Hunslet 102

The first meaningful progress on the GVST station building area has finally begun, with a new backscene added an the appropriately named Victoria Mills, as Belfast was famous for its mills, as a backdrop to the station. The running lines have received ballast also. Once the station and its canopy are back in place, the mill will only be able to be viewed from a tight angle from the right hand side!

Yep they were a tad unsteady, especially on bends! Although a friend reminded me that the owners of them had the privilege of a great view at football matches as you would see them parked around the perimeter!

While growing up near Adelaide, in one of the streets that backed down onto the GNR main line, Marlborough Avenue, there was a workshop that done work/repairs to the invacars. I used to go round to the workshop to check out these unique vehicles, as I was always intrigued by them. Having waited a year on the release of these iconic cars, they are now proudly sitting in their new home at the factory! The late 60s/early 70s scene is complimented by unrebuilt CIE A class A15 heading to Dundalk with a heavy mixed goods, while CIE B class B181 heads to Grosvenor yard with a cement and Guinness train.

From the bleakness of the photo, you can almost feel the wind and rain driving in from the Atlantic! Excellent modelling

A lot of varied wagons Kieran, all looking good, as is the layout

There has been no modelling done over the last few months, but the railway photographer did manage to catch A class A39r returning to Dublin with a shoppers special. Let’s hope they picked up some worthwhile bargains in Belfast! An MED set, recently transferred to GNR metals, draws into Adelaide with a local to Great Victoria Street.

Hope things are improving with your wife’s health Steve and you are getting the support you require. Sorry to hear of the demise of Lisburn North, hopefully we will see plans soon for your new layout and you will be able to devote more time to it and get good enjoyment from it

Nice job

Nice catch up with your videos Kieran. The A classes in their various liveries certainly look at home on Kirley junction

Great videos again Kieran, a last fling for some of your A class before before the updated reengined ones arrive!

Great stories with good imagination JHB!

Received my copy of this book at the weekend and it is definitely a must for Irish railway followers and modellers, especially from an era that has long since passed into the memory. And that is what this book does, brings back the memories of a real railway era. The 100 odd photos, all taken by the author and not reproduced in other books, are really good, but the comments that accompany each photo not only bring the photo to life, but they reflect the working railway as it was. All the photos are numbered and one that particularly caught my eye was 64, where a British Rail 20ft Freightliner container at Loughrea was having it’s cargo hand balled onto a flat bed lorry! Great photos also for the modeller. With the forthcoming A class, having myself been brought up beside Adelaide freight yard, I was used to seeing them hauling either large freight trains from there or on the Enterprise between Belfast and Dublin. So it was a novelty to see them at the head of some short goods and passenger trains and not even in the twilight of their lives, but in their days soon after being re-engined! A highly recommended book

Adelaide has finally got it’s name board! It actually only had one main name board on each platform, with several smaller names on posts etc. The old wooden station and all the GNRI characteristics would be swept away in the early 70s, replaced with a steel shelter and concrete platform with no life or soul! A bit more detailing and bits and bobs to do around the station area, but that will do for now as the next project is the overhaul of Great Victoria Street station which will include longer platforms and a bit of space to include the concourse beside platform 4 for the postal traffic, buses and taxis!

Great photos and great story telling again JHB, the layout is a transport back in time

Couple of nice videos Kieran, the brake van looks great

Great photos and some wealth of detail! A really stunning layout, with all the hallmarks of rural Ireland

The brake van looks great Kieran. The colour looks spot on, your builder certainly has an eye for detail

Coming on well Raymond. The whole scene blends in well together and I like the uncluttered look it has

Nice blend with the backscene

An unidentified BUT 3 car set leaves Adelaide with an all stations local to Lisburn, while a CIE goods heads in the opposite direction to Grosvenor yard. The back of the Belfast Corporation bus depot can be seen on the left

nice one Pat! Having seen the force some of those Belfast women beat their sheets with, you wouldn’t want to take a broken pay packet home to them!

Some Australian tourists decided to get off at Adelaide to observe their namesake home city! Not much for them to see, although a pigeon loft and a local beating her washing gave them some amusement, before making a hasty retreat back to Belfast city centre!

A lot of reworking Kieran, but looks the part, nice job

Back to the tedious ballasting and below is a photo of Grosvenor yard in its last days in the early 70s The following 2 photos were taken 50 years ago today, showing CIE B181 arriving with a mixed goods to Grosvenor from Dundalk. In the background an NIR DH class waits on the road to clear before departing with some redundant bread containers for scrapping

Very impressive Steve. A huge storage area for all sizes of train formations. Just curiosity, do you need roads 2 and 8 as through lines, would the 2 lines in front of the hidden sidings not do the same job?