Leaderboard

3D print from eBay. Cleaned up the printing marks and added finials to the landings. Cheers Darius

Irish Sugar 1960-xx-xx Thurles K12663'35 JGD600610. L&LSR 1949 CA Owencarrow viaduct after closure JGD5415 ref25j+006. L&LS 1952-06-16 Pennyburn, Derry 15 Mck025

Well, you know you've been neglecting things when a layout drops off the front page and am not sure I've actually made anything since before Easter. Getting Northport Quay ready for Railex, then the Club layout ready for the Chatham Show very much part of the 'problem'... Anyway, with the Club Show now out of the way, it is at last time to get back to some of my own modelling, not least because Swillybegs is due to make its debut at the Tolworth Show in November. There's been a list of things to do for quite a while, so it has been a case of just getting on with it, starting with a new station name board. Simple enough - white on black computer print out, stuck to a board made from plastic sheet and strip New fencing next: firstly fitting 0.5mm plastic road to the posts that have been on the tramway platform for ages, then some Parkside wooden fences around the buffer stops. Then came some detailing pieces for the quayside area. Below is an overall view of the station area, including a bit of gentle fettling for the track where I had to remove permanent [rare earth] magnets & replace them with Gauge 0 Guild electric ones. You can see the new buffer stop I made [front right] too. The rest of the pictures give a tour of the layout, with Donegal stock on show, alongside the 'West Donegal Tramway' train, using former Clogher Valley loco and new coaches based on Schull & Skibbereen types. Much to my surprise, it has only taken a few days to sort out the bits and pieces. So, overall, the scenic work is done. What needs to happen now is to make sure everything runs well, both all the newly built stock and the original CVR stuff. Much of the work revolves around getting my home made 'chopper' couplings working properly. Playing trains, in other words! However, planning for a new project is also getting under way, for which you will have to keep an eye on the 'David's 0 Gauge Stuff' thread in the British Outline Modelling section.

In the late 50s, steam still ruled at Dugort Harbour, especially on fair days, when three extra locos would be brought in. Here, our intrepid photographer captures a few scenes in July 1958….. From early days J15s were almost the staple motive power diet at Valentia, Kenmare, Castleisland - and Dugort Harbour. Here, an unusually clean 195 makes a brisk departure from Castletown West not long before the C class appeared, in summer 1958.

I had the good fortune today to collect two brake vans for the layout. I have two of Mayner's excellent JM design timber-planked CIE standard vans, and two of Leslie's Provincial Wagons old GSWR ones. With a layout based in a time period of mid 1950s to early 1970s, I needed two more at least, so I have added two of the new CKprints CIE standards to the collection. too. This gives an authentic mix of what you'd got about the place in that period. Older ones like the Provincial GSWR ones were still about in very small numbers - the Loughrea and Castleisland branches had the last two in operation into the 70s. Everything else was standard - most steel-sheeted, a few all-wooden, and the odd one like JM Design's "tin" one with planked balconies. As a digression, I MIGHT be wrong on this, but I do think that I once saw a planked one, a la JM Design's earlier example, with a metal sheeted balcony at one end.... but I cam't be certain. Anyway, as you can see, basking in the evening light at a Castletown West station still sparsely endowed with even basic scenery, we see two of CK's vans, designed and produced by Enda Byrne. To say these are SUPERB is an understatement of the highest order. The detail and accuracy is in every way TOP drawer. Very many congrats to Enda for these. I am advised they will be widely available now. I should add, for younger readers, you simply cannot have a goods train of old four-wheel wagons without a brake van. It's like running a train with out track, or without a locomotive, or carriages without wheels. ALL goods trains were loose coupled, meaning that no brake van = no brakes on the train. So, a brake van of some sort is essential. And this type, from about 1960 to the very end of loose coupled trains in the late 1970s, were the most common of all, and in the last few years actually the only types to be seen anywhere but NIR, which retained a few tattered and neglected old vans of GNR & NCC origin for ballast trains. Very highly recommended indeed, and the big news is that Provincial Leslie and CK Enda are now planning future collaborations. All good news for all concerned.

