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There is a picture of that crash somehere…hmm let me see if I can find it This would also be one of the older Irish railway Photos

We wanted to share a quick update on the new production run of the Class 37 and explain where things currently stand. The good news is that the factory is working flat out and is presently reporting that the models should ship in the coming days subject to the usual final checks and approvals. that would see them arriving with us in Q1, 2026. So why the delay? In short, it’s come down to getting things right. The decoration has taken a little longer than expected as we’ve worked through the culmination of all the information that’s out there, making sure the finished models really capture the subtle differences they should. Alongside that, there have been a few tweaks to the updated PCB, which also needed time to be properly tested and signed off. It’s also worth remembering just how ambitious this project is. The Class 37 tooling is believed to be the most complex and extensive locomotive tooling suite anywhere in the world, simply because of the huge range of detail variations we’re covering within a single class. That level of complexity inevitably adds time during production. Our 37s are always massively in demand too, and are absolutely massive production runs, each and every time. We are so thankful for this of course, but also it takes longer to make them so we can satisfy demand. We know waiting is never ideal, and we really appreciate your patience. We’re confident, though, that the extra time will show in the finished models, and we’re looking forward to getting them into your hands as soon as possible. As always, we’ll keep you posted with further updates as things progress, and in the new year unveil the production samples of these highly anticipated beasts! Pre-Order Your Class 37 Here! View the full article

Dave, if you were a better dancer, she'd only have charged type a tenner!

Many thanks John. I couldn't find the photo at Fermoy on NLI - any chance you could send a link? Quartertown also had two closely-spaced loading pipes, presumably to suit the two hatches on the roof of the vans - they are visible above and to the right of the bitumen tanker here and I will model these: There are some detail views of grain handling arrangements at a small Scottish silo here: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/190388-br-20-ton-bulk-grain-wagons/#findComment-6001952 https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/190388-br-20-ton-bulk-grain-wagons/page/2/#findComment-6002589 They look similar to the grilles at Ranks Clara but arranged for rail wagons. Under the canopy at Quartertown they'll be invisible on the model from all plausible viewing angles, but I will probably represent them somehow to satisfy myself.

Bulkgrain loading/discharge arrangements at Ranks Clara The grating is likely to have been used for grain truck discharge after rail operations ceased, probably on top of an original rail discharge pit. A similar grating may have been used for rail discharge, possibly for one wagon linked by conveyor to the elevator system There was a concrete slab complete with two inset sidings when I visited the site 30 odd years ago, one of the sidings served a large grain elevator and a small dry corrugated good store, the second siding served a second larger dry goods store.

Yes Charcoal or Rubber black is a less stark colour, Good choice.

Finally got the Guest house wired and roofed and looks nice and finishes the setting. This was laser cut card and wood from Igra models. Excellent kit and quality.

Searching the online Cork archives some more I came across this in an article on placenames in the Mallow Field Club Journal No 06 - 1988: Names like Quartertown, Gneeves, Lavally and Laharn appear to have originated from the application of the old Brehon-Law administration. Quartertown: A direct translation of the Gaelic ceathrú, i.e. a land measure, usually a fourth part or a quarter of a ploughland. It would be sufficient to feed 75 cows, under the ancient land assessment. So it's definitely an ancient name and you all got it right! Also, from Mallow Field Club Journal No. 01 - 1983, a reference noting that the branch opened in 1853, not 1864 as I had read elsewhere. If so, it was constructed at the same time as the Mallow-Killarney line which it branched from. This is part of a lengthy and detailed article about the history of the railways in and around Mallow: Mallow Field Club Journal No. 01 - 1983. - Cork Past & Present KILLARNEY BRANCH The Killarney junction Railway, in which the GS and WR, had invested, was sanctioned as early as the 16th of July, 1846, in anticipation of the main lines reaching Mallow. The route of the railway was to branch off near Two-Pot House and travel westwards on the northern bank of the Blackwater. This was amended on 24th. July, 1851, to state that the junction would now commence on the southern bank of the Blackwater adjacent to the Viaduct. William Dargan received the contract for building the Killarney Junction Railway for a sum of £375,000. Regular services between Mallow and a temporary Terminus at Freemount (28 miles) began on the 25th May, 1853, and on 15th July, the 41 miles from Mallow to Killarney were opened. The Tralee and Killarney Railway, sanctioned in 1853, was opened on 18th. July, 1859. By the 1880’s, there were usually five trains between Mallow and Tralee on weekdays and on Sundays. 1st. and 2nd. Class passangers could leave Dublin at 10.00 a,m. and be in Killarney at 6.00 p.m. 3rd. Class passangers arrived at the same time but they had to take the Parliamentary train which left at 7.00 a.m. A quarter of a mile from the junction with the main Dublin-Cork line, a siding was built into Webbs Mills at Quarter Town. An advertisement for the Mills in the Cork Examiner of 27th. May, 1853. two days after the opening of the line, states that, “Prime Flour, Indian meal and clean bran would be delivered in Cork, Limerick and all the stations on the GS and WR on moderate terms for cash.” [...] Early on the morning of 8th February, 1864, the 2.30 a.m. - the Mallow-Killarney night goods, consisting of fifteen wagons and two brake vans, was diverted onto the siding running to Webbs Mills. On this siding, the train came up against the wall of a corn store. The guard on the train suffered severe injuries. Photographs taken at the site of the incident are the earliest surviving pictorial record of an Irish railway accident or indeed of a steam engine on Irish soil. The siding to Webbs Mills was “spiked” (closed) on Sunday, 10th. October, 1976. And finally some printed advertisements:

Many thanks John, lots of good thoughts and info there. The Mallow Field Club article quoted an older report which listed many products milled at Quartertown, various flours for humans but also meals and feeds for animals. So your suggestion is very plausible. I think at Quartertown the bulk grain wagons were handled under the enclosed canopy in front of the old mill building (left hand end of my layout) where the more modern silo building was adjacent. I imagine there was a pit between the tracks here with a conveyor of some sort. None of the photos I have show this area sufficiently clearly but equally it’s hidden on the model too. There were certainly facilities for roof-loading bulk grain vans here. Interesting to hear of the portable unloading facilities and I’ll look out that photo on NLI. Some grain may still have been handled in sacks in the 1960s, as shown at Fenit in the Kennelly archive. In those photos it’s being transferred from ship to a lorry, but it could have gone into an open railway wagon and been sheeted over for a trip to Mallow. That’s something else I could model.

