leslie10646

The guesses at "what it'll be" should get saner now that you lads are off alcohol for Lent.

Here's my self-centred view.

It won't be a J15, but 2029 seems a good year to bring out No.186?

Unhappily, the Class WT looks all too likely, in which case I'll be taking an even more expensive holiday this year with what I've saved.

A GNR S Class is a possibility, BUT No.171 has been in bits when Paul Isles was measuring things up, so maybe not?

Forget No.800 - it wouldn't offer Accurascale the sales volume.

A GNR Q Class would be really nice, but might be too much off peoples' radar despite being around on track recently.

What I really want and will buy a couple of them before Paul sits down after his announcement is a GNR Compound.  No.85 been around for the last ten years, so people are familiar with it.

People have been ranting on about the annoucement being for a Tank and many alternatives have been offered, but not these lovely little engines, just 25 to choose from:

                                                                                 Amiens Street Shed, 1957                                                           Photo the late Lance King, Copyright IRRS

Great news, Dane. Glad to know that a really nice layout has been saved.

Good luck with the Resurrection. At the risk of a bolt of lightning, or a kick under the table from @Galteemore 20 April would be a good day for its unveiling in its new home!

I note that Mr Isles is doing the "Spiel".

Good news for my fellow GN-ers, he's got one of my GNR Class Y5 vans which he obviously bought to put behind the new GNR(I) loco!

Whooppeeeeeee!

I've sent in my cheque for two ......

Hopeless! Clashes with Quiz Night on the BBC.

Is the identity of the C Class to be a "Starter for Ten" on "Uni Chall"?

Mind you, if,  as a loyal supporter and previous keeper of secrets, IRM send my air fare .........

Naw, I don't want any more disappointment!

JB, do you want the loan of ten GN coaches for the thing to pull during the demo?

13 hours ago, Signal Post said:

Thanks for posting this Leslie, that layout looks super. I had actually been toying with the idea of taking a trip over to Abrail as there were a number of things that I wanted to see there, so keep on posting, especially if you have any footage of Faringdon...

Sorry, SP, I didn't take anything of it.

The exhibition is on about now each year. If you check in UK Model Shops Directory it'll tell what will be there next year (meaning, have a look in January 2026!).

https://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/

Ah, so there is method .....

Of course they're snails. I live in 1950s/60s!

This note is no use to you guys on the Little Island, but I had to comment that I can't over-praise this exhibition which was on yesterday and today.

Fifty-ish layouts, a lot of traders, although NOT Squires, which is a shame

A few videos / piccies to let you see what I mean. The videos are slow to load, but you've loaded it you can look a few times at top speed.

"Grantham - The Streamliner Years" was remarkable. Huge layout, constant action. The reason I went and how glad I was that I did.

First an overall look down the layout from the "North" end with turntable, loco depot on right and platforms, including a Northern Bay platforms. Quite a few trains used to change locos here and this was faithfully recreated as the ends of the rakes of coaches or wagons had KayDee couplers which allowed the changes to take place seamlessly. The charts which you see hanging on left told viewers what was happening - shunting went on at both ends while trains ran through. The layout faithfully reproduces the real sequence of trains, speeded up a little. The "Streamliners" were run through two or three times so that eveyone could enjoy them fully. Everything else took a single bow!

First those streamliners - the Headline-catching fast trains of the 1930s - The Silver Jubilee, The West Rising Limited and The Coronation - each with correctly liveried loco and set of coaches. It was like "trainspotting" about 1938!

So first The Silver Jubilee which would have been racing like this - it was about to begin the (shorter easier) ascent to Stoke Summit, prior to a 90 - 100mph descent almost every trip - oh for a Time Machine - this comes close!

And finally the Southbound "Coronation" from Edinburgh. Note the "Beaver tail" Observation car on the rear of the train.

I hope that you enjoy them!

23 hours ago, Colin R said:

I now wish that I had ordered a packet of grain wagons

Coliin

I'll leave a note for my executors.

23 hours ago, Dempsey said:

I feel the same about the H's

Two notes.

Why have my H Vans got nice clean roofs?

On 27/2/2025 at 3:10 PM, Portadown said:

I'd love to know what that building apparently on stilts is that is attached to the main building on platform 4!

Looks great Leslie

Yes, William, I was puzzled by that too. Before I saw that it was on stilts, I thought it was where the subway came up. I know from photos at platform level that the steps came up to an entrance through an arch onto  the platform - but WHERE? Was it under that water tower building at the South end?

Thanks, Ernie, for more evidence than I'd managed to glean before. William modelled the elevated nature of the station very well on his version. It wasn't practical for me. 

An Irishman who doesn't know CHEPSTOW? Racing, Skinner, Old Boy!

Also, more important, near the Dean Forest Railway, which is well worth a visit!

21 hours ago, josh_ said:

i bought locomotives of the GNRI by nornam johnston aka: the blue bible
MGWR by W E Shepherd
DSER by Shepherd & Beesly
The Dingle Train by Rowlands, Macgrath and Francis

All with amazing drawings

 

Ah, Josh, you're a man with good tastes in reading matter!

Also, on "Abe", the place to look for anything pub;ished, ever ......

