leslie10646

Thanks, Jon, your interest is already noted on my database! Planned for Blackrock 2019. The other wagons you mention are all available right now, especially the new GSWR Brake van - see the Provincial Wagons website! Happy New Year everyone, however you say in it your language! Leslie

Following on on Noel's suggestion a series of pictorials of lines in the Midlands would be nice, perhaps combining colour and black and white photos with condensed versions of J P O'Dea's John O'Meara's, and N J McAdams IRRS papers would really bring the operation of these lines in the 1950s & 60s to life. The IRRS London Area did a short series of Irish Railways in Pictures, one of which covered the Midland - I still have few, being the publisher! And of course, I have copyright access to those old articles from the Journal - as you say, priceless stuff to set the scene for the modeller. With a recent mini-landslide of wonderful collections coming our way, what you suggest might be worth a punt. Trouble is, I've got two other ideas which are overdue for publishing ........

Yes, another new book, but maybe not for most of you folk, as it's narrow gauge! Published by my favourite railway publisher - Black Dwarf Lightmoor, this is a sequel of sorts to the Author's father's volume from the 1960s - Narrow Gauge Album. The difference is that the photographs are crystal clear, not the grainy, flat printing of Ian Allan in those days! About a quarter is Irish content, as you can tell from the Contents. The late Patrick Whitehouse presented, with Pat Garland, the BBC's programme Railway Roundabout and while he was making it, he took many very fine colour images of three of Ireland's best loved narrow gauge lines. I don't approve of printing across two pages, but one shot of a steam train in the Barnesmore Gap almost brought tears to my eyes. A must for the narrow gauge folk, especially if you like the Ffestiniog and IOMR as well. The Syndicate (profits to Irish preservation) will send it to you IN THE UK ONLY in time for Christmas for the cover price of £25 post free. Stock on hand now. I very much regret that because of the extreme weight of the book, sending to Euroland is not practical, as the postage is about £10 for a single book. If a bunch of you wanted it, I guess I could send a pile to one place for distribution? If you're interested in the book, please PM me. Thanks to those of you who bought your "Irish Railway Memories" from us - they were posted to you on Monday - the publisher was very slow in replenishing our stock! We've still got that in stock. Happy Christmas!

Tony You will be aware that there is a model of the UTA low bridge double decker on the market - probably only second hand now. You'd have to re-letter the destination blind, as the model is a "Ballyclare" bus. A bit like my Jim Poots' PS1, which is going to Carrickmore ( a former home) - hard to explain that in Portadown, or on the level crossing at Richhill?

Thanks for showing that, David. It looks as if I'm wasting money on a Stay-alive chip - mind you, I'm sure the MRSI's track is fifty-times as well laid as mine! Sorry to hear about the wonky cab. I believe it is a separate "piece", as I believe Roderick told me he was going back to having a metal boiler - just the thing for an 0-6-0, giving it bags of torque and pulling power (like the redly thing!).

In those "happy" days, my annual season for Crusaders FC in the Black North was 10/6 or 52.5p, say 60 cents! For that, our centre forward (Danny Hale) knocked in fifty goals during one season in the Irish League! Now Danny was a member of the (True?) "Old" religion and the prod supporters of the ultra orange Linfield used to sing at him "Hale, Hale, The Pope's in Jail". Danny found the perfect answer and put the ball in THEIR net! Oh, I didn't mention that the East terrace at Seaview was perfect for watching NCC steam trains as well! Trains seemed to go past very slowly on match days!

Exactly right, Ivan! When Irwin Pryce and I were compiling our version of the 101 history, we mused on whether any part of 186 (maybe the wheels?) was original!

Mine arrived at Coastal DCC for the usual "Works". No use having an analogue loco here - I'm too lazy to switch power systems - mind you, I should as the Kernow Bulleid diesel hasn't been out of its box yet!!!! Still trying to dream up just WHY a J15 would be at Portadown in 1956! Now, there's one for you Beaumont - did a J15 get to Portadown before 186 was towed through there in the mid-sixties, en route to immortality?

Folks Just an update on this, as a lady in the Republic enquired after the cost to "Home". Of course, the good 'oul Royal Mail fleece you for sending stuff to Euroland. Now that I've come round after finding out just HOW much, can I mention that I'll post this book to Euroland for €15, post paid. Profits to the RPSI. If you're interested, I'll provide my Euro account details. Thanks

Good man, thanks for buying it from us! We can supply it, £10.95 post free to UK, for anyone who would like one. I'll check the postage to Euroland! Yes, it certainly made a very positive impression - we had five with us and sold the lot! PM me if you're interested, profits to Irish preservation. Leslie

Easy, there, Jonathan. We had a talk from Peter Smith in London ten days ago - among the best five talks I've ever attended over sixty years. From the direction he seeks to take IR engineering, I'd say it could be a very exciting place to be in the future. He struck me as a guy well on top of a very diverse and testing job. If the politicians give him some backing, the Irish people will have a great railway to travel on in the future.

