leslie10646

David, that looks terrific.

Bit worried about the "Great Leap Forward" bit - the last iijit to have one of those starved countlless millions. I hope you're not starving Timothy and Christopher?

Excellent idea, David.

All we need is a "Competent Man" (as the late Drew Donaldson would have said) to do it.

One of you youngsters can get on with it, we Oldies have plenty on our plates and a reducing time to do it!

Ouch!

New stock arrives at Portadown (displaced from Greenore via Liverpool). The local traffic superintendent couldn't resist it.

Side view:

Quite a weighty coach, with a nice sliding centre axle -we'll see how it likes my rotten trackwork (not just arrears of maintainence, but Jerry built in first place!).

Its sister Full Brake will be given a run on the Christmas Mails on Monday.

26 minutes ago, GSR 800 said:

 

26 minutes ago, GSR 800 said:

(Coincidentally the man famous for advocating for utilisation of geographic chokepoints such as between Scotland and Norway and the Channel, A.T Mahan, died in a very similar time period...perhaps Jellicoe's gaff pushed him over the edge...)

Yes, the running off to watch the Swilly's trains wasn't a very glorious episode, but better that than lose modern battleships.

Don't knock John Jellicoe, his "distant blockade" (Scotland to Norway which you rightly mention) did a lot to help win WW1. Before you bring up Jutland, remember what the New York Times reported a day or two later - 

"The German High Seas Fleet has assaulted its jailer, but is still in Jail!"

We'd better stop this or we'll be banned.

Now, if IRM opted as their next steam offering a 4mm model of HMS Caroline I'd be first in the queue!

Well, of course, there was the little matter that Winnie  put every barrier he could in the road of sending even a shovelful of coal to the (then) Free State. He was miffed that Dev wouldn't allow the use of the former Treaty Ports (given back just before War was declared). That they would have been useful goes without saying, but The Free State was a lot closer to Luftwaffe Bomber bases than bases in Ulster and so the price of "co-operation" was likely to have been heavy.

The Man with the Cigar DID ignore the tens (hundreds) of thousands of Irish who crossed the Irish Sea and more than did their share of ensuring that the Nazi tyranny was ended.  To say nothing of much looking the other way on numerous occasions.

Thanks, Andy, that gets me off the hook. I'd only have sold a dozen I'd guess!

If no-one makes a kit of the North British Cask Wagon, I'll have it ready for Blackrock 2023.

2 hours ago, the Bandon tank said:

Any chance of one Leslie.

31 minutes ago, Andy Cundick said:

More than slightly reminiscent  of the North British empty cask wagons,Andy.

Those railcars look great, Darius. Pleased that you done a set in the original green / cream livery which is how I remember them.

Like Robert, I look forward to seeing them in action.

Can't resist a snide remark - the "real things" were sufficiently unreliable to ensure that I enjoyed many speedy runs on the Larne Line in the mid-sixties behind the WTs driven by some really great enginemen.

Ah yes, a Cattle engine would have been nice. Great brutes of things and impressively long-lived.

With great regret, I have to agree with Warbonnet that the RTR stuff DOES run straight out of the box, while brass built kits can be a trial. My S Class looked divine, but on only ran properly twenty years and major surgery. Daniel Wu built beautiful locos but like every other enthusiast in Hon Kong had nowhere to run them, so the running bit wasn't his forte!

Locos built "over here" have done much better and my Northstar locos  (all bought secondhand) are a credit to their builders for looks and operability.

I wonder if there's a suitable chassis for a Cattle Engine or a SG3 that we could stick a 3D body and tender on? Maybe Ironroad's idea of backing Rodney to build one might have merit?  

As I often say, look what's BEHIND the loco! A Turf wagon!

Now we know who's got a picture of one!

9 hours ago, Galteemore said:

Bottom line, I think, is that if you want to be an Irish modeller, some diy is almost always involved. And that’s no bad thing. For far too long I was put off doing old school modelling by fear of failure. Get yourself some plastic card and make a start. It’s fulfilling, rewarding, and incredible way to learn. 

As I observed before, this thread is better than TV.

David has hit the nail on the head. If you want things from the steam and/or the steam/diesel transition era, then you will have to do a lot yourself, so the sooner you start .....

I model GNR(I), so I wanted a Class VS (Colm Flanagan), a S Class (three built for me in Hong Kong by the esteemed Daniel Wu (an Interior designer!) but heavily modified by Alan Edgar), Class SG (also Hong Kong and one built in England) and of course Class T Glover Tanks (now three!).  All, except Colm's VS are SSM kits. The Classes AL and  PP (Northstar) were a bonus, gratefully received. That's 25 years of expensive collecting.

No manufacturer, even with Squillions of Euros to spend is going to equip my shed with the things I want RTR!

If I was into the GSR (and its predecessors) I would have had a much harder job. J15s, Yes - Thanks Terry McD; the little MGWR tank; GSR coaches (SSM) but none of the many 4-4-0s John M speaks of. The Woolwich Mogul was, of course, a gift thanks to its Irish designer. So thnaks, Bachmann.

