murrayec

They scale 6'-9'' to 7' using the Expo Gauge OO Rule. Eoin

@2996 Victor For six wheelers, Studio Scale Models do a pretty good and comprehensive kit Another link coming on and more reading for the weekend;- Eoin

@2996 Victor A white circle indicates oil burner Here is a link to my conversion of a J72 to a CIE J10 which could also do for a J26;- Eoin

This stuff I had in stock which I bought as a job lot of various thickness off RPM who were selling off O'Sullivans Art Supply stock when they closed down a few years back, but I have used polyfoam board from Build4less, which one has to buy in a pack of several 1200x600 sheets at about €80.00 for 50mm, they do different thickness also. When compared to what O'Sullivans used to charge for one sheet of 'Art Foam' it is really good value and a lifetime supply! https://www.build4less.ie/catalogsearch/result/index/?ajaxcatalog=true&&q=Roof+insulation+board Eoin

Re-visiting the Martello Tower thing- I have a few orders for these going back a number of years, sorry guys! I recently got stuck back in and set about making them up. This is Version 1 of which this workbench's first post featured;- After constructing it and going to the trouble doing the gun n all I was disappointed that I had not considered at the foam cutting time of putting in the 3 alcoves in the parapet wall, one was for the stair access to the roof battery, the second was for throwing out hot shot from the furnace to shoot in the cannon, and the third was for access to the machicolation which guards the front door by dropping hot coals from the furnace and other things down on attackers at the door. I had a representation of them in painted styrene but no one could work out what they were, see second photo above to the left! So this time Version 2 will have the three alcoves...... Version 2. Suitable blocks of 50mm thick Polyfoam were cut out, each tower is made of two of them stacked. Note;- fumes from this stuff is deadly and I use my workshop extract system to avoid breathing it in, that's the thing at top of picture. This is the template I use for doing most of the body cutting, a piece of card with guide lines plotted on, with a centre pin for holding and rotating the foam, the card is set up on the hot wire table with the clamped angle and square to guide the card into place when doing the cutting. The first cut is the 4deg side face of the tower, the foam block are held together with double-sided tape, stuck on the pin, slid into position when the wire is hot and then rotated. This is the machicolation part being cut out again the foam is stuck on the pin and rotated, the outside cut is 90deg and the inside is 4deg to match the tower side. Machicolation part being stuck on with Deluxe Super 'Phatic glue. Corbels for the underside of the machicolation being cut out using a card template. Setting up for the parapet cut at 29deg, the cut goes into the marked line and then the tower is rotated to cut all round. Again the metal angle and squares are used to guide the template into position before doing the rotate cut. Done, parapet cut. When setting the foam into position things can get a bit dodgy and over cuts happen as you can see in the parapet a bit of a gouge, this will be filled later as there will be a few more of these! Next was to cut out and size the roof stuff comprising of 3 parts- the two racer upstands for the gun carriage to run on and the floor for the gun crew. All cut on the template by rotating the foam and then cut to appropriate height. And fitted. Next the cut for the door, done on the template which has a cut out to guide the wire. Then the cut out piece is cut to fill in the lower section, again the cuts will be filled later. The racer parts, the door and ladder are cut out of .5mm styrene on the Silhouette Cameo cutter, as the outer race part will be used as the template to cut the foam adjacent to the alcoves. Setting up the .8mm cutting wire to do the alcoves, this is designed to do two jobs- cut the alcoves and the access passage between them, this is done by inverting the tool for the second cut! The first cut is the passage, the tool is setup at the appropriate height, the tool is also held with two bits of pcb board on the non copper side to stop it going wavy and it's dimension changing when it gets hot, the foam is held in a pocket made from cardboard and a bit of the tower off-cut which has the 4deg profile, the foam is left free to rotate in the pocket to do the cut. Again guides are set up so that the foam can be pushed onto the tool, then rotated and then pulled back to complete the cut. And cut. I had to add a holder for the tool as I kept the temperature of the wire down for plunge cutting and the foam was deflecting the tool sideways. next the tool was inverted and I set up for cutting the alcoves, this was a tricky one as the alcove roof had to fall downwards in line with the parapet angle so that the tool would not cut up through the parapet - a few practice runs and all was.... OK, alcoves cut. The outside racer foam was cut using the styrene part mentioned above as the template, the cuts were refilled with the off cuts sized to suit the level of the passage way floor which is in the foreground and was cut freehand with a paper template pinned on top to guide the wire. Passage way floor installed. Racers and crew floor installed, the right hand alcove will have steps down to the passage way level 'Racers' in our language are the 'Tracks' Thats all for now Eoin

