Horsetan

1 hour ago, jhb171achill said:

And now here’s one for yiz.

GNR No. 203, not known to have hauled the Enterprise, Bundoran Express, or Foyle Road goods….

It was owned by contractor Robert Worthington & Co, who bought it for building the Castleblayney, Keady & Armagh Railway. The GNR acquired it - though the purpose remains unknown - once that line was finished. It seemingly was little used and had been disposed of by 1930. It was by some way the smallest loco the GNR ever possessed. 

Its official number was probably never carried - though years later a different loco took on No. 203, of course.

One regular characteristic of these GNR diagrams is that you only get the side-view measurements only - no end-on, or plan views.

On 5/1/2025 at 7:29 PM, Laken said:

So like the title says, is anyone on this platform able to or willing to build a studio scale models loco (either gnri class v Merlin or the s class sliebh gullion) and I could pay them around 400-500? Would that be a fair price? 

Did you find what you wanted in the end?

2 minutes ago, Wexford70 said:

Have you any indication what would be considered as an acceptable offer?

More than anyone is prepared to pay, it would seem. Come back in 10 years' time and see if they're still there.

27 minutes ago, Killian Keane said:

yes I can do full tenders, Ive done them in the past though not to my current standards, the WLWR goods will be getting one, the only thing is using a modern RTR chassis for the loco the wiring between loco and tender will have to be re-soldered in such a way as that the loco will run without being connected to the tender pickups

In that case, Killian, would you consider printing a full 400-class tender for me?

9 minutes ago, GSR 800 said:

Yes should be possible, though the prints 'as is' are usually designed just being the tender body, attached to the donor locos tender chassis. I'm sure @Killian Keane could do a full tender if commissioned. Was it confirmed that 186 been hauling around a 400 tender? I often heard it said but never knew the truth of it!

It's a 3345-gallon tender which appears to be a very close resemblance to the type attached to 400/500 class. The RPSI do mention that they think it might be a 400-class tender; there don't seem to be any other types that fit the description.

1 hour ago, GSR 800 said:

I've considered the 500s also, they're certainly something I'd like to commission sometime in the future.

Was a bit of a toss up between the 400s and 500s when considering this. Main advantages the 400s have was their numbers and longevity.

Whilst we're on the subject of the 400 3D-print, would it be possible to order just the tender on its own? Reason for asking is that I'd like one to be attached to my build of J15 no.186 to portray her preserved state.

It's not just the 400s, but also the 500 class 4-6-0s which maybe one day should also be considered for modelling - in some ways more versatile than the 400s, but there were only three.....

The J17 wheelbase was something like 9' x 9', which almost gives the GNRI "V" and VS's 10'6" wheelbase a run for their money.

That said, the J17 ultimately wasn't the biggest as the J19 and J20 were even more substantial.

4 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

...nobody - either private or state-funded - is prepared to put up the cash to build it, and pay to maintain it thereafter…… sadly!

It was ever thus. That's why general neglect and dereliction is still a common sight in Ireland 

1 hour ago, Mol_PMB said:

Excellent- thanks John. 
I’d like etches for a luggage van and a heating van, plus a roof for each. 

I would also be interested in the 3D printed detail parts for these if you do produce them.

 

Same here, please 

3 hours ago, Fowler4f said:

Due in warehouse 31 August 2025, should be out for delivery within 7/10 days. D.V.

2 hours ago, BosKonay said:

The exact timing may pull in slightly, but we should have an exact date in the next week or 10 days

I've had the e-mail about it already!

51 minutes ago, GSWR 90 said:

....I think your attitude sums up the Irish approach quite perfectly: I want to have a nice steam railway, but I won't give up any of my time or money to make it happen, because that's someone else's job. One moment you said that you're envious of heritage railways in Britain, and the next you say that you won't donate to heritage railways in Ireland  ....

Equivocation is practically a national sport.

4 hours ago, west_clare_wanderer said:

And just listening to RTE at the moment, house prices are up 12% in the last year.... is it any wonder there's not much money around for large proportions of the population to support such enterprises!

