Galteemore

Great / look forward to it arriving ! Always a highlight of the week when it does.

Very nice but I won’t be in on this as I have one built and one yet to build…don’t want to be greedy! Looks like an early iteration of the kit as the rod etch is integral with the chassis etch and not separate, and has the stumpy chimney casting, which will require replacing with a more accurate alternative. Well worth bidding on this piece of history; NS kits are very good indeed.

You just had to go there Alan….you know how many puns will start percolating through …..

He’s being very methodical about the process. Making a list and checking it twice.

With a sledge hammer In all seriousness, this layout remains a masterclass in subtlety and tone. Simply outstanding.

Still sees trains every day.

One of the unexpected side effects of my advancing age is the ability to exist in a state of more or less endless annoyance at the world. One thing which fuels the fires of rage is the representation of railways in commercial artwork such as adverts etc. The designers seem determined to combine every kind of trope, gaucherie and stereotype to produce the most banal prototypes imaginable. A notable exception came under my gaze in the old Swindon works tonight - a carefully observed tribute to the GWR on a chicken restaurant. Not strictly prototypical but real observation has gone on here….

Roger @alphagraphix may be of some help: he certainly got as far as designing enough of a D16 to do a few 7mm scale etches, which @David Holman used to produce his lovely Wolf Dog. I imagine it will need to be an etched chassis - rather than RTR adaption. Having rods and chassis designed and etched together would help reliable running..

Don’t put it that way in certain parts of NI Enda or you’ll cause great offence !;) NI, technically speaking, is part of the UK (it’s the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) so postage to GB not an issue.

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. Gorgeous work as always Alan. You could eat your dinner off that workbench of yours btw ! I bought a set of Vallorbe files in a Black Friday sale to encourage me to keep a tidier ship - I don’t want them going rusty from spilled flux and general carelessness with corrosives….

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’.