Very nice. Thank you!

Electro-diesel Stadler Flirts selected to replace Dublin – Belfast Enterprise trains Cheers Darius

Seems like 'AIRR meets the Department of Finance' in terms of scaling back to a more realistic policy. Maintained commitment to reopening the Derry Road is probably the highlight here, along with the commitment to electrification throughout much of the network. The near-complete lack of any attention whatsoever to the Sligo line and absence of any commitment to the reopening of the Mullingar to Athlone section is quite the letdown. The Sligo is begging to be double-tracked out to Longford. It looks like Enfield might be getting a 'station enhancement ' though? This would go some way to improve services between Mullingar and Maynooth. Usually, trains have to cross at either Mullingar, Killucan, or Maynooth, often with significant delays knocked on throughout. Enfield is an obvious point for crossovers, but it is avoided at all costs, as it only has a single platform in use, even though the other is sitting right across from it, meaning trains have to reverse back into the loop. Just reinstating platform 2 and getting a footbridge would do a great deal for services here. Still pretty crazy to see the Sligo line basically get ignored compared to the rest of the network. The trains are incredibly overcrowded; only today, someone fainted on the packed morning Longford commuter. Not the first time I've seen it on a jam-packed 29.

The government’s follow-up, the Rail Project Prioritisation Strategy, came out today. Mostly just a reiteration of the AISRR but a bit more detail in some places. Reinstatement of the Mosney loop and Sligo platform 2 among some of the new proposals. Here it is for anyone who wants to give it a read. Below is a graphic from the document:

Possibly dating pre 1922, British ensigns and stars and stripes? An advertising sign from an auction plus two spotted at a long closed agricultural store premises in Co Kerry.

Webbs Mill/Quarterstown may have focused on processing animal feed following the Cork Milling Co takeover. Mallow is an important dairying centre, its likely that the mill processed corn (maize) imported from the States as supplementary cattle feed during the winter/spring. Interestingly the Dairygold Mallow powder milk plant is similar in scale to plants in the Waikato and likely to have exported milk powder by rail through the Mallow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dairygold. It looks like CIE experienced a signifiicant increase in bulk grain traffic during the mid-late 50s with the construction/modification of H Vans to Bulk Grain wagons, previously CIE had a total of 18 Bulk Grain Wagons built by the GSR during the mid-1930s, 10 railway owned wagons, 8 owned by Ranks Ireland for its own traffic. There is a photo in the NLI O'Dea collection of bulk grain being transferred from an ex-GS grain wagon to a truck at Fermoy station during the early-mid 60s. The grain was transferred from rail to road using a small portable (probabably petrol powered) screw conveyor) that allowed the graiin to be unloaded at track level without the aid of a pit.

I used an LGB 22 Volt 2 amp combined controller and power unit while running analogue power before converting to DCC using a mid level Digitrax (Empire Builder) command station on the 5amp setting. I have used battery RC control for the past 10 years locos powered by pairs of 7.2v 3000ma NiMH batteries (14.2V). Unlike DCC radio control systems are produced by cottage industry suppliers such as RCTrains https://www.rctrains.co.uk/, probabably best to contact the Gauge 1 Society or Garden Railway groups if your looking at usingb battery RC.

Voltage:- 12 to 24 volt. Controllers;- DCC Roco Z21XL 12-20v 6amp. One needs high amps for some Gauge 1 models so you need to buy high end stuff, the Roco Z21XL is a good starting point but you will need accessories if you plan a large layout or multipal locos - the controller starts at €380 and cost goes up depending on what you add to it. DC Gaugemaster GMC-10LGB5F up to 20V. 5amp. Cost = £280 This could handle 2 small locos! But as per analogue running style a separate controller would be required per track to run multipal locos. Eoin

What voltage is suitable to run gauge 1 ? Also wondering what controller would one utilise?

A route map - that's a great idea! I think there are three really 'good' photos so a route map would nicely fill the fourth quarter of the square. These are the three photos I'd probably use, I'm still looking for more though!

Looks great Paul. I agree that the lower bit would look better left plain. I think the Irish signage is great for shows and will show it’s not your usual SLT or BR depot! On the RH panel a photo or two and simple route map would look well

My next attempt. I've drawn up what's planned for the fascia and then superimposed it on a photo of the layout. I'm currently thinking of a dark grey rather than pure black. The Irish text is a first attempt using an available font, except for the B which I had to draw myself as the one in the font was completely unlike the GSR one. The GSR itself was inconsistent in whether the 'tall' letters were the same height as the others. The blank panel on the right hides the sector plate, and I am considering using this area to display a few photos of the real location. I've mulling over the idea of something on the lower fascia (maybe the oval Webb seal) but the lower fascia is much closer to the scenery and it might be better to leave it plain. Comments/ideas welcome!

Many thanks! The texture was added with matte medium dabbed on. I didn't do all the ground floor as it will be invisible once the canopy is fitted!

That laser cut stone has come out remarkably well.

Thanks Jason