leslie10646

Note that it is unavailable on Amazon. Someone's twigged that this is a reprint of Conroy's book published in 1928 (my copy is not with me). I note on ABE Books various Indian reprints of books - this one is on "Print on demand" from some organisation in India. Enough said.

Polite reminder. Our pre-Christmas meeting is tonight at 6pm (followed by the Area AGM at 8pm). If you're in London Area, please support us while we're still here!!!!

6pm on Friday, super slides and a acknowledgeable speaker. If you're near London, come and be there - without live meetings, the London Area will die! But if you're miles away - tune in - details below! LIVE + ZOOM : 18.00 – 20.40 Friday 5 December 2025 18.00 “Last days of the Irish narrow gauge – through the lens of David Soggee” by Joe Begley 20.00 London Area AGM David Soggee was a much travelled enthusiast with renowned camera skills. A vast collection of his colour slides bequeathed to the IRRS show a preference for branch lines and smaller railways. On three visits to Ireland in 1959 and 1960, he travelled on the last three remaining Irish narrow gauge railways, the C&L, CDRJC and West Clare lines. Joe Begley shows images from these visits which present a vivid snapshot of these lines as they moved towards the end of their working lives. COME TO OUR LIVE MEETING ….. ….. at The Gallery at Alan Baxter, 100m from Farringdon station. Door opens at 17.30. The Gallery is a smart and spacious community space, ideal for our talks, and with stepfree access available. We hope as many as possible will be able to come along, see the speaker live, contribute directly to the discussion, meet the Committee and other members, and enjoy refreshment in a nearby pub afterwards. Advice for those attending the live meeting, including directions to the venue, is attached ATTENDING BY ZOOM To obtain a Zoom link for the meeting, please register by clicking REGISTER HERE and fill in your name and email address to be sent a personalised Zoom ink. You can register at any time up to (or during) the meeting, and you can copy this registration link to others. Please note that the link will be sent by Zoom(not IRRS London) and will arrive immediately after registration. Those who have registered should also receive a reminder from Zoom nearer the meeting. Alternatively, open Zoom on your device and enter the following : Webinar ID: 848 9043 3111 passcode: 126948 For those participating in the meeting via Zoom, please note that should Zoom fail and there is no transmission, we will try and email everyone on the London Area email list with an update so please watch your Inbox LIVE MEETINGS - PLEASE COME We invited more people to come to our live meetings and were very pleased with the attendance for Roger Joanes’ talk on 21st November. Please try and attend our live meetings when you can as, to encourage the speaker and add to the atmosphere in the room. DONATIONS TO THE IRRS (LONDON AREA) We invite voluntary donations to support the IRRS (London Area) from those of you who watch our meetings online and who do not have an opportunity to otherwise contribute. The London Area needs to raise funds to cover inter alia the day-to-day running of the Area, our publicity, publishing Irish railway books, and safeguarding, referencing and digitising significant Irish railway collections given to us. If you would like to support our activities, please go to www.irrs.ie , click on Branches > London and then the Donations tab. We suggest £3/meeting or you may prefer to make a single donation to cover the whole season. The exact sum is at your discretion. Payment is by GooglePay, credit or debit card. You do not need to register or set up a Square account. Please note that Square accepts payments in sterling only and as the IRRS is a Limited Liability Company, donations are not eligible for UK Gift Aid. Payments can be made from credit cards based in other currencies subject to the usual charge made by many card companies and banks for foreign transaction handling and currency conversion.

Hi Brendan Commiserations that you have a similar issue. The bogie which leaps off sets to be the trailing bogie of Car 3 (next to the trailing motor coach). As I said on an earlier post, it was really bought for the Glass Cabinet, so like you, I may swallow the issue. Of course, if I do build that SR layout it would be a station between two fiddle yards, so a nice straight shuttle arrangement for the $DD would work fine? As for Irish modelling being easier - IT IS if you model diesels - but steam IS A DIFFERENT MATTER. As almost no RTR steam exists, you end up with brass locos built from kits which need an Andy Candice, or a David Holman, or a David Richardson on hand to fiddle about with the things. THEY derail with impunity - mainly the leading bogies. Dr Edgar produced a working solution which has helped my S Class, but then there's the PPs (two) ALs (two, the Glover tanks (one quite well-behaved, the other two short out very happily), etc etc . Still, it's a nice problem to have - they look lovely just sitting around!!!!!

