leslie10646

Hhmmmm, just a year since the last post on this. The GNR's Christmas traffic was so heavy that CIE are helping out with the bread train . (Taken on phone balanced on the Armagh Line facing Portadown Jct, while twiddling the knob on the radio controller!). The T Class tank is in the coaling stage headhunt at the roundhouse , the Park Royal is on the Down Dublin line which runs around the back of the roundhouse (with a grey B121 at the head of the train. A30 is having a rest - actually as it's an original A Class, it has probably expired ......... I'll post a few more trains when (if) my Son comes on Christmas Day and there is someone to hold a camera and another to drive trains - it gets pretty hectic having three trains running on the double track - No.207 on the Enterprise chasing No.172 on a Christmas parcels train on one track, with the Class UG running a local on the Up line (yep - three controllers!). IMG_1057.MOV

To date, my customers have been lucky, to get kits, but don't try BOOKS! We've just had a parcel returned to us (£10 of postage down the drain), the An Post docket said "unrecognisable customs code", or some such - my associate posted it, so I don't have the exact wording. Needless to say the Royal Mail aren't terribly helpful, suggesting that we send it again - are you kidding, another £10 on books worth £20? As someone said earlier, exports UK to the Republic are reducing, because they're well-nigh impossible. And here am I trying to raise money for a series of charities (like the RPSI, IRRS etc) ......... Time to retire and concentrate on being a grumpy old man! Leslie PS My late father was a Customs Officer (UK) so I can hardly start smuggling now ........

Jim, Don't buy it from Amazon, e-mail me and I'll get a copy en route from The Syndicate. Nice book, JB and Barry. Congrats. As one of our chaps said above - it should sell a lot of model diesels and hundreds of my wagon kits (I'll make a list of those you've managed to include! Leslie (Provincial Wagons) PS my website is being converted to Wordpress, which is proving painful

Thanks for sight of these, Ernie. Interesting to see a VS at the water column at Dundalk rather than one of our preserved engines. Lovely clear photo, pity it's one of them with the larger smoke deflectors - which I never really liked. The shorter version, ending at the handrail really gave them a certain look. It is one of the great regrets of my life not to have travelled more than 743 miles behind three of them - but the memory of a footplate ride on the immortal 207 as Ned O'Hara flung her and her ten coach load into the Knockarney dip at sixty mph was and is unforgettable. There are (some) benefits to being an old codger!

Thanks, Kevin, for this. No quick and easy answer but I'll get back to you.

Well now, Mr Eagles - why do you need a RTR beet wagon? Pop along to the Provincial Wagons stand and buy my kit of the wagon from Lorna - who has taken on the great job that Anthony did for me. Her first outing with a Provincial Wagons "hat" on (sorry, Fran!) so give her some business. If you don't believe it's easy to make, ask Robert Roche of the local club. He made ten within a couple of days of getting them from me. The bad news is that Lorna only has ten of them to sell - thanks to the Little Englanders, moving stuff "home" ain't easy - working on it! Have a great day guys. Well done the Boys of Wexford for getting "exhibitions" back on the rails! Leslie

Hhmmm, Ernie (and Kevin), the lout trespassing in that 1968 shot of the B Class is ME (!) I think I had a camera bag like that then, the side burns, ears and specs look like me and I was certainly there (and on the ECS the day before). Aaarrrgghhh! On the previous Wednesday evening, I had my last run with steam on the Belfast Boat Express - the only time I travelled on it right through from Manchester. By the time I returned the following Monday, it was diesel and the brilliant fiery runs each evening from Preston to Lancaster on the train were gone forever. Ernie, thanks for sharing these (even if embarrassing). Not many shots of trains at Armagh.

Line by Line: I don't need to add to the comments above, except to say that Jim has written good factual captions, nicely laced with anecdotes which help to bring the "steam railway now run by diesels" to life. You can get a copy from The Syndicate (UK only, sorry) and so assist Irish railway preservation (mainly the RPSI). Funds from such sales assisted us to buy thousands of Henry Casserley's negatives in 2019 and 2020 - they will be made more visible and available in 2022 (if I and my team find the time!). Simply send me a PM, or e-mail me and a copy can be winging its way to you

Hi Kevin I can't give you an unbiased opinion (being on the IRRS London committee), but a friend who really knows his stuff commented on the quality of the captions. Ciaran really puts an effort in - to research the subjects of the photographs he is restoring - you won't be disappointed. His talk the other week, based around Leslie Hyland's photos was a classic of brilliant photos, described in depth.

