Old Blarney

Richrua, First Rule of Modelling:- It is your railway. Second Rule:- Seek advice and guidance. Third Rule:- Apply the advice as and when you feel it appropriate to your railway. I use Dapol Lower Quadrant Signals on my home layout. They meet my needs, they go down and they return to danger. They look reasonably realistic, they have working lights and their spectacle glasses are excellent. If you feel the finials are too fancy, remove them. I use both the Distant and Home versions. I have one Distant permanently set at Caution. The real joy of these signals are:- They have working lights, moving arms and are well built. I cannot wait for the Junction versions of these signals which, I believe ,they will be available towards the end of 20i6!!!

JB, All them photographs is going uphill. Any chance of you getting them on the flat?

JB, What does the future hold for us? Many businesses, and their employees, no longer appear to give a jot about their standards of workmanship! Telephonic communications are impersonal - hold, press button 1 for XXX, button 2 for YYYY. Maxol, employ a telephonist/receptionist and she has always answered my calls within three rings. I like good service and manners. Perhaps, one day, they may return!

JB, The years, the year! Where have they gone too? My little one will be thirty this year. Born on the morning of the 11th of May, 1987. Yes, I was there for her arrival at 00:20Hrs, three weeks late. Not even CIE could manage such a delay. Nature is wonderful, is she not?

JB, whomsoever (ˌhuːmsəʊˈɛvə ) ►Definitions pronoun (archaic ( or formal) the objective form of whosoever ⇒ to whomsoever it may concern ►Example Sentences Including 'whomsoever' But my primary loyalty is to my readers --- whomsoever they be --- so that was something I would never do. Isabel Wolff RESCUING ROSE (2002) In the meantime, whomsoever you take under your protection shall be under my protection and under the shield of Gondor. J.R.R. Tolkien THE LORD OF THE RINGS (2004) Not a rebuke. just information. Kindest regards, David.

Quote Originally Posted by Old Blarney View Post Guagemaster is a badged NCE Product). No, Gaugemaster are rebadged MRC not NCE controllers. Irishthump, Thank you for your correction to my error. My sincere apologies to all involved.I] This afternoon, I decided to 'run my railway'. I normally use the control knobs for acceleration and breaking of trains, This afternoon, I used the + and - keys on my Digitrax Handsets. A very useful feature. I had totally forgotten one can use this function as an alternative to the knobs for controlling trains!

Noel, I and other members of Perth and District Model Railway Club, use equipment supplied by Digitrains. They attended our Show last year and are due to attend again in 2016. Their services are excellent. A number of our Club Members have, in the past, had unfortunate experiences with DCC equipment. Generally, the problems were with starter and upgraded products from Hornby, Bachmann and Guagemaster. Our preferred Manufacturer is; - DIGITRAX. The Club and a signigicant number of our membership use this manufacturers products, our preferred supplier, Digitrains. The reasons we prefer DIGITRAX are:- They offer a range of controllers, they provide a handset with two control knobs, their equipment is such that increased performance is achieved easily, your original purchase does not become redundant when you require additional functions or capacity. Most importantly, their after sales service is, in my and the Club members opinion, excellent. Their dual knob controller also allows simple use of, and for, Consisting Locomotives - Control of multiple locomotives; or trains, from a single handset, using multiple train address numbers. This cannot, as far as I am aware be achieved by either the NCE or Guagemaster systems. Guagemaster is a badged NCE Product).

Richrua, Reference, Kingscourt Station, and the possibility of there having been a Cattle-bank there. Have a look at this reference from OSI. http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V2,679710,795650,12,9 The historical OSI map from which this reference is taken, may help you to decide if there was one there? There is space to the top left of the Station Buildings, and also at the bottom right of the Station, just after the level crossing. It may have been possible to load cattle at these two locations?. I visited Kingscourt, on an Ore train, however, there was little to see of the original buildings. There was, to the left of the level crossing, a large modern shed in which Ore was housed prior to it being loaded into wagons, by a mechanical shovel. There was also an abandoned tipping area to the top right, of the old station. I was told this had, in the past, been used for loading railway wagons from lorries, which tipped the ore into said wagons prior to the introduction of the mechanical shovel. Oh, the turntable pit was just about visible, if my memory serves me correctly! Unfortunately, I do not remember seeing an extant cattle loading area.

