Angus

I which case I must have been sat by you last night and didn't realise. I must make more of an effort to introduce myself! It was a great talk though.

Also not convinced there is anything to "Cash in on" here. Most of the finescale societies (2mm, 3mm, S Scale etc) have produced their own plain track bases. These are all pretty similar, normally six sleepers on a web through which the rails are threaded. The 2mm Scale Association's 8' 6" product is shown above. From memory the development of the tooling for these was a considerable investment that had to be backed by the product development fund financed by the society's membership subs. The only commercial offerings that are similar are from British Finescale who offer a the above for standard N Gauge but for code 40 rails, finer than all commercially available track. They do offer points kits in other scales 00, 00SF & EM but as can be appreciated these are all scales with a large following. I doubt the interest 21mm gauge matches even the smaller of the specialist societies. That's not to say it can't be done. It just needs a co-ordinated effort and investment from those interested.

Hi, just a question I'm struggling to find a definitive answer to. On broad gauge vans what size are the G and S in Great Southern days, the lettering seems to cover 3 planks so I am assuming 18" but we all know what assumption do..... Thanks

Hi David, Great progress with the changes, I'm looking forward to seeing the transformation as the Swilly (my spell checker altered that to Willy which would have taken this post off in whole other direction.....!) has always been a favourite of mine. When transferring drawings to plastic sheet I found I could scan a drawing then print it out onto the plastic sheet. My cheap home ink jet printer will feed 20 thou (0.5 mm) plastic sheet without a problem. Leave the print to dry and apply some sealing spray otherwise the print just rubs off when you touch the sheet. I always check the print size on a piece of paper first as they often need rescaling slightly. Onviously this is limited to A4 size (unless you've got a posher printer) which isn't much of a restriction in 2mm. It does save a lot lot of faffing about with pencil and paper, and avoids my inevitable inconsistency.

Thanks GSR800, I did read the reference. I'm more wondering what the source was. Rumours will always abound, not all have any truth.

I've been watching this with interest as the LNWR represents one of my main interests and I've slowly been accumulating 7mm scale kits and models for a future layout. As a result I've also got a fairly extensive library of LNWR books. The MGWR also represents a key interest in Irish railways. I missed the reference to talks about a merger in Ernie Shepherd's book, but having taken a quick look through my LNWR books I can't find any reference. The only references to the MGWR are in conjunction with the construction of North Wall and the connecting branches, all of which were built after the MGWR line. The LNWR was an investor in the Dublin & Drogheda but divested it's shares taking ownership of North Wall Station in the process on the formation of the GNR. I'm left wondering what the source of the reference to a merger was. I'll ask a question on the LNWR Society forum and update with any information found.

I'd be happy to take a couple if it gets this over the line.

Happy to take one of those (albeit in 2mm) so that would leave 3.

Ah! Bob49 is revealed! Nice to see you branching out into Irish stuff Marc.

There is a scaled down version of the etch TMD/SSM etch in circulation from a few years back, commissioned, I think, by Patrick O'Sullivan author of the Farranfore to Valencia Harbour books. I've been kindly gifted three of the etches by other 2mm Association members one of which I've partially built ( I seem to have become the custodian of Irish railway etches for 2mm finescale). Although it doesn't appear to be in their catalogue? I have contemplated approaching them to see if these could be reduced to 2mm but 7-2mm might be a stretch to far to result in anything buildable. I've always viewed any scaled down etch (or print) as an aid to scratch building rather than a full blown kit, the basic structure should be usable (although might require a few tweaks) anything else is a bonus. That said Mayner's MGWR horse box and meat vans went together well.

Hi Bob, Presumably the underframes are etched, but what about the bodies, are these 3d printed? thanks Angus

Coming a little bit late to this thread, another vote for a J5, so that just leaves four more to find. The only snag is I need mine in 2mm scale so not sure that counts? I'd be happy to order a couple of etches if it helps make up the numbers. I feel the real missing engine is the more utilitarian MGWR 0-6-0s the L class (J18/J19). I'd also love one of Mayner's Z boiler etches in 2mm scale but having asked him to reduce some of his kits these have lain in the gloat pile gathering dust whilst my Irish modelling takes a back seat for a while. I really need to get on with what I've got 4!

Love the brass rod idea to hold the boiler level. I've not seen that before. Simple and effective I shall be using that!

I've always thought the G2 2-4-0s were the quintessential MGWR engine, long lived and rebuilt multiple times so you can have a few of them each looking totally different. That said a J18 would be more practical.