Ballasting and point rodding being added. I’m just using 4mm rodding as there isn’t very much needed and it looks ok to me!! Also OO gauge ballast too - it’s always recommended to use ballast from a smaller scale and it definitely works here!

All the track has been wired and painted - dark brown base colour for the sleepers then a dry brush of grey to pick out details, and rust for the rail sides. Then a good run over with the track rubber! I had to order the correct ballast, so no more progress until that arrives. Many thanks to Alan @Tullygrainey for his update on the progress of the chassis for the loco for the layout!

Next week the baseboards arrive for my new, home-based, Irish-themed layout - Whiterock. i already had a plan for a smaller layout of the same name (shown below) but now have a bit more space available. Perhaps you can recognise its inspiration. I have ordered baseboards from Model Railway Solutions to the following plan. The larger layout side will enable a two track “roundy-roundy” with greater space for spoil sidings and a less cramped station area. Really looking forward to getting started. Cheers Darius

Well over two years later. I found my stash of Kadee HOn3 couplers so I can finally fit uniform couplers to my Irish narrow gauge locos and stock. Just posed some different trains since the last set of photos, though haven't actually run anything in several years! 3 (T) arriving with the Daily Mixed. Apart from Dromad-Ballinamore the Cavan & Leitrim was mixed train daily territory in CIE days with daily return mixed trains on the "main line" from Ballinamore to Belturbet and a return Ballinamore-Arigna mixed on the "Tramway" Keadue is theoretically on proposed never built Arigna-Boyle or Arigna-Sligo extensions of the Tramway with a mixed arriving from Arigna. There was an acute shortage of usable carriage stock on the C&L in CIE days due to the run down state of the original carriage stock & CIE transferred a T&D Coach and a Bogie van for use on the 'main line" during the early 50s & another ex-T&D train appears to have found its way to Keadue!. The coach is a Branchline's kit a model of "Bristol C&W" coaches supplied to the T&D in 1890, rather than the longer Midland C&W Composite 18T that was transferred to the C&L, the Van is a Backwoods Miniatures model of the ex-TD Van transferred to the C&L along with Composite 18T re numbered as 21 & 22L. The lady has been waiting faithfully on a train for several years at this stage, though Staff seem to have gone home or possibly emigrated. 6T with a laden coal train inward bound towards Ballinamore on the Tramway. Photos indicate that coal specials loaded to 10 wagons plus Van which could be marshalled at the rear of the train or next to the loco, the majority of C&L wagons were vacuum fitted, mixed and goods trains ran with a continuous brake. Usually laden coal trains run in the opposite direction on the layout as the train is theoretically running towards Arigna & Ballinamore! Also located "Edward" a common beast of burden in Leitrim and Roscommon. The cars are likely to be a railway enthusiasts/photographers cavalcade, I have some suitablish figures somewhere! I trided to stage a line up of photographers for a UTube video but one of the figures fell over when the train appeared in the scene The bridge and crossing was inspired by Kiltubrid but I made the baseboard too narrow to include the Crossing/Halt keepers house. Managed to find enough empty wagons to stage a train of empty wagons behind 2 (L) a Backwoods Miniatures model of the loco assembled as running in the late 50s (possiby spare engine on account of reasonable cosmetic condition!) 1st pair of wagons are Foxrock Models C&L opens (highly detailed resing body on Iain Rice chassis still awaiting couplings) followed by a pair of ex-Passage opens (resin body from my master on Backwoods miniatures chassis) followed by a Parkside T&D/West Clare! open. 2L about to enter fiddle yard/end of scenic section, Sawns are theoretically in continuation of stream/river waterway that railway passes under in earlier photo. Scene is inspired by the way the Tramway, Road and Ballinamore and Ballyconnel Canal run parralel between Kiltubrid and Ballyduff

