Robert Davies

That grey 121, I didn't know 121s ever wore that livery, it sorta looks like the old L&N livery in the States. With names changed to protect the guilty -Rob

You remembered! Thanks Eamonn for the 121 pics! ....and all the rest of course! Ah yes that van, I have been in a similar situation myself... Hanging by the back axle off a fence post, pretty much vertical down an old quarry face with naught but 20ft of fresh air beyond the bonnet badge - as a point of reference MkIV Escort van rear doors open fine from the inside with mild persuasion. -Rob

I had a message left on my answerphone this afternoon from Gareth at ModelShopBelfast. I rang him back... He wanted to know which version of the 071/112 sound did I want... 071, or 112 - the horns and station announcements being different between the two variants. Attention to detail or what?!? The delay in getting this chip to market has NOT been of Gareth/ModelshopBelfast's making, but he has made good use of the delay to acquire different sounds to make the two distinct versions. Can't wait for my 112 chip to arrive now!! :) -Rob

Aye, Martin Mackey makes a fine wagon, I bought a late livery bubble from him, 'just to see' - when I can ring fence a bit more wherewithal I'll see about getting some more from him, his wagon are an excellent balance of price and quality. Thanks Eire Trains for filling in a little bit of extra detail 'colour' for me. Regards all, -Rob

Hmm.... I did a bit of research on these 'fonts' or typefaces, a while back. Tony Fahy designed the original font called CIE 2000, often referred to as CIE2K. IE slapped this font everywhere on everything, unfortunately, it had not been designed for signage, and proved borderline unreadable at certain sizes and distances - as a driver of an oversized vehicle that got wedged under a bridge claimed, that he couldn't read the height info on the sign until it was a bit too late. Alan Fitzpatrick revisited the font with a view to actually working out what, where, and when it would be used for, and redesigned it accordingly, unfortunately the redesigned font was named Nexus Sans.... Nexus Sans was the name of an already existing font - so searching for 'Nexus Sans' and thinking 'Hey! Hey! I found it' will almost certainly lead to disappointment..... ....and life went on, much as it had before - in total confusion. -Rob

For the last couple of weeks or so, I've been getting PMs fine, but where someone has quoted a previous PM, I've been getting TWO PMs. 1 A blank PM apart from the quote. 2 A minute or so later, the PM proper, quote, message and everything. Is this part of the issue? It isn't a problem really because I get the PM proper, and a sort of 'pre-echo' a minute or two beforehand. -Rob

I've been browsing Eiretrains, and following the track on Google Earth from Navan, round the side of Nobber and up to Kingscourt. The Gypsum consolidation shed being clearly visible. Anywho... The wagons in use on the trains look like ballast wagons, Is this correct? I'm guessing the wagons would discharge through the bottom as per normal? Where was the gypsum taken? Was it just Platin? Were there other gypsum freight flows elsewhere? Did they use the same type of wagon as at Kingscourt? There is a point to these questions - 'think' layout planning - in the broadest terms, at the moment! Thanks, -Rob

Interestingly - or probably not really - I always thought the BR Regional Railways scheme looked like a colour intense version of the NIR coach scheme. Back to the subject at hand, hopefully my 112 chip should be with me shortly -Rob

4mins 45seconds in

See if this works.... [video=youtube_share;0zDmOl53A4k]

Rich (Glenderg again! nothing personal Red...) Thanks for the notes and tips - and the signs when they're ready -Rob

Pure Morning Oddly enough, I just finished listening to that in iTunes....

Rich.... (Glenderg not the Red one!) Could you make any recommendations as far as print settings, print media and even printers if necessary(!) for the reproduction of your gifts to us. Having seen the absolutely exquisite quality of the colour fidelity of your work, I wondered if you had any tips to impart? Please! <- winning smile! -Rob

What do you mean 'like' ?

Better, better still, have your 201 working properly without HEP, with a gen van and a DD set.... (it almost feels like "and a partridge in a pear tree" should be next up!). Ahem! -Rob

Unless it's provably illegal, ebay don't seem to care any more. Going back to this particular auction, a bid retraction after eight days and 'entered wrong amount' as the reason is just plain wrong - clearly as WrennEire says, it was just to flush out either the reserve or the other highest bidder - unfortunately for the seller there were at least two false bidders playing this 'game'. -Rob

Incredible value indeed! I was extremely tempted.... -Rob :D

PM replied -Rob

If Sulver201 is interested in the 59, I'll take River Boyne (assuming we can work out the price, and that you can accept PayPal). -Rob

The trailer says: "...starts Wednesday 5th December..."

Frank, this should answer your question: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Command_Control -Rob If I remember correctly the only differences between the model numbers is the colour of the tamping 'carriage' - green or red.

By way of an alternative: http://www.modellbahnshop-lippe.com/produkt/Viessmann/21-4-010002-83669-0-0-0-6-11-2-0-gatt-gb-p-0/produkt.html They charge 9.50eur within the EU, I've used them in the past for the odd bit of stock. Still pricey though! -Rob

Duly noted Seamus, duly noted... :D

Woah! Careful now! Don't want that genie getting out of the bottle any time soon! Translation = Idle musings covering the 1995 -> 2005 time period in a little backwater not far from the border... Ack! Genie now out of bottle!! Some stock? Let's see... 112, 177, 187, 229, half a dozen Cravens(maybe more!) a brace of Mk2As, a Mk2 restaurant, a MK2 EGV (or is it two?), a brace of beet wagons, a brace of timber wagons, three oil tankers, a 'bubble', three per way beasts, three pocket wagons, a pair of 20ft container wagons.... oh, and a Bachmann "2700", a Dublin bus, and two Guards LR 110s. Enough to be playing trains with certainly! And to cap it all, despite the impression that Broithe and myself give, my wife is actually pretty much in favour of me building a layout(!) -Rob -Rob

I did, a few weeks ago... He said some unlikely sounding character called "Dave Bracken" had his stock for the Dublin show.... :D I'll give him another call in the coming week, though having said that, he's (Chris) got another show coming up at The Stillorgan Park, Dublin on the 8th of December. -Rob