Galteemore

Mix of stuff for me - we had a range of stuff used to pass through our house for RPSI fundraising. I got to see all kinds of stuff - Hornby, Triang, Fleischmann , Lilliput. My favourite was Hornby Dublo. The detail was comparable with 70s Hornby but ran far better and was more robust. Various things followed including Japanese N and UK O - and finally Irish 5’3 7mm. What I think is important as we grow is discovering not so much what we like to model as how we do it. For years I thought it was about creating a stage to run as much rtr as you could. I really didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I was meant to, and as I know others really do. Then I discovered making my own stuff….the sheer joy of rolling a smooth brass chassis you’ve made takes you right back to the joy of battery trains on the carpet !

Yes, it’s puzzling, given that so much of our journalism is so historically well informed ….sadly I fear that ignorance is expanding exponentially..

There are 4mm modellers who do change the lamps believe it or not ! Whole thread on RM web about it…https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/174579-acceptable-standards-at-exhibitions/

Lovely Leslie. Slieve Donard looks fabulous, although is the lamp code correct for a parcels train?

As this thread points out, it’s not a particularly useful resource for modellers. These are not dimensioned drawings, and as a scratch builder I’d struggle to do much with them.

Beautifully done Eoin. The deep joy of fiddling and fettling a metal engine - always worth it in the end. The ‘face’ of the loco is captured to perfection.

Don’t worry Leslie -not emulating Chairman Mao…I’d originally thought about describing the day as a Stakhanovite one but thought that wasn’t appropriate either….the forum software actually auto-capitalised Great Leap Forward, which is more of a worry. I’d just meant it as a generic description, not a quote from the Little Red Book!

I’m going to pause making out those range cards then. Left of arc - remains of W1 van - missing ducket. Right of arc - ventilated van….

He may not be particularly well protected but he is at least remarkably well informed on the provenance of local henhouses. Not every mercenary force can offer that service

In an unprecedented burst of effort, ‘Lurganboy’ has taken a Great Leap Forward. Much time has been spent fettling chassis and body to ensure that we get the 5’3 clearances right. In a tag team effort between soldering iron and angle grinder today, the boiler was assembled and trial fitted. Motor hole cut and inside of splashers ground out to allow the 36.75 axle width. Put the bones together and it all seems to fit ….much to do, but it’s been an encouraging day.

That’s because I’m able to stay focused. Every time Lambegman sees a strange shed in a field he’s getting out the GN diagram book just in case it’s a carriage he hasn’t come across before.

28. Generally crossing houses were occupied by SLNC staff

I am only sorry Drew didn’t live long enough to post on this forum…..it would have been quite bracing….. in the Gauge O Guild we have a ‘products directory’ which is a brilliant way to source bits and pieces….https://www.gaugeoguild.com/products/Products_search.aspx

Fascinating (for me ) follow up to the Blacklion episode. I had a look at the White Fathers history site. Apparently the railbuses used to stop outside the college to allow students on and off. Checked the data with an SLNC crossing gates list and it checks out - no 7 gates staffed by Eddie Keaney. Another piece of useless information, so I’m quite happy….

In my case, only on weekends and when mobilised…

We were Reservists so only 50% was appropriate ….

Thirteen years after you did that, during my brief naval career I was on an exercise from HMS Raleigh in exactly the same place : summer of 1989 and the weather was totally opposite. Some s*d had taken my boots and I was in a size too small. The drinking water had run out and I well remember tabbing along the course of the Princetown branch with my tongue hanging out and fantasising about drink, any kind of drink. I still recall the sheer joy of holding a glass in my hand in the PoW Feathers in Princetown.

Bow pen is the classic way. Or possibly use transfers from a smaller scale ?

It’s an Eastern European friend. Hence lack of black tape over eyes.

Think I’d watch my step - that road seems to have a very high accident rate….

Not many service stations on the M96

A similar - and genuinely true - story occurred on the SLNCR c 1950. One of the off-duty drivers was about to ride back from Enniskillen as a passenger on a railbus when an American tourist engaged him in conversation. It was all about life in the USA and how quickly everything was constructed to such size. The driver managed to contain himself until they crossed the border. The American, noticing the fresh concrete of the White Fathers convent outside Blacklion, asked what it was. The SLNC man said ‘I’ve no idea - it wasn’t there when I came past this morning’…..

One of the big issues in WW2 aviation was difficulty in navigation (the number of raids that went off course being an example). The golden rule of taking a fix was that a star shot never ever told you where you actually were, but where you had just been. If finding a city was hard enough, just imagine trying to find a tiny bobbing carrier in the dark ….as I have learned more and more about the conditions of early aviation, my admiration for the skill involved has grown. One very distinguished Irishman knew all about it….https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Godley,_3rd_Baron_Kilbracken

Incredible stopping power…..

Yes, I was comparing it to the Tornado project.