Tractionman

makes you wonder who is buying at those kind of prices! but at the same time an indicator that demand is there but it is not being met by supply... an opportunity for addressing this surely?

they look excellent, sorry to ask but is there a link for ordering -- a web search came up with one but it was dead alas

excellent I have in front of me my copy of Doyle & Hirsch to see what might be manageable with my limited skills, and so looking at possibly something like 1906, 1917TL or 1927TL (on page 34). what orange paint for CIE do folks go for usually? (black I am ok with!). cheers, Keith

many thanks @Mol_PMB much appreciated, I will have a look on Ebay for a suitable quarry for my scalpel! all the best, Keith

is there a passable British open brake that I could use to convert to CIE stock? I have been looking at old Lima and Triang coaches but advice would be welcome happy to do some butchering and of course repainting as appropriate! cheers, Keith

Us here

any inf on trade support?

Ah not the Isle of Man then!?

9mm gauge track and 3mm scale would be great for Irish (and IOM) 3-foot gauge modelling but it does not seem to be that common place? I did start buying some 3mm scale building kits with an idea for such a layout but like most of my railway modelling ideas it never came to fruition! cheers, Keith PS, sorry, we are a long way from Hunslets and Enterprise stock !!

on a Sunday too, which makes things logistically slightly easier (for me!) with things like parking and a 10.40 departure time is quite civilised!

aha thanks, that explains things, it's the maroon/blue driving trailer that it looks like I have missed out on -- on pre-orders https://www.accurascale.com/products/nir-mk-2b-bdts-812-nir-maroon-blue

hmm, I thought these were all new (and as yet unavailable) releases?! I have a nice shiny new maroon Eagle just landed, and was about to think about the rolling stock to go with it so am a bit at a loss now, I guess I shall just have to get what I can

I am curious as to why these have now sold out but the other Mk2 NIR coaches remain orderable! Do some folks just want the Driving Trailer on its own, or are fewer of these being produced compared with the other Mk2s?

Have you particular railway modelling interests, eg period, place, company, operations? I fear I'm at the opposite end, buying too much stuff with wide and varied prototype interests and not enough focus on layout building!

I did the same, too good an opportunity to miss! (Mine's DC only...)

Thanks to a spin and win result I have popped an order in for a Eagle I could not possibly resist! I'll be saving up now for the matching coaches... cheers, Keith

sometimes worth checking TCD rooms, but yes even these are not cheap! https://www.visittrinity.ie/stay/book/#!/accommodation/search/date/2026-08-07/2026-08-08?lang=en Dublin Airport Premier Inn is also around the £120 mark, and good access by bus to the city centre?

Rpsi link https://www.steamtrainsireland.com/whats-on/25/cu-na-mara "As with previous diesel railtours this one is sure to be very popular and will sell out quickly so don't delay, and get your booking in as soon as possible."

Is it cheaper ordering via Rails of Sheffield https://railsofsheffield.com/collections/accurascale-h-van-wagons

this is surely the golden age for preserved railways in GB, with a volunteer workforce and day-trippers keeping them afloat, but if that dynamic changes there will be an impact on the viability of lines' survival in the coming decades--and the volunteer base is particularly vulnerable I would have thought as (a) fewer of us these days have much spare time to offer in older age as we have to work for a living (!) for longer with pensions shrinking in real terms and more debts for longer, (b) the pool of enthusiasts is shrinking, especially as the memories of 'proper' loco-hauled trains let alone steam fades from the population, and 'reliving' our youth disappears as a driver... am I being too gloomy? I am not sure the likes a a few 'celeb' train-spotter influencers will be enough to galvanise the 2000s+ generation (ie those not in the 1960s-1980s enthusiast group) to prop up for free the raft of jobs needed for maintaining preserved railways, from tearoom staff to fitters and platelayers. time will tell, but GB preservation may wane and so we should make the most of what we have while it's here

Interesting points, a big difference too is around nostalgia fueled by kids in Britain who were loco spotters in the fifties and sixties and really drove the preservation movement in the seventies, which bore fruit by the nineties and now very much a part of the tourist industry in GB which hopefully will help the lines continue to prosper for decades to come. Without those pioneers acting on their passion for steam, and reacting to its loss on British Railways in 1968, I'm sure we'd have a fraction of preserved lines in England. The narrow gauge lines in Wales are perhaps a different preservation story to the lines like the Severn Valley and North York Moors. Scotland is not really loaded with preserved railways. Population figures no doubt play an important part in all this, but so does having the luxury of nostalgia.

I see Rails has listed some of this stock on their shop web-site too, eg https://railsofsheffield.com/collections/murphy-models?filter.v.price.gte=0&filter.v.price.lte=220&page=1&sort_by=created-descending

Well, that lot didn't hang around for very long just goes to show the level of demand there is.

This is worth a read too https://irishcycle.com/2026/07/02/kilrush-to-kilkee-route-planned-as-first-section-of-wider-85km-west-clare-railway-greenway/

Indeed, and no public rights of way network like in England and Wales, where bridleways are available for cycling off-road. There are quieter cycling on-road options but it means sitting down with an OS map and working out routes, all part of the fun, but not everyone has the time or inclination to do that and visitors and families are after safer cycling routes where they can rent a bike, or take their kids out for an afternoon, so the greenway network is ideal for that, especially for those lines that were closed but their formations not lost, as with the Dungarvan branch and the Waterford Greenway. Doing the same for the Ballycastle Railway, as has been proposed, on the other hand, seems mad to me, as the line closed in 1950, and much of the trackbed since reclaimed, so a more realistic route from Ballymoney to Ballycastle (which would be good to have for promoting cycling) might instead be based on the network of small roads and lanes in that part of Co. Antrim, all for a lot less cash than a brand new greenway, and without the lengthy planning disputes with local landowners!