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No more layout progress to report. However, my brother was home for a few days, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to avail of his photography skills.

A short distance from Heuston North is Conyngham Road Garage (Dublin Bus)- a layout loosely based on the 2003 - 2009 era when a good variety of bus types still could be seen.

On a summers day in 1966, the mid-day train arrives with a very clean B165. . Almost twenty years earlier, in summer 1947, ex-CBSCR No. 472, allocated to the Dugort Harbour branch in 1943, is seen with fair day sheep traffic.

NIR HUNSLET PRODUCTION UPDATE! Hi everyone, Our NIR Hunslet locomotives are racing through production, with moulding and painting complete. Next up is printing of the various logos, chevrons etc before final assembly takes place, keeping us on schedule for our Q4 2025 delivery date! Pre-Order Yours Today: https://www.accurascale.com/collections/nir-101-dl-class-hunslet Cheers! Fran

Sorry Wrenneire, I’ve been on a bit of an MTK crusade of late. Although:- Cheers Darius

My original intention was to put cassette fiddle yards on each end of this layout. However, if it's to go out to exhibitions, which I hope it will, it could be quite challenging, not to say tiring, to operate so that there’s fairly frequent movement. There’s also the risk of damage as cassettes are changed or turned around. I know from experience that my locos don’t bounce when dropped. Thoughts turned to a continuous run with off-scene curves and a traverser at the back to reduce the amount of stock handling and that’s what’s been using up my time and stock of abusive language. I think it’s going to work ok but it’s just about doubled the intended footprint of the layout. Traversers are tricky things. I’ve made mine using ball race drawer runners laid on their sides rather than upright as they would be in a drawer. It just seemed easier that way to get the levels sorted. It’s probably over-engineered - I’ve seen more elegant designs - but I wanted it to be robust and to cope with reasonably sized trains. No track or wiring yet but it will have 5 roads each of which should be able to hold a loco and 5 coaches. (I have lots of locos. Coaches, not so many. Yet.) The curved joining sections are made to take 4th radius set track. It took a fair bit of trial and error to get everything to line up. The job was a trial and I made the errors. I was going round the bend, literally and metaphorically. I don't actually have a big enough space at home to lay it out. This is the front hall. I may have to throw out furniture. Of course the whole thing now needs some form of support to get it up to a good viewing level so that’s the current job. Alan

On Saturday past, work brought me to Armagh, the 'ecclesiastical' capital of Ireland. Armagh was once a 4-way railway junction, with the last surviving lines through the city closing in 1957, although there seems to be a remote possibility that Armagh might see trains again, sometime in the future. Armagh was located on the Ulster Railway route from Belfast to Cavan, later taken over by the GNR(I). The first station beyond Armagh on this line was at Killylea, and the station is an absolute gem of a preserved station, with station building, goods shed and signal cabin all surviving, along with a tiny brick building on the down platform which may have been a - very small - waiting room. There is also a huge stone overbridge at the Cavan end although this has been partially filled in. I visited Killylea once before but I did so again on Saturday, and with the kind permission of the owner, I took some photographs: Looking back towards Armagh Looking towards Cavan Goods shed Goods shed and signal cabin Main station building Signal cabin, with station name evident Rear of signal cabin So naturally this has started me thinking of a project for the future. Plans for my next project are well advanced so these musings would be for the one after that...... Killylea would be an excellent subject for an exhibition layout and it would suit my interests, and current rolling stock collection, very well. Even before the 'what if' is considered, a Killylea-based layout would offer the following: * Double track main line * Attractive and varied architecture, with a mix of (presumably) original UR buildings and later GNR(I) buildings * Passenger and goods workings, featuring fast passenger expresses as well as local services, with steam locomotives & railcars in attendance * Classic overbridge scenic break at one end * Goods shed for operational variety I also have a suitable signal cabin built already. Then 'what if' the route didn't close in 1957 - CIE diesels could appear on diversionary services via Cavan and Clones, and at a stretch, if the line survived into the 1970s, NIR Hunslets and 80 class railcars could feature. The cogs are turning.......

Touchdown! Both locos had landed by about 6pm last night and are currently stabled outside the Maghera Shed

CIE 1967ca Mullingar 25j+076. GNRI 1929-09-19 Fintona Junction, Horse Tram HCC Glass 6312 Cas25016. CIE 1955-04-26 Rosslare Strand 314 10.05 ex Westland Row, RMC83665 Cas25197. CIE 1955-04-21 Tuam 54 RMC53507 Cas25187

4 more Casserley negatives from 1934. GSR 1934-07-14 Tralee 106 HCC11152 Cas25156. GSR 1934-07-14 Newcastle West 106, 5.20 Tralee -Limerick HCC11154 Cas25157. GSR 1934-07-17 Clifden 589, 1.15 to Galway HCC11193 Cas25162. GSR 1934-07-17 Clifden 589 outside shed. HCC Glass 11192 Cas25018.

3 Glass negatives today for SLNCR enthusiasts. Most of the latest batch of glass negatives acquired have appeared in print before, they include several taken at Clifden on 17 July 1934, Fintona 19 Sept 1929. They will all feature on here in due course. SLNC 1929-09-19 Manorhamilton 'Hazlewood' HCC Glass 6318 Cas25003. SLNC 1929-09-19 Manorhamilton 'Hazelwood' HCC Glass 6317 Cas25004 SLNC 1929-09-19 Manorhamilton Works 'Glencar' ex GNRI 31. HCC Glass 6319 Cas25009. Note the GNRI 'A' rating still on the cab side.

