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The layout continues to live up to its promises, with everything well thought out and really well made. Seriously good trees too - well worth the investment. Like the angled LED lighting, which certainly lifts the sky and another step on from the Rice idea of one in the pelmet and another down the spine, though I'm sure there's some cream available for that!

They were prohibitive at the time nothing changes. Warb

Ah, many thanks. I’m looking in to getting some more made, but the cost may be prohibitive. We’ll see. cheers, Mol

Thanks! Now we looking for a hall to set it up. I hope i will be able to organise something in March.

All gone sorry bar 6 packs of the freight bogies. Warb

Have you still got a stock of them?

https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/news/third-order-of-new-dart-carriages-placed The replacements for the 8100s have been purchased. 20 5-car electric units make up this order. On a related note, the article mentions the first wave of new Darts won't come into service until the first half of 2027, and the second some time in 2028. No time is given for this order, but if it follows the pace of the previous installments (the first contract was signed in December 2021!) the old Darts will meet their end in about 2031 or so. Maybe a bit sooner if less testing is needed. 2030 at best, then.

They were done in batches of 50 of which i got 4/5 batches approx of each and what ever Appleby produced. Thanks Warb

Aha! So that's the origin of them. The supply has now dried up, sadly. Though I'm sure modellers around these islands have some sets stashed away in boxes.

A long long time ago I commissioned Appleby Models(John Talbot) to produce the following before any Irish outline bits were available. Memories. Warb

Welcome back David - or should that be ‘sir’? Looks a good tip with the brick sheet

That's coming together very well!

Still me, but as explained in my Workbench thread, have had to re-register - hopefully only temporarily. The left hand end of the layout is gradually being filled in & I've been enjoyed getting to grips with a bit a scenic work for a change. The yard-cum-crossing gate is formerly the one on Arigna Town, while the inside of the loco shed is slowly getting detailed. Meanwhile, the station house is pretty much complete and awaiting bedding in. The pigsty cum outside privy is another Arigna refugee, though it will need the walls converting to brick The railbus is scratch built. On the other side of the track from the pigsty will be a small cabin for the ground frame controlling the entrance to the private sidings. Below are a few more pictures: on the back scene, I've been working on the typical Suffolk barn, with some farm cottages next door, while Shannon/Jane is starting to look quite at home in its new shed. David Holman

Ok folks, it's still me, but [for now at least] I have a new user name. It all began a couple of weeks ago, when I found I needed a new laptop, because my aging Macbook's Catalina operating system was no longer being supported & hence, no longer secure. Had it at least 12 years, so can't complain. However, while everything seemed to transfer seamlessly to the new model, I somehow completely Horlicksed logging back on here. Forgot the password [of course] and in the course of trying to get a new one, somehow messed up my email too, so the only way I could think of to contact Admin, was to register again with a new user name - hence 'Colonel', with the obvious connection to Holman F. Stephens of the Light Railway empire he ran from a small office in Tonbridge. Am hoping, I may yet get my old details back, but in the meantime - you are never alone with a clone, as the saying goes. Or is it a case of I used to be schizophrenic, but where am I now when I need me most? Anyway... nobody seems to have posted in the Workshop for ages, though this contribution is hardly exciting. Have some buildings to do for my 0 gauge project and found myself drawn to the old Howard Scenics embossed brick paper. Still had some left over from at least 15 years ago, but was surprised to find Squires still do it and ordered some more, only to find I had two packs tucked away in a folder already. So now I have four. Nevertheless, 'tis good stuff and is easily stuck to card or foam board with PVA. Colouring is simple: a wash of mortar colour [I use acrylics] and then when dry, water colour pencils are used to shade over the embossing - a bit like brass rubbing. Another nice thing is that the sheets are available in English bond too. David Holman

I'd definitely take some. I love the 141-181 MM models and the prototypes were and are still my favourites. Let me know how you get on and how many sets could be produced. I always regretted not getting any of the Appleby Models buffers. Rich,

Like this?

I heard a little rumour today that these are likely to arrive in the next three months!

Arch60 (former 4Dmodelshop) that I use for custom etches are able to duplicate the buffers as white metal castings. Would anyone else like some, if I get some made? Here are the originals:

That looks awesome Darius!

No doubt them RMweb admins running a DDOS attack on us here!

Correct the line was doubled in the same job creation scheme that built the Bleach Green line

Three new arrivals in the shape of 12 ton unfitted H-vans-seen here being shunted by locomotive 188 into Ballisodare mill.

I've just weathered the roof. I used an experimental technique and it seems to have worked reasonably well. I masked off most of the body with tape, and then dabbed on Maskol for the top edge, so that it was slightly uneven. Then I did the spraying, a dirty brown/grey mix over the whole roof but heavier in the middle, followed by 'rubber black' focused around the exhaust. It seems to have given the desired effect - with the edge looking like it has been cleaned slightly unevenly: A bit like the loco in Ernie's photo here:

Derailers, sometimes used in place of catch points. They would be worked in association with the position light signals on the post nearby.