RAILWAY MODELLER

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150

Railway of the Month

RAILWAY MODELLER

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COUNTY DONEGAL by G. R. Hanan

A 5111111. scale narrow-gauge layout based on a fa111ous Irish prototype. No. l. "Alice." with mixed t rain descending Barnes­

more Bank.

M OST railway modellers will know of the County Donegal Railways Joint Commillee, which operates a fascinating three-foot-gauge railway in a scenic wonderland situated

in the north-west of Ireland. TI1c layout about to be described in the fo llowing is based as closely as possible on this system and was originally designed as a semi-portable model rai lway wi th seven baseboards suitable for a much larger site than the present one. Four baseboards only have been used, and some of the track has been slightly altered to suit the present restricted site, hence the rather unusual track formation. It is hoped that a larger site wil l be available in the near future , when the railway wi ll assume its intended des ign.

I t is certain that a number of scale purists will have nightmares when they learn that the reason for choosing 5mm. scale was that a large quantity of 16.Smm. scale track was available at a very reasonable price, and as I wanted to get things running as quickly as possible I decided that if I chose 5mm. scale as my size the gauge would be l 5mm. and the diITerencc between this and 16.5mm. was so small as to be hardly noticeable. So the track was purchased and the baseboards were erected. "l11e latter were made from heavy plywood sui tably braced with 2in. x I in. battens and raised on trestles. The tracks arc screwed to the baseboards and have been treated to give the narrow-gauge look. They follow the prototype layouts as far as possible. as in the prototype the gradients arc severe, two sections being of one in twenty-four and one, o n a curve, of one in thirty, the latter just outside Lough Eske station.

When on numerous visits to Donegal I had the opportunity to study the prototype closely and obtained permission to take photographs and to make drawings at the stations, so the next step was to reproduce as faithfull y as possible. in miniature, Killybegs and Lough Eske stations and Bamcsmore halt. Card­board and balsa wood were used for this purpose. and when erected the models were covered with Modelcraft building papers

suitably tinted with watercolours. On the prototype great use has been made of whitewash, so I " doctored " some of the Modelcraft coursed rubble wall papers with wrute poster colour and this gave the desired effect on platform fronts and on the walls of the buildings. Barnesmore halt is situated at a return loop, the common two-rail problem, so that a train can be stopped with obvious purpose while the polarity of the track is switched over.

Signals were next to be produced, and are all operated by cranks attached to the points with the exception of one signal which is clcctricaUy operated. When the signals were in place a rough framework was prepared and sacking stretched over it. This was treated lo a coat of thin liquid plaster of paris and painted when dry with artist's oi l colour diluted with turpentine, the various shades being run into each other so as to avoid hard edges. Rubber sponge was used for bushes and hedges. This looked very realistic when tom rather than cut with scissors, and when stuck in position it was treated with various shades of artist"s oil colour diluted as before with turpentine and applied with a hoghair brush. A number of t.rees were produced from loofah dyed with ordinary household dyes and stuck firmly to rose-bush twigs. Some proprietary trees have since been added and have helped the scenes considerably. The village and harbour are a " left-over·• from a previous layout which has since been turned into a portable system. I made no attempt to model Killybegs village, as this task would be well-nigh impossible : at least it would take years to make. However, the present village does not take away from the railway or the narrow-gauge atmosphere.

As previously mentioned, the gradients arc stiff. so powerful locomotives arc a must. Bearing this in mind, I started the first locomotive, o. I "Alice,"' a 2-6-4 tank loco. using copper bronze side-frames and a Tri-ang motor. I geared down the mechanism so that I had great power, but of course speed was lost. Howc\·er, most narrow-gauge locos do not travel very fast, so this slow

Railcars No. 7 and No. 1 a t Killybegs. The .prototype of the latter is in the Belfast transport museum.

JULY 1959

A view of the harbour and vi llage. showing the very effective use of simple accessories. Note how "busy" the quay appears. This adds life to the scene.

Kil lybegs stat ion. The brake-van in the foregrou nd is incomplete. Beh ind can be seen "Phoenix." the diesel tractor. Railcar 19 and van beside the station.

152

LAYOUT PLAN (not to scale)

l Oil shed.

2 Garage. 3 Shops.

4 Church.

5 Rectory.

6 Farm. 7 House construction.

8 Barnesmore halt .

9 Bridge.

10 Leve l crossing.

11 Keeper's cottage. 12 Pond.

13 Hut.

14 Farm.

15 G ranite bridge. 16 Girder bridge.

Below: The village castle beside the harbour.

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speed did not worry me. Some ''agons were produced nex1 and. as lime pcrmiltcd, three carriages. More carriages arc in the earl} stages of construction, including an observation coach.

