Irish Padre

Excellent work. Need an engine next ;)

Thanks both- it’s just a photo plank on an IKEA shelf -exactly long enough to fit a dead scale replica of Abohill halt and crossing near Belcoo. Allows me somewhere to test and pose models as I’ve no layout space right now.

Beautiful models Tony (a comment you could almost set to post automatically here). In terms of loco liveries on these islands, much as I do love the LNW style, I do think the Irish GNR takes some beating. Photo by Ian Boyle

A new thread for my exclusively SLNC work. First up - Lurganboy - North Star kit just finished and weathered.

Captured the look nicely Kieran. I’ve built one in 7mm and they are intriguing things.

Thanks ! North Star kit. This one (a larger variant of the class) is scratch. Wooden buffer beam from an old ruler!

Just before withdrawal, ‘Lurganboy’ rests at Abohill halt, 1951. Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Rlwy. https://transportsofdelight.smugmug.com/RAILWAYS/IRISH-RAILWAYS/SLIGO-LEITRIM/i-tQw992v/A

Waiting for the crossing keeper

The ash ballasted horror that was the permanent way of the Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sligo,_Leitrim_and_Northern_Counties_Railway

That’s the interesting bit. I thought the fun lay in buying and running trains, because that’s what railway modelling was, I thought. For years I couldn’t work out what was missing and why I got bored with it all. Then I realised that the fun lay in researching and making my own stuff, not buying and opening boxes - although others do enjoy that and that is quite ok too! Find what you enjoy - and be prepared to be surprised by what you might enjoy!

That’s brilliant. And having a similar story, I can identify completely. Five years ago I built my first plastic O gauge wagon - which ran on three wheels …..😖 I now do build my own track and make brass engines … amazing what small steps can lead to. I’m not elite by any means but I can do more than I thought!

Main thing - not to let the spectre of defeat keep me away from the workbench. So often it takes me for ever to pluck up the courage to lift the iron in case I mess things up. I spend far more time worrying about making mistakes than actually making stuff. It’s almost as if modelling is some kind of esoteric ritual and if all the elements aren’t in place the magic won’t work….A friend of mine at work was discussing a similar issue recently and he uses a 20 minute timer for intimidating tasks. You set the timer and focus on that task for 20 minutes. With a clear end goal in sight, it’s not so scary. I tried it and it’s a really good way to just sit down and do something - and keep going after 20 if it’s going well. This panel of 5’3 track actually took about 20 minutes as it turned out….

Detail of Abohill level crossing, SLNCR, one year after closure, 1958. JJ Smith’s photo was the inspiration - remainder of diorama is in process….

The head on shot inside the shed is especially nice

Lovely work, even if I am driven to recall my school commute of 83-89!

Exactly right. The hours I spent counting the dots on this tank side….the anticipated pleasure of sticking the nameplate on was all that kept me going !

Lovely - although it is in the ‘wrong’ livery for me ! What’s its provenance?

He was an incredible character and quite the polymath. His written pieces are still most entertaining to read. About a mile or so away from Drew lived a man called Fred Graham who was the other great clockwork builder in Belfast. His models can still pass muster when re wheeled to FS- he modelled GN locos including the splendid big blue ones. Fred was a very quiet man with a deep Christian faith. In almost every respect he was dissimilar to Drew but they had a wonderful mutual bond in the skill they shared. 206 is Fred’s work in the pic below. She compares very well to the examples built by modern craftsmen beside her. The height of smoke deflectors did vary in real life amongst the VS! Pic from Antony Ragg. I suspect at least one of the black engines to be Fred’s https://www.rmweb.co.uk/index.php?/profile/17353-antony/content/page/2/&type=forums_topic_post This is Drew himself, for those who never knew him.. ….link to JM Allen’s Flickr.

In Irish. And in green ink.

Drew taught at a very prestigious school and took a very academic view of his locomotive work. Detailed notes and calculations of his can still be viewed on the online Gauge O Guild magazine archive. Locos and mechanisms were carefully matched to replicate prototypical capabilities. Drew was a serious student of loco performance in real life, and one of Ireland’s analogues of C J Allen or Peter Semmens. His layout was a very old school system in that the timetable and not the scenery (I don’t recall any!) was king. I saw it once and remember three things, which fascinated me at the age of 6. One - the fact that the layout dominated a floor of the house (I dimly recall a hole in the wall between rooms). This struck me as a highly desirable domestic arrangement. Two - the noise and presence of O gauge clockwork. It took me many years but Irish 7mm has proved the only satisfying modelling I have known. I blame Drew! Third - the cat.

Especially like the last photo with the wagons - could easily be at Bleach Green!

Another vote for the backscene - does its job very effectively

Great stuff. Know what you mean - intriguing cars. Remember seeing one as a kid in Dixon Park c1979. Almost something Trabant-ish about them.

Thank you - that’s really helpful and polyfilla comes in usefully smaller boxes…..

Thanks- duly ordered !