Horsetan

1 hour ago, spudfan said:

The never ending symphony...

Bitter Sweet Symphony, surely?

10 hours ago, WRENNEIRE said:

Bargain, well done 

Just all the other RPSI Cravens numbers to find now.

Just now, Newtoncork said:

...Maybe we're not thinking big enough for a transport museum!

There's never been any problem thinking big in Ireland. The problem is obtaining the money after thinking big....

4 minutes ago, minister_for_hardship said:

"But until such time as we know how good or how bad the condition of the tracks and train is, we can’t make a decision."

Sadly nothing will, that bunch haven't a Scooby Doo.

 

It's abundantly clear they have no interest in commissioning or funding the survey they claim is necessary, so no decision will ever be needed.

Meanwhile, open season for any metal thieves who fancy lifting the rails and chairs, followed by stripping of the stock...

8 minutes ago, GSR 800 said:

Works fine for me 

That's strange. Nothing has ever shown up here since TwiX blocked off access for non-subscribers

On 17/4/2012 at 8:42 AM, Admin said:

The twitter account has now been 'plugged into' the board, so once an hour it will update with the latest posts to keep you up to date!

Given the changes to TwiX since Elon Musk took over and decided to mess with the settings, there is no longer any visible feed on the board.

Is it time to unplug and save some resources?

15 hours ago, minister_for_hardship said:

On today's "someone should do something" news, Blenderville is brought up at a council meeting...

 

https://m.independent.ie/regionals/kerry/tralee-news/no-sign-of-tralee-blennerville-steam-train-coming-down-the-tracks-just-yet/a1367704916.html

Nothing will have changed in 25 years' time. 

John Cage's 4'33"

I think I might have finally found a RPSI Cravens coach, albeit not in their blue and white livery....

On 5/1/2024 at 11:24 PM, GSR 800 said:

I've considered Rebuilt Bulleid light pacifics as also being a possible. British loading gauge + 18 ton axle load makes them suitable for all mainline work. (IIRC the loading gauge of the 400s made them unsuitable for the MGWR lines). With tender they were roughly the same length as the 800s. Still I'd imagine turntables would be the bigger gripe with them. 

Standard 5MTs were great, but axle load is near 20 tons, so maybe the standard 4mt 4-6-0 or 2-6-0 would've been a better fit, or perhaps the standard moguls and 2-6-4 tanks. The 'Mickey Mouse' would've been ideal for branch line work but would've been overloaded (as the Woolwiches were) on heavier trains.

With a 'what if' Irish standardisation I think a tint of Bulleid would be great to give uniqueness rather than a copycat of british standardisation. If he had spent more time on standard locos instead of the turf burner we may have ended up with some very interesting designs. 

Given the slightly more generous loading gauge that used to exist on the GS&WR lines, I wonder how practical it might have been to have a few of the post-1926 German standard designs, regauged for 5'3"? Things like the mixed-traffic Br.23 2-6-2s, for example, or the Br.64 2-6-2Ts or Br.86 2-8-2Ts for branch line and suburban work?

4 hours ago, Galteemore said:

Ground that can never be walked too often! There was almost a stay of execution for the SLNCR when talk was made of keeping Omagh-Enniskillen open as a long siding for cattle traffic from the west. Realistically it would have to have shut by about 1960 anyway I think. The PW was knackered and even the 1951-delivered tanks were ailing....

Sounds like the broad gauge equivalent of parts of the T&D which were equally parlous.

29 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

 

So you missed it, too?

To be fair, there have been so many announcements recently that I've given up trying to identify which is which....

8 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

 

Have I missed an announcement somewhere?

 

 

What announcement?

Digging into the wheelsets a bit further, I found the wheel diameter to be a consistent 12.06mm, with a standard back-to-back set at around 14.57mm...

Pinpoint stub axles came out at 1.53mm:

...and the insulated axle muff was found to be virtually the same as the back-to-back measurement:

Quite encouraging so far...

