.JPG.cce220548455c0bdb71c59b1ba645dda.JPG

.........just checking the height next to the cabin before too much detail is added.......

718396437_Phase1dSignals.thumb.JPG.65a6ad498d76052428ffdd8be0f255cb.JPG

.........the start of work on the doll, the doll is Plastruct Styrene Rod, 4mm square, the lamps and lamp brackets are from a Ratio Kit, the arms are from an MSE fret and the pulleys are 3d design. I haven't decided yet whether to paint the arms or use transfers. I'll probably use transfers as they will be neater and I am so pernicity about detail. The spectacles will probably be the most difficult part!

2047104859_Phase1eSignals.thumb.JPG.07f4c76aae157e462b8b78a7bd1ecd40.JPG

.........by the next post I hope to have the detail complete. The idea is that the wire from the short shunt arm will come across the trimmer via the two pulley wheels and down the base post to the crank and hence under the baseboard, so that eventually it will be operational. A wire from the crank will pass through a pulley post and into the box, as a dummy from the main arm, which will not be operational, so more later.........

 

 

 

 

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