David Holman

Looks pretty darned good to me. I have limited prototype knowledge of these coaches, but they certainly look the part. Ratio kits must hold the record for being converted into something else and it just goes to show what can be achieved, with a bit of care and skill. Lovely job

Nice thought, but I have to agree with Andy. It is ok for signal spectacles and similar small, round holes, but not these apertures.

Thought I'd better show you what is bugging me about the railcar... The glazing at the rear was missed when I put the roof on. As you can see, there is a gap at the top. Measure twice, cut once etc. The rest of the glazing is just poor workmanship I'm afraid. When I eventually rebuild the trailer, I must make it so the roof is removable and the glazing pants can slide in after painting. However, from a distance of a couple of feet or more, the model is ok, while if you are looking at the photos on a laptop screen, then the model is at least 4x life size [it is actually just 7" long]. At least it has captured the character of the prototype and hopefully I can keep that when it is eventually rebuilt.

Thanks chaps, but were you able to see closer you would note that: - there are gaps where will glazing does do not fit properly on both ends of the trailer - half the panes are stained on the inside by solvent; - the trailer sides go inwards at the waist, I think this happened when I was filing the roof and squeezed the body; - there is paint on the inside of the glazing that I can't get to to clean off It all stems from my decision to fix the roof on before filing it to shape. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but I hadn't noticed all the issues with the glazing. This is sandwiched between inner and outer layers, so with the roof fixed on is impossible to replace without a complete rebuild. The trouble is that once you know something is there, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Oh yes, and the paint job may look alright in the pictures, but is nowhere near like you get from an air brush or spray can. At least the positive comments make me feel better, so many thanks for that. Am sure it will be fine for a while and with a compensated chassis, plus pick ups on the trailer bogie, should run well, but if I have time before the Uckfield show in October, the trailer will get rebuilt. The audience are very close at this venue and given they pay good money to come in, I always feel I owe folk to do the best I can. Should be able to salvage the bogie, seats and roof, while the tractor unit is (fingers crossed) fine. It may even benefit from simply being left alone for a bit while I do something else. This has worked before, but I'm not holding my breath! I had (proper) flu in early December and the lyrics of David Crosby from the great hippy anthem 'Almost Cut My Hair' on the Déjà Vu album come to mind: "Because I had flu at Christmas, I'm not feeling up to par, It increases my paranoia, like looking in the mirror and seeing a po-lice car." Well, I know what I mean. I think!

Soldering white metal - proper job!

Back to the CVR Railcar. After the diversion of the G class diesel, I thought I'd better get back to my Clogher Valley project and Railcar No 1. It was mid November that I last did any work on it & had got as far as completing the tractor unit; over Christmas, I've been doing the trailer. This has been a total scratch build, apart from the wheels. The body is plasticard and the bogie is brass. It has proved to be quite a challenge, especially around the entrance doors, as there are all sorts of odd angles and curves, plus the trailer has to articulate from the tractor unit [just like a big lorry]. There was a lot of trial and error! The roof was also a bit of a pain & in the end I made it permanently fixed to the body. It is several layers of 80thou plastic sheet, laminated together and filed/sanded to shape. With hindsight, that was not a good idea, because I really did not do a very good job with glazing the windows & have no way of putting in new 'glass'. Eventually, I can see me doing a mark 2 version, or maybe buy the Worsley etches, because the paint job hasn't worked out as well as I'd liked either. I brush painted, using Tamiya acrylics and the finish is not as good as using an air brush. A bit of work with T-Cut has improved things a little and overall it is ok as long as you don't look too closely. For the lettering, I bought a handwriting set [dipping pen with a variety of nibs] and did the letters by hand using white acrylic ink. Then went over this with a fine tipped dark yellow felt tip pen, before adding black shading with a 0.01 permanent marker. Have also been doing a bit more work on the Unit. This did not have any lettering [so used the same method as above], plus needed a load in the pickup truck type body, to cover the nut which fixes it to the chassis. Found a few parcels in the spares box, plus some more Merit mail sacks, the latter masquerading a spuds. Much will depend on how the rest of the project goes, as I am on a deadline for the Uckfield show in October. If all goes well, then a new trailer is certainly on the cards. Both still need weathering, but here a a few photos of progress thus far.

