I work at a holiday cottage complex in Milltown, Co Kerry doing a bit of occasional maintenance, but business has been generally bad since Covid.  The on site Bistro/restaurant closed 3 yrs ago and lettings just dried up.  However, nothing's over till it's over and we recently had interest from someone who wanted to run the Bistro as a new Coffee Shop.  I was asked to do a bit of remodelling and give the place a general shine up after being empty for a couple of years for them.  The new people are locals and are professional cooks and are also keen local historians so naturally wanted to reflect this interest in their new venture.  They found out I was an avid Railway modeller and asked me to do a bit of an Irish Railway diorama for the interior.  Of course money is always tight in a new set up so this was to be a long term loan instead of a paid commission - given that I enjoy the hobby so much I agreed.

The subject choice was obvious given that Milltown was once a halt on the Great Southern & Western Railway Farranfore to Valentia Branch.  This broad gauge, single track, line ran between 1892 and 1960 and was only closed due to rapidly falling use.  Much of the infrastructure is still there and I have had the pleasure of exploring much of it over the last two decades of life here.  

The eating area is small so I had only about 4ft x 1ft x 1ft of space - not much for a 4mm model of such a rich landscape!  I decided on a static model and given that money is tight I also decided to compromise on true track gauge and stock. Most of the clientele will be casual observers so I didn't see a massive problem with this.  Besides, I thought it was best to capture the charm and nature of the landscape instead. 

 

A map of the line.  Whilst not a wholly accurate depiction of anywhere particular on the line, the diorama is supposed to represent a location somewhere between Dooks Halt and Glenbeigh Station.

 

The Willow Cafe in Milltown, County Kerry.  Whilst I did most of the refurb works I did not paint the willow tree - that was done by a local artist.

 

 

The final model before the front cover went on.  I have used a 2nd hand Mainline Dean Goods to stand in for an Irish J15 and a combination of various Dapol, Bachmann and Hornby stock for the rake.  The line had two mixed freights every day (1 up and 1 down), the only Irish branch allowed to do so for economic reasons, and used Victorian six wheel coaches right up until closure in 1960.  Given that this part of the world is timeless, I decided not to set in any particular era etc.  

 

 

The cattle creep cameo adds a little more interest although I doubt any farmer would lead his cattle through one whilst a train passed by overhead.  The figure is from Dapol and the Cattle from Noch - so far they are proving to be a hit with the customer's children and I am glad I put a Perspex sheet between them and their little fingers!

 

 

A classic - a second hand Mainline Dean Goods stands in for an Irish J15.  The diorama will only ever be seen by casual observers so I can live with the compromises in accuracy!

 

 

The hills to the rear are low relief and have been made with cardboard formers covered in Corn Flake packet card.  The embankment feature was run up in the same fashion.  Both were made as seperate components for convenience of handling and working.

 

 

 

Once everything was glued down I gave the rear hills a covering of tile grout.  I would have used Pollyfiller but I had an old half bag of the tile stuff lying around.  It was a little lumpy and this added to the texture.

 

Once dry, the hills were painted several shades of green and then given a number of washes - this creates a really blended feel and picks out really fine detail.  This enhances a feel that they are far off in the distance.

 

 

 

I covered the embankment in a layer of hanging basket liner and then applied about five layers of static grass of various lengths and hues.  I also used different flocks, some rubberised horse hair for hedges/brambles and lots of pulled clumps from various scenic mats.  Trees are clumped foliage and sea moss.  This is the windward side of the peninsular and therefore stuff is far more stunted and dies off easily hence the more muted colour grasses etc. 

 

 

I made the display case last of all figuring that it was far easier to make the box fit the model and not the other way around.  It was made from 9mm MDF from my local DIY store.  Note the generous internal corners - I have used scaled down photos of mountains and distant hills and have pasted these onto these corner fillets.  Normal photorealistic backscenes tend to distort when viewed from near up and when the viewer turns their head from left to right.  This optical trick helps to enhance a feeling that you are looking at a much wider panorama and a world beyond. 

 

 

I couldn't resist setting up this Scottish scene before handing the model over.  Note the mountains in the distant and the lack of an awkward corner - gentle curves make for better backscenes in my opinion.  In fact, the only photo manipulation was to extend the front embankment for a more complete side on view.

 

 

Mounted at last.  The diorama makes use of a cheap LED lighting system mounted under the front pelmet.  I picked this up cheap from a Home Decor store for just 25 Euros.   A simple banner has been used to explain what it is to viewers.