Hunslet 102

Tasty Kieran, very tasty. Look forward to seeing the full set on Kirley Junction

A bit of a warts and all few pics of how the next section of the layout will start to progress! The photo below is the backs of the houses that ran along Northbrook Street, backing on to the line which ran between Central Junction and Tates Avenue The following 2 photos are from the other side of the tracks and represent Donegall Avenue. The houses again are similar to the ones on Donegall Avenue, but for variety and also wanting to create a flavour of life in Northern Ireland in the late 60s/early 70s, I have decided to include the small church and the fortified RUC station from my earlier layout, otherwise there would have been no room to incorporate them. Lots of repairs to do after storage also!

Coming on well Kieran, hopefully won’t be long before Allen supplies the etches

The building was just rubble when I was growing up in the area, but I believe it looked similar to a WW2 pill box type structure and may have been used as some sort of stores building

Very interesting Colin! I would have thought Derry-Belfast would have mainly used the NCC, but provincial towns like Portadown etc would make sense to use the Derry Road. I suppose as long as they did not stop and were just passing through, then a blind eye would be turned.

No idea Kieran, but homing pigeons were transported across the GNR network so don’t bite the hand that feeds you springs to mind

Thanks Steve, interesting photo. The lines fan out towards the engine sheds to the right, the control office to the centre and then off to the left, which must have had other buildings but I am not sure what. I had heard the building had been used for some purpose during the war, maybe it was top secret! What has crossed my mind is how the war affected the GNR as they operated in both a country at war and a neutral country, would be interested to hear any facts or theories!

I am assuming yes as dining car 550 is part of the build. It displaced the BUT set before giving way to the Hunslet’s and returning to the NCC section

A bit more scenery in front of the old derelict stores building attached to platform 2 has been added along with the wooden telephone mast that sat on a derelict pill box style structure at the back of platform 1. The mast took a sea of wires to the stores building and was used for some form of communication during the Second World War! Everything, apart from the houses in the background would all be wiped away by the early 70s!

Coming on well Kieran, looking forward to seeing a 69 Enterprise on Kirley Junction soon

The bus depot fits in nicely with the station, a good addition to showcase a few buses together. You have captured the colour of the eau de nil on the PD3 superbly, did you mix it yourself?

Glad you managed to make an appearance on my layout JHB! When you study some of the photos in most of the railway books, very few of them would be able to be replicated today!

You have certainly captured the essence of the station from the original photo. It oozes atmosphere already and will only get better as the various bits of detail are added. Great work

Thanks Kieran. Yes the buildings have stood the test of time, glad I done them when I did! Had to do a bit of scenery to feel like I was making some progress. Still plenty to do to keep me busy!

Well they knew where they were going once released! A couple more shots of some more scenery behind the Belfast bound platform representing the ‘bog meadows’ as it was known when growing up. A young train enthusiast has clambered unto the fence to watch the trains while a dog sniffs for a morsel in the bin! A new station sign awaits painting and erecting on the platform!

Thanks Colm. Yes you are correct about the pigeon lofts, I actually have one that I picked up at a show (remember them) a while back. There were many pigeon fanciers/racers in that area and quite a few lofts. The GNR had a lot of pigeon traffic that was still around in UTA and early NIR days, usually hauled by railcars

Haha, thanks Pat

Well Pat, the ballast guys have finally made a start! The fence in the foreground is for the new Corporation bus depot, while some telegraph poles , bins and people have been added to the entry scene, although one of the people have fainted, probably at the sight of the ballast guys!

hopefully Pat, although the ballast guys are not as enthusiastic as the other gangs!

Thanks Kieran, it wasn’t too bad, quite therapeutic just getting lost in a bit of scenery for a long time. The bushes though have forced NIR to send DH No.2 with the homemade weedkiller train to get them under control! One of the search light signals introduced on the line in the early 60s has also been added

The first bit of scenery has appeared on the layout! A factory, similar to the type when I first started working way back in 79,has been added to the right of the houses.Some unkempt grass added also, the dreaded ballasting, which I always put off, will need to be done at some point!

Great work as always Kieran, well done

I admire your patience for such a build, but it looks like it will be well worth it

Great video and nice wagons Kieran

Nice start Kieran, look forward to seeing it progress