Galteemore

Just remember Patrick, steam is a fairly broad genre…..it might not be blue or green ….

It may well only have been the smokebox which was painted black for the occasion. The overall grey - including smokebox - looks very odd indeed when clean. I first saw the effect on 186 c1993, having always known it with a black smokebox. The black front end somehow looks aesthetically more pleasing….

Looks good David. Hope Mrs H recovers quickly.

Styrene or just old fashioned card. Styrene is great for ‘score and snap’. Card works well too, just change your blade often.

Only because we’ll get told blue lined express engines are the climax of BPs art rather than plain old workhorses! Welshpool had a Beyer gala this year - with visitors from a wide range of gauges. See how many Irish design similarities you can spot. The BP works shunter has a very similar cab to an SLNC small tank. ….and this little green engine herself probably shifted a great deal of Ireland-bound loco parts around Gorton works from the 1870s to 1950s

We’d better leave it there before the GNR men wade in…but in all seriousness the BP house style is most interesting- have a good look at that Welshpool tank and you’ll find a few echoes of what ran in Cork.

Lovely. But go and wash your mouth out. That is not a Hunslet. It’s a Beyer Peacock, purveyor of the finest locomotives in the world. The prime examples of their craftsmanship, of course, were found on the Fermanagh/Leitrim border

Nicely done. I’m of the generation that understands cad as a term of commination in P G Wodehouse novels.

Lovely work John. One of my friends is helping cosmetically restore 184 this week and sent some interesting photos of work in progress in 1:1 scale….apparently the front splashers still show the alignment where the original double smokebox doors folded back.

Steam very rare outside NCC at this point: this is the RPSI special to Dublin which connected with a tour by 186 - IIRC was official handover of the J15.

Perhaps because he didn’t stay at the plough but returned to power ….

Cincinnatus ? That old Inst classical education left its mark Leslie ….although I think you’ll leave the logbooks when IRM roll out that S class in lined blue with sound..,,,

Indeed, David. There is also a photo in Keith Pirt’s Irish colour album of a very much in traffic Hazelwood looking decidedly shopsoiled - with a very rusty chimney to boot! As for the track, it’s code 100 indeed. It’s all I know !

Ok Leslie - I’ll take the bait! Clean engines have their place- like a fully lined out MGW one.. Enniskillen looks lovely, and I suspect this is not long after her last shopping at Dundalk. However, Bob Clements’ photos on the very last day show Enniskillen rather dirty, as seen also in these cine stills of her last revenue working on 30 Sep 57 . Should I ever finish ‘Blacklion’, she will be in gleaming black, though ! Anyway, I don’t think my Enniskillen looks completely unloved!

I’ve recently realised that I need to build a test track/photo plank as I have a few engines being built that will need testing and I don’t have a layout right now. This morning found a cheap shelf in IKEA’s ‘damaged goods’ dept. This afternoon I cut the sleepers. And tonight built about 3’ of track. Dummy rail bolts and fishplates fitted where they will be seen. All cleaned up and hopefully prime (after sleeper gapping) tomorrow. The apparent dog leg is a bit of an optical illusion - omit long story as to why - and shouldn’t be visible when the scenics go in. It’s nice to have some 5’3” track back in the house…

Clockwork

It’s not distraction Kevin - it’s broadening your skill set. Nice work on the windows. I’ll watch that vid for inspiration. Belturbet is one of my favourites. Looks much better now than when I saw it thirty years ago.

Seen in Milton Keynes shopping centre. Amazingly, they have used proper railway company transfers for the lettering….but the body shell still needs some work to look convincing….

Quite right Patrick - all those ‘grace notes’ add up to make a lovely composition, clearly seen here.

Those Beyer tanks are lovely. Well, all Beyer tanks are lovely- until you try building one…. Interesting to see design features in common with many Irish BP products. My brother has a live steam one in 32mm gauge - saw it running on blocks this summer.

Ok JHB - here’s some authentic west of Ireland railway music. The late shift pilot loco driver at Sligo in the 50s was a Dubliner and we happen to know that this was his favourite song….click the link, listen to this and you can almost see that J26 thumping up the bank to Sligo town. For myself, I think Irish railways ran to the melodies of Carolan. Especially Lord Inchiquin. And the O’Riada version of Planxty Johnson. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=tuohy+twenty+men+dublin+&client=safari&hl=en-gb&biw=375&bih=628&tbm=vid&sxsrf=ALiCzsbdsjmBFsnN4RJ3nBaKxKjGtDyluw%3A1669750478784&ei=zl6GY_bDL9qQ8gLF3aeQBg&oq=tuohy+twenty+men+dublin+&gs_lcp=ChBtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXZpZGVvEAM6BAgjECdQhwtYg0xg909oBXAAeACAAZYBiAGFCpIBBDEwLjSYAQCgAQGqARBtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXZpZGVvwAEB&sclient=mobile-gws-video#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:f4ed01ce,vid:IoRBLLTdXWM

Sounds like a good plan. Once you try 5’3 modelling it’s hard to go back ! Would be interested to see how you get on with the A class. I have long term plans to build one - as sold to the SLNC

A few people on here may chip in with other good advice - @murphaph @KMCEamongst others…

Excellent. I built one in 7mm to 5’3 gauge and finished her in green.would love to see the pics - not showing here.

4-4-0s are notoriously hard to get right in model form, and various solutions have been advanced to assist. I won’t bore you with my own GN 4-4-0 weight plan as it’s not relevant to this situation. Try sticking some weight in the cab - temporarily at first - and see if that helps. Lovely work by the way - the late Iain Rice would have thoroughly approved. This thread may also help