A bit more progress with the layout. A station platform made in two bits because it will cross the join between the two baseboards. I used mounting card for the structure and after a failed attempt to use chinchilla dust for the platform surface - it ended up looking like congealed porridge after the glue went on - I settled for 180 grit sandpaper glued to the top surface with wood glue. Many of the stations on the County Down had cast concrete coping stones, 3ft x2 ft, along the platform edge. These had distinctive diagonal cross hatching, 8 lines in each direction. Deciding how to model these held me up for a while. 3D printing might well be the solution but that's a mountain I've yet to climb. Even base camp is still over the horizon. I managed to draw one coping stone to scale on the computer then copied and pasted to get what I wanted. The result was printed onto paper which I'd pre-painted with a suitable mix. (I'd already tried printing first then painting, only for the nice printed lines to disappear under the paint, despite using water colours). The printer survived being fed painted card. Phew! After painting the sandpaper with various shades of artist's acrylic, the coping stone prints were cut into strips, scored and folded then glued down along the front of the platform and wrapped over the leading edge. Wills Coarse Stone (SSMP200) was used to cover the platform front, sanded back a bit and wiped over with filler. Paint did the rest. The station building will bed down into a shaped hole cut for it in the platform. It's still sitting a bit proud in this photo. A bit of weathering will also help to blend building and platform together.