THE END OF THE LINE Hi everyone Is this literally the end of the line, I started this layout in February 2014, and it has taken me until May 2024, so ten years to get to where it currently is now. It was controlled by a H&M Duette controller wired for cab control via 18 DPDT switches, in April 2017 I took the plunge and switched to DCC and didn’t look back. In 2024 I became gradually quite unwell resulting in being Hospitalised over Christmas and New Year, resulting in an illness that has left me with serious mobility issues, as a result I am giving serious consideration to dismantling the layout and getting a new layout on the ground floor. Plans have already being drew up. So this is probably the last posting for this layout. I have added some pictures taken today by my daughter showing the start and the end of its construction. Thanks to anyone who followed or showed interest in its development over the years. Regards Ray

GMK038 GNRI Connolly 1961-04-xx S4. GMK037 GNRI 1955-07 Connolly Shunt signals. GMK039 CIE 1961-04-xx Inchicore ex GNRI JT 91 L25.

In summer 1960, C231 arrives in Dugort Harbour with the morning mixed. It is seen later on shunting wagons before departing again. Once it gets to Castletown, it has the long slog back to Tralee with the all-stations goods.

Slow but steady progress - track weathering and foliage. And the point rodding has been oiled Will possibly add more dirty track colour and build it up until it looks right. In the period of this project, the line would have been open for over 30 years, so I am guessing that this would have been enough time for the permanent way to accumulate appropriate levels of grime.

C&M 1934-07-09 Blarney Castle 8K, 12.05 from Cork. HCC11061 Cas25145. CIE 1955-04-26 Palace East 111 RMC83677 Cas25202. CIE 1955-04-26 Macmine Junction, RMC83675 Cas25201. CIE 1962-09-xx DFublin Amiens St B124 on Radio Train j155.

GNRI 1965-xx CA Dundalk WT. GNRI 1965-07-19 Belfast 'Shaky Bridge' Antrim-Bangor Exc. 49 JGD651137. GNRI 1964-06-13 Omagh South cabin, 60 ref25j+004

Track is now laid, wired and tested on Kilmore's scenic boards. Droppers are 7/0.2 multicore wire. The bus wires are single core copper mains lighting cable. I used to lay the track then fit the droppers but now I solder these to the rails before they go down. Far fewer melted sleepers this way. Phono plugs and sockets take care of inter-board connections. Track on the scenic section is Peco OO Code 75. The non-scenic bits are a mix of Peco and Hornby Code 100. The whole layout footprint is now 11 ft by 6 ft. The only place I can set it up without throwing furniture into a skip is the garage. Putting it all together allowed all the connections to be tested and some tweaking of the track ends at board joins. Some of the locos needed a bit of encouragement too. Of the BCDR stock, diesel No.2 is finding the 4th radius curves on the linking sections a challenge and sits with its wheels spinning with more than two or three wagons in tow. More weight needed maybe. The 0-6-4T dock shunter No.29 derails on these sections and will need a bit of work to make it behave. The rest of the stable manages ok. 2-4-2T No.7 happily pulls 2 coaches, 12 wagons and a brake van. Video of some of the first runs... Kilmore first runs.mov A way to go yet but we're making progress. Alan

A39R was out in action last weekend for the DCDR 40th celebrations, hauling its first passenger trains since the floods of 2023. https://www.irishtractiongroup.com/2025/a39r-works-its-first-passenger-trains-since-floods

I have a couple more of the Killybegs station interior; its different wagons in the photos. It's probably best to upload these to flickr now to make its easier to find them. Also a a view of the Donegal Town Goods shed road side. CDRJC 1957 Killybegs Trainshed interior. PFF276. CDRJC 1957 Killybegs inside station roof. PFF305. CDRJC 1957 Killybegs Goods shed. PFF275 EDITED now corrected to Donegal Town

The 18:20 Dublin Connolly-Sligo Mk2D set arrives at Tara Jctn hauled by 132+126.