Railcars arc in everyday use on the prototype, so models have been produced in the following order: No. 19 a rticulated diesel type (the mosl modern o n the C.D.R.), which I have powered with a Tri-ang motor; next o. 11 " Phoenix" diesel tractor, the prototype of which ran on the Clogher Valley Railway before being purchased by the C.D.R . and converted by them from the original steam tractor. Then followed No. l petrol service car, a model of the vehicle now in the Belfast Transpon Museum.

RAILW AY MODELLER

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Both these models arc fitted with T ri-ang motors, but " Phoenix " has similar gearing to that used in the steam locomotive, so that it is capable of handling hea'y goods trains. Two further models ha,·e been added. one of them a few weeks ago : o. 3 Ore" ry pcLrol r:iilcar. and m~· favourite, o. 7 diesel railcar . o. 3 again has a T ri-ang motor and No. 7 a " Gem ., X5. The prototypes have considerable interest, as the C.D.R. obtained the Drewry from the Dublin a nd Blessington Steam Tramway and altered the gauge to suit its own, while No. 7 is said to be the first railcar in ei ther Great Britain or I reland with a diesel engine. This com­pletes the rolling stock on the layout at present. but I hope to make a start on loco No. 15. a 4-6-4T, in the near future. and possibly I "ill add railcar trailer o. 5 as well. With these additions the layout will begin lo look crowded. so the larger site mentioned earlier will become a must.

To some people this layout will not appear to be much, but to me it is a constant reminder of many ha ppy days spent in Donegal, and "hile working at it I can sometimes recapture the thrill of "atching shunting operations on the C.D.R. or of watch­ing one of the very fine 2-6-4 tank locos panting up the incline to Barnesmorc Gap with a hea'1' mixed train. a sight to be remembered when seen on a warm summer evening and one which I hope l will sec many times again in the future.

My very sincere thanks arc due to Mr. B. L Curran, of Stranorlar. and Mr. C. L. Fry. of Dublin, for the invaluable help, ad,·ice and guidance they have given me during the construction

The local church. The house under construction is made from scrap balsa wood.

JULY 1 959 153

Railcar No. 19 entering Lough Eske station. The lough itself is represented on the backscene.

of the layout. They have both been very patient with me, and without their help and encouragement the layout would not be in existence today, because l must admit that on a few occasions when things were not going right I felt like giving up. My thanks are also due to Mr. D. Godfrey, of Carlow, for the photographs which illust rate this article; on more than one occasion his eagle eye for detai l has come to my rescue.

I did not mention my workshop, but for those who arc interested 1 fi nd that the kitchen table suits my purpose admirably, despite the fact that my wife worries about the holes and chips

which appear in the table top now and then ! However, it must be admitted that she is a very patient woman and is almost as in terested in the layout as 1 am. so perhaps when it is laid out to its full size she will help me to control two trains and a couple of railcars at the one time, which will result in lots of fun for both of us. After all , everyone builds a layout for the enjoyment to be got out of it, a nd whether it is large or small, scale or free­lance, a rai lway model is a grand thing to have. My advice to all who a rc poised on the brink of building one is "Go ahead and do it; don 't let this grand hobby pass you by."

Drewry railcar 3 entering Barnesmore Hale. The signal refers to the level crossing on the upper section.

TOY FAIR NEWS SPECIAL

RAILWAY MODELLER March· 1963 ·Volume No.14

50

Railway of the Month

RAILWAY MODELLER

Above : Killybegs station , with harbour to left.

COUNTY DONEGAL Top right: railcar No. 19 pre· paring to leave for Lough Eske . Loco No. 1 " Alice" in fore­ground.

G. R. Hanan has reconstructed his 5mm. scale 16.5mm. gauge niodel of the late County Donegal Railway

Bottom right : Lough Eske station : railcar No. 7 with trailer No. 5.

SOME readers may remember a previous article on this 5mm. scale model railway in the July 1959 issue of the RAILWAY

MODELLER, but for those who do not and for the many new readers who have joined our ranks a brief outline of the nature of this model wi ll suffice.

The layout is intended to represent the 3ft.-gauge railway operated by the County Donegal Rai lways Joint Committee until January 1961, when, sad to relate, the rai lway was closed down and dismantled, being replaced by a fteet of lorries and a number of buses, all of which carry the C.D.R. name and livery. Although the railway has passed into local history one is reminded continually by these vehicles of the old system which gave so many years of fa ithfu l service to the people of Donegal.

Since the article appeared in the RAILWAY MODELLER a change o f address caused the original layout, which was semi-portable, to be dismantled. This at once provided an opportunity to study the many fau lts in construction, operation and design, and after much de liberation it was decided to scrap the layout in favour of a new one, salvaging all vehicles, track, stat ion buildings and baseboard runners.

