Lambeg Man

Thanks for all that Jon, most interesting. I agree that the top is clearly not original. I wonder if any alteration was made in connection with the 1912 Third Line proposal of the GNR, i.e. the additional arches at Finaghy and Knockmore? Although the abutments are widely set, I think you would have a struggle to get a third line through there. Of course the road itself may have been widened at some point, necessitating a rebuild of the abutments. The water pipe appears to acknowledge 'railway' ownership of the small arch. For the life of me I have no memory of what was the lie of the land was to the left of this picture.

I am sure many of you are familiar with the colour material that Colour Rail has put out over the years. However in case anyone is unaware, they can also supply black & white photographs taken by David Forsyth in and around the Adelaide / Balmoral / Hilden / Lisburn / Portadown areas between 1961 and 1965. The thumbnails can be viewed on their website, but having purchased a number of downloads to aid my research for the "Lisburn North" project, I can thoroughly recommend the purchase of the downloads for their sheer quality (not apparent in the thumbnails). Some but not many have been published before, but there are some unpublished gems in there. Have a look if you're thinking of modelling the Belfast-Portadown section in the early 1960's.

That's interesting. Could this 'right of way' for Sir Richard be the reason for the small archway on the left seen in the second photo? I do know that when the station was first built the Magheralave Road crossed the railway on the level. I don't know when precisely the bridge was built.

Hi Kirley, A picture of the revised covering. By kind permission of Colour Rail, I reproduce two photo's of the Magheralave Road bridge, taken from unusual angles. Each shows that the bridge abutments were quite away from the track edge. Hence my erroneous comment about "moving the bridge back to make the loop point visible" on 'Lisburn North' Mk. 1. Now, how to accommodate it now? This picture shows the intended point work and the curve on the lifting section. I have used two 21" radius Peco Setrack curves for the inner track to keep it all tight and as even as possible. However adding the loop point will require three tracks on this curved section instead of the intended two. A rough idea of how the end result might appear.

I might have OCD, but not to that extent Jon...

Track laying has started, but was suspended when the polythene covering the north facing external garage door was ripped by the currently prevailing north wind! Stronger material has now been fitted and my star of "The Chase" wife has made curtains to cover the other external garage door, so providing a much more comfortable environment for me to play in. I have quoted my own text in relation to a photograph I have recently bought which was taken looking from Wallace Park towards the Magheralave Road bridge. The bridge abutments were a lot wider than I thought and the loop point was clearly visible underneath the actual bridge. Merde! I did not count on having the loop point this time around, however a rethink may be needed. By the way, am I someone who has OCD???

Excellent work Darius. I like the idea of having a few windows down (even if slightly).

Some progress. All the baseboards are now up and fitted, including a much desired lifting section to ease my previous comments about back ache caused by repeated 'ducking under'. A general view of the new garage (man cave) interior from the side door showing the revised 'Lisburn North' baseboards in the middle - View from the opposite corner - Closer view from the same angle - View back from the windows - View of the lifting hatch in the raised position - It goes without saying that there will be no scenery on this 'lifting' section So, with all the major carpentry bit completed, over to track laying this weekend...

Excellent work Kirley.

Absolutely superb Darius, well done.

Hi Hunslet, There will be two scenic sections, the one in front of the hidden sidings as indicated and the "Lisburn North" scenario down the middle (it is a double garage) more or less as it was before. Apart from track and signals, there will be little hard modelling, just the Wallace Park back scene as before and the section in front of the hidden sidings running through the countryside on a shallow embankment. Haven't got enough years left to do stations on the grand scale of your superb achievements. Regards, LM

Excellent photograph Colin. So atmospheric. Is there a date for it? With all the visible vehicles in UTA 'green' and the white diamond on the edge of the front car's buffer beam, I'm guessing around 1963? The ground floor of the building beyond the buffers was the 'Control Office'. Of the two figures in the background, the left hand one appears to be a railwayman. Immediately to his left was a black wooden box mounted in the wall about waist level, labelled 'Control'. This was where the train guards 'posted' their train journal sheets on completion of a trip. Another point of interest is the platform canopy. When built in 1906 it covered all the available platform provided for the 'Motor' trains. It can be seen that the original platform was very short and narrow. This was why the 'Motor' trains were required by the Board of Trade to have inward opening doors when they were first built. You wouldn't by any chance have a photo of the same scene after the AEC set had departed, to show which catering vehicles were stored in the Dock Siding???

Some photo's to expand upon what I wrote yesterday. The above shows the hidden sidings boards in position against the flush garage wall. The old garage had abutments on a similarly positioned wall. The 'up and over' exterior garage door on the left of the picture had been covered in polythene to improve insulation. Closer view of the boards, showing the 9 hidden sidings laid loose and the lateral extension supports. Another closer view of the boards, looking in the opposite direction. A mock up of how the new additional double track scenic section in front of the hidden sidings section will roughly look. Well, you get the idea.....

