Barl

It's an excellent video of the works. This is only around the corner from my home place in Osberstown so it was very interesting to see it all come together. The only road closure was the 'canal road' but this has been closed for a while now anyway due to a truck hitting the top of the aqueduct. As far as I know the crane had to be brought in from the UK but not 100% on that.

I think Mayner has covered most of the issues with cut-and-cover tunnel construction very well. As he mentions the dusruption to the city centre areas would be huge, not to mention the effects of the noise from the constant thumping of the sheet piling rigs. The sheer number of services under Dublins streets was also a factor. The sub-base for the LUAS was close to 1m deep in most places but it still required a separate contract to divert all services under the track. We still encountered huge issues with existing services including sewers, many of which are old Victorian brick arch culverts requiring rehabilitation works. Even finding space for something as small as a 150mm diameter gully connection was difficult. As you can imagine, cut and cover would require a greater number of sercive diversions and disruption to services when it occurred. I think the DART Underground project (whenever it happens) has some sections of cut-and-cover proposed in certain areas like St. James Gate but disruption could be minimised in these areas. The City Rail link example Mayner gives did cause huge disruption, as well as being an eyesore in one of the busiest streets in the city. It also made finding The Fiddler Irish pub very difficult

As one of the silly, overpaid consultant "engineers" who worked on the construction phase of the LUAS Cross City, I always find it funny reading comments from armchair planners and engineers criticising the designs. Do you honestly think that every route option for the LUAS Cross City wasn't examined in detail. The project began planning not long after the red line was finished, and the final route was decided upon following public consultation and agreement between all stakeholders; including DCC, NTA, RPA (now TII) Grangegorman Development Authority etc. These projects are designed with long term thinking in mind (the new metro and other proposed lines for example) not the short term that many seem to criticise. The chosen route serves the largest agglomeration and provides the most conveniently located stops. It is no coincidence that many large cities around the world - such as Edinburgh and Sydney - are returning to light rail as an option for public transport. As Mayner mentioned above, the grass is not always greener. Having lived in Auckland for a year it makes Dublins public transport look like a well oiled machine! As for the underground options, Dublin is sitting on a bed of limestone covered by boulder clay and other glacial till deposits. These make it a nightmare to tunnel through as there are many fissures and water pockets which are difficult to pick up during site investigation works. Other tunnelling projects in Dublin, such as the Port Tunnel and the Greater Dublin Drainage Scheme were far from smooth sailing and encountered many difficulties, but none that couldn't be resolved by the "clueless" designers involved. For the LUAS to work as intended, it requires the cooperation of other road users which, unfortunately is not always the case - how many incidents involving trams are the fault of the trams/drivers? Look at how well the trams work in cities like Amsterdam as they have priority and car usage is reduced. Hopefully the proposed metro will resolve some of the issues with Dublins public transport but it is an old city with old, and hidden problems so it may take some time.

If only I could get away with that! Some 'creative accounting' is what's needed I think.

Great line up of models, IRM will have a busy few months ahead. I got a prepay IRM card for Christmas, which I have yet to use. Is it a fairly simple process to top these up as a means of saving, as you've mentioned above?

Spotted this in Dealz today, it may be useful as a cheap foliage material for layouts.

Looks like they're going to be another fantastic wagon. Now all I have to do is figure out a way of hiding some of the wedding savings fund to buy some

It's actually a term used when designing for certain rainfall/precipitation intensities and durations. For example a 1-in-100 year return period (1%AEP) rainfall intensity, along with a selected storm duration, is a design rainfall 'event'. Apologies for the jargon It seems to have been adopted by the media for anything now!

Great job on the GSV so far Noel! I found the roof vents, fuel tank details and fuel filler points to be among the most awkward parts to get right. Looking forward to seeing the finished article

Stunning job on the Dutch van! I know when I built mine a few years ago the roof was the most time consuming part also.

Apologies if this has been posted before but it appears IÉ have put out a tender for the refurbishment of the 2700 class railcars that are currently in storage. http://https://www.kildarenow.com/news/increasing-train-services-anticipated-next-year-renovations-fleet-28-iarnrod-eireann-carriages/176306

The above pictures of your layout and rolling stock are stunning as always Kirley. I hope we can continue to see such pictures and videos as they provide inspiration and motivation to all of us .

Thanks for posting the pictures of such great layouts Noel, they are a hive of activity even without the trains running

Got to have a quick look at my wagons when I was back home last weekend and they look fantastic, big credit must go to the IRM team! I'm looking forward to the future releases

Thanks very much for the help jhb - once again a very helpful and informative post - it's exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks for the in depth and informative post jhb! It relates something I have been wondering for a while now. Would you, or anybody else, know; what would be the most suitable donors for repainting to resemble the green era laminates and other coaches? I know there are kits and scratch aids for such coaches but I am not quite skillful enough just yet and I'm not aiming for too much accuracy, more just something that 'sets the scene'.

Great pictures guys. Thanks for posting the pictures of the LCC too, having worked on the design team it's nice to see it come to fruition....and that the Broombridge depot hasn't flooded yet!

Glad to see the tunnel is finally going to be opened to passenger traffic once again. Is there any other locations where light rail will travel over heavy rail - once the LCC is complete? As for those giving out about Dublins' public transport system; having lived in Auckland for the past 6 months - a city of similar population to Dublin with the same urban sprawl issues - it makes the public transport system in Dublin seem fantastic in comparison and makes the M50 at rush hour seem free-flowing!

I just completed the survey there now. Personally I've never really bought weathered model's before but yet I've always weathered any stock I built myself. I think it could be the fear of weathering expensive new models rather than not liking them being weathered at all. It has been mentioned several times about standard factory weathering not being great but, in this case, I'm pretty sure the IRM guys know this all too well and they're not going to produce something that they don't like themselves! For these reasons I think the weathered option would be the way to for me, if it was to be offered. Keep up the good work guys

Now that I'm over in John Mayner country for a while, I've been listening to the local news and found this story interesting. http://www.newshub.co.nz/business/kiwirails-asbestos-locos-back-to-work-2014040817#axzz4AwQRQcsD

The CAD looks fantastic lads and I'm sure the model will be to the same high standard

Looks like a nice set up you've got there Paddy. Are you going to try squeeze in your model of Sallins station somewhere? For the track plan; it might be worthwhile reducing the area of track in some areas and adopting the 'less is more' philosophy, with the central station area being the main focal point. It may also be an idea to round off the corners of the central well to allow more sweeping track curves of reduced radii. Just some ideas but it's your layout so you can do what you like with it

Fantastic job on the gen van, it looks perfect next to the RPSI mk2's. Can I ask what paint you used for the conversion or was it one you mixed yourself?

Excellent work Kirley. Both models are things of beauty. Can I ask how you did the lining on the models? It's something that's always scared me about doing steam conversions!

This loco is outside the main shed at Inchicore this morning if there's any photographers around.