Galteemore

Yes, I was comparing it to the Tornado project.

When I was at school, the only forum we knew about was the Roman forum..,

RTR brass remains a significant player in the UK 7mm market, especially for big express engines. Firms like LH Loveless, Finescale Brass, and Lee Marsh use Asian builders to produce absolute gems. Prices for an express loco c £3000, which is quite fair, considering how much a professional loco builder and painter would have to charge for similar work. The black J50 from Finescale is about £750 - given that the parts would cost me some £250, that’s a very respectable labour premium. Bachmann dipped a toe in the market, but left again. You can imagine what these guys could make of a GN S class….

a400M is also a collaborative project

Bottom line, I think, is that if you want to be an Irish modeller, some diy is almost always involved. And that’s no bad thing. For far too long I was put off doing old school modelling by fear of failure. Get yourself some plastic card and make a start. It’s fulfilling, rewarding, and incredible way to learn.

Usual mix of planning and accident David! Various shades of light grey and very light brown/tan randomly brushed on. I find that a ‘saw’ brush with various length bristles helps give the wood effect. It was even clearer before the PVA mix went on , some of which went over the sleepers. I haven’t done any 7mm scenics for a few years now so this little piece is a chance to refresh my memory and try a few new things….

Last week’s copper track looked like this. Now it’s a bit more like the ash ballasted and thus weed infested PW horror that was SLNC track…..bit of rail cleaning and vacuuming required before we can run anything….

It is actually far more frustrating than the ads - wonderful articles and tutorials with blank spaces where the photos once were….

Looks like final shipping preparations. Cab at right being crated. As indeed your Flickr account says when I clicked on the image…..Fascinating to see how it was done though.

@DoctorPanmight know. Or @Broithecould find a civil engineer in his Yellow Pages.

Thanks Steve - didn’t have my Scott to hand!

More on last years event ….

Sad news. Only shopped with them a few weeks ago at Guildford show. Great one stop shop for scratch builders. Hobby Holidays, who stock a similar range and also sell their wonderful chassis jig, were also there but unlikely to be again as their business model is changing. Not an easy time for specialist traders.

Those moguls must have seemed like something from outer space landing in the NCC steam fleet of 1937. Always thought the smaller lettering on the tender looked better - something almost toylike about that size and font on The Bush here. The Beyer heritage of the top 4-4-0 is clearly apparent.

What RM web ( and similar sites) does offer is an enormous source of guidance on issues which are more generic - scenics, DCC, wiring, ballasting etc etc. You could pay to be a member, or possibly use that money to join another source of information …..For a modeller who is learning the ropes (and I include myself) I strongly recommend joining one of the scale societies eg Gauge 0 Guild, N Gauge Society, Scalefour etc as appropriate. That will give you an ad-free opening into a world of expertise which will supplement that on here, with a particular emphasis on the scale you follow. These societies all tend to have their own forums. My 7mm memberships have been invaluable in that regard, not least in their magazines etc which advise me of new resources such as useful 3D prints coming out. The Gauge O Guild also organises a number of trade fairs which are my main source of supplies for scratch building. Many societies also offer special parts and spares to members only.

JHB, are you employing ‘boring’ as a verb or an adjective ?

That’s some choirmaster - not a trace of a County Antrim vowel in that diction! Lovely stuff Patrick.

One potentially interesting development has been ruled out. The armed forces are on standby to provide a number of essential services including medical and Border Force. Sadly the abolition of Britain’s military railway operating cadre a few years ago (and it is very recent) has removed one interesting option off the table…

You say that like it’s a bad thing JHB….;) In all seriousness, I’d love to see a nod to Irish railway heritage by turning out the odd railcar set in GN livery etc….

Very elegant little engines - like a pocket S class. Although the 1948 batch had more mod cons, I think the 1917 Us win more points for style.

Unlike his alter ego, this De Selby is a real scientist - a freshwater biologist IIRC, who applies academic rigour to his modelling. Having seen his GN and NCC locos in the flesh, they are absolute jewels. Click and drool - this Mogul is part of the selection he’s posted here: https://www.scalefour.org/scaleforum/2017/displaycase/displaycase-117.html

There may be some useful detail bits in this wartime archive, taken by an army officer, on the rebuilding of Larne’s port area - presumably one of the preparatory steps for the eventual Second Front. . But this photo knocked me for 6, shows what I think is one of the Ballycastle Kitsons in use as a stationary boiler…probably 114 as 113 was returned to Ballycastle at around the time of the photo - not sure if @Patrick Daveyor @airfixfan know any more about this episode? https://wartimeni.com/location/northern-ireland/co-antrim/larne/larne-harbour/

And the train strikes mean you can’t even go and pick the stuff up in person….

The Hereford Gun Club on the big island have used old Mk 2 and 3 carriages for their activities. That may or may not be worse !