leslie10646

Somebody has to ask the question: will there be space to fit a smoke unit to the original Crossley engined versions..............

Nothing daft about that question, Glover, the real things were notorious smoke producers. But it would need to be a very high quality unit which blasted out more, depending on the torque the loco was producing at the time - Maybe not.........  Add a hundred Euros to the price!

Glover, young boy - give up the fags - then you can afford every livery you can imagine!

I only ever puffed cigars and now I can't walk up hills because of my COPD. You want to have decades more to run trains through your famous station (remember my house is named "Pettigo Fair" - the Fair was on the day (established from the GNR Weekly Notices in the IRRS Archive) on which The Boss was born, hence the name.

The loco is sure to be a winner - almost as many variants as the J15s!

Great choice, lads. All the very best with the production!

Lord, I'll be 73 when you get it to me.

Will A1 be the only one you'll do in silver, or do I have to wait until I'm 74 (if God grants...).

(Now what do I do with the two I've got already - I know, a diesel scrap line behind my steam shed .....)

Only kidding, a really great choice and you'll get my order soon - even if the Blessed Oliver never wanted to "Buy British".

Have a great show - I bet it has caused lots of excitement and rightly too. If I'd been there, I'd be along with €50 right now.

Leslie 

Nothing I had experienced in the West Cork could have prepared me for Blaenau on a wet day.

I loved John's comment about North Wales - but of course, there was a positive side to it - the waterfall at Tanygrisiau would be in full flood and that was a sight to see!

When I saw Andy Cundick's Valentia, I commented on how wonderfully grey it was (boy, I've led  a few tours round the Ring of Kerry on rather dull days) - I did suggest to him that he have a glass front to the layout with rain somehow imitated on (in) it. If the German's can make  the glass opaque behind the driver in an ICE3 - by just flicking a switch - I'm sure imitation rain would be a cinch?

Mike - Bantry is an absolute delight - looking forward to seeing your GSWR brake van in the station!

Eoin, I hope that you don't mind me bringing this excellent thread to the attention of Richard McLachlan, who has built well over a hundred coaches in brass. He has a weakness, of course - they're mainly North Eastern Railway!

To say he was impressed - well, read his own words -

"Eoin's post is very detailed. He is doing a really good job.

Eoin, a terrific thread which will hopefully encourage some younger modellers to "have a go" at the harder stuff.

More power to your elbow with it.

Glad to hear that, Dave.

I always thought John a sensible guy - better out enjoying a good walk in the Lakes or up a mountain, than being cooped up making locos etc. 

On the other hand, he's promised some interesting things for we "Oldies".

For those of you who had planned to buy one of my new GSWR brake vans at Raheny - I'll send it to you by post for the Raheny price of €35. Just send me a PM, or use the e-mail address on my website.

Naturally, I have good stocks of all my wagons ready for the Show, so let me know of anything else you need and I'll send a quote - I can usually post two kits for the same price as one, so you'll save a bit.

Enjoy the  show! 

Leslie

Sorry to say, it was poor Richard's car which went - a more prestigious looking vehicle than my little 12 year old SMART! 

Thanks for good wishes, Garfield. Warley is definitely in the calendar and "on" - I'll be on the IRRS stand.

Have a good show. Looking forward to your news.

L 

John

I saw that picture in the GSWR history. 

Before any of you ask - we aren't doing the Guard's name on each van!!!! (Look at the caption to see what I mean). 

Can someone teach young Beaumont how to include piccies in the right orientation!

I'm sorry to have to report that Provincial Wagons will not be at Raheny.

Nor will the Show be graced by Richard demo'ing all that is best in brass coach-building.

The long and the short of it is that our means of transport was stolen 24 hours ago and we cannot rectify this at a reasonable price in the time available.

Add to that, I had a serious fall on the London Underground last week and am limping about - you are all spared me showing off my bruises!

I'll put up suitable notices on this site and my own website for those who were hoping to buy the new brake van. It is my intention to offer it at the intended "Raheny" price of €35, posted to you. Either send me a PM, or use the link on my website.

Have a great show.

VERY sorry not to be there.

Leslie and Richard

G Class:

Norman Johnston's book (you MUST have it Tony?) pages 48, 52, 53, 60, 72, 73, 84, 108 and 197!

Appear to have designed by, or heavily influenced by Beyer, Peacock. Photo on Page 52, 53, etc.

Leslie 

leslie10646 might be interested to see the above video! (the double beets at near Light Speed) - 

Oh yes, I am!

