MD220

I think @GSWR 90's posts should be taken as a little tongue in cheek.

Refer to previous posts by @Mike Beckett

9 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

Who owns 015? I thought it was the ITG too?

That I don't know. That's my understanding of the situation anyway, I stand to be corrected. 

121 class no. 124, 141 class no. 152, 181 class no. 190 and A class nos 003 and 015.

All but 015 belong to the Irish Traction Group. 

A masterpiece, indeed. Top job!

That looks fantastic. Great job, and has already been said, in such a short time too!

A 421 class next, perhaps...??!

18 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

Well, it works. Testing on DC at the moment - I need to find or buy a suitable decoder before moving on to DCC.

As you can see, the gubbins tray is loaded with lead flashing, but there's space on top for a decoder.

The superstructure is all now painted silver too - I used Tamiya TS-17.

Testing on 21mm gauge flexitrack - the holy grail - thanks @Rob R

 

One thing I've been mulling over is lighting. These locos had built-in lights, 2 white and 1 red each end, but having studied about 150 photos of them, I haven't yet found one with any evidence of illumination or glow from the built-in lights. In use, they always carry an oil lamp instead. At present I can't see the point in fitting working lights, because it seems they were never used!

Has anyone got any evidence to convince me otherwise? If the lights were used it would be good to know which combinations of lights were illuminated.

 

Traditionally, while shunting, a loco will show a white light and a red light at both ends. Otherwise, if travelling between two places it will show 2 white lights at the front end and one red at the rear.

While the lights on the 401s are relatively large I don't believe they are any more than marker lights and wouldn't project like a headlight would.

7 minutes ago, Josef2000 said:

I have very little knowledge on Irish steam engines but the No85 Merlin would be nice. Just while I mention Merlin, what would be the class name for it? 

Merlin is a GNRi V class loco.

8 hours ago, Tullygrainey said:

Yes indeed. This one on the Belfast and County Down between Ballygowan and Saintfield. There was  another one at Ballynahinch Junction last time I looked.

The Ballynahinch Junction gate is still there, I pass it regularly!

Lovely job!

E428 was based in Limerick for quite a while and I've seen photos and film footage (on the IRRS YouTube channel I believe) of 429 shunting oil wagons in Cork.

14 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

I've got the cab assembly virtually completed now, and we can begin to see what the loco's going to look like.

The cab headlight parts turned out to fit perfectly and were much easier than I expected. They were a tricky detail to reproduce.

 

Tomorrow, the footplate and frames...

This is looking fantastic. Great job!

The 421 class had lifting eyes which pivoted out from recesses behind the buffer beams, perhaps this was a lesson learned from difficulties in lifting the 401s !

On 23/1/2025 at 7:53 PM, Galteemore said:

Fab work. Here’s one for starters - Eire Trains by Ciaran Cooney 

One small point worth noting in this photo is that the silver handle fitted centrally on the control desk was not a standard feature. This is only to be found on E428 and was a control handle for the vigilance system which was added in preservation to allow for main line use. The rest of the class were never equipped with vigilance. 

039 is Sinead, although she doesn't carry that name currently! 

That is exquisite. Mind blown!

Lord Dunleath also provided the land required for the fledgling DCDR to begin construction in the mid '80s. 

As a Downpatrick man born and raised I've spent all my 49 years living in and around the town and I have never seen anything like this.

Shops and businesses in the town centre are under several feet of water. This is a devastating time for business owners along with the the DCDR, not only an important local attraction but a railway heritage centre of national importance. 

Truly awful.

These are lovely looking models. Does anyone know if any examples of these vans survived into preservation? I know that Westrail had one (2213N) but I have a suspicion that it might have been cut up, though I can't be sure.

The idea of using hydrogen as a clean fuel in internal combustion engines is great in theory as the only emission, as it burns, is water; however the problem lies in the creation of the hydrogen in the first place. Manufacturing hydrogen (by electrolysis of water) is hugely inefficient, requiring a lot of electrical energy. This can be accomplished using renewable energy sources, so called Green Hydrogen, but the amount of green hydrogen available currently is minimal. I still think its important to explore this idea of using clean fuels to run old technology but until an efficient method of creating hydrogen is developed I don't think we're really any better off.

If I read the article correctly they aren't going to re engine the loco, but will modify its current engine to run on hydrogen. Hopefully this won't alter the noise made by these magnificent machines!

This photo shows cars on a goods train at Claremorris. Not sure of the year...40s or 50s maybe?

Photo credit: Rob Cross photography. 

Nice job

12 hours ago, minister_for_hardship said:

Was it one of the former Westrail's fleet I wonder?

Yes, 1468 was a former Westrail carriage.

I'll buy all 3 if still available. 

Thanks, Des

As seen in this afternoon's Accurascale email. A possible future release or a wind up to get tongues wagging....??