Tullygrainey

The Clogherhead stationmaster/traffic controller on a rare visit to Donaghadee station. Seen here propping up (being propped up by?) a fine Mourne granite pillar, one of three surviving which once supported the gates of the accommodation crossing at the old station throat.

A grand day out. Thanks Patrick

Unexpected arrival at Clogherhead earlier today. Patrick will explain imminently

The ex CSE (Carlow) Ruston at RPSI Whitehead, August 2020

Enjoy your Hornby 88DS. It looks like a nice model. I pre-ordered one from Hattons around the beginning of 2021. Hattons then cancelled the order, saying they were unable to fulfil it. I then pre-ordered one from Hornby directly in June 2021. I cancelled that order at the beginning of this year but in the meantime I'd build the Judith Edge kit so decided I didn't really need two. Forgot to mention above, it's built to OO gauge but looking at it, there's probably enough room to move the wheels out for the Irish gauge.

There's a 4mm etched kit for the Ruston 88DS in the Judith Edge Kits catalogue. It comes complete with wheels and a High Level 4wd gearbox. I built this one a couple of years ago.

There are those times when macramé, or jigsaw puzzles seem like a better choice of hobby but when things go well, railway modelling is unbeatable!

I had no intention of doing this today but I watched Patrick's video yesterday and well... here I was on the 0955 ex-Bangor. Bit of a party atmosphere at Great Victoria Street with tourists, film crews and the Translink choir singing "Ticket to Ride"!

Great stuff Patrick. One for the archives. Thank you!

Endorse all the sound advice above. It makes sense to start with something reasonably simple, if only as a confidence booster. However, you seem to be comfortable with your soldering skills so you’re well on your way already. If you do decide to launch into a loco kit as a first project, I’d advise avoiding anything with outside cylinders or complicated motion. I do. Regularly. As others have suggested, The E Class from SSM looks like a good choice. Best of luck with whatever you take on. There’ll be plenty of advice on this forum if you get stuck. Alan

Lovely modelling David

All this, and synchronised swimming as well! Wow!

Am I herring you right? You bought 48? People will be flocking to see this.

Wonderful models both and that weathering is totally convincing!

So now we can watch locos go to the dark side (I'm already wearing my coat)

That’ll be it

An interloper was spotted shunting at Loughan Quay today. Provenance unknown. I think there's a contractor somewhere missing an engine. HL .mov

Time for paint. A coat of Halford's etch primer was first.... ...some filler here and there and then some detail painting in the cab before the roof was soldered on. Next, the cab interior was masked off (actually stuffed full of tissue paper) before the colour coat went on. Halford's rattle can again, Vauxhall Burgundy Red. I intended to use Humbrol Maskol on the whistle and the various other bits of valvery and pipery but forgot so some careful use of cellulose thinners on a small brush took the paint off again in the required places. Matt Black and Metalcote applied with a brush took care of most of the other details. The paint was left to dry for a day or so before weathering with paint and powders. The chassis got treatment to match. There are a few little details needing attention but I think it's just about done. HL was painted to match its stablemate, a Robert Stevenson Hawthorn 0-4-0ST built a year or two ago from a High Level kit. Alan

A bit more progress with HL. The chassis still has a bit of a tight spot which I'm at a loss to explain. I can see no obvious cause but it's probably some tiny error of geometry and it's really only noticeable at very slow speed so I'm not messing with it any more for fear of making it worse. Most of the detailing has now been added to the shell and it's just about ready for the Halfords livery. The photos are useful in showing up the little gaps that the naked eye doesn't see (or pretends not to ) and these will need a bit of filler... ...and here's the scruffy underbelly where all the solder hides. The brake rodding is pretty approximate and you'll see I've only fitted brakes to the rear axle. At the front, it's all a bit tight with the slidebars and what have you so I left them off, reasoning that they can barely be seen anyway. Some lead weight has been added to the chassis, front and back. There's some in the bodyshell too. A first run on the shuttle plank Hawthorn Leslie .mov Alan

