NorthWallDocker

You could always go with a larger scale: https://ozarkmountainrailcar.com/railEquipment.php?itemId=2525&category=Passenger Equipment

Informally, I'm happy to offer a bit of "looking help" and potentially postal shipping for someone seeking certain U.S. design models or books. I'm based near Chicago and we're fortunate to have two large hobby shops that specialize in railway models and kits, Des Plaines Hobbies and Chicagoland Hobby and Toy, as well as a monthly sellers' show for small unincorporated modellers who rent tables and sell in several large exhibition halls at the DuPage County Fairgrounds. Both hobby shops have web sites, but Des Plaines Hobbies is more comprehensive. Chicagoland Hobby offers a lot on eBay that can also be purchased cheaper, faster in person. Slower, definitely, but possibly better savings. Books and U.S. models here tend to be glutting the market from estates, so prices can sometimes be pennies on the dollar compared to online distributors. In my own Irish railway interests, I've been fortunate to have much material help from gentlemen involved in this conversation. I'm happy to keep a lookout to pay something forward. Martin

One would hope it is a simple jiggling of the "1" key... but the seller has three coaches listed for that price. https://www.ebay.ie/sch/m.html?item=353795305860&_ssn=belah196&_sop=16

Very pleased to find your proposal to share your historical research and resulting designs as model kits. Thank you.

Neat little MGWR turntable, engine shed, and water tank. Could anyone (@jhb171achill ?) recommend to me (1) a source for working turntable wheels and castings, including an overhead shop crane that might match the turntable sides and frame? (2) a source for a site plan of Ballaghadereen (or similar Midland branch line) that would give diameter and structure dimensions?

PM sent

@jhb171achill, I have a Rockler Woodworking shop near me here in Chicago and would be happy to send you one or two of the lazy susan mechanisms at cost, if you'd like. U.S. postage to Ireland by slow boat parcel rate should still be affordable. I need to buy a few kits from Des Sullivan in Ennis, so maybe we could work out you holding the cash and sending it to Des when I'm ready to order.

N-Drive Productions has the former Backwoods Miniatures turntable available for GBP 60 plus post. It replicates the County Donegal Railways turntable at Killybegs -- made from the underframe of a scrapped locomotive. Unfortunately, Neville Kent does not have a photo nor mention of it on his current web site, but he quoted me the availability and price last year. https://www.n-driveproductions.com/ I've uploaded three photographs that I found somewhere, or that he sent me.

If you're not already aware, Provincial Wagons offers wonderful GNR(I) wagons as kits: http://www.provincialwagons.com/gnr-wagons/. You might want to act soon, since the proprietor (a member of this parish) will be changing to a simpler web site at the end of this month.

Thanks for sharing these questions on my behalf, Colin. Side note: My father remembers being surprised by a herd of cattle under the GNR (I) viaduct on Sheriff Street near Upper Oriel Street in Dublin's North Wall neighborhood about 70 years ago. He was visiting his aunts. His father, my grandfather, worked on the docks and the Midland Great Western Railway yard about 1904-1913. Martin

Just bought a copy from the Castle Bookstore in Castlebar, along with J.I.C. Boyd's Saga by Rail: Ireland and Bernard Share's In Time of Civil War. Very grateful for you researching and writing this book, Jonathon. Now re-reading Rails to Achill....

View Advert Wanted: Tralee & Dingle Railway / Irish narrow gauge, OOn3 and larger Wanted: Tralee & Dingle Railway (Ireland) 2-6-0T locomotive kit or built model -- both Branchlines OOn3 T & D etched brass kit or built model and Chivers-Finelines O-scale (7mm) (RC711) kit or built model. (Photo of locomotive 8T posted for reference only.) Also seeking Ultrascale 12mm (36-inch scale) diameter driver wheels and OOn3 axles for Branchlines T & D kit. Offers also welcome of other no-longer-needed Irish narrow gauge models and kits: Worsley Works "scratch-aid" etched brass kits, Jeremy Suter kits, other Branchlines and Backwoods Miniatures kits (especially Cavan & Leitrim Railway 4-4-0 locomotive). 7mm and 15mm/16mm large scale Irish narrow gauge also. Payment via PayPal or bank transfer. Located near Chicago. Martin Tuohy Advertiser NorthWallDocker Date 15/08/21 Price Category Locomotives  

I bought bullhead rail a year ago just for this possibility of Irish broad gauge track -- 3-D printed or laser-cut sleepers. So looking forward to your testing and development.

You might want to subscribe to the Groups.io discussion lists for OOn3 and also IrishThreeFoot. The group has a list of past articles in the "files" section. Alan Gee has published a good number of articles about his Donegal OOn3 layouts and how he constructed locomotive models. If you're not already subscribing to New Irish Lines, too, you'll definitely want to.

Thank you -- the email address helps. Query sent to the gentleman. Now for a Schull & Skibbereen locomotive in 15mm scale....

