leslie10646

I thought that the Headline was about the Irish North Western and that the line from Dundalk to Clones, Enniskillen and Bundoran were about to reappear .......

Confession time! I have loads of Hornby long straights on my layout - they are straighter than anything I can lay - and intermixed with Peco 100. As for Peco Setrack ....... even more of that sneaked in!

The February edition of the Railway Modeller has an "insert" of the first ever edition of the magazine (about A5 size (at 1/6 - under 10 Eurocents to the youngsters), published in October 1949. On pages 3 - 6 is a description of The Irish International Railway and Tramway System described by "Mr and Mrs Cyril L Fry. Even then, the railway had SIXTY locos and FIFTEEN trams. By way of contrast, the February 2022 edition has an advert from some bunch called Irish Railway Models promoting their A Class diesels - which weren't even a gleam on Oliver Bulleid's eye when the first RM was published!

Seeing your B47, which is a weird enough looking bomber - when are you going to try a B36? I couldn't believe my eyes when James Stewart flew them in the film Strategic Air Command. Of course, Jimmy Stewart was the perfect star for the film, having piloted Superfortresses in WW2. In 1 in 48, the wingspan of a B36 would challenge the width of any room in your house? For those not in the know, have a look for the film on the internet - there's a pic of the B36 bomber there - SIX props and two jet engines - a a crew of a mere FIFTEEN - even had six sleeping berths ......... On the other hand, maybe, don't try, otherwise you'll not finish your Spoil Train!

With an air force like that, your namesake could have conquered the entire world of his time! After those vac-form kits, my spoil wagons must have been a dawdle!

Totally agree - on the layout it looks very like the real thing (as delivered). I'm very glad I opted for it.

I hate to correct the Venerable JHB, but My Man, Michael Rayner, through his Smallbrook Range does a brake van which is close to one of the BCDR brake vans (I think it was one of his LSWR "Road Vans"). Kirley, formerly of this Parish, got one for his Junction and I believe Patrick Davey may have done one also when in his BCDR Phase. When I first met Michael, I was in my Dapol Phase and I challenged him to produce a GNR Brake Van kit (originally only sold RTR!). While it replicated the superb SSM kit, it was a lot easier to build and it must have been OK as I've sold 161 of them. The GSWR one was chosen for the reasons JHB mentions above - they lasted forever! If you take time with the kit, it makes a wonderfully antique piece of rolling stock which you can certainly run behind even an A Class - which someone has made a nice model of ....... PS Even I have ordered one of Mayner's brake vans - a bit of variety is nice!

Lovely set of photos since New Year, Ernie. The one of 113 at Newry is a Tears to your Eyes job! Really Golden Years of the GNR!

Off topic, but this was one of the best books I have read about the GNR(I) - a lot about the how the railway operated, was managed etc. Highly recommended. Ernie, I hope that you escape the dreaded Virus. Keep away from the "weemen" perhaps? Leslie

Better than Insider-Dealing - 30 plus percent return on Capital in a few months?

Hi Meathdane Apologies for the state of the website, I've got other things on my plate at the moment. The Bulleid Corrugated Wagon kit is my best seller - over 350 of them out there, including very fine ones built by my two pals above! (the Brown Envelopes are in the post, Lads). If you'll e-mail me at lesliemcallister@aol.com I'll invoice you for as many as you want! Regards Leslie

Yes, Mr Mayne, I did post her moving under DC control somewhere back in the mists ....... Chipping is the next issue! Those "missing links" keep enthusiasts amused for years on end - When Colonel McNaughton (late Inspecting Officer of Railways) gave a talk to the IRRS in London he recounted how he, as a young subaltern, with a colleague, was told to change into civvies during WW2 (The Emergency to my Southern Brethern) and sent to survey the possibilities of a link from Kingscourt to Carrickmacross - in case our German cousins invaded the Free State - when another rail link would have been useful to assist the Brits to help their Empire brothers (and sisters) to kick them out again! They reckoned a couple of weeks would do the trick!

Railway rolling stock DID get to strange places - the CIE Open wagon which I did in my "Dapol Commissions" Period was a GNR four plank with a Snail slapped on it and photographed at Courtmacsherry by John Langford. CBSCR fans - take note!

Thanks, John. White's Law applies. (for those in the dark - when it was pointed out that something shouldn't have been on David's "Old Blarney" - he boomed "It's my layout and I'll run what I like on it!"! It's your railway, so run what you like on it! Wait until you see the GAA specials from the Midlands to POrtadown - hauled by your 2-4-0!