19 hours ago, Patrick Davey said:

....I'm still thinking one of the steam announcements will be RPSI-related...........

Guinness saddle tank.

7 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

....This is what China has been accused of for decades, stealing technology, reverse-engineering and basically copying others work while skipping the initial set-up cost.....

Does that mean there might be a few counterfeit IRM "A" class models out there?

1 hour ago, Galteemore said:

On a diet of Gallagher’s, Guinness and beef stew I have little difficulty in imagining the mephitic conditions! I do know what you mean though…,

New sources of low-cost gas are always welcome to supplement turf-burning.

18 hours ago, irishrailways52 said:

you should sell those

Some of us actually drive oul sheds

1 hour ago, Mike 84C said:

.... I rather suspect that all of the American imports were not successful/ liked in  the UK is the totally different engineering philosiphy of the American builders and the "not invented here" attitude of GB engineers. That ones still about!...

Non-standard designs, and possibly some way ahead of contemporary British engines. And yet, in the years to come, British designers did adopt some American practices, such as tapered boilers.

By 1926, British locomotive design standardisation was arguably being left behind again, this time by the German "Einheitslok" design principles.

31 minutes ago, Westcorkrailway said:

the simple fact is that rare protototpyes of wagons particularly are now way more viable. for instance somone who makes one Cork bandon and south coast railway grain wagon in times past would have scratch built 1 or 2 just for himself and at most could offer at most drawings to somone interested in one themsleves. the difference is now that making 1 is just as easy as making 100. with locomotives its still very much comparible to a scratchbuilding job if no suitibe chassis is availible. but with wagons all you need is standerd wheels and standerd couplers and some paint handy and your off. there might come a time where the "drawings"section of this website might start containing CAD drawings or even 3D models ready to print if people were generous enough!!!!

David Barham also showed us three Cavan & Leitrim open wagons that he'd been asked to print for OOn3. He said that current technology allowed him to print all three wagons in about one hour.

1 hour ago, Flying Snail said:

Very interesting indeed. Particularly interesting to see the combination of 3D printing and brass on that J17. Thanks for sharing!!

Will be available as a Brassmasters kit in due course, probably next year.

1 hour ago, Newtoncork said:

Love that photo of the Clones shed.  We're lucky it has survived.

....if somewhat inaccessible now. Wasn't there another one of the same design in Portadown?

1 hour ago, Galteemore said:

I think, IIRC, the situation arose from full order books with GB loco manufacturers in the late c19th, so a few odd US locos found their way to these islands. GCR, GNR, Midland all had them...

The Schenectady Mogul - or something very similar- in the photo may also have found their way to Norway. There is a drawing for them, for engines numbered 22 to 24, in the aforementioned archive.

11 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

I’d say they are, yes!

Never knew there were equivalents in Wales!! Where and when?

I seem to recall that the Barry Railway had some very American-looking 0-8-2Ts at one stage. 

Update: ah, no, it was an 0-6-2T. Class K, apparently. Photo of one here:

It was the Port Talbot Railway that had the American-built 0-8-2Ts:

Sample photo here

3 minutes ago, Gabhal Luimnigh said:

...., it may even get to the stage where model manufacturers might be able to sell CAD drawings to customers.

In the case of Templot and PlugTrack, the software and files themselves are free of charge, with the only cost being that to get the things printed by a print specialist. 

At last night's monthly meeting of the North London Group of P4 modellers, we had a lecture demonstration put on by visiting lecturer David Barham, who explained the state of CAD and 3D printing today.

He displayed samples of his work, including an ex-Great Eastern Railway J17 0-6-0 kit he is developing for Brassmasters - it looked that good, I signed up for one.

Also of interest was a sample of 3D-printed trackwork known as PlugTrack - this is a system of 3D sleepers and chairs that simply plug into rectangular holes in the sleepers. The system is derived from Martyn Wynne's famous Templot software. I thought it offered potential for Irish 21mm gauge track building.

Frighteningly good stuff.