Mike 84C

I used the Blue Point point control, on our club layout Bantry, to avoid having a central control panel with lots of wiring and to keep things simple. They are hand worked with bicycle spokes and we are very happy with them. So far no failures, that is a rather fatal statement to make!

Dangerous, you should be so lucky, like the inside of a coalsack here well before 5 pm.

Well said JHB, you know your enthusiast market very well! You are quite right about the restoration cost and I have no knowledge of the condition of 800 but rest assured there will be detractors who will not encourage a return to steam, as there are those who would be very keen to see 800's return. Maybe bring it to Britain , re- gauge it then give it a trial against the rebuilt Scot? 10/11 coaches over the S&C !!! Now that is real pie in the sky!! Deep ballasting and modern tamping machines are the real killer for big engines that fill the loading gauge, remember the King had to have its boiler fittings and chimney reduced in height to be able to run on the mainline. But remember, US loco's plinthed in the 1950's are now running again, so all is possible if there's the money and the will.

I think that converting a BR jinty into an NCC one is more like removing detail than adding it. I shall look forward to seeing your finished loco.

I regauged a Peco N gauge turn table for our club Bantry layout it takes our tank engines ok and will just take a J15. As i was being a bit of a skinflint with funds ( did'nt have any!) I used bike spokes to operate the points with a US made " Blue Point" switch to change polarity. I think there are details/photos on the Bantry lead on this forum. Non of it is rocket science but it makes you think! I also wanted to make it easy to operate and trouble shoot.

JHB, I very much like the J15 photo, the weathering looks the business, rusty burnt smokebox excellent! But you really need to get your signals working. If I can do it--------!

Hey! BosKonay is that called cross subsidization? or cross fertilization? Keep raising the bar 'cos I like the Irish side of things. Bye the bye, your guys on the Acurascale stand were very closed mouth about IRM announcements. Even under severe questioning! What torture were you guys threatening !

If they sell at twice the price on ebay, maybe IRM should up the price and make Irish railway modelling more profitable?

I think the car being loaded is a Humber, maybe a Super Snipe or a Hawk. Fair bit different to ro-rof ! bet it made the car owners nervous!

Thanks for the photos of Wolferton Darius, we must visit next year when we are at Cromer. Norfolk is a very good area to visit if you like railways, stately homes , bird watching and beaches.

I remember ,when I was firing on BR, sitting in the loop at Moor street waiting for the road through Snow Hill tunnel and one of those little monsters came by us with a "tripper" from Bordesley yard ,going north, with a huge train maybe 40 wagons and vans. Really "going for it " continious sparks out the chimney, steam under the boiler from the spindle glands and blowing off! Those engines boxed well above their weight. Never worked on one but must have made an impression on me 'cos that was in about 1964! Happy days!

Spot on Darius, echo popeye's words! But as I think I have said before when do you sleep!

The talk of 461 is interesting, I proposed it at least ten years ago, using the argument of what it did in service, in preservation and how modelers/people could buy what they had seen. Interesting how the attitudes in the hobby have changed thanks to Leslie, Mayner, Studio Scale Models and Irish railway Models. I'm sure there are several I have missed. And of course all you guys who post on here fertilizing ideas. If its 461 then thats a birthday sorted!

Thanks Jim Thats a new one on me.

Thanks for posting that about hydrogen in Denmark. The way it reads to me is a lack of interest from motor manufacturing so maybe they are to far down the battery route to back off. Or they can make more money by supplying replacement battery packs. I'm glad it will not affect me!

I like the loco crew wearing straw boaters!

JCB have already announced an ICE engine for plant, to run on hydrogen and its had press demo's. I cannot understand the big wail about no infrastructure for hydrogen as a fuel for IC. Its already there, called a filling station and will be there for as long as petrol and diesel is needed/ available. Maybe 20 yrs?

Hi Patrick, if you have no luck Road Transport Images do many resin hgv parts including that particular cab. Buying the whole set of parts from them is not so cheap but I have bought just the parts I needed and used them on a s/hand diecast chassis. They are good to deal with. Also have an on line catalogue. A satisfied customer!

I quite fancy Killarney, not too big and the backing in or out of the platforms is a bit different and its got an engine shed! But how do I find an excuse to run some Ranks grain wagons?

Mayner, that sounds a bit sad particularly the Irish collections considering all your effort in designing kits that have helped us all in our quest for Irishness in our models. I know that life gives us curved balls at times and I find as I age that the mojo is sometimes missing and its so easy to succomb to the siren song of the arm chair! No Cattle Engine then? I am also heading to disposing of my HO Colorado Midland models and book collections.

Thank you so much for posting those pictures. For me they tell such a story, a narrow gauge railway doing what it was built for and in the face of neglect and adversity. Just shows how much neglect a railway will take and keep operating. Brilliant photos! My stepdaughter is a track engineer for NetWork Rail , had to lean on my chair laughing so much!

I have ridden on the "Flirts" from Sheringham to Norwich and they were very quiet and smooth. Only an hours trip but two hours might be uncomfortable unless the seating arrangements were different. But if you change loco hauled stock for units don't you loose a certain amount of flexibility? eg passenger work by day and freight by night?

Thanks for that video Noel, very interesting with only one magnet. As so many modellers are going over to Kaydee and other magnetic uncoupling systems its a pity manufacturers wont fit non magnetic wheels and axles for our market. The Americans have had them for years!

Baie de la Somme brilliant line, visited some years ago I'll post some pictures if I can find them.

Here on big island MG's are everywhere but usually combustion engines. I'm very surprized Chinese HGV's are not here yet.