Back again. I will comment first upon the various proposals that were made which resulted in an investigation. Some of this stuff I may have mentioned before, other stuff I have yet to comment on. I will then comment on clamours that I am aware of, both current and historical, and offer my thoughts on those based on what I know happened with the others. Spoiler: what follows may in many cases be interpreted as negative in some ways, but practicalities always triumph over optimism. If there are both, the vision of founders, interpreted as optimism, will be seen as what drove the project from an idea to reality, but it would never have happened without attention to the realistic practicalities! Anyway....... In no particular order, let's go back to 1972 and then move forward. In the early 1970s a proposal was made within the RPSI, still very northern-based then, to reopen Scarva to Banbridge. Several influential members lived in the general area and were therefore vary familiar with the territory. I do recall that a figure of €250,000 was bandied about for completion of the whole thing; but translate this into todays prices we have over £4.2 million. Bear in mind that in that day and age, consultancy reports, safety assessments and various other health and safety expenditure didn't exist, and nor did local government, national government or EU support for such things. Therefore a real cost today would be far north of 4 point something million sterling. This is like expecting a rural village Men's Shed to cough up the guts of 5 million sterling for a scheme of some sort. On that basis alone, the scheme fell; one of the advantages touted at the time that a main line connection at Scarva would be a boon in attracting business is highly questionable, though it would have enabled transfer of stock from Whitehead. The scheme did not go ahead on finance grounds alone. But HAD the cash been fouind, with multiple river bridges, such a railway would have been very heavily loss-making, and would have wiped the society out at birth. Banbridge is a busy town - I know it very well - but it's hardly a tourism mecca. Proximity to Belfast, though, and the main road to Dublin, would have certainly worked in its favour (more so, even, than the DCDR) but wouldn't have been enough on its own. Overall, though, the negatives heavily outweighed the positives. The DCDR has at various stages in its history been very dependent on payouts from the local county council, therefore would NOT have survived its first twenty years in its own right. A wholesale overhaul of its operation about 25 years ago plus asccess to Down Council funding for many years enabled its survival - thankfully. Because of its unique circumstances in that way, we may leave its history as it is; it's well known. At one stage in the 1990s, two businessmen wrote to the RPSI with a query, which I followed up. At the time, both J15s were out of use at Whitehead, and no plans existed for their rehabilitaion, as 184 is a basket case and 186 was deemed to be too slow for main lines. These men were friends of each other who owned businesses around Co Carlow area, or thereabouts. They had been on holiday in England with their families over a bank holiday and had visited the Severn Valley, where packed six-coach trains were bumbling about all day, all solid with people. "Business opportunity!", they thought - believing that if they could replicate this in Ireland they'd be on to a goldmine. They had no interest in, or background in, or knowledge of, railways at all, let alone heritage ones. Their initial question was "Have you any old steam trains you could sell to us?"..... I think this must have been about 1990 or so. I dropped them a line on RPSI headed paper stating that the society was not in a position to provide consultancy services, but that the answer to their question was no. I ended by telling them that I could assist them with their questions in a private capacity and quoted my phone number. A few days later I got a call. They told me they had a potential budget of IR£10 million - a colossal sum in those days if they were actually correct, and that they already owned some land through which the line they were looking at passed through. I can't fully recall now, but it was about five miles on either the Shillelagh or Tullow branches; in each case heading north from the terminus. I told them they would need two steam locomotives at least, plus a diesel shunter like a G. There is no point in advertising a steam railway with only one locomotive, as typically an operating steam loco spends two out of every ten years out of traffic for maintenance. I told them they would need several coaches and a minimum amount of maintenance vehicles. I told them they would need to have properly trained steam drivers, firemen and maintenance people. Same for coaches. Based on the operational plan they had, I told them how many people they would need for a public operating day. With Senior still alive at that stage, I got him to do up a detailed analysis of what ballast, track, points and signalling were initially necessary, plus details of what was required to maintain both this and the several bridges. I told them that scenes like those they had seen on the SVR, quite simply, had never occurred on any heritage operation in Ireland - the annual RPSI May Tour never filled more than one coach with people from the entire 32 counties - the rest on board were all English! If England didn't exist, or the good English people had levels of interest like us, that May Tour, for so many years an iconic part of the RPSI landscape, and by far the major preservation event on this island, would simply never have run at all. (Thank you, England!!). I suggested that a two coach train would be appropriate and adequate, and ventured to suggest that passenger railway carriages need specialised maintenace as well - plus, the whole lot need inspection pits, covered accomodation, lots of insurance and security, water towers, a coal pile and a locomotive shed. Oh, bridge maintenance too. On mentioning how their proposal would be run, I was informed that their shop staff somewhere would operate it. They did not intend to form a preservation society - always a bad move. Bottom line - I had worked out the most optimistic set of figures (easy, as I was then au fait with current heritage railway finances!) and it showed a very substantail subsidy being necessary. They politely thanked me and I never heard from them again. In the 1990s, I was approached by my good friend Selwyn Johnston, of Headhunters in Enniskillen, seeking assistance with recording the memories of the then decreasing band of railway staff of the GNR still alive. He interviewed Senior plus all sorts of other people from the GNR. In the process of all this - and it's a very long story - it became evident that a proposal existed to reopen a mile and a half of the SLNCR south of Belcoo. I travelled down there and expertly guided by Selwyn, met and spoke to a number of people who were at the forefront of this. From the outset, it was clear that as a very rare exception in the world of well-meant proposals, I was dealing with people who were very firmly grounded in practicality and sustainability, and had no wishy-washy ideas about them, or visions of double tracked express lines from Glenfarne to Derry............ everything was very properly worked out. We had a public meeting, and it appeared we were good to go. Verbal agreement were made with CIE to have the SLNCR Railcar "B" (now at Downpatrick) sent to England for restoration (£160,000 - reasonable even then by a bus restoration firm). It would be fitted with a more modern Gardner engine. Support and maintenance was then available in Ireland (Cork, I think). I discussed three matters unofficially with the RPSI members within whose remit permission would have been needed. One involved the transfer of "Lough Erne" as a static exhibit in the (then still standing) SLNCR goods shed at Belcoo. The other involved the transfer of ex-MGWR six-wheel coach there; it was on RPSI premises but was still actually privately owned (it was officially donated to the RPSI after this scheme fell through). Finally, discussion centred round the long term loan of ex-NCC Railcar 1, then (as now) at Whitehead sans engine. An identical Gardner engine would be purchased for this. During the troubles, the bridge across Lough Macnean, which led to the proposed terminus at Lough Macnean lakeside, a local beauty spot, had been blown up by the British Army. Agreement was reached that they would rebuild it - a very MAJOR issue. What made this scheme different was that it was deliberately designed to be a sustainable, low cost railway. With a stock of two railcars with identical, simple to maintain engines, and one six-wheel coach for overloads, and for maintainence a G class and a flat bogie wagon - that was all - it would be simple. Agreement was made with two elderly sisters who lived in the Belcoo station building that once they died they would will the station to the railway - in the meantime a temporary platform with the adjacent community centre handling all ticket sales and car parking. At the other end, a platform a la Inch Abbey, with the six-wheeler parked down there as a waiting room for wet days (not that, of course, Fermanagh and Cavan ever get wet days.......!). So what about volunteers? Again, long story, but many answers were found, plus, on an operating day only a handful were needed, and NO steam engines; just quirky old railcars - mch as the SLNCR did have - one being authentic. It is quite possible RB3 could have ended up there too, I suppose. You'll note I've said nothing about the all-important funding. Well, this was all at the time when the country - north in particular - was AWASH with EU, ERDF, IFI and other funding; the "Peace Money" honey pot was there for the taking for anything cross-border - and this was. Rural area? Yup, tick that off. Border area with financial hardship? Sure! We're good to go. Well, this one was so near, so far. There were five landowners across whose lands the line would operate. On the northern side, A, B & C; on the Cavan side D & E. From the outset, A (upon whose land public access was to be made, and where the maintenance shed for the stock had to go), B, D & E were all in favour, but C in the middle was aganist it. A deputation of us asked for a meeting with him. He was under the impression that the railway would work every day, and that loads of tourists would be all over his land. We reassured him one by one on all the points he raised, and to our delight he changed his mind. Now we moved forward. Funding was obtained from Fermanagh Council for 100% of exploratory matters, feasibility studies, engineering reports and so on. Then, the bombshell. The significant landowner A changed his mind too, on the basis that anything C agreed to, he would oppose; small town begrudgery at its best. We found out why - there was a long running personal dispute between the two, of which toxic politics were but one element. This one matter killed the scheme stone dead, as by and by the potential funding schemes were closed to new applications, and those still open required a much higher portion of costs to be paid by the promotor - at this stage, a still-nonexistent society. So that was that; to this day, I feel that this was the single most financially stable scheme ever proposed here. The experience gained with this led to another thing, potentially bigger. In 2008 or 2009, I was invited to participate in a study group - Niles of this parish was also within this group comprising enthusiasts - some with considerable experience, and professional railwaymen (one regarding track). Through contacts we also had the ear of RPSI loco and coach people. Our remit was to examine whether or not any suitable site could be identified within a 45 minute drive of Dublin for a suitable full-size heritage railway. The parameters were as wide as possible - even including a "green field" site if necessary, where there never HAD been any railway. At our first meeting, we identified some 18 sites, as far north as Omeath, as far south as Bunclody, Co Wexford (green field site - 2.5 miles along a riverbank). Two locations on the Kingscourt branch, one on the Shillelagh line, two or possibly even three sites on the Tullow branch, and Trim to Athboy (4.5 miles) were considered. Our first full meeting eliminated 15 of these point blank for various reasons. Again a long story, but with issues ranging from land availability for maintenance facilities, sight-lines onto public roads, and access points for low loaders containing rolling stock. One way or another, no-brainers. But the remaining three were worthy of investigation in detail, we thought. One of these - I can't remember which - was eliminated soon after, leaving two. One was Trim to Athboy, anf the other was Ballinglen to Tinahely. The first seemed ideal. The second was doable, but much less practical for several reasons. It was decided to survey and investigate the Trim scheme in detail. Informal verbal agreement was made to acquire two G class locos and three or four RPSI coaches. Like the Belcoo scheme, low cost, low maintenance and low numbers of volunteers needed for operation were envisaged. Like Belcoo, these matters looked promising; we intended to recommend operation like a sort of 1963-Loughrea type of scene. While both original stations were gone, there was room to build new "replica" types, like at Downpatrick. Room was available for car parking, low loader access and maintanance facilities / storage siding at each end. We started interviewing landowners, but came up aganist a problem like Belcoo! About half of the tracked - and in the middle! - was owned by a landowner who was having absolutely none of it, or so it seemed. But we felt that if a critical number of local personalities might have become involved, this might have changed. Avoiding yet another long story, with a scheme which was "oven-ready" we produced our summary, which was passed on to several prominent local people. As at Belcoo, where there WAS potential local buy-in, we felt that for the Trim scheme to be sustainable, considerable involvement of local people was needed. There was complete disinterest among all to whom we spoke locally in any involvement or funding. I'm talking 100% disinterest. Not one reply. So, again, that was that. We had done our work in the research, which is what we set out to do; we were not established as a preservation society by choice - we all had other lives! But our research showed that the single most practical scheme within a 45 minute radius of Dublin - major tourist town at one end and a motorway striaght to Dublin at the other - was of interest to precisely nobody locally. A final scheme I was consulted about involved a site on the former Achill branch near to, and including Mulrany station house, back sometime about then too - I think late 90s. The property was for sale with a mile or so of trackbed. The proposals suggested were about as utterly impractical as one might get - I won't bore the reader with the details, but even if it HAD been practical to build (with Welsh Highland-style scenery, albeit obly for a mile), it's in the back of beyonds to most people. Zero local market of any size to make it sustainable - probably the single least practical idea I had then encountered. Needless to say, nothing happened. The kettle beckons; in my next long-winded tome I will comment on the even greater challenges that exist in 2025 in terms of setting up or operating a preservation scheme.

