Robert Shrives

Now had a chance to read captions and some text - a lovely piece of work recording a short but interesting period showing what a railway can do - and clearly on a shoe string! Robert

Copy landed in Brum at lunchtime and had chance to flick through. looks good and the human interactions show pride in the operation, good selection of pics especially wagon M65 upside down on its first journey showing its "under things" to all!, The gas axe bottles in foreground and a lack of a wheel set do not auger well. As suggested a good resource of wagon weathering - it would be common it looks for a cleaned- repaired wagon to be mid rake and also wagons with repaired and clean doors. Otherwise the duck egg blue/ light grey weathered to a dusty stone brown, the Black UT lettering too high for cleaning and the numbers rubbed over now and again visible sort of. A great book and something that just would not happen in this way today. Recommended ! Robert

Like the real thing adapted for traffic on offer and making running more profitable. PW gang to congratulated in finding materials squirreled away in back of a few sheds and yards. Signals foreman less pleased at non programmed budget less upgrades, hopefully Board of trade will not find out until it has weathered in and all the signalling records updated. Brilliant little extension and add to operational/ play value. Quite brave to take a blade/ saw to the lovely scenery. Robert

Seconding all the comments - great work and buildings look brilliant. I too look forward to updates. Thanks for sharing. Robert

Snap George ! I have one as a 111 pending the urge to finish. I found fitting the bonnet side hand rails a real PITA yours much better in Video any chance of a still so I can learn a better better way - and then blatantly copy. Thanks Robert

Leslie, I hope the book will give good weathering help for the rake you kindly sold to me and obvs ensure IRM offer uber niche model in 2023. Robert

Deed done ! Robert

Really good work - just need to add the broken glass bottles cemented to the wall tops and some "Maggie out" sort of wall art.. Robert

Hi Patrick , above is a qoute from Noel on his kaydee thread which should point in the right direction. great pics of a domestic flow across your bit of Ireland. Robert

Hurst etch primed vehicle 547 10thou overlay on lima door end to match overlay holes drilled for grab and door handle- to be fitted later . To help the 80 class project first build DTS in primer - been sort of on its way for 2 years just needed some filler sanding back. 547 in NIR maroon , the Hymek not moved for a while. Robert

I will have to take some pics tomorrow of progress on the coaches but could not resist starting another - an old MIR etched NIR buffet car 547, I know the good boys in the bunker have one well on its way but to spur on the 101s and the original livery this lima based coach will be in the first enterprise livery and go with 4 others I bought from the web, I also need to do a DBSO and number all the coaches. Day off tomorrow so might get a bit more done on 547 to make worth taking a pic. Robert

Looking good should spur on developments of a 2600 or 2700 bodyshell as a 3D print even if only 2751/53 the single car double cabed ("bubblecar" in BR parlance.) You know you want to.... Robert

Check out Peters spares he has packs of finer profile coach wheel sets with lima length axles and they are very good - I have them under most of my lima vehicles. The big tlc coupler can be cut off leaving a mounting plate for a Kaydee no 5- use a small screw through coupler box into the lima plastic - or whetever as glue does not take well. This gives a cheap upgrade with out going down the road of new bogie mounts etc. The Replica and Southern pride B4 bogies are very good if you want to go down other roads. Robert

