Parkmore

The Ae 6/6 and the BLS van live at Brugg. Not sure where the coaches live. I think that they are part of the SBB Historic 'fleet'. If you happen to be in Switzerland or have a Swiss IP address, the SBB Historic site gives access to a great deal. A bit like needing a UK IP Address to get the most from the BBC.

I have a long history of getting lost o Swiss walks, dating back to the 1980s. The vast majority of marked walks are excellent, so good that you come to expect perfection. That is where problems happen; at junctions you really need to check against a good map. Back in the day you could buy 1:50000 maps overprinted with the officially recognised paths and that helped as long as your map reading was up to the job. Around 2000, the Swiss map people produced full sets of maps for the country on CD which could be used in a computer - an improvement to your ability to plan the trip but they were expensive. Around 10 years ago, the App 'swisstopo' appeared and solves all problems. It is free - so no excuses for not having it. I have recommended it to you on various occasions over that time. It is not a 'simple' app as there are a lot of options. You can zoom in to various scales, and among the settings you can get it to show the marked tracks. It also shows you where you are on the map with a dot. You can also set it to show 'Public Transport Stops' and also 'Closed Hiking Trails'. If you click on a bus stop or station, it will tell you the next 3 buses or trains and links to the SBB I don't actually use it every day; just when I am going somewhere unfamiliar.

The diesel shunter is a reasonably recent (10 years) product from MAK. Being model 1700, it has 1700 KW power, so there is an Irish connection.

Around 25 or 30 years ago, D&S Models in England brought out a brass and white metal kit for the Cowans and Sheldon 15T crane. Actually 2 different kits, with different shaped jibs. They were widely used in England on the NER, GWR and many other railways in between all with locally sourced runner wagons. While digitising drawings in the IRRS Archives 5 or 6 years ago, I came across a nice drawing for a 'GNRI 15T Breakdown Crane'. It was pure Cowans and Sheldon. Identical other than the gauge. When I showed the drawing to the proprietor of D&S, he was very impressed because when he was doing the kit he consulted Peter Tatlow who wrote the definitive 2 volume book on Cowans and Sheldon cranes, but Peter did not have very good drawings, and some of the 'works' in the kit was a bit sketchy. (Guess how it goes yourself - style) Looking at photographs of such cranes, the shape of the pipe-work around the boiler seems to differ on each crane - maybe it was replaced over the years. I don't share Leslie's optimism in seeing a ready to run model as soon as 3 years hence, and I doubt that it will be anywhere near the initial advertised price.

The Scalefour Society have a lot of this covered. They certainly supply sets of gauges and punched wooden sleepers. I bought a pile of them 30 years ago. There was some interest in making laser cut wooden sleeper bases for 5' 3" points; I supplied prototype information from the IRRS Archives. I suspect that Covid has set things back a couple more years, as all small suppliers are too busy at the moment. No doubt a bit more demand would help to lift them up the priority list. For those that knew Tony Miles and Adavoyle, he built it prove that P4 track standards were perfectly workable in a round-roundy layout; there were no others at the time as far as I know. It just happened to be 21mm gauge and GNRI. Decent modelling just needs time to do it and enjoy it.

Although it is over 50 years since I last saw Wilfrid and Patricia (the Courtauld's tank engines built by Peckett's), the scene looked just like in the photograph. Back in 1967 or 68 I was about 13. I lived at Galwally/Newtownbreda and some of my school friends lived around Stranmillis/Malone/Lisburn Rd/Finaghy and from time to time I would cycle to Lisburn station. One Saturday afternoon I cycled up Stockman's Lane to the roundabout (I think) at Andersonstown. The gates to Eastwood's were wide open so I walked in as there was no-one to stop me. What I saw just inside the gates perfectly matched the photograph that you have shown. I didn't have a camera with me, but the light was particularly poor even on an otherwise sunny Saturday afternoon; just like on the photo.