Taken from the car on an autumn day in 1960, branch engine 472 is spotted along the roadside section outside Castletown West with the Dugort Harbout connection into the Castletown to Tralee goods.

To atone for my heresy in adding the last posting will these do! I'm still working on the latest acquisitions but here is a sample. C&M 1934-07-09 Coachford Junction 5K 11.50 Coachford - Cork HCC11059 Cas25144. PFF028 SLNC 1957-06-19 Manorhamilton .Parcels van no. 5. PFF078 CB&SC 1958-06-05 Dunmanway 466 cattle special.

Cork, Bandon & South Coast Railway today. CBSC 1959-06-02 Skibbereen PFF059. The grassy area to the left of the station building was the terminus of the narrow gauge Schull & Skibbereen railway. Trains used a headshunt next to the parked car nearer the photographer before reversing and running left alongside the road off to the left in the distance. CBSC 1959-06-01 Drimoleague 7.45 to Skibbereen in platform. PFF056. CBSC 1958-06-05 Bantry, 3pm to Cork. PFF097

While laying some track on the traverser, I realised that the barrel bolt I'd bought to lock the moving table in its various positions had quite a lot of slop in it. Fine for locking the bathroom door but not nearly refined enough for accurately lining up the sidings with the entry/exit lines. It took most of the afternoon to contrive a replacement from nested brass tubing. Also had to sleeve the now-too-big holes in the registration plate but all in all, worth the effort. Zero slop and a better chance of the traverser working as it's supposed to. Should've done this in the first place

Fair day, July 1957, and A30 approaches Dugort Harbour to collect five loaded cattle trucks….

SLNC 1957-06-19 Ballintogher, 'Enniskillen' on 11am Sligo - Enniskillen goods. PFF017. SLNC 1957-06-19 Collooney Owenmore Bridge. PFF015. SLNC 1957-06-19 Collooney, wagon 99 acting as cattle guard on the WL&W connection. PFF014.

CBSC 1934-07-10 Cork Albert Quay C4, 30. 9.15 to Bantry Cas25152. CBSC 1934-07-10 Cork Albert Quay coach 44b , Bantry train. HCC 11070 Cas25151. CIE 1955-04-15 Headford Junction. prob 223 RMC83304 Cas25110. CIE 1955-04-14 Valentia Harbour, 127 RMC83274 Cas25101.

Fabulous day at Railex yesterday. There was a GN presence, @leslie10646, although the JT was absent as it has some pickup issues I couldn’t fix in time. The SG2 developed a sudden and mysterious short which I still haven’t found. The PP did ok, barring a brief interlude when a motor lead needed re soldered. She found gainful employment on a train of CIE 6w stock, with David’s J26 doing pilot work. One of my ambitions since taking up 36.75 was to produce an engine which could fit on Belmullet or NPQ and do a day’s work. Delightful afternoon and as always David is very patient when I commit a shunting movement that’s not in the plan ….apologies for lots of pics of 74 below - was just so nice to see her stretching her legs a bit in such a lovely settting. Operating all Mr H’s Sligo stock was a treat as always. Although in disgrace, the SG posed for the camera at the end anyway.

Going through my 0 gauge stock to get it ready for the Club layout's appearance at the the Chatham Show next month, thought it might be of interest to share what I got up to in the years prior to 2012, when I started modelling the Irish scene. After initially dabbling in EM gauge and then 7mm NG I eventually moved to 0 gauge with a Light Railway layout called Loose End - a Colonel Stephens essay of which there are no digital photos available, but which appeared several times in the Modeller from the late 90's. The next project was somewhat grandiose - a 10m x 4m oval, with a high level secondary line, modelled on the Marks Tey - Cambridge line which also included a low level goods yard. It was all way too big for a solo project, so eventually it got scrapped, but not before I salvaged the buildings to create a more sensible terminus-fiddle yard layout. It was called Eatonswell - an adaption of Eastanswill, which was the name Charles Dickens allegedly gave to Sudbury in Suffolk in the Pickwick Papers. Very much BR 1950s Eastern Region, I built a far bit of stock, which has been confined to either boxes or my display cabinet for far too long, so it will be nice to run some of it again. Below are some pictures covering a selection of views of the layout. The station was a fairly accurate copy of Chappel & Wakes Colne - chosen because of its two level design. I used Howard Scenics embossed brick papers, painted with water colours . The goods shed was a standard Great Eastern design, while a row of matings were inspired by those at Hadleigh and Snape. The loco shed was Saffron Walden. Pride of the line was my B17/6 "Nottingham Forest". My home town club, the loco itself did work in East Anglia. The Gresley Brake 3rd is a Kirk kit. Proof that I'm not entirely averse to ready to run models are the two shunters. Both are Bachmann Brassworks, which came unpainted in those days. The 08 needed a fair bit of detailing, but is a nice runner, while the 03, which also runs well, simply got a paint and weathering job. At the other end of the scale is this Waggon & Maschinbau railbus - because it was scratch built. A real challenge with all those complex curves to say nowt about the curved front windows. Finally, for now, one of my favourite models, the George England Wantage Well Tank. I'd started building it for Loose End when, very fortuitously Model Railway Journal ran a series of articles by Laurie Griffin as a scratchbuilding project. Even better was the fact they produced a range of castings to go with it. Building this little loco taught me a lot and gave me the confidence to later tackle a D16 4-4-0, leading eventually to all my Irish stuff. One day, I really must build a small shunting layout so this pretty little engine can run regularly again. Hopefully more stuff will appear later.