Can't help you on the photographer, Ernie, but they are VERY nice - some really golden shots among them - like the Festival Express, the train at Whitehead Excursion and the shots of the Mogul on the 1964 Joint Tour. Thanks for sharing them.

Well spotted, Noel. By searching around I've come across the size - looks like 110x68x20cms. I could get a lot of railway stuff (20 locos?) out of my Ikea cabinet with one of these - if I can find a wall!

To complete Jonathan's comment above on the fleetness of these "Goods" engines. The late "Mac" Arnold timed No.198 pulling 5 bogie coaches at 69mph down an imperceptible gradient (1 in 450), although Bob Clements never got over 64mph. Happily, I have timed 186 in this Century at a mile a minute (at Antrim!). I'll "Ask a Friend" for his top speed with the Round-topped type (in the form of 184). Watch this space...... If former UTA and then NIR Chief Inspector Frank Dunlop says they were good, they were GOOD!

Folks Young Jonathan asked me to check the longevity of a couple of his favourite "101s" and I had to tell him that both had received the Z Class Belpaire-fireboxed boiler - NOT this model! So, be aware: 00 Works will provide 109 131 162 and 196, but take note that 196 received a Z Class boiler in 1953 and I bet none of us is modelling quite that early?) the others keeping their round-topped boilers (as per model) until their respective demises - 1964, 1963, 1963 and 1961 respectively.

No, George, it was a West Country "Clovelly" in that Southern green that so suited the Pacifics, but with BR numbers - as she would have been in early 1948. I travelled behind her in 1967, for the final time on the penultimate day of steam when she did 84mph on a journey up the Portsmouth Direct Line. A more perfect buy would have been in Southern livery, but they seem harder to come by. I have a few other locos in the "Sunshine" livery - but in a glass cabinet. Sometime, I should switch the wires upstairs and run Portadown Jct as Analogue! Earlier this year, I was sorely tempted by a TMC model (nearly two hundred quid) of 34034 Honition - my Engine of Engines - she gave me my ever fastest "service train" run. In a sentence - 80mph at Hampton Court Junction, checked nearly to Woking then tore up the big bank near here to top Milepost 31 at 75mph, did 91 before Basingstoke on the flat and a mile at 97mph through Winchester Junction, stopping in Winchester in 62 minutes for the 66 miles from Waterloo - TWENTY minutes early. It simply doesn't get better! I was twenty then, little did I think that I would spend nearly a half century living within a mile of that exploit.

As Patrick says above, there are other pictures in the Gallery section of the 00 Works website of No.162. There is a photo of 162 on Page 96 of Steaming in Three Centuries and the model looks just like the real thing. Little did I realise when I decided to include that photo in the book that I could one day own a model of the loco and produce the wagons behind her - two H vans!!!! And you know where to get those? My money was transferred to the Bruce account a few moments ago, but someone else will have to put a photo of theirs up - mine is off to be chipped! Expensive weekend, as I bought an unrebuilt Bulleid Pacific at Warley as well. Just as well that Deltics are not my thing?

Mayner said: There was a paper on The Athenry & Tuam Railway in one of the IRRS Journals in the late 70s-80s and included details of the locos (mainly J15) allocated to Tuam for working goods trains to Limerick & Sligo in GSR & CIE days. Maybe Leslie may have a copy? Your every wish, John. Quick look at my index, then to the bound set in the study - I'm in the dining room on the laptop surrounded by various leftover jobs from Warley. Volume 17, February 1989: A 16 page article by the late John O'Meara: tells us that locomotives 101, 106, 109, 119, 125, 161, 163, 188, 190, 191 and 229 were in use from Tuam - all J15s, or "101"s I believe - I haven't checked absolutely. You'll have to reference the table in Steaming in Three Centuries to see if any of those survived with 4ft4in boilers.

Yeah, makes you jealous! And Fran doesn't even wear glasses. With the current state of my eyes, Patrick would have been blurred at that range, never mind the Smartphone! I was in the crowd to the left of the pics - good to see the interest the announcement drew and it was obviously well received. As with the multi-variant A Class announcement at Raheny, the option to have your Deltic in different liveries and with different numbers is clearly a hit. My IRRS mate Richard promptly went off to the stand to order two different Deltics which he used to photograph on the ECML when he was doing his Masters at Durham. Serious diesels - one of my fellow timers has timed one at 117mph - did they really need the HST? Good luck with the project, gents.

