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Not a bad day out at all ... I think thats what's called a 'humble brag' these days .. you're clearly a lucky man, of all Mrs. Snails' railway model related "requests" to me, not one has been that I make her a model .. the tram gets my vote too

If I had to pick a green engine from Cultra, I think maybe B113? Given the choice you have, I’d pick the tram too! If it is to be a Queen, hasn’t someone done a 3D print that could be rescaled?

Narrow gauge is not an issue. There are not many models of the Portstewart tramway so that would be my choice but I might not get much of a say in it

I’d pick the green one Isn’t the tram narrow gauge?

Ah, that’s brilliant, many thanks for the info. I hadn’t realised that black had been the ‘standard’ for a while, though in a time when few steam locos were being painted. I thought 655 looked quite black too, but as you say it’s often hard to tell. Good to know that it was actually black. 560 is another loco I plan to model and when it hauled a railtour to Fenit, the better-lit photos show that it was indeed a cleaned dark grey.

The Hoppers at Pontzpass had not moved since the summer of 2024

Kadee actually include this Heath Robinson contrivance in the instruction sheet for their under track magnets

Yes the instructions say to use the chassis wheels and couplers from a Dapol C043 twin silo cement wagon.

The boss quite likes this one but has also taken a fancy to this one. I am expecting a "request" to model one or the other. Which would you choose- remember, I am doing this in S so shopping at IRM is not an option.

193 and an ex-MGWR loco were the last two steam locos ever to be painted, as late as 1961 or 2. However, uniquely, they were given black smokeboxes and chimneys; these were grey previously. Most of the few steam locos that saw a paintbrush after about 1954 were painted black. Among these were at least one 400 (normally green by then) and three of the MGWR 2.4.0s as above, possibly 4 or 5. 654 & 655 were two of them. I’m unsure of the others. One Bandon tank (464) was black at the end. Another 1 or 2 were green. The rest remained grey. Ex MGWR “E” no. 560, which ended its days shunting in Tralee looks black in photos, but it seems to be heavily oily-ragged grey, as for many years I had one of its number plates and when squeaky-cleaned it was grey.

Hopefully my ebay ‘bargain’ loco kit (the 650 class ex-MGWR 2-4-0) will also turn up this week. I need to see which variants can be built from the kit I’ve bought. Having read through many of @Mayner ‘s threads on the development and building of the kit, I get the impression that the kit evolved and they may not all have offered the same variant options. The good thing is that I can choose between at least three late survivors that worked railtours (653, 654 and 655) which had different variants of cab spectacles, firebox, smokebox, dome and indeed a host of other details. I think 654 was one of the locos painted black (is there a list of those, @jhb171achill ?) but they all seem to have ended their lives in brown filth. Matching the weathering on 655’s tender would be fun! Here’s 654 which has surely been freshly repainted for its railtour duty: A comparison with a similar view of J15 193 also on railtour duty. This one is grey, but 654 looks truly black: (pics from Ernie - thanks)

I have the exact same Chivers Finelines T&D Hunslet model. Where did you source your lining from? Mine has just a solid red band and I'm not the biggest fan. Thanks.

The worm had moved along the motor shaft. I think I was relying on a press fit rather than any glue. I have got the loco running again though it doesn’t seem quite as smooth - possibly the worm wheel is slightly damaged. One of the hornblocks also seems to have stiffened up in the horns, and needs a fettle. Anyway, back on the layout I am having some of those undesired uncoupling events. I picked a different set of wagons to those I used previously and some are more sensitive than others. Partly due to how free-running they are, but perhaps also influenced by whether they have NEM pockets or Kadee draft boxes. More experiments needed! I may try adjusting the magnet positions. But I think all that is a job for the tail end of the coming week. I’ve got a few busy days at work coming up.

Frustrating is right! Hope the damage isn't too severe.

Didn't I say..............................?

Well, some success and some failure. I’ve completed the point operating rods, and the microswitches for the frog polarity. I’ve had E410 running around the layout for a bit, initially with no problems at all. Then it got something jammed in a set of points, and it stopped with a graunch. I think one of the rail sweeps was a bit low and stuck in a checkrail flangeway. Now E410 doesn’t move and makes unpleasant noises. I think something has come adrift in the gearbox, or possibly a gear has stripped some of its teeth. I need to take it apart and see what’s wrong. So testing will have to go on hold for a while, as this is my only 21mm gauge loco at present. Frustrating.

Nice work. Is that designed to fit a proprietary chassis ? I figured you’d have to make one.

Some of my uncouplers are on embedded track (set into concrete on the prototype). There's just no space, maybe half a millimetre between the coupler tail and the rail height.

You don't have to go straight in, but approach from the side - the tool would be cranked like a dentist's mirror.

Interesting idea. Tricky for Kadees because there’s almost no clearance between the coupler tails and the rail height. In my case I’m also hoping to avoid the hand of god appearing too much.

Finally got a chance to do some more soldering to the SSM brake van. Ready for paint now

Maybe having fixed magnet positions isn't the solution. How about a magnet mounted on a handheld spade-type device that you slip under the couplings only when you need it?

finescale z sounds mad indeed!

Brian is brilliantly mad. He has worked in P4 and P87, but decided that Märklin's MiniClub Z-gauge was much too rough, so he came up with Proto-220. That's finescale Z, with correct clearances through pointwork and wheels turned down to correct width and flanges. He brought a demo P220 board to one show years ago, and all the pointwork worked flawlessly. This was in the days when my eyes could still focus on things that small. Completely mad.

Heljan did do some work for Hattons including, as it happens, the Beyer Garratt. You only need one motor in most engines, but the question is what type? Coreless motors - which are only now finding their way into RTR products - are more efficient but they do have to be matched to the job. You can't just stick any old coreless in there and expect it to take the abuse.