Dare I say it, Mr Davey, but I prefer the green livery with the stripe as you have above. You've set me wondering if a green A Class ever ran over the Antrim Branch - Black 'n Tan B Class certainly did (albeit infrequently). By the way, a very nice job with the point rodding. Mr Dillane, I should have known that you would grow trees appropriate to the beet season.

Thanks, Patrick, the dollar bills are in the post! Actually, seeing the black A Class, makes me sorry I didn't opt for one - looks good on the goods! As always, the layout looks great - very impressed by the autumnal colours in the trees - do you change them to suit the season? Get your kits from Lorna at Wexford next Sunday (24th). PS She ain't got cattle wagons (e-mail /PM me if you need some), but corrugateds, H vans, double beets and my delightful GSWR brake van are all in the Dublin stock.

My announcement regarding Provincial Wagons attendance above seems to have struck a cord, so an update. First the Good News - I won't be there! The better news is that I will represented by Lorna McDonald (and family!) who has a finite stock, which is reducing a little by folk e-mailing me with pre-orders. As they say - "book early to avoid disappointment " - E-mail me (preferred) or PM me and I'll ask Lorna to set kits aside for you. Thanks Leslie (Provincial Wagons)

Hi Andy Lucky I checked the details on UK Model Shops Directory - it's 13/14 NOVEMBER not this weekend! See you then!!! Leslie

It DOES move, by the way, the previous pilot engine is cowering in a siding Maybe I should digitise the Bavarian job? It runs well after twenty years in the box (you can tell that I've been tidying the under my boards! At least twenty "foreign" locos in boxes! MVI_1898.m4v

Back at Portadown (and its dodgy German turntable) ......... The shed foreman decided to get his new shunting engine out to rescue a damsel in distress Sorry, I meant a broken-down Single-ended Yankee. I hope that you've noted that this is a BLUE engine, in keeping with God's Northern Railway?

Purely to wind you up, JB, I have my forty year old Fleischmann turntable at Portadown - TOTALLY WRONG, of course, but, hey, it works! i thought ttc's Peco turntable looked nice.

Nice wagons on your train, Patrick - oh, sorry, I'm meant to be admiring the diesel ........ Just had an e-mail threatening delivery of a Silver job. You do know that we called these things BULLETS? i presume because of the colour .........

Sorry about the blank video - can someone tell me how to dispose of it? Having "fun" with my new iMac which needless to say has a mind of its own! After the Banana, we repaired to a nearby overbridge and just about viewed Clun Castle coming round the curve from the main line and heading North towards Oxford and Birmingham. For the diesel men, note the Brush 4 pristine in original 1960s livery on the rear. MVI_1891.MP4

When I discovered that the GWS's Flying Banana was going to be running (a rare occurrence), we popped down to see what this fore-runner of Ireland's AEC cars was like to travel in - a shakey experience, but great to have a ride in it for a mile or so! You're in control ..... MVI_1885.MP4 A pretty bumpy ride for the passengers and almost as smokey as an "A" Class! MVI_1890.MP4 To give you an idea of the exterior! MVI_1885.MP4

Hopefully, Wexford will offer you an opportunity to buy Provincial Wagons kits over the counter for the first time in two years - WITHOUT the obligatory weeks waiting while An Post decide how much to charge you. More later!

Thanks, Broithe, for this. After enjoying the SNOW (brilliant editing and soundtrack!), found that the next video was the wonderful film of The Elizabethan. Nearly 400 miles of steam haulage and superbly filmed - always a joy to watch.

By a remarkable coincidence, the same engine (131) was out today (Saturday) on crew assessment with the RPSI's Mark 2s. I received by e-mail several very nice shots in bright sunshine. No doubt the RPSI will post some on its e-mail service.

While you're waiting for someone to do a RTR of a wagon / carriage you want - have a go at building a kit! (Mine even!). WCR is talking about Ciaran Cooney's brilliant presentation of Leslie Hyland's Black and white images taken 1950 - 1965-ish. Briiliantly taken originally and full of detail modellers try to recreate. Mr Hyland was a master of his craft and Ciaran has done a very fine job of researching the details of what we saw - nearly every county in Ireland was covered. I might even get a green A Class ........

Kenny boy, I ain't gettin' rid of it - I'm still paying for it on the Never, Never yet!

Hi Mike If a lorry can burn gas, or indeed a bus (our local ones do) - why can't I use my Zero-emission NEW Gas boiler for the next thirty years? Yeah, I know that you're neither the Energy Minister, or the PM (a Classicist, who knows nothing about science), but WHY NOT? LM (Fellow sufferer in the Hades of BrexitLand)