leslie10646

Good morning, David (shouldn't you be writing your sermon?). I think the "don't think they can" is the truth (the results I've seen from my kits are terrific), plus the little element of time! The trouble is, if you want stuff from steam-age Ireland, I'm afraid it will always be mainly kits! As I think all my customers know, I got into this because I wanted GN wagons - I resolved that years ago - even to having a twenty wagon cattle train. The obvious next stop was steam-age CIE - hence the corrugated open and the H, both of which have been worth the bother - I'll let you all know when the corrugated passes the 300 mark!

Well, not bad - TWO Merchant Navies I've had runs behind, plus one a`waiting restoration (35010). 35023 gave me 94mph on the last Saturday of Southern steam, my second "ninety" with her. A rake of four will be about the price of a single 35xxx loco! I can get rid of some Euros at Blackrock!

Just a thought Fran, if you put a wee bit of metal in the bale of fertiliser bags, we could get them out with a magnet .......

Thanks, Dart, for the interesting RDS notice. Even by the 1950s, the GNR was running specials from for the punters going to the Show at Ballsbridge, for both humans and four legged passengers - but as an everyday traffic ....... As I said, fifty orders and we'll produce one! I get a very strong impression, fuelled by an e-mail which I received (and a very quiet order book) that I'm wasting my time with kits - that what people want is RTR stuff? Just back from Hamburg to see Miniature World - now there's a model railway!

Apologies, I scanned it to a very high definition, so even cropping it won't get it small enough! If I get a chance to scan it again ....... They were VERY clean, honest!

David (and Ed) If my memory hasn't failed me, these yokes pulled DSER suburbans in the 1950s and were (sometimes) kept spotlessly clean. I have a photo of TWO of these engines at Broadstone in 1959 - I'll stick it up later - too big to load, so needs cropping!

Now looking for Midland cattle wagon drawings ......

Ahh, David - Steam Engine numbers (think about it) - makes the J15 look an absolute bargain!

Very nice, Tony - a superb building exercise. My wagons look nice in front of the shed too!

Very good, David! At the very least a matter for the Ethics Committee (ask your Dad!). Good move, Edo, I look forward to seeing her at Palace East - I've actually been through your local station behind No.151 on the famous outing in 1963, organised by my school railway society.

Horseboxes? Yep, thought of those and of how few I'd sell - they did tend to run singly - except for the RDS Show? Then, which one - GN, GS, BCDR (I could go on). Of course, if I have fifty requests for a particular one, it'll be ready for the next show after Blackrock! Back to Live Meat Transport. After a passionate debate (about thirty seocnd's thought), we've gone for the unfitted 1950 wagon, seen closest to the camera below. If you want a 1949 one or two (the one furthest from the camera), a bit of Plasticard and a shortening of the cross bracing and Hey Presto, you're there. Watch this space! Still open for expressions of interest to encourage us!

Bantry gets better and better. Now, where did that Ivatt tank come from? Has someone been scratch-building? Nice to see the SSM Bandon Tank "at home". Keep it up, gents. Great work.

An interesting prototype to choose - I wonder when the last of them ran! A lovely piece of work, young man. I'm surprised that Midland John hasn't reacted - he must be busy tidying up the garden railway before winter!

I'm sure that you have made the right decision Edo. No use having wagons if you have nothing to pull them with! That said, I'm older than Roderick by more than a decade ........... I hope that you enjoy running the loco - as I've said before, mine is on a train of bubbles with a GSWR brake upstairs! Now there's heresy.

Gents Thanks for the positive feedback, which encourages me to continue. Feel free to add to my list - as I say, I can't hold you to numbers, but it's useful to know who's interested - they can get the first pictures, first! Leslie

Ah ha, John, piccies from the famous Garden Railway. It (they) look very nice. Out of season for you now? Leslie I sent my J15 over to Neil @ WheeltappersDCCsounds to get his J15 sound project installed plus a pair of head lamps. She sounds great. Looking forward to running here back at home next week. Some nice extra sound functions on this project simulating a rake of loose coupled wagons starting off with cascading coupling snatches as the slack is taken up down a rake of wagons, and the reciporical cascading buffer clashing on stoping as each wagon closes the gap behind the braking loco. Thanks for posting the video, Noel. Almost convinces me to fit mine, although it is only intended for very occasional use. Anyone got any thoughts on a good sound chip for a small-wheeled two cylinder 4-4-0 (the U Class being my thoughts). Of course, I should fit sound to No.171?