September 1968, and the goods for Tralee is ready to leave. At Castletown Junction the first five wagons will be detached to be added to the Tralee - Cork goods. At Mallow, two will be detached, one for Thurles and one for North Wall. The other three will go to Cork, with one onwards for the West Cork system over the Cork City tramway, to go to Dunmanway. The remaining wagons on the train are all for Tralee, Lixnaw, Abbeyfeale, Newcastle West and Limerick, with one for Nenagh. That's the way it was..............

Per my recent post, I recently wrote a strongly-worded letter to the ITG instructing them to move their locos from Moyasta to Downpatrick. I think these photos speak for themselves. Delighted to see the ITG following up on my letter and following my advice – well done to all concerned.

Bit more done to the cattle dock. Stone added and a back wall. And of course a few cow pats. Small bit of weathering too. Lighting is probably too bright in these pics, now that I see them properly. The sun was actually shining in the window behind me- who would have thought. Oh well, you get the idea.. Started on the railing work by making a couple dozen of these lads

My new kits arrived this morning, so here's a photo of what you get in the box. Basically the 3D printed parts are a body, two rocking W-iron assemblies, four buffers and two brake block assemblies. There are also some etched bits for brake levers and guides, and some wire. The detail on the 3D printed parts is superb inside and out, and there is no need for any cleaning up on the visible faces. This shows how the W-iron units fit; these ones suit 21mm gauge with 28mm axles but alternatives can be supplied for 16.5mm gauge: As you may have noticed, I can't bear to build anything as intended so I have added extra details, replaced some parts with alternatives, and modified some of the parts too. But that's not actually necessary - it's just my desire for something individual. I'm hoping that @Bob49 will be able to expand his Irish range; variants of these early 1920s IRCH open wagon and van designs were used by the GNR, GSWR, MGWR, CBSCR, GSR, and CIE, and some lasted into the 1970s so they potentially have a wide appeal. John and Leslie have covered some of these in the past but by no means all, and most of their kits are no longer available. This photo from Roger Joanes on Flickr shows one of these 6-plank wagons loaded with containers. You can see that the wooden bodied wagon is wider than the adjacent corrugated wagons, and this is also true of the models. What this means is that you can put RTR containers into these wagons without having to hack details off them (we know they don't fit in the IRM corrugated opens or the wooden-bodied open wagons based on UK models). You can even put two A containers together in a wagon, as shown in Roger's photo above. On the left, two Bachmann A containers. On the right, a Triang B container (awaiting a repaint into CIE livery).

GNRI 1956-04-28 Clones Railbus 1 . GMK036 GNRI 1961-04-xx Connolly TD714. C&L 1959 ca Dromod 25J+203.

I was out for a walk yesterday, the twigs on a dead tree cought my eye, I have no idea what kind of tree it was, but five minutes with some lichen and some scatter, they came up beautifully.

Ok, here are a few ideas. First up, Cyril Freezer's 'Small Layouts'. A bit dated now, but worth a look, because there may be something you could adapt. My favourite layout designer has always been Iain Rice. Always appealing and practical, but also so clever. The one below is what I based my Northport Quay project on This next one is based on Llanaster, one of the first exhibition layout to do away with the entry points to the loop - using a sector plate instead. This next one I have always thought particularly clever, arranging three small layouts one above the other on wall brackets. Trains progress from one scene to the next via a cassette. This one [above] was actually designed for 7mm scale, but should reduce to your parameters in 4mm. Idea to avoid are things like the two below from Barry Norman. Usually love his ideas, but when you look at these, you'll see that your locomotive will spend most of its time hidden off scene! This one I DO like though. It is a fairly accurate rendition of Wantage Town, minus the tram shed. However, even with the latter the whole scene needs just 7'2 in length in 7mm scale! Been there, done it & it works really well. Finally, a new book I picked up at Railex, by James Hilton & published by Wild Swan. It takes a fresh look at micro layouts, some of which are very simple indeed, but explores the concepts scenics and operation with each plan. Hope this helps!

E407 starting to look the part, but still plenty of detailing to do! I must remember that I need to order another set of motor, gears and wheels too.

I stopped by.... Seemed to be working alright, with an occasional sticky uncoupler. The rear wheels on no.2's tender occasionally lost contact with the rail, which suggests the frames or axleboxes may not be quite straight. I even overheard some conversation about a modeller of a real location who, on being told by someone that his father worked at that place and grew runner beans in his garden, actually went so far as to model said plot of runner beans, ready for the next show....

For now, I'm going to call these finished, and I'll move on to the next project. I have an empty long weekend ahead of me and a plethora of half-finished things!

