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Ulsterbus Bill

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  1. Noel, Great minds obviously think alike. Literally minutes after my reply I checked out the very German retailer you linked! Indeed, at current euro/sterling conversion rates paying £301 pre-Brexit (plus delivery costs) stll amounts to a worthwhile saving. Better check my finances before 12th April then. Bill.
  2. Noel, I've been contemplating going DCC for quite some time, introducing it as soon as layout construction eventually begins, Apart from the cost of enough decoders to run even a token selection of my Irish loco fleet (NOTE: I DON'T plan to equip my entire stud, only enough to fulfil the requirement for a railcar depot and adjoining P.W. yard (based on Adelaide NIR), I have spent a few years observing layouts at exhibitions and following industry advances and keeping a keen eye on system prices. I have finally come to the conclusion that a wireless system with throttle knob would be ideal. You are correct to raise the problem of having to keep looking at the sreen when using mobile phone via operating apps. This coupled with the relatively short, few hours battery life of smart phones (I don't have one, I'm still on a "dumb phone" where one charge lasts 4 -- 5 days!) has meant I hadn't found the ideal system.That is until a few weeks ago. I watch a lot of USA model railroading channels on You Tube and by chance came across "What's Neat This Week" by Ken Patterson (it was one of the Oct or Nov 2017 episodes). On it there was Matt Herman, ESU USA's general manager introducing the new ESU CabControl system - yes, the same firm famous for it's sound decoders. It's an android based, touch screen hand controller with an integral throttle knob which comes with power pack and wireless LAN control box. The ESU USA website is:www. lokSound.com and includes full demonstration videos with Matt himself explaing the system. Fantastic I thought. Until I discovered the downside, it's only available from ESU in the North American and Australian markets! ESU are still in the planning stage of introducing a European market version which seems incredible as it has been available in the USA for nearly 18 months now. However it isn't all despair....... ESU just happen to produce DCC contollers for PIKO, the German model railway manufacturer, obviously with PIKO branding. PIKO have a control system called "PIKO SMART" which is a wireless, handheld with throttle knob system. By now you should be ahead of me. The PIKO controller is 99.99% identical to ESU CabControl. Added to which it is available from UK based retailers, such as Gaugemaster and Coastal DCC among others. All it would seem to need is a two pin adapter mains plug to set it up. You could if so desired just by the throttle units to use as an add on to an existing system. But at a cost of roughly £375 per throttle you can buy the whole kit with power supply and wireless for £425. I'm sold on it and intend splashing out on one just as soon as my finances get over buying all of those new IRM A class goodies. Bill.
  3. Parcel traffic between York Road and Larne Harbour. That explains the "odd" rolling stock parked alongside the ex-BR blue/grey mk11s on my first visit. I have a quickly snatched slide taken as the train pulled into York Road which shows a very faded red/grey MED power car with a train of coach underframes plus containers on them. Up until now I just thought it was a scrapline. However, there are "Red Star Parcels" signs on some of the rolling stock, almost a "prototype for everything" scenario! Bill.
  4. Very interesting concept. On my first visit to Northern Ireland in August 1980 it was via Stranraer - Larne so I got my first taste of NIR (indeed, any Irish railway) via this route. In those pre-internet days it all came as a bit of a shock. Biggest shock was seeing ex-BR mk II blue grey coaches at York Road! Over subsequent years I travelled the same route. The 70 class were stable performers the first few visits. I still remember in 1980 the purpose of the trip was to visit Ulsterbus depots, for which I had a permit - useful for explaining to security services what I was up to, so Larne depot was the first on my list. Afterwards, it was down the street to Larne Town NIR and a quick Guinness in the (modern) station bar located on the platform. Perhaps something to add to your halt, for that is what Larne Town was effectively. I couldn't help notice how several stations had Ulsterbus vehicles "outstationed" at them, a practice prevalent throughout the country due to the (ongoing) direct link between rail and bus operations. So a blue/cream bus (or two) parked next to your station would be a must. Larne Harbour seemed to run on the "one train in steam" principle as there would often be a DEMU parked in one platform but as an arriving passenger I would have to wait the arrival of a boat train from Belfast to start my onward journey.Perhaps the parked unit was stabled there for peak hours and first train of the day use? As this was before the station was rebuilt with the adjacent ferry passenger building there was a freight/permanent way siding which boasted an overhead gantry crane. Too small for ISO containers it looked like a remnant from loose fitted freight wagon days although was probably only used to lift rail from pw flat wagons. There was also a road/rail mobile crane vehicle parked here with a lifting device suitable for small loads, nothing like the massive container lifting vehicles of today as produced by Oxford Diecast. A few years later I photographed two of NIR's three DH shunters parked up in this siding so you could pretty much get away with anything in a similar situation on your layout, even cement bubbles unloading to a road cement tanker! Although I have very fond memories of my early visits to Belfast (when things were a little "more exciting"), my own layout/diorama plans are more rooted in NIR of the 90s and 00s and I'm looking at a slightly fictional version of Adelaide Yard as it is now with a railcar depot and p/way sidings. This will also act as a display for a lot of my modern IE locos and stock. Only problem is all of those 80/450/3000/4000 class multiple unit conversions needed...... All the best, Bill.
  5. I spotted these a few days ago. Wonder where they've turned up from as they are clearly listed as being those produced by Bachmann for Mark's Models? Interestingly, back at Model Rail Scotland in 2016 (the year they had the fantastic O'Connel Street layout on display) I bought a "mint & boxed" pack of the very same IE autoballasters from Charlie on the DC Kits stand for a mere £60. I mentioned this to the guys on the Mark's Models stand at the same show and their jaws hit the floor as they realised they'd missed out on the opportunity to buy them back themselves!
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