Would any readers know if Atropos Models still is producing large-scale kits of Schull & Skibbereen coaches and other Irish narrow gauge stock? The last reference I can find is an 11-year-old address at the 16 MM Association's list of vendors: 23, The Drive, Swinfen, Lichfield WS14 9QT U.K Also, did (or does) Atropos Models offer any Irish locomotive kits?

M I believe most modellers of Irish narrow gauge do O 21mm gauge or OOn3 / 12mm gauge. https://groups.io/g/00n3modellers and https://groups.io/g/IrishThreeFoot. An Irish RTR narrow gauge locomotive in OOn3 would serve a noticeable range of available rolling stock kits. The OO9 Society offers a Tralee & Dingle cattle van kit in the members' store and Dundas Models offers several TDLR kits in both OOn3 and OO9. The comparable Nine Lines kits for County Donegal Railway Joint Commission vans in OOn3/OO9 are no longer being produced. Locomotive kits exist, but are hard to come by, and require much skill to build. Backwoods Miniature kits -- including a CDR turntable at Killybegs -- are being reintroduced by N-Drive Productions (Neville Kent). Branchlines has offered a TDLR Hunslet kit, Clogher Valley Railway coaches, and a few other Irish kits. Worsley Works offers a wide range of scratch-aid components. And a few 3-D printing designers currently offer locomotive bodies and rolling stock. Richard Ellis-Hobbs offers nice OOn3 LBER coaches in his shop on Shapeways. Model Engine Works offers well-developed Clogher Valley Railway steam locomotives and other Irish narrow gauge railcar kits, both for OOn3 and for OO9. Comparable UK narrow gauge railway models are offered RTR in OO9 by Peco and Heljan, especially for the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway.

Four factors for a maker to consider: -- Sometimes an offering, well-researched and well-planned, then well-advertised (possibly by free word-of-mouth), creates or expands marketplace demand by attracting new interest. What changed in Ireland and the Irish diaspora between the advent of ready-to-run models in the UK, Continent, and U.S. during the 1950s and the advent of small-batch kit-makers in the 1970s-1980s, then Murphy Models, Irish Railway Models? -- Niche markets are only sustainable if potential buyers act upon their interests, or are able to act. Good intentions but no purchases pave a road to somewhere. -- High-quality RTR will attract new buyers, because time and skill are scarce for working-age buyers. Quality and operability now can justifyt a premium price to overcome the obstacles of no time, inability to develop skills right now. -- Models that allow a buyer to represent a "fleet" can encourage multiple "rolling" purchases by one buyer over time. I'd love to see an RTR Irish 3-foot narrow-gauge locomotive for a "fleet" -- either Tralee & Dingle Hunslet or Donegal.

The Pullman Society of the U.K's newsletter PULLMAN No. 55 (July-August 2020), pages 5-11, includes an article about the four Irish Pullman coaches. Drawings of an Irish Pullman's side, end, and floorplan -- with numerous exact measurements -- appear on pages 6 and 7. A number of the photos in the article date from 1926 or shortly after and show the original as-delivered paint scheme with PULLMAN across the letterboard (including a coach being lifted onto the ferry boat for shipment to Ireland). The GSR Pullman coaches were wider than English and a few feet difference in length. So a Hornby model in OO with similar window arrangements is too narrow, maybe too short. I think a rake would look great behind an 800-class loco, even though they worked solo in other trains.

Personally, I'd enjoy a rake of GSR Pullman coaches, to scale and exact in detail. Worsley Works makes etched brass sides as "scratch-aids."

You might want to set up a poll for subscribers to vote. Maybe set up a few category questions for the first round: what time periods (1850-1879, 1880-1900, 1901-25, etc); major companies; major or popular locomotive classes for each railway. You might also want to survey for desired scale: 4mm, 7mm, 15mm.

One could possibly determine the "dwell time" for the IRM web boards from Google Analytics -- and more probably from the IRM web board's "dashboard" for administrators. Usually, there's a calculated graph that shows the number of viewers per time period (a day, a month) that fit within durations. You can figure out who's reading, who stumbled accidentally and looked for a few moments, and "false hits." I'm near Chicago, so I'd be curious to learn of any modellers of Irish railways who are anywhere in the Midwestern U.S., or anywhere in Canada or the U.S. I've seen references to someone else in Lemont, Illinois, and then maybe Ohio and Massachusetts and Alberta Province.

I'd definitely buy two 7mm J26 models in 36.75 gauge.

@Majesitc_Trains: I <think> I have an extra new, unused locomotive in green, and possibly an extra coach. I'm in the States near Chicago. Feel free to send me a private message if you might be interested. I haven't considered selling the extra locomotive, but would be happy to look for what I have and consider selling it to you. Gents have been similarly helpful to me. If you're in Ireland, you might also want to ask @WRENNEIRE.