Great work Robert on your train - you're the only person who has twenty of them.

The layout looks terrific as well!

Leslie

Boys, Michael, I recognise you as the bloke I sold a GSWR brake to last night!

Very good to make your acquaintance. I always gloat when I see your models from my kits on "Bantry". 

L

hi leslie I will get one of you at the show martin

Martin, your name's on it!

By the way, JB, your pic is of a 12 ton one - useful though, that it gives another number!

As I said earlier - the kit is a gift to the weathering men - reproducing that effect will take some doing! 

When they reopened a few branch lines using the little G Class diesels, you had this shiny "silver", new out of the box, engine at one end of a short goods with a poor unloved and filthy brake van at the other!

I'll reply to both David and Patrick together.

First, David, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see my wagons running on your rightly famed, brilliant layout - but alas, they are resin kits, so very scale oriented. If they had been 3D Print based, it would have been easy to oblige you - alas, not.

Patrick, you have discovered the photo which helped me chose one of my transfer numbers.

I have taken a leaf out of the IRM Book and only offered numbers where I have evidence of what they looked like - at least in the case of the numbers carried.

When I was doing GNR(I) wagons, I had the Wagon Book to refer to so that I was sure of numbers. I have not seen anything which tells me which GSWR wagons carried which numbers - but if anyone can point me in the right direction ....... ????

Patrick, I think you are right about that very dark grey / black, but I have to say that the light grey, even if incorrect, allows you to see the detail - black detail just disappears, except you have your layout really well lit (which mine isn't!).

Hi Joe

May I echo Jon's point?

I'm steam to my innermost being, but Paddy's 141s / 181s will probably outpull any steam loco I've got. If you're buying a diesel, I can't recommend them highly enough. They would run away with twenty wagons.

L

Thanks for that, John. 

The kit is a gift to the weathering men, who can spend many happy hours dreaming up filthy liveries for the poor things! They were pretty unloved by the end - Michael suggested that a few miles on that short chassis would have dictated the need for a convenient bucket on board (no, we don't include that! 

There is a great photo of one of these vans on one of the reopened branches being hauled by a shiny new G Class - the poor van has DROOPING verandahs - now there's a modelling challenge!

Although this is on my website, I thought a few photos would help?

I have produced the van to allow the buyers of the up-coming 00 Works J15 to have a complete goods train to pull behind it.

These little vans were built around 1890, but survived to be pulled by the earliest diesels on some branch lines in the late 1950s, early 1960s. For example the C Class, or even the tiny G Class, versions of both of which are available RTR. 

The GSWR history suggests a BLACK livery, so this one's in a fairly dark grey. 

In CIE days, it could have looked like the version above, with the original lettering roughly painted out, but more likely it would have been like this - 

I'm still waiting for the final transfer sheet, but thought I'd give you an idea of how you can finish yours.

I probably prefer it in a lighter grey, as it shows up the detail a bit better?

Talking of detail, Michael Rayner, my brilliant modeller has really done his stuff with this one:

There's even a brake wheel for your miniature guard to turn (actually, there's two, as there's one at each end). Note, too, the GS&WR's adherence to Helf 'n Safety in the form of those simple bars to stop said guard falling overboard!

I have a decent stock of the new kit for Raheny at an exhibition price of €35 (it will be €39 by post to Euroland, a bit less to UK), but if you want to reserve one, e-mail me send me a PM, or e-mail me at

lesliemcallister@aol.com

Phew, I can retire now - I've produced kits of both a GNR(I) and a CIE Goods train (well, someone else has done the locos!)

Leslie 

Ah, Tony, I was on that train!!!! My first rail tour in 1961, I believe! This looks like us waiting to come off the Markets Branch at Omagh.

The model is built from the Rowlands kit (forgotten the guys first name or his trading name) - now available from Des of SSM.

It IS a nice model and runs very well with 4 bogies or so - I took it off a train of Richard Ellis-Hobbs' GN coaches to set up this "photo shoot".

David, thanks for the heads-up on the LNWR six wheelers. There is a rake being made by Richard McLachlan for a DNGR layout based, happily enough, in the Dundalk area. I'm owed one of those six wheel full brakes, because, one was at Portadown roundhouse, presumably in some use as a tool van, or whatever.

Yet another hare to start running, I have been reading DSM Barries book on the DN&GR, now while the locos are still available from the GEM successors and Worsley work do most of the ex LNWR 6 wheeled coaches, I am at a lost to find anything about the Bogie Composite coaches they used on the Belfast Boat Express.

