David Holman

New edition now out and like any specialist periodical, doesn't always tick every box - though is ALWAYS interesting. However, this 75th anniversary issue for me at least, is really splendid. The cover pictures of C class diesels on a mixed train at Skibbereen and an excursion at Courtmacsherry are the wrapping to articles on West Cork railways, the Valencia Harbour branch and VS 4-4-0s, as well as lots of other lovely stuff. A modellers and a historians delight!

Looks like the speedometer cable and something that will always be vulnerable. Why not try a small drop of superglue, using a cocktail stick, or similar. That said, if the loco is going to work hard for its living, might be best to leave that part off anyway.

Good stuff, poor things! As JB says, once the writing was on the wall, few bothered about cleaning steam locos, it was only about keeping them running. Given their use of such a dirty fuel, it doesn't take long for a coat of grime to appear and maybe because I'm old enough to remember the end of steam, I actually find weathered locos attractive. I think a coat of grime can serve to highlight certain features, while the initial cost of black or grey often does the opposite. Either way, nicely done.

Forgot about the Lazy Susan, they are used by cake makers for decorating and should also have known Andy would have a simple solution; Mayner likewise. That's engineers for you!

Enjoy!

Has to be worth it JB, they a such an integral part of (almost) every Irish branch terminus. Can only think of Valencia as doing without. If you don't fancy building one, then Peco's should be ok. Should have said that my experiences are all based on converting them to at least a scale bigger (two in the case of Fintonagh) and am sure the extra weight of locos is a factor. Peco also do their own motor now, so we'll worth a look.

Kitwood Hill models do a range of turntable kits in laser cut p!y. See my workshop thread. They are extremely well thought out and a joy to make. Have built a few over the years and my experiences as follows: Dapol kit: the old Airfix one. Very cheap, but can be made to work with the Freezinghall Models hand cranked or motor kits. Adapted mine to a 42', 7mm scale one by widening the deck. See the Arigna Town thread. Peco: used the N gauge on on Fintonagh, combined with a Freezinghall motor. An issue is that they use dummy wheels on the outer ends of the deck, so all the weight is taken by the centre boss. I added my own brass outer wheels and it works a lot better and is more stable. Southeast Finecast: this is a sort of upgrade to the Dapol- Airfix idea. About £50. Used one on Belmullet for a while. Works best if the outer deck wheels are replaced with small ball bearing races. Kitwood - definitely the best so far. Overall, turntables can be a challenge, which is why rtr ones are expensive. All the ones above rely on lining up by eye, but with a hand crank or slow running motor, is easy, assuming you are not feeding a full roundhouse fan. Fitting a TT needs care too. Apart from cutting a hole in the baseboard, there is the wiring to consider and either motor or hand crank mechanism. Ensuring a reliable connection to the deck track can be an issue too. Some, like Peco, use a split circle of pcb, which avoids the need for a reversing switch. Dapol one makes no provision at all. Kitwood version requires a reversing switch but has beefy plunger pickups to transmit power. Freezinghall kits require about 8-10cm space below the baseboard, but other motors I've seen can need up to 15cm. All in all, a lot to think about and probably why you don't see that many turntables on layouts.

Great to see this scene develop. At first glance, it could be the real thing, which says it all.

A stunner. Well done thus far and very much worth the effort.

Splendid!

The standard of work here is quite remarkable, especially the way everything fits together so well. Always enjoy the latest updates.

Great work and shows how large scale models can be done using standard modelling techniques.

Great to see progress. Keep 'em coming!

This side of the water, though guessing it was the same in Ireland, time was money for railwaymen, who would aim to spend the absolute minimum on each shunt. On Belmullet, I try hard to follow that rule and keep things as simple as possible. At exhibitions, visitors want to see meaningful action on not stock being aimlessly shuffled about. Moves need to be planned beforehand and there are sequences for operators to follow. It is all about practice and rehearsals. My operators are pretty good - better than me it could be said - but there are a few horror tales of folk not following the sequence and getting into a right old mess! Fine at home, but not when folk have paid good money to see trains running. My next nervous breakdown draws every closer with Uckfield just over two weeks away. Locos have been serviced, paintwork touched up and all wheels cleaned on all stock. However, no matter how much you prepare, experience warns me that taking a layout to a show is always fraught with problems. I just hope nothing too serious occurs...

The sequence showing branch line train movements might seem obvious, but such things are increasingly lost in the midst of time and I often come across folk new to model railways who have no experience of how things were. As for things like brake vans at the end of a train and fitted vans at the head and this sort of stuff rightly needs to be shared.

Fascinating - very like 12" to the foot in all sorts of ways.

Tasty.

Fantastic work Phil and will certainly look forward to seeing how the new locos progress too. As for a live steam Kathleen, am salivating already....

Thanks John, sensible advice, though was only thinking of doing the CAD on the laptop in the lounge and get Mark to do the printing. Like the idea of doing separate sides and ends to assemble later. That ought to be within my skills and for something like a covered van might make a nice starter project. Good for thought for others too.

