leslie10646

To celebrate St Patrick's Day, a new wagon which could almost be seen from Slemish where the Saint "wrought a few". The Ulstermen (remember we've got him up there!) have been pestering me for years to do a "Brown Van" and today the prototype arrived from the Isle of Wight - Now that I have a couple of sides to send to Steve at Railtec, the next job is the transfers - not a lot, as it happens. The eagle-eyed among the NCC fans will realise that this is the UTA version built in the late 1940s after WW2. The earlier NCC version has a totally different chassis and wheelbase. I should have supplies for Bangor. Happy St Patrick's Day! Now, all of yez get on yer knees and pray all night that The Boys give the English a hammering tomorrow at Twickers!

No, I know, there's not a snowball's chance in hell of this happening. But otherwise, we will all end up in forty years time going round and round and round and round and round in the same discussion.... Ah, Jon, ye never know - when all the overseas companies leave London before and after Brexit, and take themselves to Dublin - Ireland could eventually find the end of the rainbow (how much Gold is in a Crock, anyway?). Noel did provoke a interesting thought in my mind when he talked of sticking LUAS in a tunnel and I thought - would a "Cut and Cover" tunnel in the City centre have caused any more disruption than building LUAS totally above ground? Like it or not underground railways cost an unholy amount of money these days. When London built hers Britain ruled half the World; Moscow's Metro (utterly wonderful) was built by a dictator who didn't give a hoot about cost, his people or anything - I could go on ......

Well done lads! Now, I know I have a box of those somewhere under the building material on top of the layout ……...

Glenderg wrote: Dublin is built on a great big lump of granite. Not easy to core through. Cork is sandy, so too expensive to underpin. Limerick is the only place suited for an underground, but then you'd miss out on the most preserved, and at times beautiful, georgian city in Ireland... I don't have Richie's knowledge of geology, but for enthusiasts of underground railways, may I commend a track by The Johnstons "Tunnel Tigers" which is all about decent Irish lads "Digging a Tunnel through the London Clay". Of course, it was recorded before most of you were born and even I, who lived through the Sixties, only bought the CD about a month ago. Recommended.

Very sad to read these two posts. Personally, I think LUAS is super (a bit full, mind you - the perils of popularity?) and can't wait to have a ride on the former MGWR main line after the Broadstone stop. Underground railways are all very well, but you see B-all. That's why I often opt for the bus in London and enjoy looking at the brilliant buildings. Dublin, likewise, isn't exactly short of them either.

Leslie Romsey is on the 23/24th of June so you may have to wait until Warley,though the other 4 layouts are out before then,Andy. Excellent timing - now in diary. Hope to see the new creation there. Leslie

Glenderg asked - Were turntables not "IKEA" kits of their time - 60'. 70' and so on? Nope, Richie, they weren't. The GNR had them from 42ft (Banbridge was 42ft 3in!!!) to 60ft (Pordy-down, Omagh and Derry). Amazingly, the Amiens Street one was just 50ft in 1930 - memory is that it was made larger later, probably when the compounds came?

THURSDAY 15 MARCH 2018 IRRS London Area Meeting “Further Tales of Irish Railway Travel in the mid-1950s” by Michael Davies Michael Davies has made over 125 visits to Ireland. Tonight, he returns to recount further his early travels in Ireland, portraying just what it was like to be a young enthusiast in an unfamiliar land. He will dwell on his discovery of the SL&NCR in 1952 and his visits to the railways of Cork from 1956-62. This will be followed by reflections on his long fascination with the Cavan & Leitrim Railway, including reminiscences from some of its great characters. In Function Room, Calthorpe Arms, 252 Gray’s Inn Road, LONDON WC1X 8JR starting at 7pm sharp. Food is available in the pub from about 5.45pm.

Richie I plan to post our Irish Booklist on the London Area website in due course - on the To Do list - behind - motorise more points at Portadown Jct, build the platforms at Richhill so that your buildings look "at home", work out why No.53 won't even MOVE after chipping (the perils of DCC), look after the speaker at the next London Area meeting on Thursday (see next post) etc etc. But seriously, it's an important job and high on the list.

CELEBRATE SAINT PATRICK'S DAY IN LONDON The IRRS London runs an annual collectors' market at Chiswick Town Hall on 17 March 2018, starting at 11am. Mainly railway, but a fair bit of buses and London Transport. An excellent place to pick up photographs, postcards, DVDs and tickets. You'll find me on the Stage of the Main Hall selling books - we trade as The Syndicate (!) and specialise in books, both in and out of print. We like to think that we have almost everything published on Irish Railways. I also stock new books by Lightmoor, plus Pen and Sword - come and have a look. A colleague sells all manner of transport ephemera like old (British) working timetables, maps, transport leaflets etc etc. Our profits go to Irish Railway Preservation. This year's market happens to land on the National Saint's day, so if you haven't got a ticket for The Boys tackling The English up the road at Twickers, why not come along? In fact, you could pop in before the match? The event is open 11am to 3pm. Admission £3 (£1 after 1.30pm). Light refreshments available and we have a continuously running DVD Show to add to the entertainment. The wearing of something Green (I'll be in my Northern Ireland footie shirt!) is optional. The Town Hall is on Heathfield Terrace, W4 4JN. Nearest tube is Chiswick Park, or Gunnerbury. Buses 27, 237, 267, 391, 440 and H91 stop on Chiswick High Road - across the Green from the Town Hall. If you're in London, come along and support the local Area of Ireland's national railway society! Hope to see a few of you there - be sure to say "Hi" - I'll be wearing a badge, but you can usually hear my Belfast (via Surrey) accent at 100 metres! Leslie