I think we already know, Noel. While there are still train sets available at reasonable prices & in a variety of themes, railway modelling is mostly the preserve of the older generation. Add in the fact that a 4mm scale locomotive can cost well over £150 and one can see why a disposable income certainly helps too. The rise of electronic games, computers etc means that a model railway has not been top of the list to Santa for quite a few years. Another issue is the 'throw away/ephemeral nature of many toys and games. For example, one of these days, I am going to weaken and buy a small radio controlled helicopter for 20 quid or so, but I also know that after a couple of hours I will be bored with it - assuming it doesn't break beforehand. In my primary headteacher days [late 90s -early 00s] I used to like asking the kids what they had got for Christmas. One assembly, I had to actually ask if any of them had got any toys, because all the answers involved computers, Xboxes, clothes & music players. Paints, crayons & cuddly toys were in similar short supply. Like the rest of my teaching career, the school was in a tough area and though rarely short of material goods, the kids did not all get the adult attention they needed at home. The ones that did, really stood out, because they were SO much easier to work with. However, the benefits of model railways don't stop in childhood. There is a growing amount of anecdotal evidence that railway modeller are significantly less likely to develop dementia, because the hobby keeps the brain active. High blood pressure, resorting to drink, excessive bad language etc another matter of course!

Yup, take your time and enjoy the journey!

Apart from not being 21mm [!], sounds like a good plan JB. Don't want to muddy the waters on that one though. The one thing you haven't mentioned is 3' gauge. With 12mm track it would be the correct scale/gauge combo and there are a few things out there... Re scenics, suggest you get yourself a copies of Gordon Gravetts books on the subject - Grass, Weeds etc for certain and Trees too. Very readable and easy to apply too. All my own stuff is nothing more that replicating what he describes.

As well as good modelling, there is a considerable degree of artistry in this project. Lovely job.

Fintonagh's PECO N gauge turntable has been adapted by adding an extra layer above the well, so with a wider/thicker deck for 21mm track, it is now 168mm diameter, so a scale 42' in 4mm scale - or more to the point 27' for 7mm narrow gauge. It happily takes my developing CVR Railcar, though as you can see, the overhangs are prodigious! Arigna's Dapol/Airfix TT scales out at 60' in 4mm scale. As you can see, I again made it longer, in order to take the railbus and G2 in 7mm scale.

Not flimsy, Tony, but needs work. I turned mine upside down to make it underslung. Also, it is quite big, being 60' diameter in 4mm scale. No brainer for me though, a motorised Metalsmith 42' model in 7mm is over £200...

Have a look at the first page of my Clogger Valley Project and you can see photos of my 21mm track. Ok for 3' narrow gauge in 7mm scale, but to EM standards, to the same in all respects. Each point took about an hour to make, including filing the rails.

Surely every self respecting Irish model railway needs a turntable! Also, one adds a useful extra dimension to operation. On Arigna, only the railcar doesn't use it, because it is too big, while kids of all ages love seeing engines being turned. Arigna's TT is a £4.99 Dapol/Airfix plastic kit, designed for 4mm scale. It uses a Frizinghall Model Railways hand cranked kit (a few bits of Meccano), plus the Mark One human eyeball for alignment. However, though cheap, the Dapol kit has no provision for powering the track on the TT itself. Mine uses 7mm scale plunger pickups in the well wall bearing on brass plates on the girder ends. The Peco ones use a neat system in the central boss. I have the N gauge version on Fintonagh, with the Frizinghall electric motor kit. Rather noisy and slow though, so may yet replace with a hand crank... Would say TTs are not for the faint hearted. They will need either a well cutting in the baseboard surface, or track raiding if a surface mounted one is used. Automatic alignment requires complex electronics too, which is why RTR versions are expensive and I don't go there! Definitely something to aspire to though.

Good on yer. Well done.

