Galteemore

Sorry - don’t get me wrong - I really like 50s and 60s technology! I am huge fan of Dublo myself. I just think it’s a false comparison to set a 00 works loco alongside modern plastic models. They are very different beasts! My own models are very much old school…..

Thanks John. Comments based on Roderick’s remarks as much as anything else! You are of course quite correct - people like Guy Williams and Mike Sharman produced some incredible machines. Some of my 7mm friends are now adapting technology to turn out their own home brew gear boxes with plastic gears which run countless garden laps with ease driving heavy engines. Having left RTR behind, I am still finding my way with hornblocks and pickups etc to produce reliable running on hand built track. My own brass/nickel engines with metal gears do need a bit more TLC and fettling to make them perform optimally - and are noisier - than plastic 7mm RTR - but I suspect I know which will be around longer….

The OO works locos are basically like a classic car - lovely to look at, can trundle around nicely, but don’t expect them to cope with the rigours of daily commuting. They are built with 50s-60s technology and are, as one said above, essentially a ready made white metal kit. In this case, the grunt work of sustained exhibition running (in conditions which are, it is easy to forget, environmentally challenging - wheel and track cleanliness alone take a hammering from the atmospheric impact of many humans in a room) is clearly too much. I suspect that running the odd branch line style train with a few restful station stops would be much more their bag.

The 7:20 mixed would make a nice starter set in Hornby style - engine, carriage, wagon and brake van

I think Acla looks brilliant David. Wasn't Gordon a professional model boat builder in a past life ? Love the Sentinel. I think Walsworth models do a similar kit now, and build it for those who want it, at a very cheap price - £150. That’s incredible value for a 7mm brass RTR loco. He’s very helpful and I’m sure he’d do it to 36.75 for anyone who asked nicely. Very good way to start out in 36.75 modelling….https://www.walsworthmodelservices.co.uk/product-page/sentinel-y1-3

The guys do have a strong working relationship with Downpatrick…https://www.downrail.co.uk/rolling-stock/cset-no-1/?cn-reloaded=1

Or a static boiler

Properly sprung bogie, multiple pickups, and proper balancing and your 4-4-0 should be fine, especially if plastic. The OO works one is a big lump of metal struggling to balance itself. We’ll see how smart I am in a few weeks when my 4-4-0 starts her trials….

In terms of sheer visual attractiveness to buyers, an S class would tick a lot of boxes - and can of course be authentically run as a preservation era loco. Will also be hitting the main line again soon too hopefully.http://eiretrains.com/steamindex/#GNR171_20100818_004_CC_JA.jpg

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