Not as good as last night's train! it was pretty random and in all directions. I did see a couple of meteors and a 747 thingie.... Here's a few non-guided 20sec wide field photos;- That glow in the first two are those unshaded bloody sodium lights on the N11 Eoin

@RobertRoche Looks like it's going to be a clear night again! I saw them travelling from West to North/East through Leo at about 11.00 onwards last night, they are scheduled to go by tonight but not sure if it will be the same path! Eoin

What's it going to be like when they have the full system up and running, there wont be a free patch of sky left to observe or photograph without streaks flying through! More light pollution or maybe sky pollution.... Eoin

@Georgeconna I was out telescoping last night and watched this going by, I counted about 25 of them but then I gave up as they were travelling through where I was trying to photograph M87 the Virgo Cluster...... Eoin

Welcome Mark Books;- Irish Broad Gauge Carriages by Desmond Coakham ISBN 1-85780-175-X Etched Loco Construction by Ian Rice ISBN 0 906867 86 X Locomotive Kit Chassis Construction in 4mm by Ian Rice ISBN 1 874103 10 0 Models;- As you have seen yourself, JM Designs, Studio Scale Models and add Worsley Works to your list - they do scratch aid kits for when you get more adventurous. Here is a link to the horse box build, it's a different scale but will give the idea;- Livery;- @jhb171achill is your man on this one - fire him the questions and he should be able to help. Track;- http://marcway.net https://www.clfinescale.co.uk/ Have supplied stuff for 21mm track to some of the chaps in the past- try them Eoin

Hi David This is a beautiful layout and has stunning locos n stock Eoin

Oh my, very sad news I know Anthony very well and is most helpful & friendly in all enquiries and friendship.... My thoughts are also with his wife and family Eoin

@Midland Man I believe we have already established that they are different models. Fry's maker plate on the CIE 800 is dated 7. 39! so this model was built just before the war and still exists today, also the value of the scrap metal in this model would equal 4 no wheel hub bolts for an artillery piece... if you know what I mean? Fry lived in Churchtown, Dundrum- Malahide is were the museum is set up. Following your train of thought on scrappage- surly if the model was to be scrapped the materials would have gone into something war related rather than another model? Eoin

@Midland Man It's not Mr Hanan's 70s model- the Railway Model Constructor article is dated June 1940! Here is the only photo I have of the underside of the model showing the cams on the front drive wheel axles, two cams- one with 2 lobes and the other with 1, the lobes acted on two reed type switches which made the electrical contacts to the smoke generators. I was unable to investigate further as that would have entailed dismantling valve gear and many other things that was outside my brief, unfortunate as it would have been nice to view the whole system! This model was constructed from mild steel as were a number of other Fry locos...... Eoin

@jhb171achill I would question whether the above 800 model is by Mr Fry, I'm only going on the photos above which are low rez and lacking detail, but The photo below is the Fry 800 that I conserved and did a few small repairs on, the main thing to note is Mr Fry's maker plate affixed to the frame above the front running board which is not evident in the photo above, also the front of the valve cylinder protrudes further on the Fry model below than in the photo above, and the last boiler band adjacent to the firebox on the Fry model below is about 3mm from the fire box where in the photo above, it would seem to be up against the fire box;- This Fry model has a 3 puff smoke generator, it's run from two cams on the front driving axle to give a Puff,Puff - Puff, for 3 cylinders! Also in the tender there is a relay system to change the power polarity to run the loco in reverse as this model was built prior to the time motors could not go backwards..... Eoin

