Hunslet 102

McC-have seen Blue with yellow faces in the flesh,it is a cracking layout.Had the pleasure of running a Murphy 141 on it! I have a few photos of the start of work on GVSt to upload,but had no success so far,afraid I will need to wait on being shown by the younger members of the family!Technology has left me behind! Andy

Thanks for the thumbs up Stuart.Might need a bit of advice from yourself and help from the family to upload some photos,but like British Rail,we'll get there in the end! An update on blue with yellow faces is also required,hopefully Glasgow show at the weekend will get both are modelling mojo's up and running again. Andy

Thanks McC,hope it is of interest to you.By the way,I like your avatar of the C class in silver,unfortunately that livery was not a great success! Not many C classes made it North to Belfast in the 70s,those that did were usually on the 'shopper specials',for those that wanted to take advantage of the exchange rate between the punt and the pound! The variety of stock that both NIR and CIE used during the 70s makes it such a great period to model.

As a youngster I grew up in 1970s Belfast beside my local station,Adelaide,which was the first local station out from Great Victoria Street on the main Belfast to Dublin line.Nothing unique there and there was nothing unique about the station in the 70s as by then it was 2 platforms linked by a footbridge with a couple of waiting shelters.The appeal of Adelaide for me,was the freight yard that was built around this time to replace the old freight yard at Grosvenor Rd,which was just outside Great Victoria Street station. I think,as like a lot of modellers,we are drawn to recreate a model of something we remember from our past.Such was the case here.I decided to model a fictitious local station with an adjacent freight yard,but running it in a prototypical manner as per the real operations on the line at the time. The layout,as time and resources permit,has been moving along those lines over the last few years and ended up in layman terms as a double track scenic side with hidden sidings at the back-until last summer! I have always liked the bustle of main line stations,but the area I have available,12x4,was fully utilised with the existing layout.I have always had a soft spot for the old Great Victoria Street station,which finally closed in 1976 and wanted to do a tribute model to it.I also did not want to undo all the work and effort of Adelaide,as the freight operations and movements are something I enjoy in modelling.A compromise was needed,but Great Victoria Street in such a small area available,it could never happen! Bringing everything up to date,the continuous run hidden sidings have been ripped up,to be replaced with the 4 platform Great Victoria Street (lookalike).Although Great Victoria Street was the Belfast terminus for the Dublin trains,it did only have 4 platforms in the 70s.Also,the NIR based Enterprise,the name for the Belfast to Dublin express,had a winter formation of a locomotive and 5 coaches while the CIE equivalent had a loco with a maximum of 6 coaches.After careful measurement,platform 2,which was the only platform used by the Enterprise due to customs checks, could accommodate trains of this length.So,as prototypical operation could be achieved,all local trains were formed of 2 and 3 car railcar sets mainly,a start has been made on building a tribute to GVSt while retaining my tribute to Adelaide and the freight yard. If progress is anything like the last few years it will be slow,but hopefully I will be able to upload some photos as things progress.Photos can speak a thousand words and hopefully the Irish feel of the layout will be apparent.Great Victoria Street station was a shadow of its former self in the 70s due to various bomb damage,with the overall roof being in a particular bad shape,so to create a model of a glass-less roof will be a challenge in itself. Further information on the station and layout will follow with photos. Hunslet 102

Good to see you back with a few more pics Stu,at lease with your era a guy can go up a ladder himself and work without fear of the HSE! Like you,modelling has been on the back burner for months now,hopefully my mojo will be rediscovered again this year and I can get Great Victoria Street station finished. Keep up the good work,your layout has always been an inspiration. Andy

The Irish are coming!! Thanks Stuart for an enjoyable evening and letting a 141 have some running rights on strictly blue lines.......although I already have visions of a Hunslet Enterprise set thundering through Lewis station......maybe next time! Thanks for sharing and uploading the video. Still think Blue with Yellow Faces needs a railcar (sorry DMU for you guys) and now that I have found a chink in your armour,namely a Metro Cammell,the crusade will continue for its inclusion. Thanks again Andy

The ballast in the station area is looking good.Do you intend to use a different colour of ballast in other areas of the layout?.I like your farm scene,it is always good to get a bit of greenery on the layout. Your DMU excuse is feeble,you just dont want one ruining the look of your blue with yellow faces diesels!Dont worry,I will keep up the campaign for the humble DMU. Keep up the good work. Andy

Hey Stuart Any update on a manky old all rail blue DMU appearing on your layout?Blue with yellow faces would not be complete without a first generation DMU,essential for an early 80s blue era layout. Andy

Glad to see this layout back-really enjoyed following it on the old site and look forward to seeing more of it on here.You have definately captured the feel of Queen Street and BR blue just nails it.Keep up the good work. Andy

[quote Hunslet 102 - might let you talk me into a manky blue DMU at Model Rail Scotland in 3 weeks time - you going on the Saturday? Stuart Aha,a kink in the armour,you know that I will bombard you from now until the Glasgow show to get a dirty smelly manky rail blue DMU,no blue era 80s British Rail layout should be without one.Maybe I am too biased being brought up on a diet of railcars,as DMUs were known in my neck of the woods,but they do have a unique character about them. Yes I will be attending Model Rail Scotland on the Saturday with a fellow Irish modeller.Looking forward to it and to seeing again the Perth MRC Irish layout Old Blarney,along with the numerous other great layouts.It is always a good show. Andy

This layout is going from strength to strength.Had the privilege to view it in the flesh a few days ago and all I can say is that the photos and videos do not do it full justice,there are so many cameo scenes to marvel at that really set the layout off.Yes the layout is far from complete,but that is the beauty of our hobby,always having something to do and improve on our layouts. The layout period really captures the 80s feel,especially the loco shed with proper locomotives awaiting their next turn of duty.I think a grimy DMU in rail blue would just add to the scene Stuart Well done and keep the posts coming and thanks for showing me the layout. Andy

Most photos have been downloaded 2 or 3 or 6 or 9 times (thanks) but the winner is very odd. I can sort of understand why my plan has been downloaded 20 times (just wish I had taken the time to draw the thing better) ------- but the most downloaded photo is............ me with my two boys! ...............WHY?.................... do 22 people really need a new dartboard photo of a fat bloke with two grinning (but handsome) boys? Stuart I believe I may be getting a new dartboard from Santa-thanks for the tip for downloading I think the red ballast looks good,it sets off the running lines.The layout is coming on well and taking shape,a lot of work is going into it.I certainly need to crank up the work on my own as your workrate is putting me to shame

Looking good Stu-glad you have managed to figure out how to upload to the new forum.Seem to be making steady progress,the whole layout is starting to come to life.Enjoyed your we video clip also.Keep up the good work and keep the posts coming.