Castle Rackrent. Attached a link to an article about Castle Rackrent:- http://highlandmiscellany.com/2014/06/03/last-train-to-castle-rackrent/ http://highlandmiscellany.com/2015/07/06/day-return-to-castle-rackrent/ I very much doubt the complete layout of 'Castle Rackrent' will be exhibited at Glasgow! The reason; it is enormous. It would require a fleet of Pickford's pantechnicon furniture removal vehicles to be transport anywhere. Thus, I believe Richard Chown, will exhibit only a section of this wonderful model railway. If my memory serves me correctly, the complete layout requires a minimum of seven operators to work it successfully. Each of these pictures may be enlarged by clicking on then twice.

You youngsters. I was in the hallway of our home, The Hill, Palmerstown, when WWII ended. I still had the cork in the barrel of my gum. I was waiting to shoot that man Hitler. Cold, try the winter of 1947! I remember the frost patterns inside the windows and scraping the frost off the window so I could look outside. I remember travelling on the 6,7 or 8 Tram to my Grandparents home on Sydney Parade. Golly, I was mightily upset when the trams ceased running. I remember "Six Wheel Coaches" as standard on the Coast Line, the Drumms without their batteries, 850, the introduction of the Bolton and our Capetown Buses. Oh, at the back of my mind, I remember seeing abandoned tramcars, their trolley-poles in the air at Donnybrook Depot. Now, I cannot remember what I did yesterday, let alone whether, or not, I completed my works expenses this afternoon! Ah! I have just remembered their is a Model Railway Exhibition in Glasgow, looking forward to our invasion of Scotland, and our opportunity to meet one-and other over a few pints.

Knocking the Bachmann Irish Railway Set. Well it was that very 'Set' that rekindled my interest in railway modelling. I purchased a set on eBay around ten or eleven years ago. It met my needs. Running my wee railway reminded me of the CIE stand at the RDS. It reminded me of the hours spent watching model trains in Brown Thomas prior to Christmas. It reminded me of the days I spent at Liffey Junction, Sydney Parade and the RDS sidings at Lansdowne Road. Most of all it provided me with a Ready to Run Railway with a locomotive and coaches that represented my memories of the very early days of CIE. Thank you Bachmann for that. Thank you for being responsible for my continuing support and interest in modelling. I have two sizeable railways, Old Blarney and the railway in my home. I have a sizeable collection of stock from; Paddy Murphy, Provincial Wagons, kits from SSM, locomotives built for me by Colm Flanagan, rolling stock from Raymond Kayne for my three Enterprise Sets, and others too, thank you Ray. I supported MIR and other cottage industries both here in the UK and my native Ireland. Had it not been for that purchase, I may never have come back to Railway Modelling. That first Model Railway Set, no matter how small, or incorrect to ours, may be the spark that kindles the fire to this hobby! May I politely suggest, that we, the exhibitors, modellers and commentators, should be cautious of the way we comment on items that are of little interest to us now that we have progressed. Progressed to a standard that we are happy with and want to improve upon. Please do not, repeat, do not, belittle those who have lesser skills than you. Encourage those that show an interest in further progression. I often feel we, the custodians of our hobby, are not particularly welcoming to those with lesser knowledge of our hobby. Too often, I have witnessed an unknowledgeable but enthusiastic individual being snubbed by the person he or she addressed at an Exhibition. Be proud of your knowledge, but also remember, there is always another person with greater knowledge than you, and with superior manners too! DJW.

I Googled 'Proposed Railway from Dublin to Enniskillen'. This resulted in my finding:- 'The Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal Click in the above to reveal the information on page 299 and onwards. The article, page 299 and onward, provides some interesting information. Armagh to Port Rush. I have yet to read the remainder of this document, but thought it may be interesting to others on this forum. It continues as below:- https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=sQ5AAAAAYAAJ 1838 - ‎Architecture We give a small map accurately traced with the railways proposed by the Irish ... 31 — Proposed Railway from Dublin to Enniskillen, recommended by the ...The Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal. . David. Last edited by Old Blarney; 2 Minutes Ago at 07:50 PM.

Apology - posted on wrong section.

What if? What if the line from Lochrae had been constructed to meet the Parsonstown Line, and thence a further construction to Banagher with running rights to Streamstown and Cavan! Well, I need to find a use for a locomotive with LBSC lettering on it! To justify this purchase, I have created another Irish Railway? The Lochrae Banagher Streamstown Cavan. Locomotives 0-6-2T. Brown with Gold Lining.