The development is left of field but not a boundary maker or a 6! But it does depend where you stand. To introduce a UK finescale model system from the get go is brave and perhaps shows the shrink ray machine has been perfected. Clearly this exciting development has been under wraps for awhile. The fun thing is that in UK a 3mm 1:100 modellers scale has been in the niche corner- historically using 12mm with varying standards for track and an uber niche gang using 14.2. The parallels can be drawn win 16.5 and 21mm Irish modelling. Historically 1:120 scale on 12mm track is pretty near scale but like the HO/OO of old UK small loading gauge saw the track kept and scale increased to 1:100 (approx) and Triang led the way but did not displace or compliment OO enough and the mainstream trade in UK fell away. 1:120 kept faith with two odd bedfellows - the US and USSR! With reasonable trade support . The European models for metre gauge models on 12mm track shine with central motor and PCBs for DCC and lighting on 12mm The steam locos are also well built but do not easily help the idea of fitting a new body represent to another company or era and is very popular across Europe with many fine evocations of the ideal "Swiss chocolate box village with a railway." Peco had the track sorted with HOm 12mm track with decent sleepers and points with code 75 rail. In 1:120 Peco have noted the fact that the track has UK spacing sleepers but at a 1:120 is now underszed for exsisting UK 12mm track users. HOm while not right looks better than the new offering. Seemingly a good move but not a complete model system until the news today of Heljan shrink raying a BR class 31 and suggestion of shunters in steam and diesel outline suddenly makes the 1:120 launch much more successful, however the timescales brings in the retail dread of delay.. track June this year , loco mid next and no stock seen at anything other than early CAD. As a lover of 12mm TT Triang I can see the track development as really good and there is suggest a 12mm point that is a current day replacement of the triang point which opens up a very brightly lit upland! I have pre ordered a blue 31 and hopefully make up some sort of layout and see what comes. I too look forward to new layouts and a flip given to the hobby. Robert

Hi loads on ebay obvs check for 7 windows blue grey cheapest NSE go for a bit more. Robert

My silverfox one came with set of etches for the sliding window frame units and after flash removed from buffers was an easy repaint. I was going to use an older Jouef chassis as a starting point but then found tucked indie the body was a resin centre section belly tanks complete with cutout for the gen set. So I cut some 2mm plasticcard as a chassis and was going to fit the jouef interior. However this all in the to do mountain range as I was able to obtain 3 coaches and driver as rtr models in Silver fox boxes - and very good it is to. I will also support MM and his forthcoming MK3 models so will end up with three. So I guess doing the first two which had Linke Hoffmann- bushe dart style bogies would be "fun" to vary the view. Robert

Fun to see 155 in a crossover livery, one end does look to have been in the wars with the badly chipped paint. Thanks for showing. Robert

Given the era and that Shildon works had been churning out 11000 4 wheel MGR wagons for the UK market and then a CDA varation perhaps 50 5`3" CDA might have been possible conceived as a solution but engines .I guess more 071s on hire. Makes the might have been engines rotate swiftly... Robert

Worth soldering joiners rather than fitting droppers for such a short length of rail ? Good to see work continuing. Robert

Yes a good one with both skins broken through, which takes some doing and must have scared passengers, sadly part of the fabric of life at the time. Robert

Phil, Differing braking system a 3 pipe air brake on the Hunslets and normal twin pipe on the 111s . The 3rd pipe was a straight air brake - I guess so engine only brake could be applied remotely when two engines on the train. This change why 8xx vehicles became 9xx to show change to two pipe when both classes of loco overlapped and some push pull work was possible. Oh and confuse folk like my me working out the evolution of the fleet! Robert

Hi corp pack one with - gen brake and two coaches gives minimum adding pack 3 in corp livery gets the coaches and buffet add on, albeit 6 vehicles but could stand some down/ sell on ... the DBso brake ceased being a driver once hunslets finished and used as a second brake as required. Robert

Certainly getting there and as you note some tweaking required but at least nothing "fatally wrong" with work, just obvs no maroon and blue option - keeping your powder dry on that one for the hunslet news later this year ... At least it keeps me busy detailing Lima ones in the time ahead. Thanks to all involved Robert.

I really look forward to seeing the NIR versions in maroon and blue and packs of Hunslets to encircle them in time. These first decorated samples look good and hopefully after factory corrections all will be good to go, certainly give these rejects a retirement home and some new clothes... thanks for showing and keeping the froth as the last few hours have shown at bonus production rates... If only BR had invested in the MK2 style of demu for the Waterloo - Exeter and Portsmouth- Waterloo then as said above the NIR 80 would be a great add on run to a British model.. Robert

Hornby shorty M3 might be a good place to start for roof and connectors . Due slab sides it might be a case of cutting your own as cheapest option other wise something like a GUV or CCT from Lima ranges but you will still end up cutting doors and windows etc. Vents I got for mine from Ventura models on FB, IIRC as cannot find link now. Robert