leslie10646

I put my money where my mouth was and bought a Park Royal suburban - I think it's a nice job and runs well (behind steam, to boot!). Puzzled by the wheels which seem small - anyone know if they had small wheels? I plan to get a couple more, though quite what excuse I'll use for having it in Portadown ......

Paddy may have been right a few years ago, but my customer database is 300 strong and there's quite a few of the 386 of you folk who have never done business with me (yes, yes, I know, I don't deal in anything built after 1970!). Not all the 300 are "active" but at best the marketplace is about 500?

Not just the densest railway network but one which receives a massive subsidy. Or, at least it used to. About twenty years ago, they had so much money to spend that they put their streamlined Atlantic through Leuven Works, together with four period coaches. They then ran about eight trains over a couple of days on a circuit from Brussels Nord out to Mechelen and back. A seriously lovely loco. They had TWO ex Caledonian designs in preservation - the "Dunalastair" (4-4-0) still exists, but the 0-6-0 goods, based on a McIntosh design was SCRAPPED in 2002! Yes, nice pics - mind you some of their stock is pretty vile, but those emus (like 481 above) are very nice (especially in First Class!). However, lots of loco hauled still, which makes a visit, or even a transit, quite enjoyable.

Come on, Colm, there's no such thing as GN mahogany! EVERY coach was slightly different. You might ask Mr LIMA above how he did mine, which I think he did very well on the dozen coaches he built me about 15 years ago (a couple of them hammering round in a mixed test train upstairs, Ivor, by the way). Apart from the effect of "scumbling", the effect of sun, rain, soot (lots of that) ensure that very quickly each coach took on its own hue. Personally, I prefer a rather "orange" mahogany - probably because of the wonderful photos of a blue Class VS with a rake of them - who couldn't LOVe the GN? Enjoy the hobby, it's YOUR railway, so YOUR colour is the right one? Leslie

You could view the piccies easily, I just clicked on the link - for which, thanks. Mind you it takes young Nelson to know how to get round the technology! Leslie

Not offended in the slightest. Glad you are doing your bit - keep it up. Leslie

Actually, Tony, I DO, and the 1,100 other folk who are members of the RPSI. As (I think it was) Niles who says later, we'd have a lot more nice coaches if more of you youngsters joined, smelt the paint and lent a hand! There were sixty five of us at the inaugural meeting on 30 September 1964 and we formed this Society so that you, then unborn, guys could enjoy steam-hauled travel in the future. Mind you never in our wildest dreams that night would we have realised quite what we were unleashing. However, a lot of hard work, both engineering-wise, fundraising etc has ensured that we are still here now. So, if you're not a member, come and join us. Final comment, the coaches are a major transformation and a great credit to all concerned. Good luck Jim Deegan with your latest Enterprise! Leslie

Hi Kieran Thanks for displaying the goods for me - I didn't dare empty a pack to photograph it in case I'd never get it inside again. You missed the transfers, which were a special commission (and had ANOTHER page of instructions!). Good luck with the build - as you say, the original idea of having a very few parts went out of the window when the hopper part was redesigned and introduced another half dozen or so "fiddly bits"! Still, it'll keep you out a mischief? Leslie

Folks I'm pleased to say that the first couple of dozen kits landed here today. Colm Flanagan already has ten and is feverishly building, for Cultra! So, available for pretty well immediate delivery is this kit for a spoil wagon, including all required parts and a generous mini-sheet of waterslide transfers, allowing you to build different number wagons. £24.50 for a single kit, £117 for a pack of FIVE. Both post free. {ictures and a little more info on my website provincialwagons.com Thanks Leslie

Friends Norman, who was the founder of Colourpoint Books, passed away a few days ago, after a long illness. His funeral was today, 3 September. Author of several books, including the indispensible Locomotives of the GNR and with Charlie Friel, Railways of Co Fermanagh. Many excellent books on Irish Railways would never have seen the light of day without him and his company and we are all in his debt for his brilliant work as a publisher.

Hate to say this, but the idea is to work hard while you're young, buy a big house with a good loft and then when you're old and decrepid like me, find yourself without the skill, or the sight, to build the layout that you have room for! Maybe I should start a timeline on my layout and be shamed in to making progress?