Four Baby GMs, coupled to one-and-other, (I'll search for their numbers) were used to test Embankment and Bridge strength upon the completion of re-doubling the track between Clonsilla and Maynooth. There is a photograph of them in one of the IRRS Journals. Also found this information:- Work commenced around the middle of February 1999 on the doubling of the Clonsilla to Maynooth section. A base has been established at the former Lucan North station and the first activity of any significance was the demolition of the Down platform and most of the station building. Incidentally the latter had been occupied until relatively recently and was of a similar design to that at Leixlip (Louisa Bridge). The running line through Lucan was slewed away from the Down side during this work but has now been reinstated in such a way as to provide sufficient room for the new Up road formation. The formation for the new Up road was substantially complete and partially ballasted for a distance of over two miles from Barberstown level crossing to a point just short of Leixlip (Confey) by mid-May. At the time of writing in early June the track had been slewed on either side of Confey and work had started on the construction of a new Down platform a short distance on the Maynooth side of the existing station. When this is ready the existing platform will be demolished and the Down line returned to the position it occupied prior to 1990 when the track was realigned to make way for existing Confey station. It is expected that the new platform will then be extended back as far as the overbridge in order to provide sufficient length to accommodate an eight-piece railcar set. Commencing on 10th April 1999 the Clonsilla/Maynooth section has been closed from about 20:00 on Saturdays to 17:00 on Sundays to facilitate work associated with the doubling project. Incidentally the existing line between Clonsilla and Maynooth, which was singled in 1929, generally follows the course of the original Down line. There are significant deviations, however, through and on either side of Leixlip (Louisa Bridge) due to curvature realignments which took place alter Leixlip ceased to be a block post in 1977

Looking forward to seeing you, Sir.

John, Thank you. Interesting, informative and extremely useful for me. I had not realised the GSR, had in 1933, introduced a livery identical to English LMS livery, and with identical lining in yellow and black, identically positioned. Nor was I aware, the early Drumm were painted LMS maroon with cream upper panels. I wrongly assumed the colours of these unique units to be Brown and Cream!

Well done Sir. Would you consider a journey to Perth, Scotland? My Exhibition Manager, Stan Moug, a stickler for excellence, is constantly searching for high quality model railways to exhibit at our Annual Exhibition. Again my congratulation to you. David.

What a sad day. We have lost an inspired and inspiring fellow. David.

Castle Rackrent Owned by Richard Chown. I have seen the complete model railway at his home. It is spectacular - Worked to a timetable, authentic Bell Codes, miniature leavers, interlocked signals and point. Looking forward to Glasgow. I shall be assisting at "Bleach Green".

NEM Pockets - Tension Lock Couplings. Murphy Models. NEM Pockets. Tension Lock Couplings inserted. These can be replaced with Kadee Couplings No, 17,18,19 or 20. Provincial Wagons. Tension Lock Couplings with Dapol Type Couping used on the older products. These too can be replaced with Kadee Couplings as above. Glue and patience are required to set the coupling Kadee to the correct height and distance. The latter is dependent upon your track radius, points etc. Provincial Wagons. NEM Pockets on their later and current products. Tension Lock Couplings inserted. These too can be replaced with Kadee Couplings as above

DiveController, Morning to you. I suspect none of us can answer your Question! "How easy would it be to access the boiler to place a DCC chip as I assume parts may not just unclip like in plastic locomotives?" Reason we have not yet received our purchases. I suggest you refer to Posting No 1, on this subject. It contains the relevant contact details for this Manufacturer. The will, I'm sure, provide you with the information you require of their products. Happy modelling.

What might have been! It is amazing what we can do to justify the purchase of rolling stock for our model railways. I use a Bachmann CLASS 4F 0-6-0 that is a very dirty shade of "Invisible Green", with Black Smoke box. The locomotive tender retains the letters LMS. The justification for the use of this locomotive? In my World, the railway lines from Londonderry to Eniskillen, Manorhamilton and Sligo were not closed in 1957. These lines were retained following major political pressure from the Dublin Government. They insisted the agreement for either Government to demand the retention of former GNR lines lines be adhered to. This insistence resulted in the formation of a New Railway Company:- The Londonderry,Manorhamilton and Sligo Railway Company (LMS). From here the imagination takes over completely!!! Everything and anything trundles over this line. Number 70 can haul mixed trains, cattle trains or whatever can be justified, so long as the rails will carry the traffic. I can imagine a certain U Class being used here!

Congratulations Weshty. You can run it on a rail-tour to The County Clare. Regards, David.

The following information is taken directly from ooworks Web Page- "THESE LOCO'S ARE NOT FITTED WITH DCC BUT IT CAN BE FITTED IN EITHER THE BOILER OR THE TENDER, THERE IS ENOUGH ROOM) WE DO NOT PROVIDE THIS SERVICE. We make all our locos mainly from cast metal, resin. brass , etch and other materials. some of our tooling is hand done while other bits are done using 3D design. Our locos are spray finished with some lining being done free hand. We only offer OO guage, as most of our customers are from across the British Isles inc Ireland. Our loco's are fitted with 5 pole motors."