WARNING - LONG POST! This is a big story with many aspects. I will comment on them broken into the main issues of cultural background first, followed by the practicalities faced by promoters and (once opened), operators. The single biggest takeaway, for those who prefer not to read major tomes of stuff, is that experience and reality show clearly that there is not, as already stated, even a fraction of the interest here as seen in Britain. So before going on, why not? Many of the comments on other posts are correct, albeit one controversial; while it is not, and never was, a prevailing majority view that "the British built the railways", or worse, "the British built the railways to control us", amongst let us say, the less educated in rural areas, you would very occasionally get views along those lines. We may dismiss these instantly, as only a small minority would ever have taken such views, and they are as crassly, abjectly and completely wrong as they are downright pathetic. I have had that told to me personally (once!) by someone of a rural disposition; he was surprised when I stated the ACTUAL history behid our railways' construction, to say the least. So, moving on to preservation. To operate a preserved railway, before you even put pen to paper you need a potential MARKET. No matter how enthusiasts might wax lyrical about a railway in a remote turf bog or up a mountain away from any significant population centre, if there isn't a ready market - not of seasonal tourists, but of LOCAL people who will populate lucrative Easter Bunny and Christmas events, it's not going to be sustainable. If it isn't sustainable, it will have to be subsidised, either by a local authority or by a rich individual. As the DCDR have found, changes in local government have led to profound changes in their attitude to anything tourism-related, especially when it comes to throwing public money (from a public who may have zero interest in said attraction). If by a rich individual, what happens when he dies - especially if he has treated the whole enterprise as his personal property, with no formal preservation society in place to run it? We have already seen personally-owned schemes struggle into oblivion when those who developed them age. It's a shame, but this is the first of many points of reality that the misty-eyed "ideas" people amongst us enthusiasts - and there are many of them - fail to grasp. Without a good market, don't start it. It will end up as a closed, vandalised scrapyard. Personally, I'd almost rather see something scrapped than subjected to the indignities of rust, vandalism, graffiti, robbery of parts, and other such obscenities...... OK, though, the DCDR has Belfast 50 minutes away. That's the market sorted; Whitehead likewise for the RPSI's museum (and Cultra), and Dublin, which holds some 22% of this island's entire population for the RPSI's Dublin market. So, we have a market. What's next? Volunteers, of course. These pages, and many other organs of the antisocial media, plus occasional other sources, are full of clamours such as; 1 "They should reopen the line from (population centre) to (scenic place). It would make a FORTUNE!" 2 "Why don't the RPSI / ITG / C&L / West Clare / DCDR (or others) DO something about XYZ locomotive / coach. It's a disgrace they're letting it rot!" 3 "Well, I wouldn't be interested in going to X until they get Locomotive ABC operational" 4 "It's a crime that the very last X class diesel wasn't saved!" There are, of course, answers to those questions - most of them very justifiably unsuitable for a family audience. Question 1 above - No, they SHOULDN'T reopen it. It never even covered costs when open - and that was before road competition. Any anyway, who is "they"? If it's you, dear commentator, and you want it happen, empty your wallet towards the project, start up a society, and give up all your free time to try it! Don't want to? Then don't lecture others. And no, it will NOT "make a fortune" - it will need you to fundraise to keep it afloat. Question 2 - Why SHOULD the DCDR, RPSI and all those others do anything? Will you help? Will you donate? Will you turn up every weekend in all weathers to struggle with what the RPSI's loco engineer once quite correctly described as "redundant, life-expired old equipment"? Plus the "disgrace" bit - the comeback answer is that "it's en even bigger disgrace they you are lecturing from the armchair without lifting a finger"! Question 3 - Not interested? Then don't comment. Bye bye. Or, roll up your sleeves, give up your time, learn skills, volunteer and above all get your wallet out, and restore it yourself. Question 4 - If it's such a crime, you're an accessory - because you didn't save it either! There are many many, more such comments, sometimes outright accusations, but few related to any reality; but the bottom line is the same. There are many with no interest, and some with ideas of sorts, but which are impractical for reasons of time, manpower and money. All preservation schemes on this island struggle to maintain enough volunteers to commit to weekly maintenance and operation. As former treasurer of both DCDR & RPSI over a period of over 25 years, I can attest that in both organisations there were individuals who usually deliberately did not claim expenses to which they were entitled - in some cases quite significant sums of money - and several who privately donated personal sums to each society. But such people may be numbered on the fingers of one hand across this island. On one occasion in the 1990s, a member approached me and told me that he was prepared to donate €60,000 to the RPSI if a certain locomotive was next to be restored. An engineering assessment was conducted and it was discovered that the loco in question was in a much worse state than it looked, and the cost - thirty years ago, remember - would be three to four times that much. Our member was a very wealthy man - I knew that as he was a customer of the bank I worked in - but the poor fella died of cancer before any thoughts on this scheme were carried further. Now, in Britain, such people are thankfully two a penny, and involving sums with several zeros after them in comparison to the above. We simply don't have that, end of. There is utterly no point in pretending otherwise. Grand ideas and wish lists are emotionally-driven. Actual successful, sustainable preservational operation is different. Emotion and practicalities are oil and water. So, having started this bit on volunteering, let's get on to money. Preservation is eye-wateringly expensive. Locomotives - be they steam, diesel, or propelled by fairy dust - cost a huge amount to keep in traffic. Steam engines require lengthy periods out of traffic for legally-required boiler lifts, inspections and so on. And, they need specialist knowledge. Carriages need to be fully compliant with modern health and safety standards, as does track. The days of sticking some sort of oul temporary bit of track down and running anything that will move "Sure it's just a few hundred yards" are all gone. There WAS a time when that would do, and it's a miracle nobody was badly injured or worse - but that's rightly gone now. I personally recall a near-miss on preserved property in which a volunteer very very narrowly missed death; I saw another which could have also resulted in at least severe injury, and I am aware of another where a volunteer was badly crushed. I also recall the period (about 20 years ago) when health and safety matters, hitherto not fully taken seriously when off NIR or IE property, were being gradually introduced. In RPSI Dublin, RPSI Whitehead and Downpatrick, and at one other site too, some volunteers actually left, in one or cases unfortunately on bad terms, as they felt that new rules were spoiling their enjoyment of their hobby and were too draconian. "Sure we don't need all that - we're not Irish Rail"; and "Yer man* is being a dictator - I'm away!" (* = the (volunteer) H&S person at that place) - were just two of the comments I heard. A shame, yes, bad to lose them, but a perfect example of how emotion and practicality will come into conflict - the latter MUST always in, for the safety of all. So - location, market, volunteers and finance. Omit one, and the scheme is guaranteed to fail. Where does this leave us? Stradbally and Dromod: operational many years now. Both are sufficiently small that their low cost base, and the low number of volunteers necessary for a public operational day make up for their comparatively less population hinterland market, when compared to Whitehead, Dublin and Downpatrick. Thus, they are sustainable as currently operated as one is easily accessible from Dublin, and the other is on a main line railway line. Plus, they have enough (more than enough?) equipment on site, and of an interesting variety, to be sustainable. Setting up a new one? There's nothing left. Say we all clubbed together here and bought a 2 mile bit of the Croom Branch. What will we run on our "heritage" railway? A redundant 26 class railcar from Cork? Hardly fits the image. OK, you might say, the public don't care - a beautifully restored 0.6.0 with gas-lit six wheel carriages are an "old train". A 1990s IE railcar is also an "old train". Fine - but they won't be queued out by enthusiasts. I'm going to pause this now, and when I come back later I will discuss the various schemes I was involved with research for, back in the day, and what the pros and cons were for each. Tis dinner time, and I've a three-year-old to mind for a couple of hours. And yes, he knows the difference between a 29 class, an ICR and a DART; gawd help him. Exactly. Local business interests too, and in the west of Ireland the larger cattle dealers also had a big hand in it.