JB The Enterprise set is Worsley sides on donor chassis, then superbly painted and detailed by a Brass Coach friend of mine - oft to be seen at exhibitions beside me - aka the IRRS Drawings Man, Richard McLachlan. The Buffet is from Silver Fox and a pretty decent job, I thought? You all know where the (non-sound) A Class comes from! The silver A Class looks better in the flesh than any picture can relate. The Mail train is more fun - Loco by Daniel Wu of Hong Kong from the SSM kit - almost a quarter century old - renovated by the King of 4-4-0 Suspensions, Alan Edgar. The coaches are three Richard Ellis-Hobbs 3D print jobs and the final Y5 is from the Provincial Wagons kit, superbly finished by Our Own "North Eastern Steam", who did an admirable "scumble" effect. (PS I have one for sale!). Glad you liked them - they reflect all that was wonderful about a GNR(I) train.

IMG_1070.m4v Fake News! Unique film of the GNR trying out one of these new-fangled CIE diesels on the Enterprise.

It's time the permanent way department fixed this track! Slieve Donard's driver hangs on tight while working the Christmas Mail. IMG_1067 2.m4v Sorry about the cotton buds - I'd been wheel-cleaning!

Kein Problem, Herr Murph. Alles klar!

After admiring Mr Beaumont's (very dirty) selection of locos on The Harbour - I thought I'd show a shed-ful of CLEAN locos. Apologies for the German turntable! IMG_1064.m4v To aid you identify them, a snip of video? NCC No.97 Earl of Ulster (Colm Flanagan) 00 Works UG (un-numbered) SSM T Tank ( as yet un-numbered) The Engine of Engines Class VS No.207 Boyne Class WT No.10 Class AL (Northstar) 00 Works "101" Class No.131 Class T Tank No.64 00 Works Class U No.205 Down ANOTHER SSM T Tank Class PP No.42 00 Works CBSCR No.5 I'll do another snip later with ONLY GNR(I) locos!

God Bless Lord White (aka Old Blarney), who patiently (on the phone) talked me through resetting the offending loco, getting it to run again and finally give it the address I wanted. All I've got to do now is clean the wheels and The CIE Enterprise can run again! Well done, David, I owe you a pint!

Hi Murph It was a pretty short run and is nearly sold out. If you're in the UK, you can buy it from The Syndicate (PM me), if in "Europe (meaning the Republic)", then the RPSI is an option, as they send from within the "borders". Happy New Year from Big Bad Brexitland - historians will pillory Johnson and Co just as we do Chamberlain, although he was not the only culprit by far!

Ah, Jon, ye've sold yer soul to the Divil - B&W film (and results) was Light Years better than Colour until mid sixties, at least. That said, as Pauline demonstrates, colour is massively useful to the modeller. Good colour film would have settled what GN Blue looked like, or, indeed, the green of GSR Green (on the 800s)? A pity John Ford didn't find an excuse to get John Wayne to Ballyglunin via Belfast and Cork?

Hi Noel Yes, I HAD read that far in the manual - the Digitrax programming feature offers FOUR different programming systems - had anyone on the forum tried changing the Loco address on a Sound chipped 121 - USING A DIGITRAX CONTROLLER? Mine's a Zephyr, with the option to use a Duplex handheld one - just to make it simple the job is done differently on each of the two! Still got a dead 121. The shed pilot has been busy rescuing it!

Ernie Glad to see that they didn't keep you in and hope that the treatment is successful. John Dewing, a photographer of considerable note, left a note to the effect that the IRRS should have the use of his Irish collection of photographs, which Mrs Beryl Dewing handsomely incorporated in the agreement when the collection was sold to the Transport Library. Hence other photos of his which have appeared in the Journal recently, brilliantly presented by Ciaran Cooney. John was a delight to chat to over a pint (after IRRS London meetings). I was delighted to use his photo of No.133 entering Cahirciveen as the Frontispiece of Steaming in Three Centuries.

Amazing that this should have cropped up today. My 121 won't move at all, after an attempt to program it to its running number (tried both "21" and "121") - I had been running B121 as "03", so tried reprogramming it (on my Digitrax set-up) to "121" - the address appears to have been written OK, but after putting it back on main line - one dead loco. By the way, tried programming it on both my "Zephyr" and the radio-equipped hand-held job - both times with loco on a Porgramming track as we are told to. More than one person on this forum said they wouldn't touch Digital with a barge-pole - maybe they're right? It's been one of this days - I won't bore you further......... (Signed) Haggard Pensioner, Frimley, Surrey