Northport Quay – Farnham & District Model Railway Club's Annual Exhibition 2025

Northport Quay by David Holman – A 7mm scale Irish broad gauge layout at the Farnham & District Model Railway Club's 50th Annual Exhibition 12 October 2025 Northport Quay is a model of the Irish 5′ 3″ gauge in 7mm scale on 36.45mm gauge. The setting is somewhere in the north-west of Ireland. It has a small station and a harbour with fish traffic and a coaster based on a Clyde Puffer. Northport Quay is deemed to be about where the actual town of Killala lies, on the north coast of County Mayo. A short branch links it to the larger town of Northport roughly where the real town of Ballina is situated. Hence, the Midland Great Western built the line to Northport and Northport Quay, but thanks to a new line, linking Swinford on the WL&W/GS&W line from Claremorris to Sligo, to Foxford (on the Northport/Ballina line), all three companies enjoy access to Northport Quay, while the Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway also enjoys running rights. David’s first Irish broad gauge model railway, Arigna Town, was based on proposed branches to the Arigna coal mines and in the course of this project, David built a lot of SLNCR and MGWR stock. When Richard Chown (of Castle Rackrent fame) passed away, David was very fortunate to acquire some of his models, including WL&WR 0-6-0 'Shannon' and an unbuilt kit of a GS&WR 101 class 0-6-0. The latter has been completed, while various wagons and coaches for both companies have also been added - all in pre-grouping livery to create a range of trains that might have operated into Northport Quay in the early 1900s. Arigna Town trains, form those which might have appeared in the mid 1950s - assuming the railway had survived, of course, the actual branch to Killala closed in 1937. Track gauge in Ireland is 5'3 = 36.75mm in 7mm scale. On Northport Quay it has been hand built from Code 100 flat bottomed rail, soldered to copperclad sleepers to give typically lightweight track used on minor railways. Ballast in Woodlands Scenics fine ash. The coaster, 'Acla' is a blend of a Clyde Puffer and one of the later 'Vic' supply ships built for the Royal Navy after WW2. The model started life as a Langley kit, but has been heavily modified with a new forecastle and rear cabin/wheelhouse. On its own track, running along the left hand quayside is a mobile crane. Scratchbuilt, mainly from plastic, but with a brass chassis, it uses a High Level 108:1 gearbox and is controlled by an automatic shuttle unit. In the rear, right-hand corner of the layout, a much modified Airfix/Dapol kit of a dockyard crane is used to disguise where the line carries on to the pier. Farnham & District Model Railway Club - https://farnhammrc.org.uk 0:00 – Introduction – Northport Quay 0:23 – Portable Generator 0:45 – Man with Broom 0:56 – Barrels 1:19 – Crane 1:43 – Water Tower 2:09 – Black Shed 2:26 – Station Sign 2:50 – Northport Quay Station 3:38 – Donkey Cart 4:28 – Priest and Nuns 4:43 – Station Shed 5:16 – Crates 5:49 – Boat 6:46 – Buffer 7:15 – End Titles #modeltrain #modeltrainlayouts #modeltrainset #modeltrains #ogauge #oscale #exhibition #exhibitionlayout #railroad #railwaylayout #railwaymodeling #railways #finescale #scenerybuilding #modelrailwayscenery #irishrailway #broardgauge