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Closing out the August gallery sees a lunchtime trip from Portlaoise to Limerick before catching the evening Nenagh branch service back to Nenagh on the last day of August. Click https://thewandererphotos.smugmug.com/2026-Photos/August-2026/i-6q55DXV to view.  

Those are absolutely amazing! I thought I recognised the designs as I have some of Ken's equivalemnts in 00 scale. I had several more on order when he sadlt passed away, but it was not to be. Howver, the above begs the question - does someone have these moulds or whatever design tech is needed to produce more? If so, or if possible, I would like to get two more of the vans you have in the middle (in 00, of course).

Which of these is small, and which is far away? I ate all of those.

Absolutely terrific, Angus. Great work. You've no excuse not to run lengthy "Fairs Specials" in N gauge!

After our fun on the Sud Ramp, the other day, We took our aching legs for a long ride on trains over the last two days. Thursday; to Zurich, intending to catch a German IC train to Stuttgart as far as Singen - I'm looking for Class 147 haulage. The Interrail App said that the train had been cancelled, but the train was definitely on the HUGE departure board at Zurich. A train was there, but not five nice white double deckers - the Swiss had turned the incoming train round at Singen and laid on an ERSATZ Zug of 450.060 (new) pushing three blue double deckers as far as Schaffhausen, managing 72max on the way: we continued by EMU to Singen.  There we did find a return IC, 147.559 (had it before!) pushing five double deckers. IMG_6194.MOV The line is a mix of single and double in Germany, then restricted by curves on to Zurich. We did 83 before the 53 mph curves and after the Schaffhausen stop, 75 before terminating. By the way, this is First Class in those IC coaches. Compare with the awful seats in a British train! I managed to choose an EMU train back to Bern, but got 460.044 for the second time this trip back to Spiez. Today, Friday, was forecast for 30 degrees, so being on a train seemed a good idea - Swiss air-con is pretty good. First, the 0947hrs bus, seen here at Spiez on arrival - there was one other passenger on the bus! which gave us plenty of time to get 460.082 (old!) with a train of double deckers on the 1023hrs to Romanshorn as far as Zurich (again?). En route, I had a call from my publisher to say that a book which I have compiled was ready to check - so no travel on Monday! The idea was to  - find somewhere cheaper to eat than Spiez (CHF 90 would probably be cheap - £80 sterling). The IC was running on time (!), but first an original Re4/4 came in to Platform 14 and posed for the photo! Then we caught the 1237hrs IC (for Stuttgart) as far as Singen. 147.589 was new and did 76 in Switzerland and 86 in Germany! At Singen, the plan was to catch a Regional Express heading for Karlsruhe up the Schwarzwald Bahn which is pretty steep even in some of the early stages. The 146 on the train of four double deckers did 86 before the first stop at Engen, then climbed up the curving track at 55 to Immendingen. We were stopped for an on-coming train to clear the single line on the next section, but then shot off to 86 before Donaueschingen (source of the Danube, of course). I thought that this place would be awash with eateries, but had to ask directions to find the town and a fairly up market hotel which did superb veal Wiener Schnitzel, salad and German Bratkartoffeln as I remember them - washed down by a pint of local Pilsner. Not cheap, but about twenty quid cheaper than Switzerland! We had to get a move on to catch our train, not helped galloping up and down stairs to deal with a last minute change of platform (yes, late-running), so I had to pause to get my breath before walking through the train to the First! 146.238 just managed 87mph before Singen. The incoming train from Stuttgart was a quarter of an hour late, so DB had a set on hand to run the Swiss part of the journey for those joining at Singen. 147.566 was an "old" engine for me and managed 72 before the 55mph curves into Schaffhausen where a mob of people were waiting to join us. I might comment that this station stretches for a couple of kilometres  - try modelling that! Now, out past the Rhine Falls: and so to Zurich: Another EMU back to Bern, badly checked, so a bit of a scamper to catch the connection to Spiez which was 460.077 (new!). I jumped on at the Standard class end of a nine single decker coach train and slowly progressed down a very full train. Lots of young Swiss in uniform, going home for the weekend - if you're planning to invade Switzerland - do it at the weekend! Eventually, I got to the first of three First Class coaches, which was nearly empty after the packed coaches in front. The ticket collectors checked our coaches first and enthusiastically ejected half a dozen youngsters who were "trying it on" - every seat has a massive "1" on it, so no real excuse. We touched a hundred mph on the run to Thun, then had a long wait for our bus at Spiez - they're hourly after 8pm! Hard work, but a great day all the same. I'll sleep tonight!