My day jobs bring me to many very interesting places throughout Ireland, and recently I was working at an event & wedding venue called ‘Limepark’ which is situated near Armoy in County Antrim. My work colleagues and I were standing at the bottom of a set of stone steps at the side of a building, when the handrails caught my attention….. I quickly recognised them as being lengths of narrow gauge rail. The venue is not far from the track bed of the Ballycastle narrow gauge line, which closed in 1950. On closer examination, I could see that each length of rail bore the following inscription: West Cumberland Steel B C R 1879 A quick Internet search located the company operating in the north of England from 1872 to 1916, and the date of 1879 would suggest that these are some of the very original Ballycastle line rails, as the line opened in 1880. I’m not sure what ‘B C R’ means, but it would be nice to think it meant ‘Ballycastle Railway’. Obviously, I may not be able to find out when these rails were installed at the venue, so either they survived in use until 1950 and were then sold off, or the selling off happened much earlier than 1950, during a presumed relay. One of the staff members at Limepark was able to tell me that there are a lot of lengths of rail in use around the venue, and he says there are also original railway sleepers there as well, so a return visit is now very much on the agenda!!

Its close to 2 years since I had time to post/do anything with Northwharf, hopefully I should have more time for myself going forward with our family re-reunited following the wifes return from the States where she had been caring for her late father for the past two years. Managed to dust-off and carry out some maintenance/repairs to Northwharf including re-commissiong wireless (Radio & Infrared) DCC control including DCC control of points. I bought two Digitrax Empire Builder starter sets over 20 years ago the DB150 Command Station (the brain) one of the originals, the UR92 Radio/IR receiver from an upgrade (for use with the Garden Railway) about 15 years ago, the Amp meter (DCC compatible) from a kit bought from Tonys Trains (a DCC specialist)in Vermont purchased about 20 years ago, there is a digital circuit breaker (to protect the Command Station) again from Tonys on the shelf behind the Amp meter. The Command Station and UR92 interface with phone cable using RJ12 connectors. the 75Va transformer possibly Petes' of Parnell St housed in an Alti case still with its original quick blow fuse holder. The UR92 is powered by a separate Digitrax American plug top transformer that plugs into a 240-110v a/c convertor! Digitrax had an excellent repair service even if it involved returning components to Florida, but the DT400 Throttles of the 2000s are no longer supported. The #3 on this particular keypad no longer functions, although although all the other buttons on the pad still function. While loco speed can be selected by throttle knob or keypad, points and functions can only be selected by keypad. The DT402D is on Radio & IR powered by a PP3 battery unplugged from the UR92 and Command Station. Peco pointmotors on the layout are powered by Lenz LT110 Stationary Decoders also bought during the early 2000s. The LT110s receive their DCC signal via the Black and Red leads that power the track with the Brown & Orange leads powering the LC110s, I found that a separate power feed was necessary to power the LT110s as track power had insufficient power to reliably operate Peco twin coil point motors. Points are operated individually using the SW function on the Throttle rather than by a Lever Frame or Panel, in reality points in a goods/freight only terminal like Northwharf were likely to be hand operated rather than from a Cabin or Frame particularly in a post 1970s era layout. I this case the LT110 with its 4 outputs originally controlled points 1-3 with 4 spare, in the end I fed point 3 from output 4 being unable to select 3! on the throttle pad! The LT110 outputs are only selectable 1-4, 5-8, etc One of the main limitations of Northwharf is the Traverser effectively limits train length to a small loco and 4 wagons, though the Tower Building and Overbridge increases train length to 5 wagons which is not visually or operationally effective for me in 4mm/OO, one idea is to cut a slot in the shelving support on the right to provide a loco length fixed release road at the end of the traverser table. Another idea is to alter the tracklayout from a "Timesaver' format by replacing the loco release turnout with a crossover and extending the existing run-round loop into a siding serving a dry goods store creating separate destinations for Bulk Grain and Bagged traffic. Theoretically the head shunt serves an Oil/Tar Depot and warehousing (van traffic) Will probabably use a Maybach or a Small GM for workings to and from Northwharf with the G as yard shunter, although I fitted the G with a 'stay-alive" I had in stock it still stalls on the Peco Insulfrog points used in the yard, so have ordered a higher powered 'stay-alive' Hopefully I will get around failry soon to completeing the buildings and structures, the brick buildings were inspired by the distillery buildings at Grand Canal Dock, railway between a dock and retaining wall by the approach lines to North Wall Midland.

Going down under Have been a bit quiet on the layout scene over the last year. Like most young people in their mid twenties, I took the brave step of moving to Australia. So last July,I packed my suitcase and unfortunately my make shift layout (photos below) and moved 17,500km to the other side of the world. While I’ve haven’t been making layout plans, I have being keenly taking an interest in Aussie trains both real and model. Currently in Melbourne were they have very familiar sounding Loco hauled trains…not only is the gauge the same as Ireland but the locos are GM built too IMG_7694.mov The main attraction is the V line N class locomotives which is the Aussie cousin of the 071, they actually have the exact same GM EMD 645 engine,just listen below! IMG_8041.mov https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/V/Line_N_class The current loco hauled scene here in Melbourne is that comparable to the 071 hauling mark 3s around the late 2010s, before this Christmas N class locos were seen a lot hauling passengers but haven replaced by new DMU velocity units that remind me of the 22s back home. There is two runs of the velocity,the more comfortable 2002 built and the brand new 2025 units. The later, have meant that N class are currently being phased out of passenger hauled traffic and going onto regional freight lines. the new 2025 velocity units haven’t been well received by the general public who travel long distances in uncomfortable seats and no on board buffet and no seats due to no N class haulage. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/V/Line_VLocity IMG_8055.mov Next up is the Y class locomotive,which is a shunter of rolling stock in and out of Melbourne southern cross. Baiscally is a Aussie 121 in both appearance and sound. IMG_8209.mov Model railway scene in Melbourne- There is a lot more model railway shops over here but they mostly sell ho gauge ! A real surprise for me is how much cheaper is peco track and DCC controllers are over here.The main shop in Melbourne is Traineorld, which has a massive layout built in store and huge range of stock. https://trainworld.net.au So what’s the future of the layout ? Looks like I’ll be back on Irish soil in the next few months. Looking forward to having a proper go at building this layout. I have a few adjustment in mind, main one being from Gibbos friendly suggestion above of having a loop that drops down to another level Think I might have bitten off too much than I chew with have the Navan line connected to a working Platin cement yard. I might just solely focus on Macbride station first and have the Platin yard as a possible extension down the line. Just food for though and I’ll will updates with the new plan whenever I get back on Home turf. For the meantime, going to enjoy the next few months of travelling Down Under and some more sunsets like this. See yous on the other side. Thanks Dave IMG_8055.mov