Anyway, back to the 4DD. I re-railed it and ran it THE OTHER WAY through the point with no trouble, but it still derailed in the other direction - I'm keeping fit going to retail it each time - remember my layout is house long! Then, I thought I'd show you it moving where it didn't derail - you'll love this - derailed right in front of me. Only 4 seconds, you'll love it! I've looked at the offending trailer and the bogie has more play than others, so I IMG_4181.MOV am looking for a suitable screwdriver ........

Ah yes, but she can get an All-Line, trains boats and buses, First Class for a YEAR for about CHF6,500! Trains on time and most places at least half-hourly! Who would own a car? I believe that spouses and kids get a big discount.

NO TRAIN LOKE THAT in modern Switzerland, but the upper floor of their double-deckers have curved-in windows just like the 4DD - but are very spacious in First (I've no idea what Second is like!) ........... Aren't First Class Interrail passes wonderful? 25% off them sale on at the moment!

Hi David I presume that "Rathmelton" at the Southampton exhibition in 2026 is YOU? just getting my new diary into shape!

Thanks @Signal Post - based on the advice given, it's going back to Rails! I hope that you enjoyed its short history on the Armagh Line.

Brilliant man, @Flying Snail, I'd wondered what it could be like to travel in one! Thanks for the link!

Thanks, to both of you for these points (pun intended!) I'll have a look at both points when I'm next in a position in do so. At this moment, my eighty year old knee isn't working so to even get back into the loft will be painful.

By way of a serious wind-up. I've decided to electrify the Junction, and this is an Armagh Commuter train of the future, after the line is put back ...... Rather than wait for an 800 which which may appear posthumously, I decided to invest the same sum in another creation of the Blessed Oliver: This is the just-released "KR Models" model of the Bulleid Class "4DD" EMU, which you can see was an attempt to build a double-decker within the GB gauge. Only two sets were built, but they ran for 13-14 years. The Jury is out on this one - it's derailing on my points and with my vast layout, that means creeping under rafters to rescue it - it hated by single slip at Richhill, derailled the whole train, while a point at the North End of Portadown has just taken it out for the second time. I'll be the Internet to see if others have found this an issue. Unusually (?) it has motors in both motor coaches (which are invisible!), so it runs nicely when it likes the track. Lights internally and in the cabs, but unbelievably none on the Headcode Box, or a rear red panel. Unremarkable for detail - it wouldn't pass Paul Isles' attention to detail, but hey, no-one else will make a RTR model of one? Really only bought for the glass cabinet, but I've hankered after a simple SR layout as i've 4/5 EMU sets.

This thread seems to have strayed off the subject?

Thank you @Irishswissernie and @Mol_PMB, that's crystal clear and makes sense - although I wonder how often they were used ........

Thanks, Ernie, lovely clear photos for CBSCR fans. Why on earth, though, have two crossovers side by side on a LOOP? Naturally, @Mol_PMB I like the tail traffic too - one of my CIE cattle wagons!