A completely new plan was drawn up for the new si te, which was exactly the same size as the origina l one. Extensive research was commenced on the prototype by a visit to Donegal, which allowed many drawings and photographs to be made on the spot, with considerable attention paid to the existing lineside features. ~s previously, the main stat ion to be modelled was Killybegs, and it was decided to model that portion of this pretty town which sur­rounded the station and to follow. as faithfully as possible, the lineside at Lough Eske and Barnesmore Gap.

When a ll deta ils were in hand a new open-frame type of baseboard was erected, using 2in. x I in. dea l battens. All track was laid on t in. insulat ion board, which in turn was fastened d irect to 2in. x 1 in. runners screwed to the battens. This made a s ilent and firm track bed, completely free from sagging of any sort. As before, the base­board was made in sections a nd thus became semi-portable, each section being bolted to the other with 2in. x t in. galvanized bolts. Scenery was then erected by using sack ing placed over card and wood formers, the whole being coated with plaster of paris used in creamy consistency and " treated " in areas with sifted sawdust and granu­lated cork to give substance to the landscape.

Background scenes were roughly sketched in and the whole was firmly placed in position. Hedges were made up from rubber sponge and stuck in position. Trees were fabricated from dyed loofah, sprinkled with sifted sawdust, then placed in order to await final treatment. Students' oi l colour diluted in turpentine was used throughout, as it dries with a dull surface. Painting of landscape foreground a nd background was brought forward at the one time; in th is way a uniformity of colour was carried right through the whole process of painting, the background being lighter than the foreground so that the illusion of recession would not be lost. Hedges and trees were tinted during the procedure. Houses for Killybegs were made up from card and balsa wood, using the photographs and drawings as a general guide. In its finished state the town is very similar to the prototype, a nd some visitors from County Donegal have found it fascinating to spot the buildings which they know so well. In short, it has been really worth while to go to so much trouble to reproduce the actual lineside as faithfully as possible. The railway ·• fits in " perfectly, as can be seen from the accompanying photographs.

On the electrical and mechanical side many improvements have been effected. The " Powermaster," which cannot be praised highly enough, has been built into a completely new control panel which carries a number of additional section switches which in turn are attached to the colour-coded feed wires, thus allowing simpler fault­find ing if any fa ults develop. Points are now operated from a main lever frame instead of by the previous hand-operated system, all points except one being controlled by fine steel cable and spring return, a system which has proved very satisfactory so far. Signals are connected direct to point tie-rods, using tiny cranks and rodding, with the exception of one signal which is solenoid operated and works in conjunction with o ne turnout which is also fitted with a solenoid.

Numerous sound effects have been added, including whistles, telegraph bells and diesel engine noises, all of which add to the realism. The smoke apparatus originally fitted to the locomotives had to be removed due to complaints by the household authorities, who objected to the obnoxious aro ma produced! However, now that the new " perfumed " smoke is avai lable it is proposed to refit the locomotives with this.

Since the July 1959 article very little has been done with the rolling stock except a general overhaul. Locomotive No. 15 (now renumbered 9) 4-6-4T was completed the followi ng September, and railcar trailer

MA RCH 1963 51

52 RAILWAY MODELLER

Above: Killybegs yard : railcar No. I at left foreground, locos " Phoe!'l ix," " Alice" and " Eske."

Ki//ybegs Town _ _ _ _ ___ _ ______ ffP!!~~ s_ _ __ _ ________ _ - __ _ - -ir---

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Harbour smmscALE LAYOUT, , Overall dimensions 11 x 8 Pion not to scoff#.

CONCEALED TRACK Top /eve/. -- -- - - - ­Med level - - -Low /eve/ - · - · - · -

Rood River

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MARCH 1963

Killybegs town square. Note turntable in left foreground.

No. 5 shortly afterwards ; then came the observation coach, which was a long time in the making, two further carriages and fina lly one ex-N.C.C. coach, which is a modern affair in comparison with the others. More wagons are in early stages of manufacture and a further locomotive, one of the 4-6-0T type, is planned and should go into service during the coming winter.

This layout is far from perfect, and much of the workmanship woul'1 shock the purist, but it has been built for amusement and partly for sentimental reasons, so on these two counts the writer

2-6-4T No. I "Alice" on Barnesmore bank..

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feels that he is justified in chancing h is arm by sending details to the Edito r of the RAILWAY MODELLER, who is a very reasonable man and who believes that railway modelling embraces purists and " model bashers" alike ; and wh.ile mentioning the Editor an oppor­tunity presents itself to congratulate him on the Proprietary Modeller section of the RAILWAY MODELLER. This series must be a great source of encouragement to the younger generation, and after all youth is the life blood of any interest, let it be ships, aeroplanes or railways, and it is up to the adults to encourage them where possible.