Fitting pickups to HL was a bit of a faff, working round motion brackets and brake hangers. The first attempt worked fine until the body went on and my carefully routed wires touched the edge of the running plate causing a short circuit. It was easier to start again than to re-bend the wires. Anyway, got there in the end and I've now promoted pickups to the 'little-things-sent-to-try-us' club. However...., all the messing about clearly deranged something because the limp was back with a vengeance - a tight spot with the motor flailing about on every revolution. It defied diagnosis and I spent a daft amount of time on it, getting nowhere. I was considering a different hobby. I could also hear the big hammer stirring in the cupboard so parked the job before terminal damage was done. Eventually, I reduced the chassis to its constituent parts and started again. Two steps forward, one back and a number sideways. It's back together now and working ok again. It even runs inside the bodywork. I think the problem was a wheel rim becoming slightly askew on its centre - hardly surprising given the abuse inflicted in the course of this build. I always hope to be able to put the wheels on once and not have to take them off again. I've never managed that. Ever. The chassis is looking a bit the worse for wear but paint is easily fixed. The taped foam on the motor is to reduce its capacity to flail about or short its terminals inside the boiler. Not too tidy but who'll see it. I'll maybe stick with railway modelling a bit longer. Alan

Looking good

This incessant rain can only mean one thing - less gardening, more modelling. Predictably, as soon as the crankpin nuts went on and were tightened, HL developed a limp which tried my patience somewhat. "Fit coupling rods and ensure smooth running" began to feel like a mountain to climb for a while. I use Gibson wheels and like them but I find fitting the crankpins a challenge. They screw into a hole in the wheel and cut their own threads as they do. The difficult bit is making sure they go in absolutely perpendicular. I got two straight and 2 with a bit of a lean towards the wheel hub. Taking the dodgy wheels off again, removing the crankpins and refitting them carefully got them a bit straighter and went some way towards elimination the limp. Some reaming of the rods also helped. The etched bits for cylinders and slidebars went together quite nicely. The crossheads, complete with piston rods are supplied as brass castings thank goodness and though they needed a bit of work to make them fit the con rods, it was still easier than trying to assemble such parts from bits of etched brass. Attaching connecting rod to crosshead, using a plain pin as per the instructions is one of those hold-your-breath tasks. So easy to lock the two parts together with solder. One method is to use a paper washer between the parts to stop the solder flowing where you don't want it. Ciggy paper is recommended. I didn't have any so I assembled the bits, taped them down and introduced a tiny drop of oil into the recess in the crosshead. Quick in and out with a smidgeon of solder on the iron and job done. The oil keeps the joint free. Phew. The crankpins and nuts on the front axle needed filing back to clear the crosshead. I thread-locked them first. They're not coming off again. All in all, this bit of the build went better than expected but the proof will be a working chassis fitting snugly inside the body. Arranging pickups will be a challenge too. So far, it's performing well. IMG_9578.MOV Looking at this video, I think the pivot rod on the front axle needs some adjustment. The chassis looks a bit nose-down. Alan

Chris Romain built a very fine model of Killybegs in 10mm. It was featured in Railway Modeller and Model Railway Journal.

Lovely stuff Nelson. So much to see!

A bit more work on the shell. The kit came with some cast brass bits for detailing the cab but I mostly used the etched parts. I opted for the open-backed cab version which will make it easier to paint the cab interior. It's ended up a bit ramshackle thanks to everything needing to be suspended in space while the solder went in - three hands would've been useful. But then, a well used industrial tank engine like this ought to be a bit battered, oughtn't it? That's my excuse anyway. Enough of the shell is built now to allow trial fitting of the gearbox. I haven't had to remove any of the boiler bottom yet but it may come to that. The two halves of the articulating gearbox are now locked together with a blob of solder. Back to the chassis. Gearbox in and wheels on. I used my trusty GW Models jig to mount the wheels and quarter them. It's a great little tool that takes some of the agro out of quartering Gibson wheels and I wouldn't be without it. First trial run under power. So far, so good. IMG_9568.MOV Cylinders, slidebars and con rods next Shunting along, Alan