- Wolff Street Yard -

by John Rogers

I have always had an interest in Ireland's railways and when I served in the Royal Air Force in Belfast, I was able to use the services of the LMS(NCC), the B&CDR., both then operated by the Ulster Transport Authority and the Northern bits of the GNR(I), the rest of it being in the Republic.

The outcome of all this is is the simple little shunting plank seen here and supposedly in the area of the Short Strand, Belfast.

The track is the traditional copper clad sleepering and code 75 rail, laid to gauge of 21 mm. which equates to the standard Irish gauge of 5' 3". and the stock is either scratch built or kit built from a few Irish kits available. Motive power is provided by a Sentinel 0-4-0 and a Y class 0-6-0T.: both of these are LMS(NCC) power and operating on the wrong side of the Lagan, the 0-6-0T. being one of two Jinties which were , regauged, to the NCC by the LMS during World War 2. 

This little layout is now around 20 years old and there is still work to do on it - too much playing trains - but it has given me a great deal of pleasure just shunting! In all honesty, though, if you choose to model off the beaten track, the work involved means progress will be slow.