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No idea who wrote it, but they sound handsome...

PM sent Dave

I know a man ............. PM sent

I think that there may be one or two more of these due to arrive from Frizinghall tomorrow!

Have they retained the original seating? There was a lot of criticism of the original seating. The Sunday Cork-Heuston Arrow (stock transfer) had the reputation of being something of an endurance test. Possibly a rail equivalent of enduring the privations of Lough Derg. Perhaps no refreshments on Saturdays leg or the IRRS Railtour and "black tea" only on Sunday's return to the 'Real Capital"

Some facebook comments saying its not quite original livery, whats the difference? I am going to presume its just the door being yellow rather than black at the front? Good on IE for doing more retro liveries, this looks fantastic.

The saga of the hotel project and the Gombeen Man did some good as I was headhunted and offered a role as a manager with a company that had impressed me for some time. First project was Project/Site Manager on a large North West Dublin Logistics/Warehousing project where my role was largely co-ordinating things with the designers nd specialist contractors while John our senior engineer and something of a Claude Greengrass character was in day to day charge of the sub-structure works with a team of engineers, direct labour, and specialist contractors. I looked after superstructure works (steel work, cladding, mechanical and electrical services) with a Finishing Foreman in charge of the Office Fit out. John was extremely enterprising individual along with his day job, he provided a taxi service for our team of directly employed workers from Westmeath, installed part of the project's rainwater system on a piece-work rate during weekends and indulged his Greengrass instincts by trapping game and vermin. Setting and checking out the traps did no go down to well with his passengers going to and coming home from work. John would take a diversion to set or check out his traps and some of the lads were a bit squeamish about the dead animals in the back of the van. John got into a spot one day installing a downpipe inside a warehouse at a height of about 12m using a knuckle boom and managed to trap himself between the structure and the cage of the boom, was unable to reach the controls but somehow managed to find a way out despite being the only one on a very large site before the days of reliable cell-phone coverage. I did not acquit myself to well with possibly the same boom after successfully replacing a defective double glazing unit in the project Office Block some time after handover and the Office Block was occupied, I managed to strike and damage the remotely controlled entrance gate to the Office car park with the knuckle boom. One of the clients Directors rang my boss in panic and was told not to worry that I would sort out the problem. Apart from telling me that he received the call my boss never said another word about the incident. We carried out a temporary repair job and operated the gates manually for a couple of weeks before carrying out the permanent repair. During the Final Phase of the project a serious problem arose for the firm of Architect in charge of the project issued a Certificate of Practical Completion to our firm and the Client refused to accept the Final Phase of the project. At literally the last minute the Clients representative identified that one of the staircases in the Office Block breached fire/building regs.. Spent an interesting afternoon walking the Office Block with one of the Architectural Firms senior partners and a copy of the Building/Fire Regs trouble shooting the offending stair case, changing the direction of opening of some fire doors and closing off general access from the staircase to a plant room (chain and a small sign) so it was not classed as part of an escape route. We completed the alterations in a day or so and the client occupied the Final Phase of the project. I guess the Clients Rep could justifiably claim that he had done something to justify his fee. Never found out if we invoiced the firm of architects for the alterations or simply treated as a goodwill gesture to avoid embarrassing the firm and remain on their list of preferred contractors a days wages for a couple of carpenters was small change on a £12m project during the late 90s Unfortunately I did not really appreciate that I was working for a really good company until I jumped ship in pursuit of higher pay 2-3 years later and found myself in a far worse situation, though I guess I would not be where I am today if I did not make that move so there are no regrets.

Very well done to IÉ and the IRRS for making this possible. I’m very tempted to go on the IRRS railtour, but I can’t afford a hotel in Cork! Táilte Tours put up a great article about the 2600s a few weeks ago – you can read it here

It was the junction of the line to Ballaghderren -drive through Gurteen village towards Boyle for about one mile then take a left…see photo.

The owner of the hotel, who I know, told me years ago that originally he wanted it as some sort of small coffee dock adjacent to the original platform, but was shot down by health & safety concerns, so it just sat there ever since; now it is beyond redemption. However, there is one identical vehicle at Whitehead and another at Downpatrick (along with another MGWR vehicle there of a different type); all four would require rebuild from ground up.

Superb,

I am looking for an IRM A class either A39r, A12 or A23r if anybody has one to sell?

Possibly a watching trains go-by N scale model of the GNR Main Line across the Border or Craigmore Viaduct as a next project if Patrick has the space. Kids used to start counting wagons on goods trains as they emerged from a tunnel/from under a bridge when we exhibited a 13' x 2'6" N Gauge club layout about 40 years ago! Alternatively watching/trying to count cars on American freight trains can help you sleep. Spent a week chasing/photographing trains on Donner in 2001 before we were all abruptly brought back to reality by the 9/11 attacks.

Definitely SLNCR, tell me more Noel, I never heard of the place, I was thinking Manorhamilton but now you have me intrigued.

Kilfree junction pre closure and ithe real location is not too far away from you Denis….

You mean the 2-4-4T?

As can be seen above with the real railcar……the miniature 2600 has also received the grey bogies and under frame on Tara junction in a day and night time scene.

Wow! Has to be an SLNCR theme, of course............. (runs for cover!)

A couple of weeks away from modelling is a long time for me, but life has been busy of late, with a week's holiday in Jordan [fantastic country], a family wedding and a two day headteacher appointment [I am a school governor]. However, with Fintonagh appearing at the Eastleigh show this weekend, the digit needed extracting, especially as CVR Railcar Number 1 has required a new motor. A High Level motor/gearbox was ordered and with the usual prompt service, arrived a couple of days later. Fitting was fairly straightforward [though I do find the parts can be fiddly], but then discovered that the cab would not fit properly due to the unit sitting higher than the previous Mashima. Therefore had to carve a few bits of the body work away, which means that the motor is rather more visible than I would like. However, with No1 soon to be repainted as Donegal No 10, am leaving things as they are for now. Did take the opportunity to add some lead to the front of the passenger compartment and [fingers crossed] the railcar is now much more comfortable than before with its usual load of a van and open wagon. Some black marker pen may help.

I still think the Ballymena & Larne would make a worthwhile subject.

Further progress. Cheers Darius

Painted now, already thinking about layout number 1

Yes it will be in cork in this livery for years to come

Had good show at Macclesfield over the weekend. Gave a new toy a run out and it did rather well. Apart from beaching its self on the barrow crossing btu a quick slice with the scaple sorted that out. Didnt get chance to take many photos, so here are a couple.

Return of the ICRs will help punctuality