murphaph

Lovely bit of backstory to the book.

Hmm, I never heard of them having a bar in Stoneybatter before the Phibsboro one. In fact as a student I worked behind the bar in the Muddy Boot in Stoneybatter. That place was owned by Martin McGowan but the bar his family owned in Phibsboro was long established at the time he opened the one in Stoneybatter. Maybe there was another bar there they had a connection with but it was never mentioned to me.

Did these McGowans have any connection to the pub in Phibsboro of the same name?

There's video on YouTube somewhere of a JCB unloading the barytes ore off the wagons at Foynes. As the spoils are really just an updated barytes wagon and indeed the Barytes wagons were used on weekends as spoil wagons elsewhere on the network (hint hint IRM, these would have wide enough appeal I would have thought) I can't imagine the modern day unloading would look all that different. But maybe they have something better than a JCB these days though I'd imagine it's still the right job most of the time.

Anything RTR from the 1990s Rob. Missing a few baby GMs but otherwise have all the MM locos from the period and of course the IRM stuff too. My long term plan is a 90s themed Limerick-LJ layout in a 30' x 10' space in the basement. The test oval is in that room now but as I have no garage yet the room also doubles as my workshop for now. Gotta build a garage to free up the space that I need.

First of all, fair play for even considering this John! Survey done. I won't lie, the price mentioned is pretty juicy and of course I understand why it would be so, so that's not a criticism in the slightest. It would be a stretch for me personally but if I was presented with Merlin or Slieve Gullion in preserved condition I would be hard pressed not to buy. I only buy models of 1990s prototypes or stuff I can repurpose for that era. It's a rule I've made for myself to avoid financial ruin lol! I would know that such a loco would genuinely be a one off so I'd almost certainly pull the trigger. I personally would not be interested in anything that could not plausibly run in a 90s scene so it would have to be something that made it to preservation for me. Wishing you the best of luck whatever way the project goes!

Ah I didn't realise that was you Jonathan! In fact the judicious use of book illustrations, assuming the copyright holder has given their consent) can help sell those books. Thanks to Mogul I ordered a copy of Rails through the West yesterday and very much look forward to thumbing through it!

Yeah this is a fairly niche item yet it looks like selling out soon enough. It's surely a good positive sign for the future or RTR Irish models. The strongly hinted at rerun of the ballasts will see the ploughs sell out I'm sure too.

Cheers btb. I'm actually located near Berlin so getting h0 scale stuff isn't a problem but I'm only using these relatively cheap locos for test purposes. The real collection and layout will most definitely be Irish! Collection is in the attic in storage until I have cleared enough space in the hobby room to actually build the real layout in a couple of years. For now I'm making do with this sort of "research" stuff so I'm ready to just go when the time is right. I've already learned some valuable lessons from this little test setup that I will take advantage of during the big build.

One of the "trains at speed" series of YouTube videos has a fairly good shot of of an empty bulk container train passing underneath. I can't remember which one unfortunately but it's one in the teens I believe, definitely not a low number in the series.

Great to see them selling so well.

Are there any other h0 fremo modellers in Ireland Jack that you know of?

Thx but I can't afford those sort of prices over buying sheets of birch ply and cutting out myself!

Yeah I had a look at the standards a while back. The main 00 fremo guy in Germany actually lives quite close to me. Most of the few 00 fremo meetups have been about 10 mins from me but I hadn't yet gotten back into the hobby at that stage. I might someday build a couple of modules but there hasn't been a 00 fremo meetup for 5 years now.

Yeah that's the concept. There are huge fremo meetups here in Germany and beyond where loads of people bring their modules along and bolt them together to create very long runs. It's all standardised. It's a pity the 00 subgroup seems to have died a death. https://www.fremo-net.eu/en/modular-systems/h0-scale/00fremo/

Short video of current configuration... Rocrail test layout demonstrating end to end running, simulating a shuttle with two track station at either end of the run. Also featuring learned braking distance/curve (BBT) so trains learn with each iteration when to begin braking to reach the stop (in) sensor smoothly. The long straight between the stations consists of two physical blocks, grouped together into a logical block group and designated as a critical section, forcing Rocrail to reserve all the blocks in the group, thus preventing a head on stalemate condition at the 12 o'clock position.

Ah ok. Thx. Way too late for me unfortunately. Will have to wait for IRM to do the old ones

Any information about the year? What years did the sugar beet operate with the bulk containers on 42' flats?

Symoba is a German supplier that I heard good things about on a German forum. http://www.symoba-schniering.de/sym-produkte.htm

I love the "IRRS piano music". Nice touch.

It's possible they need to heat up certain foodstuffs like treacle to get them to actually flow out I suppose.

Ok Dave. That's a shame but bigger picture and all that.

The plain ones are indicated in the Traffic Signs Manual. The sign is designated RTS 005. I suspect because the border colour is not specifically mentioned, that someone has taken the liberty of installing the UK version, which appears identical but with the red and white border.

What's the electrical switchgear used for on a tanktainer? Some site of heating element?

Glad you got to the bottom of it.