Good news, Andy. Southampton is usually a "must attend" Show, now it's doubly so. Had e a Constructive Christmas!

Right, now let's turn to David's wonderful Arigna Town - photographs do it no justice - you have to see it and have the Station Master point out some of the delights. David has a series of informative notices along the front explaining the background to the layout and how things were done - excellent. First a view of the station area - The railbus arrives at Arigna. What a clever design this "bus" was - note the entrance with steps from rail level to the doors - no need for platforms (or stations!). This method of boarding the train is repeated on the other side. Note, too the shunting signal. David pointed out the group on the platform. Folk en route to weeping exile in America, perhaps;? The local priest is seeing off a couple of his young ladies! Well, I'll put it that way, David had a more amusing tale which I couldn't repeat here! The railbus was then turned on the turntable. Now you can see how the boarding arrangements were repeated on the other side. Finally, David's piece de la resistance - the washing line with clothes blowing in the wind! Yes, the sheets really DID blow - everyone asked him how it was done! No clever DCC feature - the sheets are tissue and there was a draught in the NEC - I can vouch for that - the IRRS stand was in primes position to get the full benefit.

Patrick - your every wish ........ Here is the Great Man himself supervising the arrival of a beet special at Courtmacsherry. No need to tell you whose wagons they are? Andy did a lovely job of converting my Provincial Wagons Bulleid Corrugated opens to 21mm, as you can see Never being one to make demands, but I insisted on getting steam haulage - so with Andy's MGWR tank. St Molaga takes her turn on the beet and finally, last but not least ..... Argadeen takes a bow. This little engine was a great favourite of my late friend Lance King, who donated her nameplate to the RPSI's museum -the one from the other side is in the IRRS's HQ. Needless to say, the brake van was the inspiration for my latest wagon - the 10 ton GSWR brake. I clean forgot to show Andy my version - he's cursing my existence, as now people think his fine scratch-built van is my kit! Finally, a view of the harbour at Courtmacsherry - Another terrific layout from Andy. He says it's "incomplete", but this looks just great to me! Note the close supervision of the photographer by Andy - maybe he thought I had my eye on those lovely wagons - a mix of scratch built, John Mayne's kits etc. We spent time on Saturday night so that we could load up a display of Lance King's slides of Courtmacsherry and the CB&SCR and were able to display them on our monitor on the IRRS stand on Sunday - the wonders of modern technology! Arigna pics in the morning - I'm knackered after a weekend on my feet!

Impressive modular construction - they were putting it up at 7pm when I called by to say "Hi" to the lads. It obviously goes together very well! Good luck with the launch tomorrow - I must try and get along to swell the crowd! I promise you Stand C65 is VERY simple - our Chairman won't let us have a flashy presence.

Folks I'll have no less that three new books for sale on the IRRS Stand at Warley at the weekend - profits to support Irish railway preservation. Irish Railway Memories - a Decade of Change 1984 - 1994: an album of photographs by Paul Haywood - until I looked through this, I hadn't really realised just how dirty diesels could get - ammo for the weathering men? £10.95 Railways in Ireland Part One: is a new edition of Martin Barstow's first of five volumes on Irish railways. This one covers the GNR, SLNCR, and the five narrow gauge lines in their hinterland. Many new photographs have been added - I haven't done a page by page comparison, but can assure you that it's beautifully reproduced with fine sharp b;ack and white illustrations. For an Englishman writing about Irish Railways, Martin does a commendable job and found interesting photographs by fellow countrymen who put their camera to good use in the Emerald Isle. £17.95 Finally, for the people with a narrower view of life: Narrow Gauge Album1950-1965 In Colour by Michael Whitehouse, son of a famous father PB ("Pat") Whitehouse of Railway Roundabout fame. "From the wilds of the west of Ireland, through the mountains of North Wales to the rolling countryside of the east of England ironstone fields, the narrow gauge railway provided an invaluable service for around a hundred years." I have yet to see the book, which just arrived in Lightmoor Press's warehouse yesterday, but I'll be picking up a supply on Saturday. Black Dwarf Lightmoor are the top railway publisher these days, in my not humble opinion - their books cover their topics thoroughly and the reproduction of images would take some beating. No one line captions for them - the norm is a meaty description of the scene, doing credit to the scene depicted. £25.00, but mention my nickname on this site and i'll give you a couple of quid off. Come to Stand C65 at Warley and have a look! Leslie(10646)

The wait is nearly over! My Informed Sources tell me that the driving wheels are due early next week, so the first locos should be completed pretty soon after that! Just in time to run Christmas extras!