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I haven't picked up the soldering iron today, but I've still been making progress. I've been doing some transfer artwork for a variety of current and near-future carriage and wagon projects, like these: And these (including some artwork destined for Enda @Past-Avenue here): Where the lettering is white to go on a coloured background, I normally get 2 layers of white printed so that it's opaque. Some of the loco and carriage lettering and lining in this lot should be eau-de-nil, so I'm expermenting with just one layer of white and hoping the green shows through a bit. After a bit of wear and tear the real eau-de-nil seemed to vary in colour a great deal. This may work or it may not; if it doesn't I'll have to see if I can get Steve at Railtec to do them in the proper colour. There are also some experimental transfers to represent etched window glass ('ladies' and 'smoking' as well as 'smoking' labels which should end up looking like this when applied to the inside of the windows - have I got the colours right? I've decided that my green A class (A42) is going to be rechristened A11 (011 being one of the few I have travelled behind), and will therefore look a bit like this (Ernie's pic): Then this afternoon one of my model railway friends invited himself round so there was a bit of a rush to reassemble Quartertown Mill so that I could have a train running. This was successful although I think the track needs cleaning more thoroughly. So here's what it looks like at present: Lots more still to do on both the layout and the current rolling stock projects, but it's keeping me entertained!

More progress on the SSM brake van. The roof was tricky to get on. Transfers and weathering next. The IRM red tail lamp was working a few days ago but won't light up today, hopefully I left it on overnight and drained the battery. Otherwise I may have broken it somehow.

2025: A year in Review A Year in Review Gallery containing over 350 photos from the past 12 months on the railways of Ireland. Click https://thewandererphotos.smugmug.com/FeaturedGallery/2025-A-year-in-Review

Yes, I got that for Christmas (my wife knows me so well!), and it's a cracker! Thank you to Mr Crockett for taking all those photos and turning them into a super book.

Not as much as you'd expect, as the basic buildings infrastructure had been so solidly built (usually out of stone) some 20-50 years earlier, when the various lines originally opened. However, it WAS used when necessary by the GSR, GNR and NCC. Very little use of it in other companies for reasons stated.

A lively mode! I'll look forward to seeing it.

Now that's interesting! A very similar design, I presume most railways in that era would have embraced concrete as a building material.

Favouritism!

The apparently rusted finish on the water tank itself is most realistic. Many were painted black, others with galvanised (silver) paint, and in earlier CIE times green (naturally)! This captures a black one perfectly!

@Irishrailwayman I saw the water tower with the red brick at Bray on 21 Dec and it looks the job. Redmond is doing very accurate laser cutting. Seeing the photo of the top of an actual tank you can see that these were actually sectional tanks that were bolted together. You can just about make out the bolted vertical flanges on the inside. The corners were a separate piece also bolted into place. These might be too thin to 3D print effectively but a thin strip of styrene or brass would work. This would also give you the locations for the corner bracing strips. Large water and sprinkler water tanks inside the towers of mill buildings were similarly constructed.

If he’s doing a merger all the pages have got to be half the width.

I’ve activated external monitoring too and it’s also seeing nothing. Super odd

Until yesterday, it had been as fast as usual for a good few days - then it went very slow, to the point of timing out before it connected at all. Now, all is normal again. Well, as normal as it ever is here...

Water tower looks superb! As indeed does the whole layout! Very authentic looking station nameboard

You too!!

I'm the same still speeding up and slowing down to the extant that I just leave the page , and will add its only this forums page that seems to give trouble, don't know what is causing it, happy New year to you all on the forum.

Happy new year all

Still slow here - especially on iphone. Since all this started, it varies from adequate, rather than quick, to stuck-wont-open.... Right now, slowish.

I've had zero issues at all. Happy New Year everyone!

It’s a bit faster the past few minutes. Was woeful for an hour or two before midnight.

Am monitoring and can’t see any issues?

Forum brutally slow the last few hours. @BosKonay must be winding it down before merging it with RMW! Happy New Year everybody!

The 31st Feb Enterprise will only operate between Dundalk and Dunleer. It will be formed of one "H" van. First class, catering, and a locomotive will not be provided. Passengers are advised to bring umbrellas, and push. Bus transfers will be in operation 2026-2029 due to a kitkat wrapper on the track at Gormanston. This will also result in Portadown to Belfast (Great Hall) being cancelled during July and August. Track maintenance between Ennis and Sixmilebridge will result in bus transfers on the Nenagh Branch, Limerick Junction to Waterford, and the Rosslare line south of Sydney Parade, from July 2026 to May 2051.

Meant to say a while back, when we were discussing six-wheelers in general, even amongst carriages all built in the same batch to identical specifications, variations eventually appeared. As early as the mid 1910s individual vehicles were being rebuilt, re-configured, rearranged. Panelling styles were simplified, end windows in half compartments sometimes covered over, internal differences - Senior recalled two identical DSER 6-wheelers which were on the Harcourt St line in the late 1920s, one of which disappeared (presumably to inchicore), returning some time later with internal partitions being half-height instead of original full height. The GSR heavily rebuilt many GSWR aqnd MGWR full 6-wheel brakes; at least one I saw derelict many years ago - can't remember the number - was actually a Midland van which had not only lost its birdcage, but had been rebuilt in a manner which made it look dowstinctly GSWR-esque. Then along came CIE, who also heavily modified some. At this stage, a comprehensive list of what was done to what (and it applied to timber-bodied bogies too, every bit as much if not more so) is probably impossible. Photos will give clues as to some; but may not be taken as evidence of what happened EVERY coach of the type concerned. Many vehicles - tho0ugh it's impossible to say HOW many - would have ended up complete one-offs. And - some were BUILT as one-offs in the first place, or maybe as a "batch" of just two or three. In both the MGWR and GSWR diagram records, only a handful of actual TYPES of vehicles (again, both bogiue and six-wheel) were built in numbers running into dozens. Most were one-offs or very small batches, or maybe 8 or 10 of a type. Complete minefield! Same with wagons, as you know better than anyone!

Well it ran from Dublin to Belfast without issue... 9001 facing Belfast and 216 facing Dublin.