Mike Buttell

If you have eight and a half minutes to spare, Peel Station, August 1963

Activity in Peel this afternoon sees a pw ballast working sitting on the bay platform, the Foxdale coach providing a mobile refreshment room for the platelayers. No1 Sutherland  waits on the loop whilst No12 Hutchinson is on the service. Close ups of the two engines as well

Lord Ailsa is running an evening excursion to Peel and back tonight. Kipper and Chips supper on the station platform and time for a quick pint of Okells in the Creek. The run is well patronised and requires a double header, numbers 10 (GH Wood) and 11 (Maitland) taking joint charge.

It’s been a bit quiet in Little Peel for a few weeks, I’ve had a side project to attend to. Foxdale Station diorama is almost done now and will hopefully be going out on display next week. It’s in 7mm, but on 16.5mm track instead of the desired 21mm to make it accurate, so a compromise. Non operating at the moment but with the notion of extending into a runnable layout in the future. All stock is from Mannin Models 3D printed resin kits. 

Watching with interest Chris. 

Last train out of the day out of Peel, strengthened to four carriages with the two newly built saloons in the middle. No5 Mona in charge 

Running No16 Mannin with a mixed passenger/goods and the Donegal Railcars 

Young Pheric Costain has just started train spotting, his Auntie in Crewe sent him a Spotters book and pencil set for his birthday. Undeterred by the fact that the Isle of Man loco fleet is conspicuously absent, Pheric is making his best efforts on the blank pages at the back, and is very excited to have already bagged numbers 1 and 8 this morning. Fenella at Mill Lane crossing, Peel.

Great excitement for the Peel Trainspotters Club today, with a rare visit by Empress Van F28. (The brown coach in the picture) The full luggage brake is out on test, presumably before assuming it’s annual TT races role as Emergency Ambulance. No1 Sutherland has charge of the train.

Caledonia again, heading out of Peel alongside the river towards Glenfaba and the Knockaloe junction 

Another video, this time featuring Caledonia and a supply train for the Knockaloe Internment Camp. At the height of its operation over 16 trains a day ran from Peel Harbour through the station yard and up the two miles to the camp. No passengers ever carried, just wagons and wagons of supplies to service the 23,000 inmates and 3,000 guards, amazing. 

Another short video, this time the Donegal Railcars at Peel 

Short video 

No6 Peveril running alongside the River Neb. The scenic imagineers have been busy over the last few days, some riverside scrub and quite a few coats of varnish have made the river scene come to life a bit more, I like the reflection of the home signal in the water. 

The ex Donegal Railcars await departure from Peel. 

Fireman of No6 Peveril acknowledges a rather late yellow flag from the guard (probably the result of him struggling to finish his crab bap)
The lunchtime train passes Moores Kipper factory as the gulls look on. If only this were a scratch and sniff view eh?

This little area of the layout represents The Congary, the River Neb and the approach to Peel Station, much condensed and with Glenfaba Bridge omitted. I’ve been putting a fair bit of work into it over the last couple of weeks on and off and it’s starting to look the part now

No 11 Maitland running alongside the river Neb on the way up to St.John’s

In a rare moment of downtime Eric the Loon and Semtex McGrath speculate on this afternoon’s football with Ganger Phinlo Qualtrough. 

The pw crew have been hard at work fencing and ditching, and up till a few minutes ago were searching in the cess for the missing signal ladder. 

Fencing and ditching is way below Phinlo’s pay grade, he has a bucket of grease, a brush and a spanner and has tasked himself with greasing joints. 

No5 is running light engine into Peel. All pre hi viz, naturally

7 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

When I was about 10 I built a (very rough) card model of Union Mills station building from his drawings in the Railway Modeller.

My Peel Station building was from Michael’s plans also. 

Visitor from a different age.

IOM diesel No17 Viking, with a rake of G vans, coasts through the Congary on the outskirts of Peel. The loco is a one piece 3D print from Mannin Models, and was sent to me by an old family friend Michael Farr (many of you will know that name from his articles in various modelling magazines over the years) I need to source handrail knobs and a running chassis, if you model in 009 though it just drops on to a kato 0-4-0 chassis.

2 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Didn't they only have one speed in reverse, Mike (slow!)?  I recall you telling me a tail about which way they would be used for PW work in the winter - slow to get to the job, quick back for knock-off time!

Ha ha! Yes that’s right the south pw crew got the Port Erin facing car (20) and the Douglas crew the Douglas facing one (19) top speed in reverse couldn’t have been more than 10 mph 

Ha ha! We are still using steam engines to rescue failed diesels.

the Railcars were independently driven, so one end always towed the other “dead” and in neutral gear, they still exist partly rebuilt but no work has been done on them for a long long time now. Hope you continue to enjoy the thread 

Into the Ailsa Era, and No8 Fenella, (surely the prettiest peacock) coasts into Peel with three behind. Sporting the white discs that no one seems to have any idea what they signify. The station staff look on bemused 

Isle of Man No1 “Sutherland” pulls up the gradient from Peel. Just the half brake is more than sufficient for passengers on a cold February day. For this trip the coach only has the train guard in it, but the van behind is full to the roof with boxes of Kippers.