Classic photo of Kells - one of three Irish stations with that name. I was there recently: And I was particularly fortunate to meet somebody who was working in the building, and he showed me the largely unaltered interior: The problem with visiting places like this is that it gives you ideas

In 1963, most B121s were still grey, but getting pretty shabby. Here, an unidentified member of the class is seen on a rare visit to Dugort Harbour, shunting wagons.

B109 is nearly done,with some touching up of the cab front orange curves.She runs well and looks nice in this livery along with Endas Pal vans and 30 ton brake van.The glazing on the cab areas was to be honest a nightmare,and I was going to redo but in the end I just left it. 20250812_204101.mp4 20250812_204237.mp4

Cheers Darius

The first view is Waterford coal stage which was the sheds somwhat less elaborate version of that at Cork with its overhead gantry and Pat delivering coal from the wharf. Here the railway ran adjacent to the River Suir with a number of landing stages and the coal stage appears to have had an elevated passage from the river landing and coal storage deck. CIE 1964-xx CA Waterford Coal stage 186 yj059. 2nd view Enniskillen , note the bread container at the rear of the Omagh train on the left. GNRI 1957-09-03 Enniskillen 196 arrives from Derry. PFF228. 3rd view Killybages station with a view looking through the train shed.. CDRJC 1957-09-27 Killybegs train shed interior lkg W. PFF331. last view. CBSC 1959-06-02 Clonakilty Junction C225 Bantry - Cork goods. PFF063

A23R leaves Dugort Harbour for Castletown West in June 1971….

C&M 1934-07-09 Coachford Junction 8K 12.05 Cork - Blarney HCC11058 Cas25143. GSR 1934-07-17 Westport. 651 6.00 to Dublin HCC11198 Cas25165. SLNC 1929-09-19 Manorhamilton 'Lissadell' 1.40 Enniskillen - Sligo. HCC glass 6316 Cas25001.

Cabin glazing completed. Cheers Darius

Goods traffic appears to have been fairly heavy on the West Cork main line right up to closure, two daily C Class hauled goods trains were scheduled over in the 1960s WTT one return Cork-Bantry and one Cork-Drimoleague and plus C Class hauled goods/mixed and passenger working on the Skibereen/Baltimore and Clonakilty branches. There was a comment to the effect that passenger traffic was considered less important than goods on the West Cork in a Railway World Annual article by enthusiasts that visited Ireland in the late 1940s. Plenty of variety of motive power in steam days while the Bandon Tanks seem to have worked the goods, pre-amalgamation tanks of GSWR,WLWR, DSER worked passenger and branchline services during the CIE steam era, the MGW tanks were relative latecomes mainly used on the T&C section

Loose End This was my first standard gauge 7mm scale layout. It was very much a Light Railway, with a mix of Colonel Stephens, Wantage, Wisbech & Upwell & Brill Tramways, to name but a few. The track plan was a mirror image of Wantage Town - ideal, as it is just over seven feet long, even in 0 Gauge. Track was Code 100 fb rail on copper clad sleepers, with points made by Marcway of Sheffield. It was built in the late '90s, so pre-digital as far as photos are concerned, but a fair few of the techniques went on to be used in my Irish layouts. Indeed, the light weight looking track even caused a few people to ask if it was broad gauge! Loose is a real village, just south of Maidstone, while the Kent & East Sussex Light Railway planned extension would have passed this way. Most of the buildings were based on actual ones in the small town of West Malling and I really went to town on the fine details, especially things like shop windows. Being Kent, there had to be an oast house of course. Locos and stock were very much based on Light Railway practice, ranging from Manning Wardles to a Wisbech tram [complete with face and Toby nameplate]. A Wantage Mathews tram was joined by other oddities as I developed my kit and scratch building skills. See what you can identify! The layout went to quite a few shows, but I could only manage about three a year in those days, due to work. Everything was [very] analogue, with wire in tube point control, three link couplings and operation from the rear. I learned a lot, not least balancing scenics in a small space via careful use of painted back scenes. Pictures below are photos of photos, so may not be the best, but overall the layout looks pretty good and worked well too. I was very pleased with the scene above, where the join between the painted road and the actual surface where the car is blends nicely. The layout was sold in the late noughties to a chap who lived near my Mum in Newark on Trent. I went on to build a small extension for him, featuring a hop garden. I also made him a Colonel Stephens railbus. Later, he sold it on & last time I heard it was living in a barn somewhere in France. By the way, an outline of my plans for a new 0 gauge layout will be appearing here soon.

