Horsetan

It occurs to me that 1963 was probably the last time we saw the Irish network at anything like full strength in terms of track layout before the system began to be run down / shut down / mothballed / lifted. I'm particularly interested in the miniature "pointer" colour light signal shown at 49.43/45. Belfast York Road famously had a number of these miniature signals, mostly on the entry/exit gantry, but very few photos have ever been published of them close up. Hardly anywhere else was equipped with them.

When the news broke, I thought we were getting the Return of Triang.

It seems to me that TT, pound for pound, works out more expensive than HO.... Not by much, but the price tags are still sobering.

It may have been heading for Australia

...and yet people will take it as fact.

Tillig were long time leaders in Continental TT for many years. Roco also invested millions in the scale.

I'm only surprised it hasn't had rainbows painted all over it already.

I'm looking at that apparently continuous engine handrail and trying to work out how they managed to open the smokebox door for cleaning....

Emperor's New Clothes. You own it, but you don't own it. Smoke and mirrors. It could disappear if someone presses the wrong button.

You could. Either: 1. The bottom will drop out of the market; or 2. The eBay floggers will continue to buy up stock in order to protect values (see Prototype Deltic and LU S-stock above)

Now you know why people buy more than one of each model. One to keep, the rest to flog on for a quick buck.... That's what happened to Bachmann's NRM Prototype Deltic, and the London Underground S-stock.

I think this view shows that flush glazing would help the overall look. IFM seem to have had a difficult time recently. They had a website for a while which then went down. Then the only way you could buy anything was via their Farcebook shop ...which then meant having to join Farcebook just to buy IFM stock. I remember buying a Laminate kit this way, but can't remember where I put it. Now they have a website again, but seem to have stopped making Park Royals and Laminates. I'm never entirely sure what's going on.

Jaysus, realised that it's coming on to six years since I did anything "S"-related. Have unearthed the chassis parts, but now can't remember where I put the body.... Anyhow, the coupling rods were drilled 1.5mm, this being the nominal diameter of standard crankpins. They will be eased out a little further to allow a running fit.

Now we have all the right wheels in the right order.... ....so we can take a pair out and place either side of the Irish back-to-back gauge, then measure as close as we can across the wheel hubs: ....and 25.2mm is the axle measurement we can give to Ultrascale. The same measurement also applies to the axles for the bogie wheels. Now wait 8 months whilst the man there is making those. Incidentally, Ultrascale axles have a rounded shoulder which makes them a bit easier to press into wheel hub bores. AGW axles are strictly right-angled at their ends, so need to be "right first time" when being pressed into a wheel. I can't remember what the tender wheel diameter is, or how many spokes they have.....

Should be an easy respray into grey. Get the rattlecan out.

Some of the flange profiles are remarkably fine for their day.....

Just needs the driving wheel centres to be reversed and tyres reseated for 36.75mm gauge......

Anyone wanting an accurate Fell can build their own using the Judith Edge kit.

At least they didn't encounter any of those antisocial eejits who plague parts of the DART

Mostly to provide steam to either drive other machinery or provide heat