There wasn't much money around even when property prices were reasonable (or unrealistically cheap by British standards) in the 1980s 

2 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

.... I cannot say the same of GB…

Turd World Britain 

3 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

A couple of examples I’ve visited this weekend in Switzerland, a country with a population broadly comparable with Ireland but more densely populated. 
 

‘La Traction’ operates steam trains over the metre gauge lines in Jura Canton. Typical of many historic groups operating steam over the rural metre-gauge lines (most of which survived in Switzerland, unlike the Irish 3’ lines). ....

And in the cities, most of the tramways have an associated museum/preservation group operating tours over the city routes at weekends. Today I am in Bern and this 1940s tram is running on one of the routes all day.....

 

Presumably everything runs punctually?

11 hours ago, Broithe said:

We had a forty foot straight on a layout once, in a carport with a polycarbonate roof and the ends closed in - we had considerable expansion/contraction issues, until we fitted Fleischmann joints with most of an inch of movement

I was reminded of it by this photo of the current heat expansion issue that the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway has.

They have run trains over that, apparently - gently, and with trackside personnel monitoring the progress to detect derailments.....

This must be on the single-line Dungeness section. Presumably the service is less intensive than for the rest of the line!

52 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

...CIE vans - which variants are you offering? 
My preference would be one luggage van and one heating van. 

Same here. One of each if they're being made available. 

Just after paying the bill for this new trio....

2 hours ago, GSWR 90 said:

The long and the short of it is that people in Britain put their hands in their pockets, got up off their armchairs, or both. In general, people in Ireland did not. 

If you want to know why the preservation scene in Ireland is so small, simply ask yourself “Why am I still in my armchair?” or “Why is my hand not in my pocket?”. You might have good answers to those questions, you might not....

The Irish public will generally only get involved if someone else is paying for it. It was ever thus - just look at all the various proposals for building Irish branch lines; the mere mention of having to fork out for it was enough to see interest melt away from most....

5 hours ago, west_clare_wanderer said:

... within a generation most heritage railways are going to be struggling for bodies and money....

I'd say the more immediate concern is a reliable source of fuel for all the steam locomotive fleet, as eco-mental concerns have deliberately made domestic coal unavailable. Current experiments with eco fuels suggest miniature and narrow gauge engines can run (expensively) on it, but standard gauge not so much...

4 hours ago, David Holman said:

....The main work involved in making your own points is first of all sourcing 21mm track gauges....

If you're happy to work with P4 standards, then all relevant trackmaking gauges for Irish 21mm are available from Scalefour Society Stores.

Code 82 FB is currently available from S4 Stores, the EMGS Stores, and C&L.

Code 75 FB is only produced by PECO; I haven't seen anyone else offer it.

14 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

I’m learning Templot and selecting 21mm gauge is easy, as is setting your preferred checkrail clearances etc. 

Some other aspects have a bit of a learning curve but I’m getting there....

There's the PlugTrack function as well, so you could print your own 21mm if you're not too fussed about having the correct 1-in-20 rail inclination

On 16/5/2025 at 3:12 PM, DJ Dangerous said:

Class 50’s look to be only a few weeks away…

Hello Summer 1990!

Hopefully that means used Hornby 50s will be flogged cheap on eBay - I need a spares donor for my pair of P4 conversions

2 hours ago, Tractionman said:

for anyone looking for the earlier grey-liveried examples, some are available here:

 

https://clarkrailworks.com/collections/new-arrivals/products/irish-railway-models-oo-irm1018-cie-irish-rail-bulk-cement-wagon-set-1

 

Amazingly, they had a couple of packs of ballast hoppers, so I bought one, having missed out on the original release.....

4 minutes ago, derek said:

Dolores' name wasn't actually leaked. Her friends and her were in the pub when the Euromillions numbers came on ,  and her friend took her (Dolores) ticket to the television to check. As soon as the numbers came out, everybody in the pub knew about it amid whoops of delight. She never had a chance of keeping it quiet. Within an hour, half of Limerick knew about it.

Still no secrets

22 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

True, though the growing “feral element“ is arguably worse elsewhere!

Garda Siochana seem unable to keep hold of it, underfunded and understaffed as they are.

Meanwhile, over in Turd World Britain, 'tis Feral Central here....!