Something not BCDR related for a change. Patrick @Patrick Davey's current project is a return to the narrow gauge Ballycastle Railway for a model of the halt at Capecastle. This time he’s modelling in 5.5mm/foot, allowing the 3 foot narrow gauge to be represented using Peco O-16.5 track. Working in 5.5m means the motive power and rolling stock will have to be scratch built or adapted from something else. My contribution to the project is a chassis for a proposed model of 0-6-0ST ’Countess of Antrim’, one of three saddle tanks built by Black Hawthorne for the opening of the line in 1879. We have a drawing which we were able to scale using a few known dimensions - wheelbase and wheel diameter principally. We also have some useful photos of the Countess in action and since no-one alive has seen the original, we have a degree of artistic licence to hide behind I'm building the chassis using 4mm/ft methods because it's what I know but the techniques should work well enough in the larger scale. The Countess was a fairly small engine. Likewise, 4mm parts fit the bill ok (as long as you're not a spoke counter). As usual, I started with the connecting rods and made these up from an Alan Gibson universal rods etch on a simple jig. The rods themselves then do duty as jigs to mark and drill 1mm pilot holes for axles on a pair of chassis frame blanks (16 thou nickel silver) This chassis will be compensated so a compensation beam was next (2 thicknesses of 16 thou nickel silver), with the axle pilot holes opened up to accept a pair of axles so the beam could be positioned touching the axles and the pivot hole drilled through the frames in the right place. A bit more cutting and filing to accept hornblocks (High Level SpaceSavers) and the frames are almost ready to be separated. Alan

Some more models to look at. Class 2700 railcar, been after one of these for years and finally tracked one down all the way from New Zealand. I weathered the underframes and added two hand made dummy Scharfenberg couplings. Murphy's coal wagons and flat wagons weathered. Irish Shell and BP was repainted and transfers from SSM. 6 wheel wagons were hand made as were the sleepers and weathered.

“Did ye see Tommy?” ”What for? I paid him back a couple of weeks ago!” ”Well, Sarah in the paper shop says he’s lookin’ for ye, says ye still owe him four pound and ten shillings…”

By the mid-1960s, goods traffic on the Dugort Harbour branch had collapsed. Only on account of the fact that yer man was an influential TD, did the line survive another decade. Taken with a new-fangled telephoto lens from St Ciaran’s Hill, we see B165 depart with the Tralee goods one day in 1968. By the time it gets to Rock Street Yard, it will only have picked up four more vans, a wagon full of turf and an empty open wagon. I’ll get round to that! A couple of technical issues are currently restricting operations but easy to fix!

