Robert Shrives

Useful for turnback of trains, guess clipped oou for 6 months waiting on S&T and new ops instructions about use of crossover. Work does seem to have gone well and I am sure the gang retired to a suitably socially distanced mess room to celebrate with a cup of tea....

Have fun , building track is generally therapeutic! and like riding a bike once lessons over it is not forgotten, but then experiences kick in and progress can be quick. - But like bike riding falling off/ over the handle bars a risk - burnt fingers and not cleaning off flux properly spring to mind. Robert

"WoW" barely covers that modification - it does not show and as you can see certainly gets you back on course.. Some deity likes model railways.

Well a hour spare yesterday allowed cleaning of the bench and then I thought time to fit tail lamps and latest from crail- containers are not glued but held by the black tacky stuff used to retain electrical string on models. - and very good it seems. Glenderg lamps on IRM - by everso slight opening up bracket to buffer beam the lamp slide on and no need to glue. C Rail B+I on IRM flat - ex pw spoils and bogies give a quick brush over with bauxite. In back ground is a Yellow 2mm sherpa casting acting as a chock for a MIR 45footer which is work in progress. The two water tanks got lamps - ok so naughty having lamps both ends but hopefully loco will disguise most of the time. I did learn having read already ! the handles are very fine - do not use tweezers on the handle.. Another view of the 45 footer, I have added little black dots on the container lug pocket to suggest the hole therein. What the camera has shown is that I need to add hooks and vac bags to the barriers, SSM kindly have supplied holes so better fill them. The Bell is my effort as shown a while back. So that has used all six flats off the discounted bulk pack from IRM Crimbo bargains period. I now have green boxes with yellow spoil containers tucked away - if anybody is after just the yellow boxes... Back to the spoils , bogie and 4 wheel Cements, beet prototype, container oil tanks for coal and oil train and bogie tanks - so the barriers can be usedful! - 20 plus trucks to keep me off the streets - lockdown does have its benefits..

Looking good - always good to see historic modelling ! A great shame the real ones now out of service. The mods do look quite extensive . Check out Shawplan glazing items he has a range of MK3 lazercut tinted glazing to suit. Robert

https://www.flickr.com/photos/northernblue109/albums/72157636435273666 Interesting take on your favourite locos and liveries, had to share but possibly some seen before . Robert

Hopefully wiring up will be successful and a spot of the old ballasting and you will be more than well on your way. Thanks for sharing progress.

John, What took me to the 45t version was the end ladder arrangement. But I can make out from the stills is that one wagon, like the landed tank has a conical end the others look more domed but all have the twin fire tubes and top vent. An interesting wagon . A pic of a bitumen ISO tank would be good to see. Thanks for the potted history of the freight flow, better than I could put it Robert

Great changes and I guess the selection buttons can easily be resised to take Railcars ? ... thanks and I guess a lot of back room geeky stuff we can only imagine about but worthy of a suitable after hours beverage..

Hi The sleepering looks to be ever so slighty wider on the mainlines at the back which is what you have picked upon. For me the neat baseboard join is very well executed, it does not shout "fault line." So well done to the builders.

Talcum powder used in 3mm for loose platform surfaces so would have thought it would do for Gort. - and possibly make it smell nice !! Chinchila dust in 2mm makes for a fine ballast finish. Also Das modelling clay laid into a pva coat can work for a natural surface with just a little texture to suggest it is not tarmac. Coming on well and thanks for the update. Robert

Sligo (Cold Chon )- upto 2002 when it closed. Was a main point but pictures do show individual wagons on other lines - County road repair depots . Cannot find a pic straight away in books to hand internet trawling might gain something.

https://www.oliviastrains.com/trains/mt/bachmann-wagons/bachmann-tank-wagons/bachmann-37-560-45- This looks about right but not yet at market Robert

Leslie, Indeed and the hobby would be poorer without your kits. "Spoils of war" are great wagons and the double beets were great to produce. With a bit of cross fertilisation of SSM, MIR and IRM bits and your 20 foot flat or skeletal does give lots of choice. The coal container could be a quick win with 3D printing - unless you are the designer and printer of course ! The Bitumen wagon that got mentioned needs four suppliers and your skeletal. This is indeed the fun of modelling - get bits together and assembling. But not for everybody so rtr has its place. But the hobby is a place for everybody. Robert

All very likely as I have sweated over a hot cutting mat making all/ working on all of these... Like my luck on the lottery really, time will tell of course.

It will be good to see what comes after the A class - C/MV would be logical at some point. Having got kits of the spoils and the Railbus part done I am confident these should be ok. But P47 and P20 ideas abound - Beets would seem logical given froth they cause. Cement pallets with 4 in build and bogie tanks and bogie cements offer use of existing bogies and as I have some of these in the build heap it would be a good guess that these will be rtr before I finish mine. Really the 80 class and ICR would be fun of course, but would be investment rich so perhaps not yet but good for dreams.

Good looking work all round and the couplings will be an improvement. Hopefully they will have a role in the future development projects like CIE MK4s and the Enterprise stock. might even enhance the class 80 and 450 railcar projects. Having cut your teeth on these for the UK market hopefully the skills learnt will speed up the CIE/ NIR projects ! I`ll get my coat ... Robert

Yes deburring rail and ensuring web is clear of debris/burr is key. I found the tiniest drop of lube oil worked wonders as well. Good to know your first point was "straight-forward." But it is a learning to swim - I had built some 3mm points and the next was a 2 foot gauge 3way stub point- ably helped by a school gang! Layout follows a tradition of cricular 2mmfs layouts. Mine is an N model of Powderham - but currently stored in Wales having wiring refurbished, but I am not in wales ! Happy track building . Robert

Athy is a good choice for traffic and diversions along with the useful bit that back in the last century the Railway Modeller ran an occasional Irish stations article and Athy was done with drawings and trackplan. Just dug out article . June 1989 page 274 - 276. Robert

Gauges arrived today and very good they are , hopefully others will buy and make use of them - my only connection with Paul is as a satisfied customer and fellow volunteers on the World Famous Ffestiniog Railway !

As Garfield notes and as the picture shows a difference was it had operating wheels etc at one end only. Worth checking but IIRC the vac cylinder was at the non operating end, so to get a better look you will, like me, have a little bag of spares. Check out Railtec transfers Irish range for numbers and crests - I am sure that you will have the weathering spot on! Robert

Passed this on to several friends and good to see PRONI getting active again. I still have inquires unanswered from mid 2020 so hopefully news soon.. Sadly at work so will miss this - if any of the pictures could land here it would be very good and I would be very grateful. Robert

Lovely looking work and hours of fun to follow, thanks for update. viz sleeper strips keeping the sprue attached is key even with the jig and yes once rail tip slightly honed to give a fine end rail is easy to make. The point blades will be fun with the curve, good luck! Robert

https://ngtrains.com/shop/product/back-to-back-gauge-for-21mm-gauge/ Hi this might just be of use ... Robert

https://www.flickr.com/photos/johannes-j-smit/3133183400/ Hi not my pic but knew I had seen something so a quick google. Several pics on the page Robert