Galteemore

I have zero interest in this - not my era, not my thing - but have made a donation. Why? Because 50 years ago we missed the chance to preserve the last Irish cattle wagon, a synecdoche of the classic Irish freight scene. Let’s not make that mistake again. We always say ‘they should have preserved X…’ now’s your chance!

Thanks Paul. Was thinking mostly of the inside cylinder version. I just know that many people would be happy with a steam loco that looks more or less right, given that no workaday RTR Irish steam loco seems on the near horizon ! I wasn’t even considering 21mm. If my experience in 7mm is anything to go by, when modelling 5’3 steam to scale gauge, you really need to build the whole thing as such from the get-go, such are the clearances involved. I retro-fitted a loco from 32 to 36.75 once and wouldn’t do it again .

It’s a pity that none of the chassis are generic black wheels. Would surely be an ideal 3d body print opportunity to produce something Irish. The dimensions must be a rough match for something 5’3!

Have checked out the handbook on Irish industrial locos and it certainly wasn’t a powered line. As Eoin says, perfect way to do such heavy lifting. I remember seeing such a line at the Acropolis in Athens c1984 being used for heavy stone transportation. image courtesy ‘Industrial Gwent’. Just across the Irish Sea was a fascinating line, detached from the BR system, which did similar work with ancient locos. Search ‘Holyhead Breakwater Railway’

I have access to an e-version through my county library - it refreshed to the Oct edition this week. Great article and photos - with a nice plug for seeing it live at Aldershot !

Both trunk route and branch line gone then.

Interesting. No recent TripAdvisor reviews mention the railway. A review in 2021 says ‘they got rid of the train’. Doubtless someone will know more. Something may have happened the loco or track work and OPW just decided it wasn’t worth sorting. Appropriate they had a US style loco but something with a NYC or Boston and Maine livery might have better suited JFKs New England connections than Santa Fe!

Oh dear. I belong to the Order of Unreconstructed Luddites. We don’t even recognise the existence of DCC. But I’m sure we can get along

Lightnings….amazing to think they lasted as late as 1988 for what looks so 50s a design. So I did a bit of googling… Apparently Concorde was used in tests around 1985 against various NATO fighters; Mirages, F-15s etc. The only one which managed an intercept was a Lightning! A year before, the same pilot managed to intercept a U2 at over 26 kilometres of altitude….no wonder the thing drank fuel so much.

Always good to see you Bob. Would be especially worthwhile if you helped me sort the pickups on my stuttery JT…..my department left Gloucester about twenty years ago and another part of the business uses our old offices there so I don’t get back much.

Fab stuff Bob. I can always come and persecute you for an evening with some 36.75 stock ? Google says I live about an hour away…

I’m not really into planes but this is excellent. The F3 is a more elegant jet than its celebrated GR1/4 sibling!

As a 7mm modeller I don’t have a dog in the fight. I just know that many modellers, who are quite legitimately satisfied with an impressionist rather than pointillist approach, will be happy to see a steam loco which can quite easily be adapted to a reasonable likeness of an Irish engine. If you want Irish RTR steam, the options aren’t many !

Well quite. Hence my suffix of ‘-ish! ‘.

Bachmann model is of an N class - that’s the one with 5’6 drivers. This one is 6’, as per the K1a class. Very similar locos, different sized wheels

Rapido just announced an SR U class. Close enough to a K1a mogul as makes no difference for someone prepared to do a repaint and add a few decals….

A crude calculation of UK population vs number of heritage lines suggests you need a population of 400,000 for each heritage line. Assuming that people in Ireland are as interested in railways as their UK counterparts, that means Ireland should, mutatis mutandis, have about 13 heritage lines. We apply some judgment to that and admit that interest is no more than half of UK. That gives us about 6 heritage lines or operations as a realistic figure for Ireland. So what do we have ? 1.Downpatrick 2. RPSI 3. Fintown 4. Kilmeaden 5. Dromod 6. Stradbally 7. Maam Cross 8. Giants Causeway So by this very crude heuristic , we are at capacity already

Just noticed that too and been wondering! If nothing else, the chassis will be useful to many

Crafty timing by Ciaran there….

Wow. Membership is worth every penny. Fabulous shots.

Glad it’s found a good home Patrick. So your lovely GN engines will find a home at Clogherhead ?

Yep. Preacher could definitely be herd.

What ‘normal’ people also want are clean toilets, suitable refreshments, and staff who look as if they appreciate them being there. Enthusiasts may disdain Thomas days, ‘dinosaur days’ etc but these things fill the coffers. The vast majority of punters won’t care if the train consists of shopping trolleys pulled by a pink elephant as long as those other bits are sorted.

When we lived in Dublin c99-02, and drove north to see family, was amazing how often the direct route seemed to be through Kingscourt…..

Very well done. Just stick a wheel on the smokebox door as a finishing touch !