Outlaws Hobby and Craft, were selling 3D, 80 class units amongst other items, at North down MRS exhibition this year, I only bought the power car which required very little preparation, light sanding, spray primer. I'm well pleased with the result thus far, Painted with pheonix precission paints NIR maroon and NIR dark blue. Transfers are from MIR stable and fox transfer 0.5 mm lining, I have yet to decide on the chassis as I intended this as a dummy. I have four MIR brass kits to construct The intercity set is the second set, I already have a set in NIR surburban Livery and still two remaining set to construct. Ive attached a short video of the suburban set running 80 class sub run 1.mp4

Work on Kilmore over this last week or so has focused on the track - points rodding (2 sorts), ballast and paint. Points rodding 1: In the interest of keeping it simple, I've avoided points motors and opted for simple rod operation using 2mm brass rod and some bits from choc-bloc electrical connectors. It works well on The Stone Yard and I hope it will here too. This is the basic arrangement... ... and here it is installed under the board. The rod exits through the back board and terminates in a wooden knob. To paint the sides of the rails, I used a method described by Chris Nevard in Model Rail - Halfords matt black and red oxide from rattle cans, sprayed at a low angle across the track until a satisfactory colour is achieved. Shouldn't work but it does a remarkably convincing job of representing old rust. Points rodding 2: Cosmetic representations of the real thing using Wills plastic kits, laid before the ballast went down. This was the hardest thing I've done in a long time. Fragile and nightmarishly fiddly to assemble. I broke a lot of bits, lost others to the carpet monster and some of the finished results are a bit approximate. Give me an etched brass coach kit with no instructions any day! Ballasting: Not my favourite activity. Placing the ballast is fairly satisfying - all that dusting it into place with a little paint brush whilst humming quietly to oneself - but gluing it down and then picking grit out of flange ways and points mechanisms isn't. And vacuuming up the stray particles only to find great chunks coming adrift because it wasn't glued down properly or you didn't leave it to dry for long enough. Then there's weathering the stuff... Anyway, here's the state of play to date... Grassy hillsides next. Pastoral landscape has been noticeably absent from my previous layouts so new ground to be explored, new mistakes to make. Alan

After lots of cutting and applying, I finally got these finished during the week. Unfortunately, I didn't get them all covered as I ran out of decals. But I think I've got enough done for a convincing yard scene.

After all these years I thought it was time I got myself a rolling road for testing locos. But damn they’re not cheap! But I managed to pick up a few sets of rollers from Temu for small money. Then I kitbashed the rest from a steel pot stand from Ikea. Works just fine…..

Roughly a month, right on schedule. Somehow, and against all odds alot has happened. Buildings have been painted, static grass has been added and the full Tramore signalling setup has been completed. And here it is. Well, they only had 1. But it is working! It's a 3d print file available for free on thingiverse painted by myself and I have to say I'm very pleased. Following this alot of static grass was added to the field at the front of the layout. While it's a bit plain for now I'd like to add plenty more greenery and shrubs to give the impression of "Bad land" as the farmers would say. Unfortunately, I've run out of Ballast but at least the tracks themselves are complete, I just need to apply it between the running lines.. now also serves as a good opportunity to point out that the "pond" in the top left is no longer a hideous mess, well, it's not too bad anyway. Just need to get my hands on some fishing wire and I can add some fencing and telegraph poles. The station backdrop of sorts is complete also. Hopefully the foliage up the side of the station can mask the fact it's an engine shed! I've been waiting ages to do something like this, (inspired by @jhb171achill) September 17th 1950 an unidentified J-26 stands at Tramore station awaiting the signal drop to proceed to Manor station. (Ignore the north eastern livery!) Anyway. I've done an awfully big ramble about comparatively little work but I do think that the layout is on schedule to be ready for its first outing! Probably needs legs first though.........

Launching my new website and online store. Please feel free to share this link with your friends. ckprints.ie Enda

Very sad news, received just now that Ian Walsh, who ran the Blue Thunder railtour, sadly passed away last night. May he rest in peace and my thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time.

