IrishModelRail

Seán, I don't think anybody produces these. Walthers has a kit called the 'Medusa Cement Company' but this includes eight silos and they don't look very like the Irish examples. Your best bet would probably be to scratch build your silo using a length of plastic pipe or a cardboard tube covered in thin plasticard. Check out these sites:

and http://www.windsor-modular.com/tips-silos.php

Thanks for the help, I had feeling there was no 'ready to plant' versions.

Lovely video, how big is the new layout going to be? Keep us posted of the updates

Thanks Dave. I'm hoping to build a layout 10' x 6' with a space for me in the middle:)

Some trains running on the layout. There's been virtually no progress since my last update back in October as I am planning to build a new layout.

Hi lads,

Does anybody know where I can get my hands on a cement silo similar to the prototypical examples in either Cork or Tullamore?

Thanks,

Seán.

Hi lads,

I know this question has probably been asked a million and one times but which type of points are better; electrofrog or insulfrog? I am planning a new layout with more complicated track work than before so I need the best running quality and reliability possible.

Thanks,

Seán.

Wow now that is a layout:)

Good to see you back, I can't wait to see more of your layout:)

How do u know what size to make them

A method called complete guesswork:)

Wow some good work there. Your getting a loads of detail into the space you have!!

Thanks George:)

Oh my God what an incredible layout!!!!!!!!!!

Yes between November 2001 to 2003 there were no timber trains at all. There was sort of a rethink when it came back and it might have been deemed uneconomical to operate so many trains on so many different routes, particularly when taking into the levels of crew manning and maintenance (CTC plans were rationalising as many sidings and track.), for instance the Derry trains was an incredibly long roundabout trip requiring NIR staff, it was a time when freight was been scaled back year by year with more emphasis on long-distance point-to-point freight services.

So there were flows form Galway, Ennis, Westport, Ballina, Sligo, Killarney, Millstreet and Gorey? Were these all regular?

The original timber flows which began in 1994 used a lot more locations for the source of timber than in later years, such as Ennis. Other locations included Killarney and Galway, as well as obscurer places such as Millstreet, Gorey and a once-off operation from Kingscourt. It was an interesting time and the routes were flexible, with a flow serving Clonmel (a very regular destination then) been recorded operating from Ballina via Tuam. There was also a brief period when Donegal timber destined for Waterford saw trains starting in Derry but this was subsequently transferred to the Sligo route. The original contract for conveying timber by rail from all these places ceased in October 2001, with the last trains finishing in November or so.

 

In 2003, a renewed contract saw the timber trains return to Irish Rail but featuring trains from Sligo, Ballina/Westport to Waterford only. Unfortunately none of the other previous locations/routes featured and the smaller four-wheel timber wagons were scrapped, leaving just the bogey types left, and even some places like Killarney would no longer be able to handle such traffic. Every so often a rumour surfaces about a Derry timber but seems unlikely since the Sligo flow has also since ceased. You will find some info of the early flows in the 1990s Irish Railway News and the older IRRS Journals.

Thanks! When you say the timber returned to Irish Rail do you mean it had stopped at some point? The February 1999 IRRS JOURNAL states that 'on average, two trains per day are being operated to Waterford to service the Louisiana Pacific factory;' I wish there were that many nowadays! Why did the Galway, Ennis and Sligo timber traffic cease? And of course all of the other timber flows?

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone had any information on the timber traffic from Ennis to Waterford. I was unaware of this traffic until I saw a picture in the 'Rails through the West' book. The picture is from Limerick Check and shows 123 and 131 with 9/10 laden bogie timbers. The caption indicated that it departed Ennis at 17:00. The date is Saturday 13th of June, 1998. on the Ordnance Survey of Ireland 'Mapviewer', the satellite image from 2000 of Ennis shows a timber train in the yard so the flow ran at least until then. Does anyone know when it ceased? Why it ceased? How frequent was it?

An help will be greatly appreciated,

Thanks!

IMR.

Afternoon all,

 

I've added some shots of the bogie cement wagons that are stored at Limerick Check:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/finnyus/

 

F.

Great photos, a sad sight though:(

I got my first set in Monck Place. My dad worked in the Broadstone and my beloved Bohs played around the corner so I was very familier with Leinster Models and as Mayner said you could put in a few bob each week until it was fully paid for. It was a little black 0-4-0 engine and a couple of tank wagons with a cirlcle of track. I would count down those weeks until I could finally collect it. Not long after I went in to the ' big time ' and got the Lima supertrain set. It was 3 mk2s and was hauled by a class 33 - all in the Supertrain livery. How we have progressed regarding the Irish stuff today ! Anytime I pass Monck Place I still think of that great little shop. Of course Phibsboro was a long way away from where I lived in Ranelagh and I had a model railway shop much closer to home. I think it was the early days of Marks Models and was located in a basement in Lower Leeson Street. My main purchase was a Hammant & Morgan Duette controller. This was back in the mid 70s and still operates perfectly controlling the main running lines on my layout today.

A fellow Gypsie! My dad is from Glasnevin and he would be very interested to look at this thread...

Can I ask what the "weekly circular" is?

Sure:) It's the information sheet that all IÉ employees get at the start of every week that has the times of all special movements such as railcar transfers, PWD trains, track machines, engineering works etc. To get a copy is impossible unless you know an IÉ employee...

When 'Relay Train' is listed on the weekly circular' date=' is it referring other LWR or what? Thanks, Seán.[/quote

 

The relay train consists of approximately four wagons of concrete sleepers,the Donelli relaying gantries and the spacer wagon while the LWR train has only wagons loaded with long welded rails or 'strings'as they are commonly known.[/quote']

 

Ah I see, thanks for that:) I never knew the difference:D

When 'Relay Train' is listed on the weekly circular, is it referring other LWR or what?

Thanks,

Seán.

Thanks, the camera has a 32x optical zoom and 51x advanced zoom;D

Hi all,

A video of 461 running light through Gormanston:D

This lad certainly is letting off steam...

some great footage there!i really enjoyed watching:tumbsup:

Thank you!

Marvellous!

Thanks:)

150 years and still going strong:)

Hi all, some shots taken from Gormanston Airfield of action at the Mosney Loop on Tuesday the 29th of October.