Seller Image

More images

Now you send me this - back to the drawing board! Oh well, it was good practice!

Too show you that it doesn't matter if something is not quite right! From the middle of the loft:

Or from where I sit operating!

Now the 2.45pm semi-fast from Dublin arrives.

And for a bit of fun, what a non-stop looks like from the centre of the attic while doing a dining car crockery breaking whirl through the loop!

Off now to remake it all as it's even more fictional than I thought!

The morning after the night before:

The last section of canopy has set and sits OK, so I've now put the whole of Platform 4 together (precariously) to see how it looks!

It goes on for a bit (180cms or so) as you can see and even with TEN canopy sections, it only gets to here!

So do I "Spoil the Ship for a Hap'worth of tar" or leave it at that? The next picture shows what ANOTHER two sections would stretch to! In reality, the canopies covered most of the platforms. I'm erring on the "spoil the ship" as no-one will see the other end of the platform with any ease, it's lost in the roof beams! It's the water tower end which is most visible!

Thoughts on a postcard, please .......

To this impressive collection you should add photos of the staff at work. 

Not really for the modellers, but again as a record of the past. The old railway companies used to attire their people very elegantly - it was "statement" of the greatness of the concern and gave the people pride in their job.

1 hour ago, josh_ said:

Completely reasonable i know people around my own age that ill ask and see as id love to sign up and keep this alive as a lot of clubs from IRRS to the RPSI are all older gentlemen and ofc if no one willing to step up and replace their roles, these places might sadly close for good

 

Exactly right, Josh. I can't encourage younger folk enough to "take up the flame".

We hold an important part of the Island / country's heritage

Someone else who likes to have a layout where his engines can get a run!

How long is that set-up of yours, Broithe? Have you taken over an entire floor - much easier that working in among loft struts!

Great stuff. Very jealous of your uninterrupted space!

Just another word on the drawings "service".

Since the Pandemic, Richard McLachlan has been the sole worker, since the untimely and lamented death of Anthony McDonald - who was his "man on the ground" and who helped Richard - who is based in Eastern England, to extend the digital archive.

Richard is reorganising the service, so that it can be more easily be accessed, a job expected to take at least another year, so patience, please.

The Society needs younger (I'm 78, Richard is in his early seventies), enthusiastic, computer-literate (scanner literate?) members who are prepared to help preserve a treasure trove of information. I have two helpers here in England helping me scan the collections in my hands, but we all have lives to lead (and models to make!).

The GER one, aka the Liverpool Street pilot in the 1960s, is sublime. Very tempting, even for the glass cabinet!

Following on from my last e-mail.

An accessible Journal will be a part of the Society's new website (being built as we speak), so these treasures may become available to members in the foreseeable future.,

Just a follow up to JB's comment.

Unhappily, membership doesn't get you cheaper books of drawings, but the custodians of such obviously look more favourably on fellow members!

The Society's "Journal" is the custodian of Irish Railway History and is an invaluable resource. Being an aged man, I have a set of them from No.1 and I've set myself a task of reading them starting in 1946. Some of the earliest ones are beyond price as records of what went on.

Loads of you guys have been buying beet wagons (aka Bulleid corrugated) from me and more recently the super IRM RTR ones. Do you know the story behind the beet traffic? It was told in extensio in Journal No.5 pages 136 - 141 by a Mr E Fitzgerald.

Which prompted me to suggest to the Society Board that e should digitise the Journal and make it available to members? There must be a way to do this to allow ACCESS, but not downloads........

Hi George

I'd love top help but, typically for Microsoft, I can't get into the system. Maybe you'd tell us what to do?

Sorry.

Leslie

The IRRS has scanned several railways' drawings  in their archive, eg GNR coaches, wagons, also some GSR, SLNCR and MGWR.

E-mail me and I'll send the list.

lesliemcallister@aol.com

As David says above, this is close, but a big difference on driving wheels - 6ft on the NCC and, I think 6ft 9in on this?

I don't think that even the most silver-tongued of us could persuade Rapido to do a UTA run - I'm aware of less than a dozen NCC modellers.

Hence the absence of NCC wagons among my kits - almost as bad as BCDR (sorry Patrick), but when I did BCDR wagons they were Dapol repaints (400 of them in all of four "prototypes") they sold very slowly and I think I sold the residue off cheaply. I've done two NCC RTRs - a LMS covered van with UTA lettering and a "Courtaulds" open both of which sold out. The Spoil wagon kits were more special interest wagons and continue to sell with 214 sales to date. Another example of people buying them in tens!

Now, IF Rapido DID a "U2" I'd grab one OK - "Carrickfergus Castle" please  - which ran on the GNR. I think that "Chichester Castle also did?

I answered this a day or two ago on another thread (possibly).

227 kits sold to date - probably a dozen or so more as my records aren't perfect, especially at shows when sales can be frenetic!

I have requests in hand for twenty or so  and will order at least a couple of dozen more kits during the summer for sale at Blackrock. 

Paul is right, people have train-full of them - JB may have the most apart from me as I have ten built by our late friend Anthony.

Thank you to all of you who made this kit a big success.

It IS 453, very clear in the c colour slide.