That's a shame JB, but understand the reasons why. In terms of why 21mm is a virtual non-starter in Ireland, that is hard to quantify when run alongside EM and P4 in Britain. Am guessing most know it all stems from the early days of HO, when the smaller loading gauge of British engines meant it was very difficult to fit the mechanisms of the time. Equally though, that was precisely why EM and P4 started (the former in the 1950s), because people were unhappy running scale trains on narrow gauge track. These days, I'm not sure EM and P4 could be described as 'niche'. Minority perhaps, but both have a healthy following, with their own dedicated exhibitions up and down the country. One can only wonder why things didn't take off in the same way in Ireland? Maybe the lack of RTR has been a factor, though that is hardly the case today. My only other thought is that, as far as this forum is concerned, the number of layout builders far exceeds the number of loco builders and maybe if there had been more kits available in the past, then more folk might have taken the plunge and learned that such things are not alchemy after all. However, it won't stop me continuing to fly the flag!

Don't forget to use the old engineer's trick of putting a bit of spot on the drill bit/hole. Does a good job of lubrication. Expect the drill bit to clog up when going into white metal.

What a great thing for a dad to do for his son. Way better than anything straight out of a box. Great satisfaction for dad, because he's made it himself (and now clearly better than the original), great satisfaction for the boy because he will own something unique. Nice to think that a fine partnership could develop from here over the years.

Approaching half a million views. Amazing.

It has been good to see that there is some genuine interest in doing 5'3 in these pages. Maybe a good step forward would be for someone to do a blow by blow account of how to convert a Murphy's diesel to show that such things are not in the realm of watch making. A similar thread or two on basic wagon and coach conversion might be valid too. All my fingers and toes are crossed for you, JB.

Alternatively, for anyone seeking a completely fresh start, a simple shunting layout in 7mm scale would require the following: One Tyrconnel/Alphagraphix loco kit. Approx £200 with wheels, motor, gears. About £2-300 for track. Assume points at £60 each if custom made, half that if you build them yourself. Assume around £35 per wagon. Wheels are £10, couplings, axlebox/Wirons, brakes, buffers about £5 each set. A kit is the same as a scratch building in this scale, with the wagon body costing almost nothing if you make it yourself from plastic or card. An Alphagraphix wagon kit, made from card will cost maybe a fiver less, with their white metal fittings and Slater's wheels A workable model can be done in around 8 feet, so total cost would be approaching £1000 (say it quick) and occupy around a year or so to complete. Compare that to a 4mm scale layout with a dozen locos, 20 coaches and 40 wagons and it is not quite so scary. Less is more, especially with the added satisfaction of making it yourself. Beware though, 7mm scale is VERY addictive!

at least it is a J15, even if not the correct one! Love the colours on the building.