Hi Colin, The Sligo project was always something for the future. It would need a large amount of stock to be built to effectively represent the station. I've a build underway of a fictional terminus in the Sligo area which will allow the gradual accumulation of stock without appearing ridiculous. That build is on hold for a couple of reasons but I hope to recommence later in the year. I do plan a visit to Sligo at some point in the next year or so to do some detailed photography to assist.

Sad news indeed. I never met Ken but followed his inspirational work through this forum and had exchanged messages with him. I have half a dozen of his wagons that he kindly scaled down to 2mm scale for me, these will be a nice memento of his craftsmanship. My thoughts go out to his family and friends.

I've used templot for all my 2mm finescale track including the Irish 10.5mm guage. It needs a little bit of dedication to learn but is a very powerful tool. As has been noted above loads of presets that cover some quite esoteric scales and guage and the possibility to set your own. You can also make up track panels that match the prototypes practice. I don't do this in 2mm but do with my 7mm scale Modelling as its much more noticeable.

Ah! Sorry misunderstood.

Hi David, I am trying to figure out in my head why the quartering would work at 45 degrees but not 90. Something feels wrong there, but not sure what? Are the axles themselves straight and true? Or one driver mounting hole not straight and true? It suggests a lack of concentricity somewhere.

There was a great talk on the SLNCR at the IRRS Manchester meet last week. Lots of photos of Enniskillen and the line I hadn't seen. Although there was some IT issues the event was record so the slides should be available.

As with Galteemore, the "gauge" description doesn't fit my Irish modelling which is in 2mm finescale. So 1:152 on 10.5mm gauge track, which, at the risk of sounding elitist, is a long way from N Gauge. I've also got a passing interest in 3mm scale on 9mm track to represent the narrow gauge, this interest is latent at the moment though as I've enough to be going on with!

A week away with some modelling tools reinvigorated my modelling. As we were staying near Oban on the West Coast of Scotland I built up some Caledonian Railway stock. An Irish item did fall into the bag in the form of a Worsley Works etch for a GSWR brake third 6 wheeler. I only had a soldering iron and some basic tools so all the detailing is still to add.

Hi Alan, In some early third class carriages the compartment partitions were not full height. This enabled lighting and ventilation to be shared across compartments. The vent would therefore fall on the partition. That said, if they are torpedo vents on an 1880 carriage I would be fairly certain they were later additions.

Hi JHB, I exchanged emails with him earlier in the year as I was aware he had started building a model of Caharcieveen in 2mm scale many moons ago. I'll contact him and check he is happy for me pass on his details. Cheers Angus Edit: I should have read further, I see Leslie has already sent you his details.

Plodding ever onwards..... the pointwork is now glued down with all electrical droppers in place. I've also been progressing laying the PCB sleepers in readiness for the plain track. I've left the tracks approaching the turntable out until I have the deck in position as I noticed the well is drilled very slightly off the centre point on the track template. This will enable some local adjustment to the track to accommodate the error. Another error I've discovered is that, despite measuring several times, I've manage to create the track plan 30mm longer than the boards. I really don't know how I've managed that! The issue being that the boards are the correct size for the alcove the layout will be sited in so cannot be lengthened. This has meant the goods yard headshunt has been sharpened from 500mm radius to 400mm to fit onto the board. It means the whole alignment isn't as pleasing and a wee bit crammed in but needs must. Some careful gauge widening should enable successful running. It is not as if any long wheelbase 0-8-0s will be shunting the yard! A spot of Ebay bidding secured a Farish Maunsell Mogul for a reasonable price and conversion parts have been ordered form the 2mm Scale Association shop which will hopefully make for a relatively straight forward conversion to 10.5mm finescale. The loco is the British N Gauge so is to 1:148 scale so will slightly dominate the remaining stock at 1:152 but hopefully not too noticeable. Some number plates are on order to create no 378, built in 1926 and shedded at Broadstone for all of its life so a likely as any of the class to appear on the Sligo line. In the period that will be modelled (the early '30s) the Sligo turntable was too small to accommodate the class so they wouldn't have appeared there. However, in my altered historical narrative a larger turntable has been installed at Larass to enable engines working excursion trains to be turned. This should lead to some odd engine movements, arriving tender first from Sligo to be turned and sent back tender first. It also occurs to me that I need to finish some of my other loco projects first as I've still not got any motive power!