IRRS LONDON - Next talk LIVE + ZOOM : 18.00 – 20.40 Friday 21 November 2025 “Photos of Closed Lines that might Reopen” by Roger Joanes The All Island Strategic Rail Review of 2023 advocated reopening of several long closed lines throughout Ireland. Garnering high quality photos from 12 leading Irish railway photographers, lifelong enthusiast Roger Joanes recalls these lines as they used to be with photos of trains, stations and places long since disappeared. If reopened, the lines may look quite different so take this opportunity to relish their heyday. COME TO OUR LIVE MEETING ….. ….. at The Gallery at Alan Baxter, 100m from Farringdon station. Door opens at 17.30. The Gallery is a smart and spacious community space, ideal for our talks, and with stepfree access available. We hope as many as possible will be able to come along, see the speaker live, contribute directly to the discussion, meet the Committee and other members, and enjoy refreshment in a nearby pub afterwards. ATTENDING BY ZOOM To obtain a Zoom link for the meeting, please register by clicking REGISTER HERE and fill in your email address to be sent a personalised Zoom ink. You can register at any time up to (or during) the meeting, and you can copy this registration link to others. Please note that the link will be sent by Zoom (not IRRS London) and will arrive immediately after registration. Those who have registered should receive a reminder from Zoom nearer the meeting. Alternatively, open Zoom on your device and enter the following : Webinar ID: 820 9160 4904 passcode: 381075 For those participating in the meeting via Zoom, please note that should Zoom fail and there is no transmission, we will try and email everyone on the London Area email list with an update so please watch your Inbox PLEASE ALSO NOTE THIS ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE AREA COMMITTEE: LIVE MEETINGS - PLEASE COME We invite more people to come to our live meetings. Live meetings in the capital are the raison d’etre of the London Area. We are happy to share them by Zoom but f the live meetings themselves are not supported, there will be little purpose in continuing to have a London Area as such. The London Area Committee is concerned that attendance at our live meetings is slipping and may be approaching the point where live meetings cannot be justified – and that would mark the end of the London Area. For those who have a choice, we know how easy and attractive it can be to stay at home and watch on Zoom. But we do encourage you to come to our live meetings. It is an opportunity to engage with the Committee and others who share an interest in Irish railways, or to engage directly with the speaker. Perhaps enjoy a drink afterwards. And it will ensure that London Area meetings continue. (From Leslie) I cannot over-emphasise this "warning". We often have a speaker over from Ireland, at considerable cost and then find him speaking to less than a dozen folk, plus the committee. If you live within 50 miles of London, surely you can support the area in person? At least from time to time? Tonight's speaker, Roger Joanes, has travelled over 200 miles to give his talk. Like most of our speakers, he is a specialist, who will illustrate his talk with superb photography of the period. So, please, come along and enjoy a great talk!

Is this not old enough? late 1800s I thought? 64 of them out there according to my files, but I will have missed a few. Only one in stock at the moment, but I may do another short run.

Nothing "constrained" about THIS layout?

Hi Paul YES, for once the website is telling the truth, with one important exception - the prices will go up by £2-£3 a wagon as soon as I can update it. The latest invoice from my "supplier" nearly caused a heart attack, so great were the price increases (the speed of delivery has got worse). My sales at Blackrock reflected the older lower prices, so we're too profitable! I DO NOT HAVE ANY UTA BROWN VAN KITS, OR SPOIL WAGONS. IF SOMEONE WANTS THEM, SPEAK UP!!!! I saw Enda's Rank wagon at Blackrock but I must admit, I didn't look very critically. It IS printed from John's files, so they should be pretty close? If John did his wagon as convertible to 21mm, then it should still be? My understanding is that it will be RTR, although Enda does not supply couplings - a lot of you chuck my couplings away and replace them with KayDees or whatever You bet that I'll be stocking it - almost as iconic (and hard to model) as my Spoil Wagon! It'll be a winner - every home (sorry, LAYOUT) should have one!!!!

Just a polite reminder. Enda has been selling my kits and wagons at events which he covers - like the monthly Bray event. If there's something you want, let Enda or I know and we'll get it sorted out for you. I eagerly await Enda's Ranks wagon for sale here in the UK. Also, don't forget his super new 30 Ton Brake van!

The "Inst" one was OK, I think - but, of course, the Fees were more and you get what you pay for! When I was learning to swim, it was Templemore Avenue Baths - and that wasn't very warm! For you younger "Southerners", Templemore Avenue's great claim to fame was its FLUTE Band, where the great James Galway first learnt his trade. Aren't you all amazed that I can remember this stuff in my eightieth year!

Lord, I remember THAT swimming pool. COLD did not describe the Arctic waters!

At last I have worked out how you did this. Apart from the fact that you were a Civil Engineer, a few posts ago was posted at 0617 - THERE ARE THREE OF YOU AND YOU'RE WORKING SHIFTS! It's just brilliant, very well done!

Making an offer may work, there is some good stuff still there, but do it soon before the items go back. That's what I did to buy the painting of the Turf Burner (Ross's in Belfast). I had forgotten to bid altogether, it didn't sell, so I made an offer a little below their "From" price and that was accepted. I still had to pay their commission! In fairness to them, when picked up by a friend (who incidentally bought the "Liffey" plate at this auction) they had wrapped it up very well in good 'oul bubble wrap. Incidentally, I'm delighted with my purchase which was a gift to Son No.2, who named after the Blessed Oliver.

Yes, very sad. It looks like a job for the local model railway club? Perhaps a lesson here - don't make your railway so big that it needs a special (large) building. Let's hope that one of the modelling mags gets in and photographs everything. At least that way, it can live on?