My big Irish project news -come and see the Irish southern slideshow.........

rjhowie

Active member
As some will know a while ago i was doing the whole of Northern Ireland Railways from distant Glasgow. Then I decided to go further from the end of the cross border line just south of Newry. I then laid track all the way to where Dublin would eventually be so that Enterprise Express trains from Belfast-Dublin could be part of the thing. It was a challenge doing what is left of rail in NI but added this further mountain. In the process, I made after a lot of thought to start building scenery from Dublin north so I would not be too put off this added dimension.

So far I have completed scenery all the way to Drogheda and the start of the Navan Branch (be added later). The Howth Branch is done and all the scenery. I have included the link to my Northern Ireland Railway Trainz site and if you look down the left hand menu you wil see "Dublin" and some 89 pictures in the slideshow on that page. There a small selection of Dublin pics out of sequence and appear in the Howth branch pics but there we are! The start of the Howth Branch pictures start with the picture of a train on the curved platform at Howth Junction station.

When you watch the slides which take about 10 secs each you may, I hope, come to realise why this big Irish thing is taking so long! There are parts of Dublin to catch up on including around Connolly and other bits but for now the slog north if the main thing. So now surf to my site and see the IR extension work folks (!)

Bobby

northernirelandrailwaysim.moonfruit.com

Feel free for your comments and I hope it is thought worth the big climb.
 
Great work Bobby - I love the slideshows for all your routes. You've certainly got a huge layout - It must have taken a lot of time to put it all together. Keep it up, mate!
Cheers,
Roy3b3
 
Great work is right!

Keep up the great work this is going to be a splendid route once it's all together. :)

John
 
Very kind of you Roy of my previous submissions and your appreciation John toof course and I hope there may be others who might be practically interested due to the size of this thing. I doubt very much if there are many Trainzers who have flew over to somewhere else to build something as ambitious as this Caesar is attempting. Still have a long slog to reach Dundalk then the Border where all my Ulster scenery, etc starts but I must try and do it. Must admit it is quite a veritable challenge but taking breaks is a help. A secondary thing is that when done the lines I have just partly radiating out from Dublin would mean that others could then progress from there to anywhere.

If any have not had a look then please do so as I have tried to get the build as near looking to the actual -housing, farms, roads, etc. Now must work out how soon into the New year I can plan a short trip over there for some more looking around for this thing. Oh and i have tried to get the scenery, roads, farms, towns, etc as near as possible to the layout hence the time taken. Had a wee break so now back to the crawl from Drogheda to Dundalk.
 
Wow thats really impressive!! Its giving me second thoughts about how much detail I should be putting into my route! What hedges are using by the way? And keep up the good work!
 
Fantastic! Keep up the great work, it must be difficult building a route from across the water, since you can't hope on a train to go get photos.

Its also nice to see that you have included the apartments where my nana & granda lived for the past ten years (they have since moved house last summer) in Holywood, along with the all important grave yard where my great granda (2006) & great granny (2014) are, in Holywood.

question. Will the route be released when done?
 
Last edited:
Hello tonybonneyba,

Many thanks for your comment there and nice to know I kept a link with a relation re the flat and regarding the cemetery. Yes it is difficult
being in Glasgow although I did fly over to Belfast for several days a while back to do each of the lines. The only line that was a problem on your NIR was the mothballed Crumlin Line. However through a railway contact to someone else was allowed a copy of a cd shot in the cab from Lisburn to Antrim dated 2001 and assured the owner it was not for commercial purposes. On one day I took a bus from Lisburn and got off at each closed station and had to hang aboit for an hour each time for the next bus and so on - there was only one I could not get near to see due to high fencing, trees, etc. Have visited the Province since a wee boy off and on then for the odd break as well as taking boys camps for a while. Not often you get a Trainzer flying elsewhere to build a route!

Had only intended to do the NIR and never thought would ever complete it then got more ambitious with a line running out just south of Newry! As indicated I have scenery as far north from Dublin just beyond Drogheda Junction as well as the Howth Branch. When I finally get past Dundalk to link with the Newry and NIR part then I have to decide whether to add the branch line west from Drogheda to Navan. Will keep things up to date on the forum as I slowly plod back north. Will send you a PM shortly.

Uh-oh FiachraIR...overdue getting back to you!
 
Already owning enterprise 1 & 2 in msts i kind of know how big a project your got in front of you

Good luck

Tom
 
Hello Tom from a wet Glasgow.

I have delayed getting back to this big Irish endeavour due to some intermittent health issues and I needed to get back to anther very large tramway done years ago on Trainz. That was the Glasgow Tramway system closed in 1962 and the biggest outside London. a friend of mine here on discovering that separate Trainz website on it was fascinated and I discovered an awful lot of bridges needing sorted and traffic needed putting in. With over a hundred miles of tramlines took me a while and he will be the first Trainzer to get the thing as it is not on the DLS yet and being sent to to him (www.glasgowtramsim.moonfruit.com).

Anyway! I did indicted that i only had originally intended to do the NIR in Ulster and that was it but ended up adding the track all the way to Dublin and an unfinished Dublin central area around Connolly station. Instead of continuing the scenery from Newry south I did it the other way round from Dublin! Was that irish, haha? I think a while ago maybe in passing I thought I might never really do the Enterprise Express route completely so there we are. Scenery from Dublin as far as Drogheda and the complete DART branch. The start of the Navan branch off Drogheda is done but that is all on that one so far. Now I am trying to get back to sticking to the big amount of non-scenery from Drogheda and north. Have came a long way since that original intention of just NI Railways as i have been a long standing visitor to N. Ireland since a wee boy on family trips then myself and taking BB camps over there and felt it was high time to get something definitive.

Dare say if I feel it is getting a bit much after all that has been done tempted to call quits but we will see! Went over a couple of times to take notes and the presently mothballed Crumlin Line was a hard one to do but got a video of a driver cab view via someone and through them to someone else privately! In addition followed that route by taking a series of buses along the way so I dare say it is not that often a Trainzer flies somewhere else to do a route in another country?! The longish gaps between Drogheda-Dundalk then Dundalk-Border is proving a groan after so much building and very tempting to do less scenery but that would go against the grain. Still for the moment on including the Navan branch but will wait to see if I can do these two southern bits first.

All going well it is my hope to fly back over to Belfast and on a day train to Dublin as there are things i want to go over and all going well see the man from NI who has taken a great interest in my NIR thing and meet for a blether and perhaps a meal. So that is the news to date and as my ancestors were very strong at sticking to a thing I am trying to do the same and not give up early. Before I forget too can I say that I have the tracks radiating from Dublin so that when I have finished what was supposed to be the NIR only it means that Trainzers if they wish can then extend anywhere in Southern Ireland from my trackage in that city.

good to hear from you and hope you enjoyed the site visit? :)

Bobby
a stubborn Glaswegian
 
Back
Top