Fascinating, many thanks Ken! Certainly agree with you 're loco construction, though there was an article in MRJ not long ago where someone described 3D printing a brass dome. Presume that has something to do with resin used but whether it is heavy enough is beyond me. Not surprised to read that it is the drawing that takes the time. Must admit it is something I've been tempted to have a go at, especially as it is a modelling task that can be done in the living room, where solvents, paints and soldering iron are frowned upon in my house for some reason! Also, Mark Clark of Locos and Bits is a Chatham Club member who produces 3D prints, so I wouldn't have to invest in any equipment. Especially like the idea that, once acquired, CAD skills can be used for all sorts of things, including designing your own etches for one off loco kits, plus scenic and so on. Anyway, well done you and I shall continually look forward to seeing what else you come up with.

For those of you who like such things, here is a shunting puzzle I have been trying to solve, but without success. Most trains on Belmullet can be operated with Dingham auto couplings and just three strategically placed magnets. Dinghams are 'handed' though, which doesn't work well when both whole trains and locos are turned at each end. However, by having hooks on the locos and loops on the end of the first and last wagon/coach of each train, not only is basic running round achievable 'hands free' but two trains can swap wagons as can a rake of wagons in the goods shed be exchanged with an incoming set. The difficulty arrives with two trains [one for each period modelled], where I want to swap a single wagon from a 'mixed' train with one from either the the bay or end loading dock. At the moment, these trains have either screw or three link couplings, which need to be worked by hand. My question is, could the sequence be done using Dinghams and the magnets? Each train is made up of the locomotive [which will be turned on the turntable], one or two passenger vehicles, a couple of wagons and a brake van bringing up the rear. On arriving in the platform, the loco needs to uncouple and be turned on the turntable. Afterwards, the brake van needs to go to the other end of the train and one of the wagons swapped with one from the bay/loading dock. On return to the fiddle yard, the whole train is turned for the next outing. Note that Dinghams have to be either a hook or loop - you cannot have a hook and loop on both vehicles coupling up as they don't work reliably. Everything I've tried thus far ends up with a mismatch when the whole train is turned and returns the next time. Indeed, am not sure anything IS possible, though one thing that might help is that a pilot loco can be available, though note that locos can only be isolated in the loco shed area, either side of the turntable [ie room for three locos]. A schematic is shown below and additional magnets could be added. No prizes for success, but you would have my eternal gratitude! This message will self destruct in 15 seconds...

Great model, full of character. Looks like you are well into 3D printing now, so am wondering how it works out, time wise, compared to scratchbuilding, or indeed resin casting? When I made a WL&W four wheeler for Belmullet, guess it took around 18-20 hours to build the model - before painting, but including the chassis. Similarly,with the exWLW six wheelers for the turf train, one side and one end took 10-12 hours to make the masters, plus another hour on the mould. After casting (one every half hour), assembly with an Alphagraphix chassis took another 6-8 hours, so around 30 hours each model, or 60 for the pair. How does that compare to 3D printing, including CAD and test runs? Am guessing that once perfected, CAD will work out pretty favourably, especially for multiple copies?

Can only agree, Rich. Very much deserves a wider audience.

Am sure I won't the only person interested in answers to this. I have a 7mm scale donkey and two wheel cart [both Langley Models], but certainly wouldn't claim any authenticity.

Rehearsals After so much time working with my early 1900s stock, it has been nice to get out the 1950s stuff from the original Arigna Town layout, as part of the first phase of operational practice for Uckfield. So, we have mainly SLNCR stock, alongside 1950s CIE. Most of this has been pretty well 'run in' over 30+ shows, so it has been a pleasure to see how well the locos operate again. When developing an operating sequence to use at exhibitions, I like to keep things fairly simple - so complex shunting moves are [mostly] out and instead we have a steady flow of trains in & out of the station, occasionally aiming to have two on scene at once. I've standardised on Dingham auto couplings, and though these work pretty well, things are complicated by the fact that the fiddle yard is a turntable, while locos also get turned in the station. Hence the Dingham method of having a hook on one vehicle, latching onto a loop on its neighbour doesn't always work and it is very easy to have two loops or two hooks face to face - not good at all... Ultimately, passenger trains work well enough, with a hook on the loco and loops on each of the end vehicles, so electro magnets can be used as uncouplers. The same applies to rakes of freight vehicles - an incoming goods has hooks on each end of the brake van and a rake of wagons can be easily swapped over [three links in between each rake]. Where it all falls down is when you want to shunt individual wagons off a train, in this case the 'mixed fish', where I want the J19 to be able to move the brake van from one end of the train to the other, dropping off a van in the bay and picking up a new one. Despite many furrowed brows [and even more rude words], I have yet to come up with a sequence that only uses magnetic uncouplers, so for this train three links and the shaky hand still rule. Perhaps I'll set a challenge, to see if anyone out there can come up with a solutions. In the meantime, here are a dozen or so photos of what will be on show at Uckfield in a month's time. Trains are as follows: SLNCR goods, with 0-6-4T Hazlewood swapping a rake of wagons in the good shed CIE passenger: G2 2-4-0, two 6w coaches and two fitted vans. This is just an out and back, but given a bit of variety by the railbus/railcar arriving at the same time Turf & tarps. Two trains: first the G class Deutz shunter propels tarpaulin wagons from the distillery, which are then exchanged with ancient 6w coaches converted to carry turf, brought in by the J26 0-6-0T SLNCR passenger: Sir Henry & two bogie coaches, meeting up the the railcar or railbus, as above Mixed Fish: the J19 and various vans, along with an old 'glasshouse' brake van swap a wagon with one in the bay. Hopefully you can see what is going on below.