Auto-Train Original

I will get this book and looking forward to it. The line to Bandon at least should have been retained. It was the Harcourt Street of the south. That photo above with the railcars says it all.

Sorry to change the subject but I love your ballast. What is is?

it is a great idea and would be a good product for some people - but it would be like EM; a kind of ghetto demanding full commitment. While on a survey like this it costs people nothing to say 'bring it on' but that is not the same thing as this percentage answer actually buying it. Also the kind of people who really want this will just take something like Peco bullhead rail and cut it in two and fill in the sleeper gaps, as well as build their own points.

I should also add nothing ruins a club like pedantic rivet counters (especially with with deep pockets) who exclaim 'you can't run that!" - these types do exist and they are excellent at driving away new people to the hobby. Not to be negative but I have seen this too.

Another childhood memory is walking along the old sleepers to the closed mill alongside the Royal Canal at Phibsborough. To my amazement I found out later that the mill was rail served into the 70s. Firstly is that true? Secondly, are there any photos in existence of trains on the branch during the final years. Thanks in advance.

This is sad to hear but that's business. I have a few Fleischmann locos and railcars and even models they made in the 1970s still hold up. Their pancake motor - which Hornby "borrowed" for a few years, is still the best design to date.

Good luck with your aim of getting a club going. In terms of starting up, I would suggest begin with a homogeneous HO/OO layout. One that will have buildings and scenery that would be plausibly found in most of North America/UK and Ireland/Europe so people can run their own stock on. This kind of semi-blank canvas layout makes everyone feel welcome, and it can be great fun to have a theme night now and again. A large layout like this can be constructed in a short time and not cost a lot. A couple of loops of Code 100 track, few sidings and with a switchable DC/DCC control system. No one feels left out, or forced to model a prototype they are not interested in. Then, as the club becomes established, you can build that M&GW or Portumna and Macguire Bridge (joking!) specific layout. A new (all clubs in fact) club should be accessible to anyone who walks in the door. I know this as I have lived all over and joined model train clubs worldwide and a friendly smile and length of track is a beautiful thing to be offered on your first night in the door. Novice or master crafts builder.

thanks could well be. I think it was painted silver or white? Maybe a later livery. This was late 70s I'd say. thanks everyone - fantastic. Loving the forum.

I am trying to figure out if this is a false memory or something, but I recall as a kid my dad doing a job in the deep end of the Dublin docks and took me along. There was a rail yard with tank wagons there and I am almost certain there was also a small diesel loco working the yard that was not CIE. Can anyone tell me I was not imagining this? Thanks in advance.

Cyril Fry really was something else. Incredible photos thanks.

how did the brakes operate on this! GNR/CIE MAK diesel?

Cheers guys - I will try to get to Raheny so. Thanks.

Hi. I have been given a Silver Fox A Class in green as a gift. I would like to run some wagons with it. I am fairly good at kitbashing so is there any commercially available OO wagons I can repaint or alter to make a short train to be 'close enough' kind of thing? Also a Brake Van? Thanks in advance.