Well not quite Ballybeg the Layout,but Gerrys Mk3 and Mk2 stock from Ballybeg were running on my own work in progress layout.Very nice MIR brass overlays for the EGV and Restaurant coaches. 20250605_191650.mp4 20250605_192048.mp4 20250605_193905.mp4

1946, and a maintenance train is stabled at Dugort Harbour.

Final tiding up done tonight and the surround was strengthened with additional layers of foam board. This is the diorama's final night with me - tomorrow it shall be moving to its new home, in the very place that inspired it!

It would do a nice job of engraving the surface patterns and cutting out the strips too. Could be done in a material like 1.5mm or 2mm MDF to match the thickness of the real coping stones. Here's a little test piece I just found lying around - an elaborate window shutter (this is in 7mm scale) cut and engraved on 1.2mm ply: And a whole building I designed and made using the laser cutter: I haven't unleashed the laser cutter on an Irish project yet, perhaps I should!

A little more progress on the pens for the cattle dock Posts were made from 3mm x 3mm mahogany, and drilled out individually (some dose). Railings or bars were made from copper wire stripped from electric cable. Some weathering next and then gates. Getting there slowly...........

There hasn’t been an update here in a minute. And while I have no right to speak on behalf of the railway, I thought some of you guys might be interested. a recent storm has done some damage. Pulling the roof off the old factory, knocking slates and gates down etc. the day I was there, most of the remaining debris was large pieces… 2421 and 1916 are currently number one priority at the moment. The intirior of the coach is being deep cleaned. At the moment, the old RPSI bar car being the most important asset and to get this as an open mini cafe would be of huge importance. with the bathrooms now also in place, this will make the former junction bar into a fully functional cafe…and yes even a pub… for now 3 foot persists, but probobly less then 12 months until 5 foot 3 will have to be laid

I vote we move Downpatrick to be closer to everyone on the island so the volunteer problem is solved.

Wooo.

The body is now ready for cleaning and painting. Still a few details to add to the chassis. Whilst I'm expecting IRM to produce the production series Palvans (26000 series), I'd be surprised if they do one of these prototypes. But by sod's law, it will be announced the moment I've finished this one... I still haven't decided whether it will be grey or green, but a coat of grey primer is the first move whichever.

A van of many colours - the IRM 'H': While I continue working on regauging the underframes I have also been repainting and lettering some of the bodies. These still need some matt varnish and then the weathering will begin. 17053 will ride on the conventional underframe I built from Parkside parts (so it's no longer an H) while I plan to scratchbuild a new body for the spare underframe, to represent one of the 15 H vans converted to a Palvan prototype.

Next, drill out the buffer holes to 1.5mm, then stick the buffer bodies back in place, making sure they are straight and square. Add a pair of 21mm gauge wheelsets to assist in positioning the brakes. Then, you can re-instate the brake hangers, into their new holes. I didn't stick them in place just yet. As you can see, the regauging has left a gap in the middle of each brake cross-stretcher. I chose to cut some 20mm lengths of wire and glue them across this gap - it's not a perfect solution but I don't think anyone's going to be looking too closely when the wagon is in service. Whilst gluing these, if necessary you can tweak the position of the brake hangers so that they don't touch the wheels. A dab of glue on the tops of the brake hangers will secure them in the right place. Make sure the wheels spin freely. (pic) I decided not to reinstate the links across the axles - they're almost invisible from normal viewing angles and they prevent the wheels being removed. Now to the buffer heads. The buffer shanks may have become partly blocked by glue. If so, use a 0.7mm drill (exactly) drill to clear them out. Then push the buffers (with springs) firmly back into place. Now check the fit of the body corner stanchions over the repositioned buffers. It may necessary to file a little material off them to achieve a good fit. Then re-fit the body, which is harder than you might think and the guitar pick will help. If any other small bits have fallen off, stick them back on. There's a little bit of paintwork to touch up, otherwise it's done.

I finally acheived reasonably reliable running with E421 after around 15 years storage! I completed E421 using a Shapeways 3D printed body with etched n/s detail parts on a Bull-Ant Motor bogies supplied to 21mm gauge, I recently re-gauged the loco to OO for use on a small dockside shunting layout. Loco turned out very tempremental in operation would run momentarily before shutting down shorting the DCC system. Eventually traced the fault to a break in the insulation on the feed from the power pick up on one side of the decoder harness, where the edge of the flywheel had cut an nick in the insulation. Problem solved resolved by moving the pick up leads away from the edge of the flywheel. I need to replace damaged decals on both E421 & G617, fit window glazing and complete paint touch up E421 and look at the options for fitting working lighting. E421 is fitted with a TCS decoder with 'Stay Alive" bought many years ago. Now that I have a couple of shunting locos that are running reasonably reliably on of the next jobs is to try and restore wireless DCC operation of locos and points and re-install the Kadee uncoupling magnets to restore hands free operation. Although currently hand operated points are wired for DCC operation with using Lenz Stationary Decoders I bought about 20 years ago

Okay folks, I think we can leave the politics element there. While it does impact our hobby in this instance for some (in this case our American residents) we do like to keep this place politics free to keep this as a haven away from such stresses of the world and focus on model railways, and our wonderful hobbies we use to escape such everyday grinds. From an official IRM point of view to our US customers, we advise to keep your pre orders with us and then assess as they come into stock and decide what your best course of action is. Remember too that they will be shipped from the UK, so that is where to keep an eye on when it comes to knowing what to expect. Cheers! Fran