2996 Victor

Thanks as always for the information, Jonathan! I suppose a branch operated under normal circumstances by an E Class could see the occasional tender loco for fair and cattle specials? A blue engine definitely isn't a deal breaker - I did realise that they were in a definite minority, but I thought "if I can dream up an excuse," like a running in turn, "then why not!" As far as 3D-printed carriages are concerned, I'll see what I can find out. Looking forward to your Clifden book! With kind regards, Mark

Hi Eoin, many thanks for posting the link - the loco certainly looks the business! I'll have a thorough read through over the weekend! Many thanks and kind regards, Mark

I've got my books - yay! - and scanning through Ernie Shepherd's Illustrated History, on page 99 are a couple of rather interesting loco coal wagons, in particular No.1229 with it's cupboard doors withd the circle marking on them. What's the meaning of the circle? And I thought I'd read somewhere that loco coal wagons were black, while this one looks distinctly grey - any thoughts? Could be that this will be my first essay in 5'3" wagonry..... With kind regards, Mark

Hi Jonathan, many thanks for the info - the LNER J72 conversion sounds like a reasonable first step, although whether it would be accurate enough to be acceptable in the long term would remain to be seen. I think a comparison of drawings might be in order! The K Class sound a bit too late for my period, which is a shame as anything that eases the path has got to be a good thing, hasn't it? Having had a skim through Ernie Shepherd's book, some of the 4-4-0s seem to bear a family resemblance to Furness Railway and Cambrian Railways locos of the same configuration, so perhaps there is scope there for investigation. John Mayne's kits look absolutely superb, and my concern from a personal perspective is that I'm not able to do them justice - I might have to sell a kidney and get them built by someone who knows what they're doing! Incidentally, although this is definitely a case of "getting ahead of myself", and given that I'm planning a branch line which would have largely been worked by members the E Class, and given that this would be stretching plausibility to breaking point and beyond, which class(es) of locos would have been turned out in the blue livery? I do realise that they were types that would not have ventured down branchlines, but it seems like too good an opportunity to miss, and it could be a running-in turn I'm quite happy with the idea of scratchbuilding carriages, and from that point of view, a six-wheeler is less work than a bogie! I know of several folk over on RMWeb who design and print their own stuff, and some sell as well to help finance their own modelling. I wonder if it might be an option to approach them and see if they'd be prepared to take on a commission to make some really good carriages. What does everyone think? With kind regards, Mark

My cup runneth over! I've been incredibly fortunate to have had so many detailed and informative responses from so many knowledgeable folks! Thank you all once again, and please keep it coming - I'd like to think of this thread as a source of reference for anyone already modelling the MGWR or wanting to. My books arrived today, The Midland Great Western Railway of Ireland by Ernie Shepherd, Rails to Achill by Jonathan Beaumont, The Baronial Lines of the MGWR by Padraic O'Cuimin and Modelling Irish Railways by Stephen Johnson and Alan O'Rourke. If there are any others that are a "must" for my bookshelf, please do let me know! John @Mayner has also reminded me that there was a series of articles by David Malone in the short-lived RailModel Digest magazine edited by Iain Rice an d Mike Peascod, which contains much information of use to modellers, including photographs of his excellent Cliffoney layout, locomotives and rolling stock. Now to get back to drafting out a track plan for a layout. And where can I get a Class E.....? With kind regards, Mark

Hi John, many thanks once again for your incredibly detailed post, I can't thank you and everyone else enough for all the help and assistance I've received for my little project! I was actually looking at Mount Bellew and Moylough as possible branch line terminii, so it's great to know that I'm thinking along the right lines and the little research I did into farming seemed to indicate that it was good cattle country that could conceivably support livestock and fair specials. From what you've said, it would most probably have been built by an independent company but that the station buildings would have been to standard MGWR architectural designs, or does that apply only to the locomotive sheds and facilities? I received my copy of "Baronial Lines" earlier today - it must be a rarity, given the price of it, but it certainly seems to contain a good deal of information. Thanks also for confirming the track construction. It's pretty much what I was thinking it would be, but its great to have it confirmed. David Malone's article in RailModel Digest No.2 on trackwork does indeed mention the half-round sleepers used on the Baronial branches, and details a way to effectively model it using bamboo skewers which I want to have a go at! There's a photo at the bottom of page 82 showing a 4-4-0 at Achill, circa 1910, with half-round sleepers in the foreground, and a model representation at the top of page 84. Thanks again and kind regards, Mark