I understand they where 54ft but that does not make any sense as far as the LNWR is concerned since they where only building 50ft coaches at the time so to build something which was longer does not make any sense, so I am wondering if anyone may have that rare photo of these coaches while the DN&GR was still operating.

If you have the original of DSM Barrie's book, there's a photo of a painting of the Belfast Boat Express. I'll scan it when I'm back home where the book is.

Well, these aren't the coaches in the painting in DSM Barrie's book, but they're close - in the painting they are being hauled by a Class PP - so my No.42 fits the bill. The coaches were built by Jol, owner of London Road Models (see David's reply). They are LNWR "English" coaches, but all became Irish coaches when the GNR(I) bought them from BR in 1948 or so. I had the opportunity to buy them at Scaleforum recently and thought it would be nice to recreate the painting on my layout! Actually, I've always loved the LNWR coach livery, so that was the original attraction. 

This is similar to the painting, but an attempt at a side on view (not easy among the struts in my loft!).

Although each of these is identifiable as a GN coach Class, I'm not going to repaint them in Mahogany!!!!

It's only taken me a month (I was in Switzerland leading a tour for two weeks, mind you) but my website seems to be up again. It's still a work in progress, as I get the hang of a different website builder.

To make it worth your while looking, there's a new offering to ogle at (although if you model Irish Railways AFTER 1965, it's honestly of no interest!).

When 00 Works announced their J15 last year, I suggested to My Man (Michael!) that we might do a CIE brake van to complete a branch goods train  such as would have been pulled by these little engines - we have already offered the corrugated open and the H van, of course.

As two other manufacturers offer the CIE steel 20 ton brake, there was no sense in replicating that, so we looked a bit further. Then I visited a model railway show here on John Bull's Island and there was our old friend Andy Cundick showing off Valencia Harbour. For that layout, he had scratch built a GSWR 10 ton brake. 

I duly photographed it and sent the photo to Michael, who was seduced by its venerable appearance. Michael will admit to being a brake van fan, so we were on the way.

I must also thank Genderg, another brake van freak (or should I say geek, these days?), who produced a pile of useful data and photos.

Six months on, the van exists and I hope to be selling it at Raheny.

When I showed the van to Andy he complained that everyone would think that HIS was actually our kit, but it isn't - his is all his own (very, very skilled) work!

Leslie

Thanks for putting the photos up - I have photographed the remains (a remarkable amount still visible for The Ring road), but only from the coach while touring. Obviously, a pilgrimage to walk it is a must!

In the late 1950s, the line was worked by J15s, but towards the end the little BoBo C Class diesels were used. For wagons - dare I say it, my kits will give you a complete train! As you will find out in a day or two, I am about to post pictures of a suitable brake van!

You need to buy Patrick O'Sullivan's two volumes on the line (Oakwood Press) which give the full story.

Good luck with the project.

Leslie

Anthony,

Glenbeigh is an excellent choice, as it lasted long enough to have diesels (only the C Class mind you) as well as steam. Of course you can bend history a bit, decide that the Valencia line never closed and get away with using Paddy's 141s, if you're not so keen on John's C Class.

What a railway that line would be today, had it survived!

As Brothe says - it's your railway, so calling what you like and run what you like!

Ah, sure the Yanks were probably copying us?

Aerial ropeways feature on a number of Irish railways - Ballinhassig on the CB&SCR (to a brickworks) and on  the Ariana valley extension of the C&L - at Derreenavoggy  - it ran up to the Laydens mine.   John Langford took some fascinating photos of it.  We should persuade Andy Cundick to extend his line and include a working ropeway?

Of course there was also that "bucket way" over the GN main line North of the Boyne Viaduct running to the cement works.

No doubt JHB will provide a longer list!!!!  Come on John!

I should have said that a photo stop at Lisduff was a feature of that memorable day when No.4 called there with the May RPSI tour and then ran off 35 miles without going below 70mph - mind you that was a while ago!

Sorry to report that this little loco is delayed by the supplier of wheels! Otherwise the job's complete.

I had hoped to show mine at Raheny, but that now seems unlikely.

He plans to deliver the grey ones first. Then the black.

Folks, just be aware that while Roderick MIGHT one day do a Z-boilered version, it won't be for a few years, he tells me. So, if you want a J15 for your layout, now's the time to buy.