Horsetan

Are you using High Level hornblocks and guides?

1 hour ago, Noel said:

Those pizza cutter wheels look scarily sharp should there be a mishap

Needs turning down on a lathe to meet P4 standards 

14 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

.... not just the domes, but often the tops of the water tanks, the cab front and rear, and most of the boiler ended up caked with so much soot and general gunk that it might as well have been painted black - same with bright blue GNR locos. I'd say if someone painted 171's or 85's dome black, there would be war...... Many CIE green or grey engines, similarly, ended their days so filthy that they could have been painted lime green, tartan and flourescent pink for all anyone could see.....

Standards of cleanliness weren't high, in short. 

My money is still on the Guinness saddle tank no.3.

Failing that, the 0-6-4T Lough Erne or the DSER K2 2-6-0 no.461.  No outside valve gear.

1 hour ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Can the bogies themselves be widened by splitting down the centre and padding out?

I think it should be possible to separate the sides from the central structure and then grafting in extension pieces to widen it before gluing the sides back on.

That's the only thing I can think of as I don't think IRM B4s are available as spares and, anyway, their mounting is a bit different to Murphy's.

Not aware of sprung bogies being available for 21mm, but could be adapted from P4 ones.

37 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

... a lack of values being taught when kids are at a formative age?

There's generations' worth of lack of values.

1 hour ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Why is there so often a negative response to progress?....

Mainly because, in recent years, it seems to bring out the worst in people.

11 minutes ago, leslie10646 said:

.... And as for their recent adverts on TV .......

Feral.

Fintown doesn't seem to be a priority for those ostensibly running the place....

18 hours ago, Noel said:

Am I the only one who has never been to IKEA? Nor have I any desire to. 

I've been in on a couple of occasions and concluded it was the sink of Hell. 

Also, when the Edmonton branch of IKEA opened, there was a mini-riot as customers abandoned their cars all over the North Circular Road outside in the rush to get in and, once indoors, people actually fought each other for possession of bargains.

Feral people, feral behaviour, feral society. 

40 minutes ago, Brendan8056 said:

Like John I have modelled 21mm Irish for 30 plus years and would not go back to the very narrow 16.5mm.  I have just worked out how to easily re-gauge the NIR coaches just released (where fitted with the Irish bogie). A small vice, an object to hammer with and a wheel gauge to make sure it is correct. The result is in the picture, one wheelset  at correct 21mm gauge. I had to remove the brake blocks/links but otherwise all runs freely.

For anyone new to Irish Railway modelling it is the easiest ever to model the correct gauge, of course you can still kitbash, scratchbuild and modify, that is the fun side of it.

Not workable for those using P4 profile wheels, unfortunately. Requires new wheels bushed down to take the 1.5mm stub axles, and quite likely longer insulating muffs to prevent the wheelset going wobbly.

32 minutes ago, Darius43 said:

And for “afters”…

 

Don't forget to sprinkle some Mr. Curry curry powder over it

On 5/3/2024 at 12:01 AM, jhb171achill said:

I'd be happy enough with the Guinness............

8 minutes ago, WRENNEIRE said:

Loved the 6310
From my Drug Dealing days  work

The 8210/8310 was the smallest mobile I'd ever seen. I bet a fair few of those were smuggled into prisons back then.

Quite easy to convert to 21mm gauge, as has been demonstrated quite a few times now, with no major dismantling needed.

Best of all, sister company Accurascale provides correct diameter P4 profile wheels, albeit intended for their Deltic.

It's also a way of ensuring nobody else tries to resurrect the business. A bit like car companies such as BMW have done with many old British marques.

1 hour ago, BosKonay said:

It's like a box of expensive chocolates but, in this case, you know exactly what you're going to get....

Will be very hard to beet.

3 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

 

Does that mean that we can get stuff for free at the shows???

Hope springs eternal 

On 7/3/2024 at 12:40 AM, WRENNEIRE said:

Bargain, well done 

It has arrived...

The bogies are definitely not 21mm-friendly. Come to think of it, they're not even normal P4-friendly, and would need a lot of filing at the back to make room for 18.83 wheelsets.

2 hours ago, Mayner said:

...., James Hilton's blog is largely a repeat of work published in UK magazines during the 80s and 90s by David Malone a UK based Irish P4 modeller ...

Maybe someone should tell Mr Hilton that....

7 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

I have an interest in this, through three friends being "on the spectrum", and the daughter of another friend of mine from years ago. While many might joke, it's a fact that this condition lends itself to an interest in all things mechanical; car enthusiast groups involving detailed restoration of old vehicles also attracts folks with this condition. It is a massively positive thing to see this group specifically encouraging people in this way - the railway enthusiast world in general might take note....

It certainly makes a change from the feral vandalism and theft we've tended to see over the last few years 

Anyone here involved with North Down?

2 hours ago, Mayner said:

Not just Britain but prevalent 'as value engineering" (skimping) at an international level in construction....

The Chinese have taken this to another level, which might explain why a fair few of their boom-era buildings have collapsed over the years.

16 minutes ago, leslie10646 said:

Now you're tempting me.I'll put up a photo of a DB Class 50 coming through Richhill and then the Enterprise with an 01 Pacific!

I have a Class 23 somewhere as well!

When BR's Waverley Route was being shut down in 1969, some preservationists allegedly seriously considered reviving services using imported ex-DB engines - things like the 2-cylinder Br.01s and 03s.

Even if the money had been available for these things, there was still the problem of the German loading gauge which was noticeably higher and wider than that available on the Waverley.

As it happens, in those crazy days of 1970s preservation, a few individuals did manage to import a couple of ex-DB and ex-SNCF locomotives; Carnforth hosted a Br01.10 3-cylinder Pacific and a SNCF 231K, neither of which could operate outside the confines of the yard, owing to their width, height and weight! Both of these engines returned to the Continent after the Millennium; I understand 01.1104 returned to steam last year and is now running railtours on parts of the DB network.