NIR

Interesting spoil train segment, looks like three sidings to the south and to the north two sidings coming together to form a runround loop

48:30 3 roads

51:15 2 roads

53:39 3 roads

54:10 runround loop

(interesting 'ghost point' at the Belfast unloading site too 45:26)

Interesting to me that is. Until a year ago I never even realised there were two lots of sidings toe to toe, I must always have had my back to the direction of travel!

DC Kits are not into stocking bits and pieces these days, more along the lines of if it's gone it's gone.

25 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Trying to figure out how to click the "Like" button twice...

Biden will know...

You still occasionally hear of 'Southern Ireland', like that ever happened

15 hours ago, Colin R said:

I do need a small Irish Tower model for the backscene of the freelanced 00n3 layout

Some of those plastic ruins for fish in aquariums are not a million miles away...

...maybe some pruning and a bit of filler scraped across the stonework...

...semi-relief in the background these would work.

52 minutes ago, WRENNEIRE said:

Great cover, happy and sad!

For me it was all about the front end, a design classic

I never realised NCC somersault arms were 5 feet long!

Some photos from this morning showing track and signalling

From the Belfast direction the single line becomes a bidirectional double line

...then a crossover leads to a turnout to the main platform road and completes a runaround loop

Now back in England

How many people walking along Carlow Main Street, how many into trains, how many looking to buy. Less than 1 times less than 1 times less than 1 is quickly tending to zero.

At this point even €zero rent is probably too much.

16 hours ago, popeye said:

It comes in sections so you can make it up whatever way you like.

Standing alone, the structure at the rear would make an excellent Victorian folly

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folly

Doesn't look Irish, I'm not sure it looks anything really, and more 19th century than medieval, just look at all those windows.

Ireland was more a Tower House sort of place, think the structure at the rear standing alone without the curtain wall or gatehouse, but even that looks wrong.

(castles are one of my interests from years ago)

What it looks like

http://www.railsigns.uk/info/nstr1/nstr_f1.gif

Would seem to have been the obvious solution for a three trains a day railway.

(the 'ground signals' are point indicators confirming the lay of the points, the blank board says 'end of section - proceed if platform line clear')

I'm just wondering if something as basic as the Heart of Wales line exists in Ireland.

No signals just stop boards 'start of section - obtain permission to proceed', no point motors just trains trailing through loops, no automatic barriers just drivers stopping and pressing plungers to operate level crossings.

The instanter looks like a long reach coupling I've seen on wagons with long Oleo buffers, the hook being held by a collar not a mounting plate.

The screw link coupling has no mounting so looks fairly generic for locomotives, railcars and coaches.

Would be good to hear what they actually are though.

30 minutes ago, Jack_Dunboyne said:

The biggest challenge I found is to convince other to accept this norm as it is, without any buts, shortcuts, etc. 

Haha, talk about missing the point!

2 hours ago, Westcorkrailway said:

my questions really are what radius track the curves would be for ballinhassig, how to go about making suitible buildings and terrain. please do advise on rolling stock and locos too

Track radius is a compromise with reality, unless you have a very long space in which to build your own track. Ready made track comes in small, medium or large radius, the larger the radius the less the compromise with reality, so it all depends on how much space you have.

Track planning software such as SCARM (free download) will let you see what can be achieved with ready made components.

15 hours ago, DiveController said:

Sad end to some of the horse boxes which survived to some use into IR times

What a great windscreen!

A bit like this fiddle yard design I rediscovered in an old magazine, a more intelligent balloon loop.

Train enters loop, propels whatever is in loop until loco reaches F, loco detaches and propels its new train until it clears the points, then pulls away. It's beautiful!

(Model Railway Constructor, August 1975)

Looks like Foyle Road is the next one up on that website. Compact and urban, it has a lot going for it. A lot smaller than I remember though. I'm imagining a 1990 NIR 'what if'...

Sounds like it's changed for the worse. The place was never more than half full, happy to deliver up boxes with uncatalogued contents too. Progress?

I was even in there once when they were going through releases under the 30 year rule a day in advance!

17 minutes ago, Buz said:

I think I have seen something some where that said the signal for the ballast pit line had a ring on it but not sure if that is the case.

While looking for a signalling diagram

http://dunsandlerailwaystation.blogspot.com/2008/02/dunsandle-station-station-layout.html?m=1

A ringed siding signal was connected to a trap point protecting the exit from the ballast siding

15 minutes ago, hexagon789 said:

An 80 Class? 

20 minutes ago, hexagon789 said:

I don't know how strict IÉ are on speeds (typical GB allowance is 3 mph over but that's only a rough 'tradition') nor how they calibrate their train speedos (usually set to overread slightly here, and indicated 100 might only be 98mph for example) , but here in GB today you will almost never record higher than a trains maximum even by a few mph and on some lines and in some locations it's impossible due to various safety systems. In fact I can even think of one class where if it's maximum rated speed is exceeded by 3mph, it sends a text message to route control confessing the drivers' sins!

That's a whole lot different to bouncing along behind a pissed up driver in an 81!

Cork Albert Quay, as truncated headshunt

Natural inglenook with the perfect scenic break, lots of back and forth with Cs and baby GMs, stock old and new ...or maybe a 'reverse inglenook', a scenic traverser leading more immediately onto a longer headshunt

Michael H C Baker/The Railway Magazine, May 1975