Galteemore

Or the 1931 LMS Ro-Rail which could switch from rail to road use in the course of a journey https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/lms_ro-railer.htm

And if you want ‘gravelly’, also worth looking at Gravett…..https://wildswanbooks.co.uk/Books/Modelling-Grassland.htm He’s a chinchilla advocate too.

Excellent- I have a small pack of Lincs couplings not made up and I have been pondering whether to persist. The Lincs coupling is somewhat obtrusive (here is 42 during construction) in appearance and the Dingham has the simplicity of fitting in the buffer beam…..

Never stood a chance. My dad was RPSI treasurer and we lived 5 miles from Whitehead…..early photos show me in a pram beside 171. I was also introduced to a variety of classic Irish modelling in O gauge, and spent time in various signal cabins etc. The house was chock full of railway paintings and books. In those days my dad still had his collection of staffs, signal box diagrams and tickets, with shoeboxes full of his 1960s photos. I always liked the huge GNRI crest on the wall - with its cheery skeleton…. Once I was old enough to walk, I was enlisted into RPSI sales….much of my childhood was spent flogging pencils and badges. Much later in life, haggling in the bazaars of Asia posed no fears as a result!

Very clever idea re the rivet template….better than my scribed lines

Indeed they have. Dinghams now available here: https://www.gaugeoguild.com/onlinesales/default.aspx?scid=8 I am tempted to try them….

Excellent Ken. Proper Cameo layout territory now.

I think you’ve just written JHBs epitaph….

Great work Brendan. Another vote for NIL from me. It’s a brilliant resource which includes many fine Irish modellers who don’t post on here. When I sold my 3’ layout this week, I also gave the young purchaser a back copy of NIL to encourage him to sign up!

Excellent. Takes a bit of nerve to keep going - I know!

Take your time and build it up gradually. Use a coating of PVA on the baseboard surface to help it adhere.

Excellent. It’s just so rewarding to see that 5’3” appear before your eyes, isn’t it? I still have my first effort !

Hi Pete. Can only answer from my experience with a Farish compound of similar vintage, and which was fine with this. Can you put the loco upside down and just test the wheels with a wire on each side to double check ?

Either. Always good to hear from 5’3 folks on here ! Is that your real name - or are you a fan of the great novelist ?!

awesome stuff. May we see more please ?

Excellent work - old school modelling. Always good to take something basic and add your own artistic efforts! Works well here.

By a WT class by the looks of it

This is the first inlay track I ever recall seeing. Donaghadee pier - looks like stone blocks

Well that’s it. Drumkeeran Road has just driven off with its new owner - a young chap who wants to model Irish railways to proper scale. Spent the proceeds on this! My soldering iron died and this got good reviews…..

lol - that’s my dad ! Showed him photo. It’s c1962 - and apparently he got the shed foreman to start it….

Real master class here in observation and detailing

And thanks to @Irishswissernie, here it is, at stage right, complete with crutch. This is pretty much how I remember it outside Witham St too - a dilapidation of blue and cream. I think this is probably the one my dad started up in Portadown roundhouse one day…..

Don’t worry - it’s not some kind of Northern land grab! Arguably Dundalk works would make a brilliant Irish railway museum - with a short running line up the stub of the Irish North…. It’s all about context really - it’s only when you see exhibits juxtaposed that you can really put them into perspective. That’s what the big museums like York do so well. A replica of 36 - or better still ‘Hibernia’ sitting next to 800 would be most educational.

And here’s one arriving at the scrapyard. Rather off topic, but the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch 15” line have a loco called ‘The Bug’ which once ran at Belfast Zoo. It also ended up in the scrapyard and was regularly concealed under fresh piles of scrap by a man called Tommy Dorrian, an 8th Army veteran who didn’t want to see it scrapped! Eventually it did escape back to England. Tommy ended up as an RPSI barman on many rail tours ….sadly these two little locos were too big to hide. Interestingly the scrap yard went to the effort of putting them on rails, which suggests they may have had hopes of selling at some point…,