Calling any 21mm men interested in the PW Spoil Wagon. Gents (ladies?) I have a customer who wants this wagon in 21mm, which is not as easy with some of my wagons - see Michael Rayner's comments below. I really need to know about how many of you would plan to buy some of my spoil kits, but for use on proper Irish gauge - ie 21mm - then I can decide whether to absorb the extra cost, or whether it must be passed on to 21mm folk. The existing client only needs about ten - are there others among you? e-mail me on lesliemcallister@aol.com if you are interested. The "00" kits will be with me next week and will retail at £24 for single wagons - if you want a rake, I'll reduce that as I save on postage - likewise if you want to supply your own whells ....... Thanks Leslie Michael's reply to Robert follows - "Robert - Leslie has asked me to reply to you direct about the 21mm chassis for the spoil wagon. All of the wagons that I have made for Leslie, I have made to scale and the only compromise for 00 has been in the chassis casting, which is a separate casting that inserts in between the sole bars and head stocks, this means that fitting fresh axle boxes to the kit's sole bars should bring them pretty well to 21mm gauge. To master the chassis I normally utilise an existing commercial 00 chassis and chop it around to get the wheelbase et. al. The problem with this kit is that the chassis is an integral part of the model and your proposal to split and widen the chassis would not work. But all is not lost! On this chassis to gain the alignment of the brake gear, the manufacturers have increased the spacing of the axle boxes and added extra to the inside of them for the use of the short 16.5mm axes, this means that 18.5mm gauge should be accommodated quite easily and I think that with a bit of persuasion I could get 21mm. Obviously it would be easier for me to master a fresh chassis to use the 21mm wheel sets and get it right and cast them, than you try and alter each individually, that is unless you only want one or two. I would have to charge Leslie for this task as not only would the mastering need to be covered but a fresh mould would be required but the cost would not be large as the new casting would replace the original supplied. If you could give us some idea as to the quantity that you would want and, if possible, if any other 21mm gaugers would also be interested it would be of a great help, not only for this kit but also for the next planned - the Bulleid corrugated open which perhaps should be called a 'poubelle' wagon(?) One further point, if I am doing this I should also be able to accommodate your preferred couplings at the same time. I hope that this has been of some help and I have also sent a copy of this email to Leslie. Best wishes Michael Rayner" So, it's up to you guys! Leslie

Just to say (admit?) that I have NIR 112 sound chipped by Gareth at the Belfast Model Shop and I think it's seriously good. Of course, no-one knows that I have been testing the new spoil wagon at high speed behind her! Sounds were even better when I tested the new wagon behind my sound-fitted No.53 (steam 2-6-4T for the younger members) which has sound fitted by Coastal DCC here in the other island. I'm reading this thread with interest as I am VERY slowly getting my layout under way and have gone for DCC - mainly for the sound, which amuses my grandson AND his grandfather! Leslie

John First, No.207 was named after Ireland's Holy River - "BOYNE"! Yes, you could have seen 207 somewhere on the GN Mainline during that period, as she worked shoppers' specials (every Thursday?) for CIE before the UTA bought her. With the UTA she worked the weekly tourist train to Dublin, from Belfast; she worked the Sunday express from Belfast to Dublin and back in summer of 1964 (why, oh why didn't I opt for a few of those, rather than trips to Warrenpoint - which DID yield S Classes etc). She also ran specials for things like rugby matches at Lansdowne Road and, I assume Croke Park finals? - But she wasn't used that much - the semi fasts were in the hands of the 2-6-4 tanks. Leslie

This thread is started, in answer to a comment by Mayner, quoted below. John" Well, John and others - I now know THREE attempts at doing a rtr UG, without going the expensive Worsley route - not everyone is happy to pay £400 plus for a handmade engine! I had hoped to get "My Man" Michael to do a resin body / tender to sit on an existing chassis - he favoured the Bachmann J39, which was close on wheelsize, spacing etc. However, his stroke may have scotched that. Then another friend is looking at doing a brass one, in batches, as John suggests - I've seen a cab to date! This would be a pretty expensive engine by the time you pay for a modeller's time. Certainly for the purist, but not for the "average" enthusiast, who may be happy with a "close-enough" loco? Finally, GLR3D unwisely sent me a photo of an early attempt of his - so he is being mercilessly pursued to do a complete job! Don't hold your breath, gents, but I am still on the case with this one. It would be nice to point to a complete train that wouldn't exist without my prompting! You may be sure of my enthusiasm to do this, as i haven't got a UG myself! Leslie PS Richard (GLR3D)'s little JT is pretty close to be a quick win rtr loco, but it doesn't have quite the appeal of a UG!

Well, Sulzer, I'm sure I don't have to tell you what you've got there? Most of it looks only fit for the bin, but the locos will be of interest, if only to guys using the Hornby motors in clockwork locos - as the late Drew Donladson did in those amazing models of his. Have a look at eBay, where there's a lot of wrecks on sale and fetching tens of pounds. Good luck - interesting find. Leslie

I should have said that the same guy who is meant to be doing a run of Class UG for me, also plans to do a rtr Class VS. BUT, he's good at planning. Now the Class UG may appear from elsewhere ....... Leslie

Now, why would I want to announce a rtr Class VS? I've already got one! Colm Flanagan has made about half a dozen for various of us over the last or so. If you guys look up the link John has highlighted, I hope that you realise that the main photo isn't "Merlin" ( a Class V) but almost certainly No.207 after the UTA bought it in 1963. John, I've noted your version of an Irish North train. Give me a while and I'll marshall it upstairs and see if I can persuade the camera to photo it. Leslie

