Galteemore

It’s kind of worth it when all done ….Fly is coming on really well, and will be a splendid addition. I did find the green a bit ‘in your face’ when applied, but the lining and other paintwork detailing softens the effect. Great to see it at this stage.

What a fabulous looking little engine! Real beauty. Fine workmanship on show here.

We are due to move house this summer, but one last loco has rolled out of the shops before I pack everything away. As @jhb171achilland @leslie10646know, if the SLNC was loved in our home, the GN was revered. So it was only a matter of time before I built something. As is well known the SLNC took on lots of GN A class 0-6-0s over the years - some on hire, others bought. Long story short, I commissioned some kit style drawings which arrived earlier this year. The designer recommended I made a few trial panels out of cardboard. Idiot man decided ‘let’s build a test loco out of plastic’ instead. Some bits eg overall cab, had to be metal. But most of is plastic. The model is a blend of the sublime and ridiculous - fine scale lost wax castings and garden centre parts such as plastic pipe (boiler) and copper slug tape (boiler bands). Coupling rods are off a LMS Duchess! I built it to 32mm gauge to make it more attractive for sale. It’s currently spoken for but you never know….photos below including one of the horror shop that lies beneath the paint. It’s not too bad I think as a model but I will build my own version with more metal as I find I prefer it as a material to work. By the way, this one is 150, which was fitted with a cut down chimney for use in Belfast docks.

Oh no David! I think a few popped in this way today too. Paint wise I used RAL6001 from an auto paint mixing shop for MGW green. Wolf Dog and train look fabulous.

Classic GNR Patrick. Agreed- Dunleer is a lovely building. Are those signalbox windows again?

Hopefully that message will percolate through to him.

Thanks for sharing that David - most encouraging tutorial. Have had a few similar mishaps and it’s horrible! Great repair job.

There was a GSR presence on the BCDR in WW2 if I recall….,

Definitely a ghost engine. No one is on the footplate.

Very nice indeed. Quite plausible for the GNR to have acquired one or two along with the compounds, or in 47 as part of the Enterprise package. After all, the Southern Railway began a new Pullman service that very year - the Devon Belle - so Pullmans were not obsolete in railway management eyes.

Butlins….Now there’s an interesting bypath and potential cameo….for some odd reason, back in the 60s, Billy Butlin bought up several steam locos for display at his English camps. https://www.butlins-memories.com/other/locos.htm Although the scheme fizzled out, the locos he saved then entered mainstream preservation. I have read in an authentic source that Butlin was apparently going to acquire a VS for Mosney but the scheme didn’t come off. Perhaps Clogherhead Camp succeeded where Butlin failed…..;)

Fabulous. I always find bending the ejector pipe one of the most trying parts of a build: yours looks very neat.

Lovely - best looking of the T and D tanks I think. Poor brakes meant that she was unloved in Tralee but went down well in the less steep C and L. Beautiful work.

Ah - the legendary run up Barnagh bank ….https://www.steamtrainsireland.com/members/galleries/132/north-kerry-railtour-1972

Fabulous. Looks like a 7mm brass coach in primer !

Lovely work as ever David. Interesting to see that the rear numbers were in this position on 107. Others had them between the spectacle plates.

Easy as an easy thing. Can have a rolling chassis inside an hour.

Here’s the one I did. I don’t recall it being too difficult. Just keep checking clearances.

Fabulous. My favourite part of the GN main is the seaside section between Louth and north Dublin. Lots of scope too for an RPSI special behind that U of yours…..and I can foresee the Hunslet making the odd visit…..

It’s actually a misnomer to call it the Enterprise nowadays really. It’s become a generic name of an accelerated, comfortable stopping service, whereas the whole selling point of the original Enterprise referred to a specific crack non-stop express on the GB model. As late as the 1980s, IIRC, before the regular stops were brought in, the 111s and 071s were doing fast runs within 1hr 55. Interestingly, on the 40th anniversary run, Merlin managed to beat the original 1947 timings. No mean feat. On the return leg the spare engine was coupled on the front. What a spectacle that day was! Pic from RPSI site.

Lovely little scene shaping up

Sorry - I married her

So sorry to hear that Bob. Every blessing as you recover.

And I’m sitting on it right now / it’s been saved for posterity ….group of English fans have saved her.

My son is doing his very best……how many hours of my life have I spent chasing this with him ….,,