Whatever IRM come up with, it'll do well because it will be unique and even if you're modelling a different railway, you should still buy one and find a reason for having it (like my J15s and MGWR 2-4-0 at Portadown Jct!).

And don't whinge about the price - compared with my list (£500 each, maybe) it'll be a bargain.

I have a load of IRM's stuff, which has NO place whatever on a 1950s GNR layout, but thinking back to the 1960s when I first attempted an Irish layout, I can only encourage those who may take my hobby on long after I am gone.

No hope for you at all!

That said, it is 201 which I have a photo of crossing the River Lee (one of Lance King's), NOT 207 (it's an age thing!).

Most important in the photo is the corrugated Bulleid behind the loco, which Mike may already have in his rolling stock fleet?

The cheque is in the post, Robert - or shall i send more kits?

Mike that is a great conversion AND you can even number it the same as the Engine of Engines (No.207 "Boyne").

Thanks for showing us this, George.

I had to look it up on Wikipedia as while I knew the name ......  Also I was intrigued by the weird cockpit arrangement.

Surely one of few British planes to have been flown by the GERMAN Navy?

This is a SSM kit as built by an unknown builder in the North of England and bought off the original owner. She runs very well (she's running tender first because she doesn't have a tender coupling - just another of the million jobs to do!).

The observant will note a slightly longer train as she has a couple of GNR cattle wagons in the rake. Oh, and sorry for the iffy focus and work in progress look of the place - it's the best lit corner of the layout. I must string up a few miles of LED lighting!

The goods shed DOES have a roof, but I tend to leave it off as Richie did a wonderful job with the interior and I like to keep an eye on my goods shed staff!

Keep watching - the alternative to the 00 Works version also got an outing

I will admit to being concerned about Dave's misfortunes with his J15s, so as I had the late Anthony's last rake of cattle wagons to show off, I thought I'd give them an outing with my No.131. Now she "doesn't get out much", which may explain her relative health. Here she is passing through Richhill (overload cattle special from  Cavan?). You must forgive the quarter- complete attempt at scenery, especially the lack of ballast, the orchard which has yet to be embedded and the missing level crossing gate!

Just to prove that I am still in operation, here is a wagon which is available from me and just moved into third place (ahead of the UTA Spoil Wagons (212 sold) but behind the the double beet (232 sold) and the Top of the Pops "Bulleid corrugated open" (370 plus).
This rake of CIE cattle wagons was the last which Anthony built for me - hauled by J15 131 on a very unscenic curve into Richhill

And taking the Dublin line at Portadown Jct past a train in the Up Goods Loop, with a busy yard behind (full of PW wagons of course!).

To see them on the move, take a look at the 00 Works J15 thread.

The cattle wagons are in stock and sold well at Raheny (thanks to the good folk who bought them!).

2 hours ago, Branchline121 said:

Same could be said for the British A3s, as they only ever ran on ECML (I think), but Hornby's models of them still sell well. I'd say it's probably because a lot of modellers aren't looking into the exact details of a realistic fleet and just want to run trains.

Sorry, BL, a little correction (I've read too many books), the A3s also ran on the former Great Central and in BR days the Midland route to Scotland (including the Waverley Route).

That said, the 800s (like, sadly, the VS) were very route restricted.

This thread is better than watching TV, more entertaining by far - no sulking former Royals, Jungle Bunny ex-Health Ministers, or pouting starlets on multi-coloured carpets .....

33 minutes ago, John-r said:

I did reply on Facebook, and while I would buy an 800 class, I would definitely buy at least two ncc jeeps to run with my outstandingly good rake of provincial wagons spoil wagons.

Regards John.

Splendid chap! Knows a good thing when he sees it!

This thread is great fun, but with TWO "Mogul Tanks", TWO S Class (and one building) and TWO J15s, it's academic for me (I've been around so long).

But, a Compound .........

A Compound for me, please!

The "Q" would be good, of course, but with the painting capability of the Chinese producers a Q Class (BLACK remember!) would waste an opportunity to do a mass-produced lined loco in BLUE.  Especially having seen the LNWR-liveried "Hornby "Precedent" -  described by one Master Modeller as "Ian Rathbone standard".

Of course, with No.171 celebrating her 110th birthday, that may prove too much to ignore? AND you could do several different names / numbers .........

I hope that I'm around to see it!

1 hour ago, Flying Snail said:

Another question for the learned gentlemen here ... this time re the liveries chosen by OO Works for 186 and 179: Grey with Black Smokebox. My understanding is that all-over grey would have been the most common livery, where there many turned out grey with black smokeboxes? Also, how common was black which I see in another option for all four locos? (I gather that after a while they probably all looked black regardless of the original livery)

Lance King's photo of 193 on the 1962 St Pat's Day tour to Youghal shows an example of a black smokebox, but I think the loco was repainted for the run, so it's not really substantial evidence?  Note the BnT six wheel full brake!  Copyright IRRS

1 hour ago, BosKonay said:

Never say never

NEVER!!!!!

Yes, best wishes to Mrs H, no matter how it happened!

Lovely scenes David.

What breed of fish in the boxes?