I suspect a J15 commissioned from a brass kit to the same standard as an 00 Works would probably cost at least double. Well said, Noel. I've never paid less than £250 to get a brass job built and they usually needed a lot of tweaking to get them to run well, so by the time you'd paid for the kit, motor, gears, etc - you are invariably looking at £400 plus. Roderick's engines generally run well, out of the box. Not cheap, of course compared to a diesel which is made in the thousands.

Were they in brown as well as grey? And will it be a resin kit? Hi Popeye, anything I've seen suggests grey, although many were clearly fitted (the GN painted fitted stuff a bauxite shade, but not sure about CIE where cattle was concerned. No doubt Comrade Beaumont will sort me out! Yes, a resin kit. Thanks for the interest. Leslie

Apparently, I'm "dotty" - too many dots in my e-mail address! Thanks, Richie, I've fixed it!

This is a bit cheeky, but before I invest a couple of thousand quid I don't have ...... Recent sales have been disappointing (obviously I'm doing something very wrong!), so before I produce another damp squib, may I ask? My next planned wagon, intended for launch at the Blackrock Exhibition in October, is the 1950 CIE Cattle Wagon. My logic is that now that one can buy a RTR Class J15, folk will need something to pull behind it? So, what did they spend their lives pulling? - endless cattle specials from Fairs the length and breadth of the Republic. The choice seems logical (with one of my GSWR brakes on the back, or even front and back!). But is it? Any takers? I can't hold you to any number which you might buy, but it would be useful to know, please! Maybe, if you're interested, you'd e-mail me, please, on lesliemcallister@aol.com Thanks for your forbearance with me. Leslie Photo: Courtesy Jonathan Allan

I promised pictures of my GNR Class Y5 van, which has been available for over a month now. The vans were originally built about a 100 years ago as Bread Vans, but were subsequently rebuilt for use as luggage / sundries vans. The obvious big change was the fitting of sliding doors, a feature beloved of the GN. The vans were to be found hanging on the back of passenger trains, especially on secondary line passenger lines like the that from Dundalk to Omagh and Bundoran. Latterly, they were quite a feature on the much-lamented "Derry Road", often hauled by AEC and later BUT railcars. They lasted through to the 1960s and at least one was repainted in CIE green. The kit comes with transfers for several numbers in the series and costs £35 (roughly €40) post paid. As usual, if you are ordering more than kit, I'll knock off a little as I save in postage. Leslie

Just an update on the 00 Works J15. I was speaking to Roderick this morning and he told me that he had built some extra locos on spec for sales beyond his order book. He has some of each type left - GREY or BLACK. He does NOT rerun locos, so if you want one, now is the time to strike! ACT NOW!

Hi Wexford Super photo. It should be easy to date thanks to having the name of the ship? I have a copy of "Edwardian Enterprise" at home re GWR's early 20th century improvements, which included Fishguard - or Ernie Shepherd's book?

Oddly enough, I'm with AClass007 on this - a "Supertrain" A class with a rake of air-conditioned coaches in the same livery is pretty striking - remember the superb CIE publicity shot on Bray Head? I'm very lucky in that I have a lot of what I want, having been collecting Irish for twenty years now, BUT.... A really good model of GNR(I) Class VS No.207, capable of going round my rather tight curves, and, more importantly, able to take ten mahogany coaches on an All-in Rugby Special or for the Horse Show in Dublin. I'm with "ttc" on the No.85 front. Patrick, Old Boy - dream on - you're one of the handful of people wanting to model the BCDR - but all power to your elbow - your suggestion re Queens Quay with the Golfers' Express departing is delectable.

Coach 47N was a GNR(I) Class J11, built as a Tri Composite Brake with two compartments - one of six First seats, the second of eight Second seats and finally thirty Third class seats in an open saloon. PLus TWO toilets (one at each end of the passenger section) and a brake compartment. Went to CIE at the dissolution of the GN and this was her last year in service, big withdrawn in 1970. By this time she was a First / Third compo, I suspect, so some lucky guys on the tour had First Class seats.