Good for you, JB, all power to your elbows! John-r, the answer to your question is a scale 1 foot two inches. 00 track is a gauge of 16.5mm in 4mm to the foot scale [1:72]. In this scale, the correct gauge should be 18.83mm for 'standard gauge [4'8.5"]. In other words 00 track is around 7 inches too narrow. Irish track being 5'3, to use 00[16.5mm] gauge track means you are modelling at 4'1 inch gauge, or 14 inches too narrow. Now, I sincerely hope I don't offend anyone here, not least because so many on this site have been incredibly helpful and complimentary to my own modelling. However, I do find it extraordinary that apart from the late, great, Tony Miles' Adavoyle, I do not know of a single layout built in the island of Ireland that is to the correct track gauge of 5'3, in any scale and it seems to be a handful of people in Britain who have flown the flag. Please tell me I'm wrong! Indeed, I will hazard to opine that railway modellers in Ireland prefer to find excuses not to work to the correct gauge, rather than attempt to do the right thing. I find this doubly strange when there are clearly many talented modellers out there, as this website illustrates so well, with many real sticklers [rightly in my opinion] for getting everything else right, yet happy to work in a gauge that is 25% too narrow! Now, I very much appreciate the reasons why folk might stick to what is available - commercial support and ease of modelling, the latter especially important to those who are not confident at building locos or adapting mechanisms.Be that as it may, I must stress that I was not born with a silvered soldering iron in my mouth. I have no formal training in wood or metal work and am essentially self taught. By that I mean reading widely and having a go - not being put off by failures [and there have been a few, believe me], plus talking to those who have succeeded to find out how it is done. I am sure for most that the hardest thing in contemplating 21mm gauge will be the combination of making track and widening the wheels to suit. In 7mm scale, the latter is a piece of cake. You go on the Slater's website and order the appropriate loco axles, while the wagon and coach wheels simply get pushed out to the wider gauge. In 4mm scale, I can't see that track should be a problem for anyone willing to have a go. C&L do point kits with ready assembled crossing vees and machined blades. All you have to do is slide chairs on to the rails and then weld them to the plastic sleepers with solvent. The only soldering will be to add the tie bars. The single issue is that of a track gauge. It ought not be too difficult to get a 21mm roller gauge turned up somewhere. C&L may be able to do one on request. Alternatively, talk to Marcway [phone number in their advert in Railway Modeller]. They do custom track for pretty much any scale or gauge, using soldered, copper clad sleeper construction. Plain track is easy to do: make a simple jig using card to get sleeper spaces. Solder one rail in place, then put this half track on the layout and then solder the second rail, using a 21mm gauge. On Arigna, my 36.75 [ish]mm track gauge is a piece of flat aluminium I filed up. The layout has never suffered from derailments because of this, while the Marcway points I commissioned have been superb and the layout has its 30th exhibition outing in January. Now, I have no experience of building 21mm gauge locos or rolling stock, but I am fairly sure I've read in several places that replacement wheels/axles for Murphy's diesels are little more than a drop in. However, if not, then this is probably where the main barrier lies. A wagon kit [or indeed regauging a proprietary wagon] should not hold any terrors. Chop off the narrow gauge W-iron/axlebox castings and fit new ones wider apart. If 21mm axles are not readily available, buy some brass/steel/nickel silver rod of 2mm diameter [an internet search will soon find you some] and cut some yourself. This is what I have done on Fintonagh, using 2mm brass wire/rod and making 'pinpoint' ends [to go in the bearing cups] by spinning the rod in my fingers while holding it against a slitting disk in a mini drill. It takes less than a minute... The issue with a locomotive is that [if steam outline], the wheels need quartering, to ensure they turn smoothly when the coupling rods are attached. Not the case with diesels & I would think that something similar to the wagon exercise could be done - you just need to make sure the main gear is a good fit. However, I'm sure this must be the heart of the problem - where do you get 21mm loco axles from, that are easily quartered [like, say Romfords] because they have square ends? Fear not though, because the Scalefour Society website tells you how to do it with plain ended axles & it is very simple. It must be, because I've done it several times. If a kit of your chosen loco only comes with narrow frames, note that , by fitting the wheel bearings back to front, you get the right spacing, without the need to resort to making new frame spacers. I could go on & no doubt some of you will be thinking 'its alright for him, he has years of experience'. Remember though, I started with zero knowledge and zero experience and has simply persevered and learned as I've gone along. What I do really isn't that difficult - otherwise I would have given up years ago. Believe me when I say I am in no way criticising those who want to stick with 16.5mm track. It is your hobby, to do with as you wish & as long as you enjoy it, so much the better. I guess what does disappoint me though is that there appear to be so few people doing 5'3 [in any scale] & it really would be wonderful to get a few more on board. Currently, its lonely out here! It does look rather splendid after all & makes the extra effort so worthwhile. There, I've said my piece and sincere apologies if I've offended anyone.

One 25th of an inch JB. Code 100 is a tenth, code 75 is 75/100ths

No prizes for guessing my view on this JB - just do it! If wary about track, phone Marcway in Sheffield. They custom made my points for Arigna for not a lot more than Peco. They are robust and self isolating, so no extra switches required and can be operated by wire in tube so overall cost no more than if points motors are used . Plain track can easily be made using copper clad sleepers, or C&L components, which only require glue. A 21mm roller gauge will be needed, but again, Marcway could turn one of those for you if you didn't"t want to make your own. For Arigna, I filed a thick piece of brass to 36.75mmish and have no derailments whatsoever. As Eoin says, locos and stock need not be a problem if you choose carefully. With only a couple of locos needed, it should not be expensive to pay someone to convert them anyway. Everything else is the same and with a small layout, there is little to lose and everything to gain. Remember, 21mm gauge does NOT mean P4 standards. You can specify finescale flangeways on points so they will take mainstream wheels. The main reason though is why model 4'1 when the gauge is 5'3, especially on a small layout? It bugs me that there are now only three 5'3 layouts being exhibited. Mine, Valencia Harbour and Ballyconnel Road. Correct gauge really isn't anymore difficult once you get started, but as Henry Ford famously said 'if you think can, or if you think you can't - you are right'. I would also say, ' come on in, the water's lovely!'