Northroader

Thinking of “Midsummer Nights Deam”, there was Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed, although two of them are a bit long for a nameplate. All in favour of plastic locos, my first one is just held up for some stick on rivets, second one on the go, and I’m also making a replacement chassis for a brass kit which was lacking side play. The one stunt I enjoy is setting up the axlebox bushes, all unsprung. The frames are three ply .060” Plastikard, the bushes put in about where they should be, dummy axles in, coupling rods on, then trued up with a touch from a hot solderingiron, with some plastic cement sploshed round to set in any gaps. ive had problems with using plastic water pipe as boiler material, getting a solvent to work on it, as it’s nothing like the plastikard stuff.

I think you’re right, lower the horizon, but I’ve made the sky too dark and threatening, needs to be lighter. Nice Summers day, or more of a tonal contrast? (What would we do without Ernie’s Archive?)

Yesterday I was looking at Ballycombe, stuck in the far corner of the railway shed, and thinking what was wanted, and then I decided to get stuck in, and with more done today. It’s St. Patrick’s Day, so it must be a good time to be doing an Irish line, after all, and my best wishes to everyone both sides of the Sea. This year I’ve been taking ideas for a microlayout further, the main idea being that rather than have a station with sidings shunted from a headshunt on a fiddle yard, you turn it round, with the station having the headshunt, and the sidings going in the fiddle yard. The sidings need only to be long enough for a few wagons after all, and the headshunt needs to be longer for your pride and joy engine to be seen moving about. The track in the station been lifted, with just the main running line to go back. What was the fiddle yard was giving me grief anyways, some “cassettes” of track lengths laid on thin ply. There was stiffening strips each side, but they were going banana shaped just the same. Now I’ve made a two track sector table from a piece of 17mm. melamine clad chipboard shelf, much more dimensionally stable. This is pivoted at the far end, now I’ve got to get the board levels right, but as the layout is just a single lightweight unit, it should be easy enough. The track needs work to get the sleepers regular, and there is less track all told. Here’s what it looks like after a couple of days jobbing: you could say it’s ended up as diorama with moving bits, as it has got quite small. I’m legislating for a small tank engine, a six wheel brake third, and four goods wagons, then just shunt the whole lot round. There’s just one wagon visible for now, built to the two Daves’ one true gauge, or near enough. Overall length is 51.5”, 1300mm, station length 30”, 760mm, sector table 21”, 530mm, and the width of the main board is 12”, 305mm. You can see I’ve started a backscene behind the main board, as it matters to me to give a sense of the place, but I don’t think it’s working, and it will get an overpaint. Probably I’ll put in an over bridge before the sector table join.

Just needs to be a bit shorter and having tank engines running on it?

That Terrier was Dapols first venture into affordable 0 scale models, and must have proved commercially successful, as they’ve followed it up with a good range of very nice small models, all compact sizes of steam tank engines, apart from the 08 diesel. Looking forwards, possibly what’s missing is the fairly widespread LNER J72 0-6-0T, and if that appeared it wouldn’t need much tweaking to turn it into an Irish J26, which I would suggest is the best bet for a low price RTR job with the widest appeal?

Maybe you could consider an Atlas Plymouth diesel, made in Austria for the American market. They're a good size for a microlayout, and if you did a repaint into an Irish scheme, they could look a bit like a G. I’ve found they’re very durable, good value, and have used the chassis for rebody jobs. They occasionally turn up for sale, here’s one on American eBay, problems with the postage, I’ve just used it to show what it looks like and the price. https://www.ebay.com/itm/354662684018

Just do it like Blackfriars’s station in London. Stick platforms and glass screens and a roof along the Boyne bridge, and have an entrance from either side river bank.

Looks really good, with a real period feel about the bus body. It’s strange how the design takes the leading wheel set is right out out the front, and there’s such a big overhang at the back, adds to the character.

Big island and smaller island- none of us have the manpower and there’s as much in mothballs as is working. Least ways there’s no huge white elephant carriers in Ireland. What’s the Russkis doing? Going round cutting all the undersea cables, that’s what.

With a slanting cab front, when you’re going at speed, there’s quite a considerable updraught. With a wiper at the top of the screen, this is trying to force the blade further out at the limit of its wipe. It caused more damage than was necessary on BR units, and it looks as if CIE had the same trouble. Putting the wiper at the bottom of the screen is a better position.

A full version still exists in London WC2, all the rest have been swept away by public sensibilities.

I’ve been taking an interest in a NCC cattle van featured in the New Irish Lines for May 2023. It looks a bit odd because it has a nearly 14’6” body on 16’ solebars, so there’s quite step at the ends. The wheelbase is 9’ and its vac fitted. I guessed possibly it was an old body that had a lengthened chassis and wheelbase done when it had vac brakes added?

Is the mangle on that wagon some kind of asphalt spreader, tarmac on roads sort of thing?

If he’s doing a merger all the pages have got to be half the width.

You’re doing a great job at digging out the references for all these vehicles. It does form a most useful source to go to, so thanks for what you’re doing.

It’s 0 scale (7mm) but the gauge is 32mm, rather than about 37mm for the 5’3”.

Furthest North I got to in Dublin was a place called Amiens Street, well, back then that was what it was called.

I just hope when the juice is switched on the little b****rs turn their wheels and behave themselves.

I get the idea that it slows down in office hours, late afternoon -evenings it picks up.

Well, the photo I gave says it all, really. You can make a simple layout based on microlayout design and take it to a show. If you do a search for gauge 1 kits, you’ll find there is stuff available which is a realistic price. Remember that the layout shown is managing quite well on a limited number of models, and because of their size, each one gains a personality and individual interest which you cant get with smaller scales.

July, 2024, and I went to Larkrail, to me quite a special model railway show in Bath suburbs. One line really caught my interest, a small gauge 1 branch line terminus, by a guy I regard as a mate. You’ll see it’s pretty well a standard arrangement excepting everything just a little bit bigger, and to me more attractive as a result. Discussing it with its builder, and I mentioned expense, and he laughed and picked up a Terrier 0-6-0T. All the superstructure was made from cardboard! This aroused my interest enough to go along to the gauge 1 association do at Swindon steam that summer. The bulk of the show was, I admit, bloody scary when you looked at the price tags, but the association admission desk were selling white metal castings for standard axle box/guard/ spring units at very reasonable prices. Slaters do wheelsets, plus loco wheelsets at fairly normal prices. I would say if you can do fairly simple scratch building, you can put together a basic branch line arrangement without breaking the bank, and be able to fit it in along one wall of a room. If you go for RTR items, a win on the football pools would be a help. Me? I’m very tempted, it’s just there’s a lot of 0 gauge tracks in my railway room, and a layout in a different gauge would be a bit too much of a good thing.

There’s all.the old MECCANO magazines available for free viewing here: http://meccano.magazines.free.fr you can pick out any article quite quickly, and it makes for a very interesting read

Just thinking about things last night, I struck me some folks might be interested in travellers tales, getting to Ireland back over seventy years ago. It was a tale I did over on the RMweb thread, before they had the great picture crash, I’m sorry to say. It’s what started me off with a real liking for the place. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/107190-“washbourne-plus-deepfield”/page/60/#comment-4380728