Mike 84C

To get a nice edge to your ballast, run masking tape where you want the ballast to finish. When the ballast/glue is dry remove the tape and hey a nice edge any PW man would be proud of! And it will not be arrow straight!

Shapeways down the tubes? How did I miss that?

That's pretty creative thinking mate . Nothing like a roundy roundy ! says he after building and running a fiddle yd to terminus. Real timetable = not many trains per day!

I'm looking at an Airfix Scot with the detail removed and a Southeastern Finecast etched chassis+ wheels and motor. Killian you beat me to it!! What do I do now? decision's ,decisions!

I would agree with your premise, minister but the railways of Ireland are the home of one offs small classes and non standard locos. Its part of the fascination of Irish railways. Posted 13 hours ago Singletons and batches of non standard locos generally tend to be short lived. By the time they need heavy repairs it's not cost effective to be tinkering with them any further.

Well it must have been a heck of a party 'cos we watched the display till after midnight over here in Lincolnshire. Amazing! never seen the Northern Lights before and I did'nt need to book a cruise!!

I admire your dedication Leslie and in the pouring rain, top man!! Beats the s--t out of any pointy nose emu!

Leslie, a real blast from the past! That's how I remember steam hauled trains. 20 sec's worth watching ? OH yes! and thanks for posting

Andy , for shunting engines I'd agree, WR Panniers etc; but look at the position of the reach rod from the cab to the motion behind the splasher. At that angle I think screw reverse is very probable because the pin joints to make the mechanism work would mean a reversing lever handle and catch taller than a man. I think something like a spoked wheel as on an L&Y A class 0-6-0. Mike

Wonder if they ever get the wrong sort of leaves on the track? My brain so quickly acclimatised to 4mm scale it took a couple of seconds to realise the big looming things were people! duhhh! Good cab ride though.

Made mine several years ago quite an easy hack, good chance IRM's will be better detailed though! So is the next one a pallet van ? Here's mine!

Funny thing Westcork, mine also stripped the pinion gear within a few hours running. Rodrick did supply a new gear FOC for me to fit. I have washerd the lateral play to the absolute minimum keeping the worm in the centre of the pinion. Although with straight cut gears that should not be so much of a problem. The worm teeth on my loco are so sharp you could shave with it!

That is a very nice thing to do, Hattons goes out with a bang not a whimper.

British engineering ; run by ??? oh yes accountants.

Rob R, no problem. Be nice to have a 3D printed model out there, I tried pedalling that idea to several producers but no takers yet!!

Thanks for sharing with us Horsetan 3d printing seems to be moving so very fast. It will be interesting if vendors on Shapeways or even Shapeways improve their offerings.

I posted that Baldwin drawing quite a few years ago. I rather suspect that all of the American imports were not successful/ liked in the UK is the totally different engineering philosiphy of the American builders and the "not invented here" attitude of GB engineers. That ones still about! Interesting article about the Port Talbot 0-8-2t's in Railway Archive No 4 July 2003 it also has a very good drawing. They were built by Cooke of Paterson NJ.

Here's mine, I believe I've posted it before. Those vac; formed windows are awful but at distance are just tolerable. .

Why not just buy a Silver fox "C" instead? saves all that sawing and mess on the workbench.

All I can say is wow! pity NZ is so far away!

Carpentry on the dining room table, that's brave! more than my life is worth ! I also have the house to myself, plus the guinea pigs! Swimbo has gone to Wales to see her Mother. Now what can I be doing between now and Monday?

Mike Beckett; I do not understand the politics of Irish preservation. If its not too contentious, please explain the joy over the collapse of Moyasta and from where?

I dont do FB but my wife does so where can she find the comments please. To me the tourist versus heritage line is rubbish. No tourists then there is no point for a heritage line, in fact no case for any line. I worked for the Festiniog as an employee and volunteer for best part of 35 years and I never saw a single load of commercial slate come down the line to be put in the hold of a ship; ever. Only tourists going up and down spending their money. We used to watch the trains going around Boston Lodge curve and estimate wether the number of passengers had paid the fuel bill. Maybe get no5 over from Blennervile and start restoration? I'm sure Patrick Keefe would love to restore it.

I wonder if all the non ferrous parts were put under lock and key? If bearings and injectors have been stolen then restoration just gets harder and vastly more expensive. Trajic No 5 is in that condition.

Are you a cyclist? 'cos I love the gravity defying bicycle. Seriously, that is a brilliant cameo. makes me want to sit on a platform seat and enjoy the trains. I look forward to more from yourself.