Ian had an amazing knowledge and seemed to be known throughout the IÉ system. I travelled on his tour as a passenger back in 2006, one of the best I've ever been on. I got to know him in more recent years, he offered his assistance towards our fledgling Táilte operations, knowing the niceties of railtours perhaps better than anyone, he would ensure that our 2600 set was on the platform well in advance so we weren't stressed with loading etc and tried to give us 'surprise' movements, such as routing our recent Eyre Lee Bird tour through the new platform 6 in Cork, wanting it to be the first railtour to pass through it. He'd give me calls while cycling home from the bus, often late at night, telling stories from his travels across the system. For a relatively young man, he had got to plenty of interesting places now vanished from the IÉ map such as New Ross, Kingscourt and Foynes via the weedspray train. He had also extensively travelled the Bus Éireann system. Sleep well Ian, you will be sorely missed, and thank you for all your help.

The Countess's chassis got a coat of paint before the wheels went on. It rolls nicely under finger pressure with no tight spots. Rods next, then an hour or two spent chasing a tight spot which predictably appeared when the last crankpin nut was tightened down. Just when I thought I was home free! The outside cylinders/slidebars/crossheads are probably the trickiest part of this build, both making them and getting them to work properly. I'm half way through that battle. Each crosshead was cut from two thicknesses of 16 thou nickel silver to get front and back matching. This is the kit of parts half way through the process. Cylinders from 8mm outside diameter brass tube, slidebars from 1mm square brass rod. The bits of scrap etch soldered to the slidebars are there to keep them equidistant until they're soldered into the cylinders. Connecting rods have a 14BA bolt soldered into one end. These go through the crossheads. Piston rods are 1mm brass. they'll be trimmed to length eventually. Now to unite cylinders with chassis and get the whole caboodle working. If I recall, it needs three hands. Alan

A towering figure in the world of models. https://tamiyablog.com/2025/07/in-memoriam-mr-shunsaku-tamiya/

Fair Day, August 1966. A few scenes with cattle trucks being shunted, and B141 on the extra passenger service from Castletown West…. At the end of a long day, B141 idles at the platform before returning light to Castletown for the night. It’s been drizzling, the platform is wet. B141 will be on the Tralee goods in the morning… The three tin vans parked up on the back loop came down yesterday with crates of homing pigeons from Ballymena (once a lesser-known but occasionally busy part of railway life!)

Hi everyone, couple of background projects I’m currently working on, still a work in progress with plenty yet to do to complete

Enniskillen today. GNRI 1957-09-03 Enniskillen U 201 comes off train from Dublin.PFF234. GNRI'SLNC 1957 ca Enniskillen AL probably No 59 shunting. Railbus 2A PFF217 Not sharp unfortunately. GNRI 1957-09-26 Enniskillen 204 ,PFF009.

Well, I have found a new prototype to throw my energy at instead of working on my actual layouts (There are, I think, 4): Coolnamona! As it's my local BnM line, I've always had some interest in it, but a few days ago I was shocked when photos were sent to a WhatsApp group I'm in of a main line siding that served the works along the old Portlaoise-Kilkenny alignment. These photos are shared here, thanks to Seán Cain and @Hawkerhellfire for sending them, and of course their owners! Peat trains ran to Waterford, New Ross and North Wall until the 1980s. Now, I'm sure it's clear, from being a genuinely good prototype, to being very local, to being so unique, this has captured my imagination, so I have started a process I'm calling the feasability study, basically seeing, can I make this, not just do I want to, and while this is still underway, the relatively simple track layout, added to the fact I already have several baseboards to build it on, bumps it a little higher than all the other projects I've "proposed". As always I would advise not to get any hopes up, as I am frankly irresponsibly erratic, but watch this space.

30 Ton break van I've finally got these ready for sale. I will be doing them in three liveries as in the pictures. Comes RTR with steel wheels, NEMs, decals and glazing fitted. These were introduced in 1960 and were in traffic up until the end. Price for these are €55 (flying snail) €60 for the CIE versions. Please PM me to order and once I've pre-orders done I'll have them in stock and ready to ship. Enda

Improved some EFE busses whilst waiting for the rain to stop at Spa. Still need to make and apply some different numberplate decals… Cheers Darius