One of my main problems when architecting in other's offices was the difficulty of - hearing the client brief, understanding the brief, finally interpreting and formulating the brief to achieve the correct design solution for what's required! I could not wait to go out on my own and get away from those stupid people..... Eoin

@Midland Man Yes there are plenty of issues regarding good running on the museum OO layout, as you say Pendon Model Railway is probably the best example as how to do things, they have over 30 years experience running the system and should have been an example for Malahide museum design team. They had difficulties in the early days and by experience over many years of trial n error they developed a system that's now pretty successful. Some of the guys that set up the models for Pendon spent a lot of time testing, designing specific low ratio gearboxes- as you mentioned, types of couplers, wheels, motors and the rest to achieve long running of the models with the minimum servicing- although the museum is only open to the public for 4 days of the week the remainder is for maintenance and modelling courses. Guy Williams was one of the model builders and his book 'Model Locomotive Construction In 4mm Scale' should be on everyone reference shelf! Yes the overhead track is silly...... I do agree with you and also believe that the engines, stock and Items from the Castle layout should be displayed and run, they are part of our railway model history, they are items that people long remember and still talk about. I know many of the chaps that built these and in my discussions with them I see their disappointment and bewilderment that their model may never been seen again. Its really unfortunate that a Gauge O layout was not seriously considered for the Malahide museum , it's bad form on the part of the Council, the design team and the consultants, I wonder what Mr Gaffney would think now after leaving his money to restore the Castle Layout...... Eoin

@Midland Man If its Drew your wondering about- he has passed away. Fry signed the locos he built so next time your in Cultra look out for this, generally he signed and dated on the back of the cab or tender;- Eoin

Make up a board to solder on because things are going to get burnt! Have you seen my Soldering Tips thread, I show a small board in that which has clamping edge and clamp screws?? Eoin

One can always make one;- 18mm ply, two small sash clamps, screws & glue 18mm ply so that the peg clears the top of the sash clamp head, the ones I have have a 15mm head! One clamp can hold the peg in light conditions. My best tip for piercing if you haven't done it before;- Do not put your hand or fingers in front of the blade while holding the work piece to the peg- if the blade should break, which it will, you will end up stabbing yourself with the broken blade! always hold the work piece with your fingers off to the side of the blade. Eoin

JHB There is an interesting detail on the roofs of the 6 wheelers- the gas feed pipe running along the surface feeding into each lamp!! Also the roof grab rails are only on one end!! Eoin

I know that J15 and the other locos chosen to run on the overhead I helped to choose them- all are in a poor state, all required works to be done for reliable running- alas my quote for doing this work was not accepted. Eoin

It's proposed to do maintenance off site! somewhere!, if those models have to run 7 days a week that's going to be quite regular unless their running systems are upgraded..... Eoin

@Colin R I calculated out areas back at the time of the planning process that a Gauge O layout for Irish stock could work with 2m radius curves and in some cases smaller radius where the track is not doing a 180deg curve and still incorporate display area at = 270sqm- that's around 2 times the size of the floor area given to the new OO layout and public circulation around the layout. It would not have been a rectangular board layout but a rambling layout that the public would have had access to 3/4 the way round.The layout was a small Gauge O layout about half the size of the original castle layout now dismantled. This plan also had a workshop facility and a staging area for trains to go out on the layout, I proposed the workshop as part of the museum exhibit. This idea was designed to fit the Casino site with minor modifications to the councils design and an extension into the courtyard at the front of the facility. It would have cost more..... So Colin to answer your question 270sqm Eoin

@jhb171achill When I made that comment about a Gauge O layout no way did I envisage someone in their not-so-right mind putting in a 'Gauge O Ceiling Level Track'.... Eoin