Yeah, it's a "parallelfahrt" - I think that's the word - the Germans were much taken by the idea about 20 years ago. I remember it ruining a high speed run from Bremen to Hamburg in 1988, when the electrically hauled express we were meant to be pacing was running late and stopped us (we were hauled by an oil-burning pacific) roaring along for kilometre after kilometre in the eighties! NOT a race - the idea is that the participants in each train can photo / film the other - as you can see, it doesn't work too well on a simple double track - the one I was on was on four track main line - so you don't get photos of the elbows of fellow suffers! Still, everyone to his own ..... It has been done in the UK - once. Around 1989, the then area manager at Salisbury had a big rail weekend - three different locos running steam-hauled trains to Yeovil Junction and back. The crews didn't take a blind bit of notice of the then extant 60mph ceiling for steam, so the "running" was out of this world - ask me when you see me, not for printing! Anyway, the Area Manager's saloon ran a parallelfahrt, for videoists (all in the rear saloon) who paid a lot for the privilege and the idea was that the saloon - hauled by a Class 33 Bo Bo ran on the Up line between Templecombe and Yeovil Jct - would pace a Bullied-Pacific hauled steam train on the down line. The Class 33 was doing a full 75mph when the pacific roared past - the steam crew had slightly different ideas, you see! The passing shot from the saloon was a sight to behold! Happy days. Leslie

Now, that's a separate thread surely? Personally, I have a shedful of SSM locos, and commend Des's locos to all - apart from the minor point that they'll cost you about £4/500 each, if you pay someone to build them for you! However, I will admit that I have this ambition to commission a loco under the PW banner, so I can say I've produced a complete train! As they say in movies - "Watch this space" ...... Leslie

For the devotees of God's Northern Railway, a van to hang on the back of your passenger trains. The old GN was notable for the "tails" on its passenger trains - on secondary lines, often two or three vans like this - the old fashioned equivalent of a "tin van". This one has been created by GLR3D Model Design and will be available through my Provincial Wagons website - I haven't got the pics up there yet! It's produced by 3D printing and my photo doesn't do justice to it - it was an Irish day in Surrey - no sun! The way that Richard of 3D has got the dirt into the louvres is a delight and very typical of the GN mahogany coaches. Guide price £80. Leslie

Thanks for that - as they say - "the proof of the pudding is in the eating". Leslie

Can someone answer the all-important question? What are these IRFM coaches like in reality? Finish, running, etc? The seem to offer very good value for a pretty unique coach. Leslie

Thanks to those of you who remembered Michael in your prayers. I'm glad to say he's getting there sufficiently to send me these photos of the new prototype today. If you compare this with the original at the beginning of this thread, you'll see that the hopper has grown somewhat, in line with the original (thanks Robert Drysdale in Norway, who pointed this out!!). I hope to see the actual kits by the end of August - Michael is writing the instructions, as I type this! Regards Leslie

In my capacity as the oldest person on the planet, well maybe this website, anyway - I was "timing trains" fifty years ago, so I the following can be backed up with the logs, WTT etc, if you want. Each Company ran its own "Enterprise". The UTA one was ex GNR railcars (probably BUTs by the mid sixties) to Dublin at 1030am and back at 5.30pm - non-stop in 2 hrs 10 minutes. The CIE Enterprise was by then a single ended B Class (121 to the younger viewers) to Belfast from Dublin at 11am, back at 4.45pm, both non-stop. The semi fasts were the 8.15, 12.30pm, 3.15pm and 6.20pm ex Belfast; the 9.15, 2.45pm and 6.30pm ex Dublin - yes unbalanced workings, but there was an early 2.15am ex Dublin, Newspaper Train. These trains were invariably 2-6-4 tanks to and from Dundalk, working South of Dundalk was by CIE diesel. The "good" day was Sunday when in summer anyway, the sole Belfast to Dublin semi fast was invariably No.207. I only ever timed her North of the border on the 6pm return of this train: on one unforgettable evening, from the footplate - the thrill of flying into the Knockarney dip from the Goraghwood stop - hitting 56mph in 3 mins 12 secs with NINE coaches (say 300 tons) - those were the days! Goods trains were worked steam in the North, diesel in the south - very seldom, if at all, would a CIE diesel be seen on goods North of Dundalk. Now, those specials. John M is right that No.207 invariably worked the Thursday Tourist Train throughout to Dublin and back. The CIE shoppers' train was often worked by No.85, at least until 1963. Again, referring to John M's reply, while No.207 invariably worked Dublin through trains, the three "S" Class 4-4-0s spent most of their time on the GNR Derry Road. In 1964, one was always on the 1015 ex Derry to Belfast and the 3.15pm return. Compulsory trains to travel on if you were out and about in 1964. Oh to have had my digital stopwatch and GPS then! Leslie