Robert Davies

Poor farmers! Porsche and a Merc outside... Really nice job Anthony, it looks disturbingly real -Rob

I would try resetting the decoder back to the factory defaults. http://www.dccwiki.com/Decoder_reset Wherever possible 'I turn off' the DC running capability on the decoders in my locos. A question, does the loco always run in the same absolute direction? ie does it run forwards no matter which direction you place it on the track? Say it runs to the left, and then you turn the loco, it now runs to the right? When on DC of course. Oh, and never run DC locos on DCC for any length of time, it destroys the motor, possibly involving the magic smoke too(!) -Rob

Rich, do you recall which loco those Hornby cables are supposed to go on?

Not strictly accurate - the standard default for most function F0 is 'lights' - which for our purposes means the forward and reverse marker lights - being as Irish locos have separate headlights, they needed to be put on another couple of functions so that they could be independently switched on or off in the direction of travel. -Rob

From where? -Rob

Castletown, I couldn't agree more! -Rob

Wiggy, apart from the coat of paint, the 'BELL' and limited clearance transfers, what have you done to that Lima crane? It looks w-a-y better than I ever remember them looking! -Rob

That's my understanding too, however what Hatton's are saying, 112, 082, and 088 Supertrain will be released together at the end of this month/beginning of next. Though I would guess that regarding timing we're at the mercy of the shipping schedules on the high seas more than anything. -Rob

Cheers Rich for the notes regarding the oddities of livery variations on the Freight liveried 071s - out with the masking tape and the paint then? :D Some noob from over the water, may or may not have just stuck 112 on pre-order -Rob (from over the water...)

Hattons over here are stating the following for the 112 Northern Counties: Due into stock on or after Thursday 1st November 2012 Must resist, must resist...

Bearing in mind that 072 is going to be modelled by MM... I wonder if this livery variation will make it on to the model? Tip: Check out the cab door(!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIDYXrZ1VRA -Rob

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Irish-Rail-Enterprise-Lima-201-Class-207-River-Boyne-OO-Railway-Model-Locomotive-/160901830749 Lima 201 River Boyne from another seller - The good, it's a livery not available currently from Murphy's - The bad, it's a Lima, the postage is a bit high outside Ireland? The photo is from an angle that shows (emphasises?) the Lima model's issues. Not a bad start price considering the bonkers prices these things used to go for. -Rob

It looks like a Walthers Mi-Jack kit to me... Though I must admit I've never seen one as nicely finished as Anthony's. If your yard is smaller I recommend searching out a Kibri Kalmar crane, or the similar Walther Kalmar crane - they look like bloomin' ginormous forklifts. -Rob ps Be careful if you searching for the above - most of them are available in 'N' too!

Again, thanks for the assistance, and the offers of same, everyone. You know how to make a chap feel welcome -Rob

Yeah... Just about unintelligible too!

None of them sold - The postage seemed a bit heavy to me. As an aside, being a modeller, or at the very least, someone who runs their locos and stock, the Murphy 201 has 'blown' the market for the Lima models for me. If I were a collector, things *may* be different....

My goat's nowhere near my tad, let alone 'up' it!?! I certainly appreciate the 'heads up', but It's a bit earlier than my interests - incidentally the same seller has a couple of Cravens up for sale too - I already have them, and it looks like they're on the way up in price. -Rob

I certainly appreciate that, and the help that I've had so far - but I do feel *such* a noob coming back and asking even the most basic questions Some good reading/reference materials suggestions from aclass007 so far thanks -Rob

I wonder if you fine fellows can assist me? I'm looking for recommendations for reference books that cover the more modern history of the railways of Ireland, say 1980s onwards. Any suggestions would be appreciated. What I already have (not a long or large list!) : European Handbook No.7 Irish Railways: Locomotives and coaching stock - Fox & Pritchard From CIE to IR - The Changing Face of Ireland's Railways - Darby, Higson & Quinlan. ...and that's it so far! Over to you? Regards, -Rob

Well at least the 121 is on the cards! You can't have *just* one of those...

Cracking video that! Thanks DJ for finding it again for me - I've watched it a few times in the past, and lost it again! - oh and cheers to Bos for embedding it, 'bout time he did something around the place Kidding!!!! A feel a request coming on... Dear Paddy Murphy, Can I have an A class please? -Rob Aged 47 and a quarter.

To Conor, Yes and no The MkIId air cons were acquired new, first, but the MkIIa coaches were acquired later, secondhand. So the newer air cons were in Irish service earlier than the older non-aircon MkIIa coaches. Confused yet? I know I was... -Rob

Rich, When I was going through my first US railroading phase 7-8 years back I recall being 'underwhelmed' with Details West parts, they needed quite a bit of fittin' an' fettlin', or I could have just been unlucky... Anywho moving on. It's handy that their filters are a bit overscale in this case! I can't decide whether the 201's underframe niggles me enough to fix it, bearing in mind that any remedies will make that part of the model pretty bloomin' delicate. Also... You do realise that once you've worked out a viable solution, a tutorial with pics will be required Thinking on... The best chance of getting underframe spares for the new 67 would probably be by contacting East Kent Models - they break current Chinese production Hornby models to supply the unobtainium spares. I've used them in the past for parts that Hornby themselves were unable to supply. http://www.eastkentmodels.co.uk/ Regards, -Rob

Wiggy, Who makes those width gauges? (The ones that you reckon are worth having!) -Rob

I wonder if I know where this is going? It's pretty unlikely that they're going to be available as spares tho' -Rob