Andy, the reason that you have 20% of the proper gauge railways is that you're the only one of us without a TV! The other man who does wonders with proper 5ft3in gets HIS modelling done while his Better Half watches the Soaps! What date for Romsey? - I hope it's the 2nd or 9th June, otherwise I'm away working. By the way, my comment about the schooners is equally proper to you - A Dennis Murray owned a Rhyl-built 99 ton schooner called Harry Herbert - mind you, built in 1860! The last mention I find of her was of her ashore (but refloated) in 1925 - so maybe a bit before your time? Keep up the great work!

Ah, Tony, the things I do for you! Omagh's turntable was 60ft in 1930 according to the Appendix to the Working Timetable. Same as Portadown, incidentally - I cheated and used a Fleischmann motorised job - I must measure it! If you need other info on Omagh, I'll happily look it up for you. Regards Leslie

Ken Your buildings look superb - no wonder the Master Builder Glenderg made his comment. Love the idea of bringing the Brits into Ireland in the form of the ROYAL National Lifeboat Institution! Incidentally - the work of the Irish boats is featured in the BBC series presntly being screen - all power to their elbow - keeping a fine tradition going. You're obviously a modeller of no small skills - how about one of the last sailing ships tied up the quay - see "Irish Sea Schooner Twilight" by Richard Scott - none of them were over a hundred tons. Keep it up - wish I had a quarter of your ability. Leslie

Hats off to you Tin Tin - what an interesting prototype to try! I was going to ask you if you were including the remains of Brunel's attempt at building the line, but then I noticed an unused tunnel, so you have? Great attention to detail. Congrats. The retaining wall for the road is a work of art. Re Bray station - using old points can be a headache (I've got boxes full of them). Make sure they work before you lay them! Sometimes biting the bullet and buying a new one is a better tactic. Are you going to electrify it? Shall we see one of Eoin's DARTs going through it!

Have to agree. The present team is very good. I simply couldn't believe the discipline which they showed in the French game to gain the ground to give Johnnie S his pop at goal! Brilliant rugby.

Humph! MY 112 spends its life in front of twelve of your bubbles. Best toy in my box! Leslie

Hi Ken Good luck with this, which has more scenery on it than my layout which has been around at least five years! Are you a member of the Scalefour Society? If not, I can recommend it. Apart from a fine magazine, they have their own "Stores" which offers loads of stuff for the modeller going the extra mile. Leslie

No need to do that, Barl, just put the wagons at the top of your wedding list? Cheaper than Waterford glasses, tumbler dryers, microwaves .........

Hi Fran, If you read Mr Carter's list of stands, it appears that we're selling the same things! We ARE, except that the items are in line with our respective AGES? I never really got far beyond the early 1970s! And like you, I am HOPEFUL of having certain goodies, well - a certain goodie, long-promised. Leslie

Oops! In fact massive oops! Really got my CME's mixed up. AND it was Mr Mackintosh who designed those lovely (and rather good) "Dunalastair" Class - now THAT model would be irresistible What was I saying about age?

Oh dear, more money gone - a Scottish Drummond engine (Dugald is buried four miles from this house) will be hard to resist, especially in Caley Blue - ALMOST as nice as the livery of a certain railway running North from Dublin. Bearing in mind that with Hornby's recently announced NBR Holmes 0-6-0 tender loco, this is only the second truly Scottish RTR loco, (oops, third, I'd forgotten Caley 123) we folk on the other side of the Irish Sea are very lucky having had RTR models of our own locos (OK, mainly diesels, but absolutely Irish) for over ten years now. Is it any wonder that I am still working at 71, with all the wonderful models available?

Shush, Richie, you're giving away all my secrets. Youse boys have quite deflated my next announcement, but as it's to do with North of the Border (oh, I forgot, the Border's moved to the middle of the Irish Sea!), it won't worry anyone here! No, the cattle wagons were pre-Bullied, so "straightforward" (?) underframes. Just off to work out where to put the third layout with all this modern stuff!

Don't remind me, Dave. I have a sound fitted 071 with twelve bubbles (say six hundred sterling?) sitting alongside a rake of ten hand-made GN coaches (a thousand plus) - never mind what's around the twelve roads of the turntable - the house insurance needs reviewing!

Best wishes for this great selection of goodies, Gents. In theory, it's well outside my period, but then you go and produce the fertiliser wagons, which may prove irresistible. Why? Each one had the BR number of one of the Blessed Oliver's Merchant Navy Class pacifics. By a nice coincidence, I timed TEN of them in steam days fifty years ago - so I could have a rake of ten wagons with each of their numbers - I'll supply the list, as I'm sure others don't give a hoot which ten you do!! A lot cheaper than buying ten Hornby Merchant Navies! I hope they have the success that they deserve - the rest of you guys had better go on constant overtime to pay for it! Leslie Oh, and then Paddy might produce that 121 Class! You'll cause a run on the currency!

John A man of your ability can deal with this! One week you run the railway as 1950s / 60s, the next you run a more modern era - "Simples"! Leslie