It's all printed to order, at least it has been whenever I've ordered anything! With best regards, Mark

Hi Angus, this is amazing, thank you for posting the link! There's a wealth of information to be found via that website - the availability of the 25inch maps is an incredible boon to modellers looking for track layouts. I can easily see how you could lose a significant amount of time looking at it, and I'm sure I will do the same! Thanks again and very best regards, Mark

Jonathan, these are amazing, thank you so much! They're an incredible source of information and an invaluable reference for running practices on a model. With kind regards, Mark

One thing that I have noticed in a number of photographs I've seen, and is visible in the photograph of Athboy with the turntable in the foreground, is that the nearest section of the platform is higher than the rest. What is the reason for this? Presumably loading of some sort? Many thanks for any enlightenment! With kind regards, Mark

Thanks for the link - its an interesting layout and the use of the turntable as a loco release is intriguing! And space-saving..... Kind regards, Mark Many thanks for the link, this another interesting layout, particularly the way the shed roads also fan off of the turntable. With kind regards, Mark

Thank you as always for your reply: you are indeed the font of all knowledge and I for one would like to heartily thank you for sharing it! Where to start? Well, for the location, I'm embarassed to say I don't really know, although I'm leaning toward the western half of the system with a branch of similar length to Loughrea or Ballinmore, possibly somewhere in the Athlone/Claremorris/Athenry triangle, where I think livestock may have been grazed? So I think it's fair to assume (always a dangerous thing to do!) that a branch line such as I'm envisaging would have been limited to the one or two passenger and one mixed trains per day, but with with fair day and livestock specials. Thanks also for the information on the parcels/mails traffic, which probably wouldn't have occurred to me and which offer another cameo opportunity. Coach building is also going to be a new departure for me, which I'm looking forward to! I have yet to investigate Worsley Works scratch-aid etchings - etched brass brings me out in a rash (shame about those 3D-prints - I may take the plunge and order one, although as I mentioned earlier on the other thread, I wasn't impressed with my previous purchases from the same supplier). Thanks again for all your help and advice, its hugely appreciated! With kind regards, Mark

Hi @Midland Man, thanks you very much for your kind offer, its hugely appreciated, so if it's not too much of a pain to find, I'd be very pleased to have a copy of the Killina track plan. I'm not worried about there not being a turntable - its only something else to go wrong or break With kind regards, Mark

Thank you for the link - that's a fabulous photograph! The track is almost exactly what I'd imagined - the uneven ballasting, worn sleepers and the accumulation of cinders in the platform road all speak volumes! I'm guessing that for my period, the sleepers would have been perhaps a little better, condition-wise, but otherwise much the same. Thanks also for the drawing - that's the perfect vehicle for a starter project! The leading dimensions are a huge help: such a shame the Broadstone Series don't seem to have any scale on them, although the gauge is shown, of course. With kindest regards, Mark

Thanks for the extra photos, it really is a splendid layout and an inspiration! I have to agree about the "hole in the backscene" - using a bridge or tunnel can work in certain circumstances, but it has been used so often in places where it looks out of context. A view block consisting of a building or buildings, trees and hedges or suitable landscaping can be so much more convincing. There was a short article in Model Railway Journal No.267 about effectively making the fiddle yard part of the scenic section, so that although there is a view block at the transition point, the fully ballasted track continues into the "off-stage" area and suggests quite effectively that the line really does go somewhere. It's certainly something I want to try out! With kind regards, Mark

Many thanks, Jonathan, for the extra info - presumably these would be six-wheelers rather than bogie vehicles? And how often would the trains be mixed? Kind regards, Mark

I did mean to ask about your treatment at t'other end, where the scenic section goes "off-stage". Any photos in that direction? Kindest regards, Mark

