Galteemore

It was a common feature of Beyer locos of the era. The SLNC tanks, for instance, would not have looked at all out of place beside a Coal Tank or Claughton

A mere handful. Two I think - as you know, these things languished for years in various sidings. This few simply got forgotten as the wilderness overtook the quarry sidings. May originally have been shunted to siding ends due to hot boxes or sticky brakes.

No. Freight stock is a huge gap in Irish preservation generally - for understandable reasons. The RPSI’s raison d’etre was keeping locos and stock fit for main line running and by the time Downpatrick came on stream little was left to be preserved. The absence of a cattle wagon is a particular deficit. The spoil wagons are of historic interest given their role as the last main line steam consist in these islands. But if anyone has a winch and a brush cutter, Magheramorne may yield up its treasure…..

Hi Noel. These are actually quasi-Irish as almost identical coaches ran on the famous Greenore boat train.

The railway, of course, featured heavily in a fabulous episode of The Avengers about 60 years ago

My user name is the same…but I don’t own the model sadly. My own alias is from the name of the other Galtee More on Irish rails….

Wouldn’t surprise me if Fr John Brennan, who has a number of F/s models in 36.75mm gauge, has one. You can see some of his stuff in the Johnson/O’Rourke book

Great patience and persistence David. Chasing down faults can be maddening.

Well how satisfying is that ?! Well done!! Now it’s interesting what you say re the stuttering effect of the pickups. My little JT shows that on occasion (eg at Tolworth show ) and that could be the cause…..I might have a closer look at your solution

Agreed. This is how business was done before emails - reams and reams of paperwork like this. Having spent many many hours of my life poring over and handling such documents in various state archives, these look genuine.

Lattice hope so

Lovely work as ever Alan. Always a moment of trepidation when you see if the chassis will roll, but this looks very good. I do empathise with the curved running plate issue, having built an Inchicore version a few years ago. But if anyone can do this you can!

Could always have a game of pontoon or a glass of Baileys if it’s getting too much

Indeed so. NIR offered little for ‘trainspotting’ in the 80s but I well recall a pilgrimage to Lisburn c1986 to do just that - as it offered far more variety than my home station of Downshire!

Is O gauge. Worth about $250 new. Local swapmeet such as Bray or Cork would be a good bet.

Interesting stuff re Coleraine, where we lived for 4 years, and thankfully I managed to guess correctly before pressing the cheat button! In terms of BNCR livery, I suspect the Hull tram is carrying the very same paint she did when withdrawn, so is as authentic as it gets. There aren’t many locos like that in preservation - untouched for a century! On a broadly related topic, I understand that the curators of the oft-forgotten LMS Pacific ‘City of Birmingham’ have ruled out a return to running order, as this would mean destroying the genuine original livery applied by BR craftsmen at Crewe before she was handed over to the city authorities. An unusual case - for railways - of the paintwork itself being ‘listed’.

Russell Currie’s book perhaps ? Portstewart Tram in Hull museum (yes, it’s an odd one that!) is probably the closest you’ll get to that era in terms of anything preserved. I’m not an NCC expert by any means so don’t know how the livery changed from BNCR to NCC.

So glad you have taken this one on Alan. Absolutely iconic loco. Know what you mean about those sheets of metal asking to be used:) Really looking forward to seeing how you bring no 6 to life.

And one of the great might-have-beens of preservation. Hung around in a scrapyard for ages. Would have been perfect for Downpatrick and Whitehead. Had barely 15 years of use. 3 of the English Courtaulds Pecketts survive

Looking good. Can almost taste the lukewarm tea and curled up sandwich.

That’s most interesting. I’d forgotten some early DMUs had these, and you inspired me to have a quick web trawl. Apparently these vehicles were supplied to be inserted as required and featured on such services as Newcastle/Carlisle. What a lovely thing it is to have on train catering - even the most dismal cup of tea somehow takes on a magic of its own when consumed onboard a moving train. My favourite DMU journey in the 90s was the Newcastle-Stranraer through train, which I boarded at Waverley. Cup of tea in hand, even the early morning Scottish industrial landscape of Lanarkshire had a charm…

Don’t let that put you off. You have more skills than you know / just need to practice them!

Saw this and thought of you….

Coming on very nicely Derek. Some great middle-distance views

Perfect start to 21mm gauge which will hopefully inspire a few others !!