Welcome back. Never say never again! "Lisburn North" is being rebuilt... Following a house move, the new home for the model railway layout is again in the garage. The new garage is 18" longer (or wider if you like) than the previous one, so the hidden sidings boards have been rebuilt to accommodate the extra length. The number of hidden sidings has been reduced to 9 as opposed to 11 in the previous arrangement. In the main, the board width has been reduced to 19", but lateral supports extend to 28" width. The remaining 9" will be used to provide a double track fictional section featuring a wooden platform halt akin to Derriaghy which will provide a viewable section 13' in length in front of the hidden sidings. 5" wide track bed will allow 2" either side for the lines to run on a shallow embankment. Previous negatives about the "Lisburn North" concept have been addressed. The new boards for this section will be 4" wider than before, allowing a greater depth to the vista. The extra length of the new garage means I can build it precisely as it was before, BUT it will be viewed from inside the operating well. Only the four points on the "Lisburn North" section will be motorised, the remainder will be hand operated, leading to much simpler electrics. The flush backwall of the garage allowed easy securing and leveling of baseboards. Baseboards are 9" higher off the floor than before, so infrequent 'ducking under' should not be the problem it was. Photographs to follow when some track has been laid...

House move completed... Rebuilding commenced... See the "Lisburn North" thread...

Just gets better and better. Well done. Point of curiosity Hunslet, what was the source of the police building? LM

Awesome! Sheer brilliance. LM

Absolutely excellent Kirley. Keep up the good work. LM

Dear All, Just received the above in response to an advert in this month's Railway Magazine. BE AWARE! There is NO new footage on this DVD. All of it (mostly Harry Luff) has previously been issued by Tom Ferris on his series of DVD's. Commentary is awful (full of inaccuracies), maps are incorrect and no enhancement made to the picture quality above what has already been published.

At the risk of hijacking Hunslet's thread, I wish to add the following: I do not think there was much "blind eye" to military traffic. Omagh was a military centre but military traffic for Derry had to go via Cookstown or Antrim. It could not go beyond Strabane through the neutral IFS. Serious consideration was apparently given to re-gauging the 3' Strabane to Derry (Victoria Road) CDR section to 5' 3" to allow military traffic to reach Derry from Strabane, but by the time resources were obtained, the war was winding down and the impetus was lost. That building at Adelaide with the mast which was allegedly a "goods control" office during the war would have been for ALL three railway companies serving Belfast (under military direction?), a wagon 'pooling' operation being set up to meet the massive increase in freight, civilian as well as military. As for Irish Free State (IFS) neutrality, the following examples were breaches of the Geneva Convention on 'neutrality'. 1. Dundalk, Drogheda and Dublin based fire engines dispatched to Belfast to assist with the aftermath of the 1941 air raids 2. NCC engines and stock repaired at Dundalk Works 3. German embassy in Dublin 'bugged' by the IFS intelligence, material then fed on to MI5, etc., etc. Some years back I was amazed to see colour footage at the Foynes Flying Boat museum (allegedly taken in 1944), of American servicemen IN FULL MILITARY uniforms coming off a flying boat from the USA at Foynes! Either the year was wrong or they too were in breach of the convention. Getting back to the thread, Hunslet, I don't suppose you can remember what was at the base of the mast (or any remains of something) in your day? From available photographs there does not appear to be much room for a structure of any size.

Hi Hunslet, I read somewhere that it was the Goods Control office during WWII. In "UTA Lines" Ian Sinclair states that the stores building was originally the Goods Control office. However as the above photo taken in 1932 by William Robb shows the mast and wires were in place way before the Second World War.

Hi Colin and Kirley, My recollection of the 'new' Enterprise set in January 1969 was going down to Lambeg station about 19.30 on the first evening it was running (can't remember who tipped me off), where Noel Scott was acting as relief 'porter' that evening and watching the '70 class' set running through. I can still recall being thrilled at the 'thump - thump - thump' noise and the bright headlight... To this day, I can still remember the feeling of "that's a train"..... Diner No.550 came across with the initial set, but by June 1969 the ex-GNR No. 554 and an ex-GNR trailer were cabled up to work with the 'Class 70' set. No. 550 went back to the NCC section and being already dual wired went back into use in an MPD set.

Hi Colin, When would this have been? Pre or post 1967? - LM

Hi Kirley, An impressive project which I will study closely. A couple of questions. How did you remove the old sides from the Airfix carriage? Knife, saw or Dremel? If using WW brass sides, is it essential to retain the upper part of the old carriage 'frame'? Surely 550 rather than 555? Is the 'first class' coach a Brake/1st driving trailer? Good luck with your efforts. LM

Impressive Colm. Please keep the photo's coming.