Well, I've been fairly busy! I've subscribed to New Irish Lines, I've been in touch with Des Sullivan at SSM to order some W-iron and brake gear etches and a couple of his MGWR Convertible wagon kits, I've emailed North Yard Models in New Zealand regarding 28mm pinpoint axles for rolling stock and I've contacted Stephen Freeman of Borg Rail about constructing points and have received some extremely reasonable quotations. This latter approach means that I only have to worry about a track gauge for plain track and a back-to-back gauge for wheels, which are proving difficult to find. On a slightly less positive note, I also contacted Ultrascale about their 21mm gauge wagon wheels and axles, but they are unable to give any timescale for production which, added to their significant cost premium, makes them a bit of a no-no. Unfortunately, none of my books has turned up yet, which is a bit of blow. So I was wondering if anyone could advise what form of track work the MGWR would have used on a branch line, i.e. chaired bull-head, spike flat-bottomed, etc, I'd be grateful as this will help me with the decision on model trackwork. It also means I'm stuck for starting any rolling stock construction, although John @Mayner has been incredibly kind in sending me electronic copies of drawings he has, I'm currently sans printer. So here's a very cheeky request: does anyone have a dimensioned drawing of, say, an open wagon that I could cut my teeth on? My next task is to devise some sort of track layout for my project, which is more than likely to be a fictional location. I've not decided where its going to be set, which of course would affect the traffic a fictional line would have carried and hence the track layout, so again I'm a bit stuck until my books arrive. In any case, it will need to be quite small as mentioned somewhere above, probably 6' long as a maximum. Thanks again to everyone who has offered help and kind words of advice, please do keep your thoughts and suggestions coming! Stay safe and stay well, Mark

I too have had a (very) few items from this manufacturer's Shapeways page, in my case some narrow gauge War Department Light Railway bogie open wagons. They were in the same material mentioned above, and I was most disappointed with the finish and poor quality of the surface details. Not only that, but there were fundamental errors in the basic length and width of the vehicles. Unfortunately, this supplier has a wide range of interesting vehicles, many of which I would be interested in. But they are all the same material, and once bitten, twice shy as they say! I would prefer to pay more for better quality prints with better materials than pay less for a poor quality print that isn't worth its purchase price, but that's just my opinion, of course. Best regards, Mark Agreed!

Great, @Galteemore, much appreciated!

Hi David, Not sure why, but I can't seem to find this - is there a link? Kind regards, Mark

More fantastic work! Brilliant!

Absolutely fabulous work!

Incredible work! My efforts at etched brass kits in 4mm scale have been ham-fisted disasters, so to see this kind of work in 2mm scale is mind-blowing! Stay safe and stay well. Best regards, Mark

Well, here are some of my recent efforts in most cases, I've used kit sides and ends with scratchbuilt underframes, sometimes with the kit's floor but more my own. Axleguards are MJT etches, fixed rigidly, with 3D-printed axlebox/spring assemblies. Solebar details are taken from the MJT fret. Brake gear is mostly fettled Slater's with Masokits etched brass safety loops replacing the moulded-on ones. Brake levers will be a mixture of Masokits and Bill Bedford etches. The first two are Slater's Midland Railway Diagram D299 5-plank opens, finished as examples built by the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway's Highbridge Works. These differed in detail from the Midland design, most notably in that the floors didn't have drop doors, and the side doors had hefty wooden doorstops. Most also had a long brake lever, but these are numbered in the early series which had standard Midland short brake levers. They're going to be loaded, hence the lack of interior detail and only the top plank is tinted: http:// These two are Cambrian Railways vehicles, finished in that company's pre-1899 livery, although there is some likelihood that they shouldn't have the load branding. The 4-plank on the right is based on sides/ends from the Cambrian Model Rail kit, with my usual scratchbuilt underframe. The 2-plank fixed side on the left is 3D-printed, and comes from Coastline Models Shapeways page: http:// This is a Midland Railway Diagram D305 3-plank dropside, again using Slater's sides/ends. It needs its buffers as well as its brake lever: http:// While this one is finished as a Midland Railway Engineer's Department vehicle, built "out-of-the-box" but with added canvas spats over the axleboxes: http:// These two are also built from Slater's Midland D305 kits, finished as S&DJR vehicles. The one on the right is almost complete and just needs its etched brake lever and Tare weight, while the one on the left is one I built about 25 years ago and is "out-of-the-box". It sports a hand-lettered livery - I could see straight in those days! http:// Here we have another 3D-printed Cambrian Railways wagon, this time a 3-plank fixed side, again from Coastline Models. This one is actually finished, apart from weathering, of course: http:// And finally, a string of Cambrian Railways opens, a couple of 4-plank high-sided opens and three 2-plank dropsides in various states of completion. They need their brake gear completing, a few small other details adding, the interior tinting and external weathering: http:// http:// http:// http:// Apart from the hand-lettered S&DJR 3-plank, company livery markings are transfers. The Cambrian Railways wagons use waterslide transfers from the Welsh Railways Research Circle, all the others are HMRS pressfix. Small details like door safety chains and sheet lashing rings are present on the wagons in the first couple of photos, but need adding to all the rest..... Hope these are of some interest! I'm looking forward to getting my teeth into some 5'3" gauge wagons soon! Best regards, Mark