Flying Snail

Intersting topic @Mol_PMB! In addition to the narrow gauges, Guinness Brewery would also have included the 5'3" tramway to Hueston, and Cómhlucht Siúicre Eireann also had its own 5'3" shunters to manage traffic at its plants.There's also a number of industrial sidings such as the Shannonvale Mill one in Cork that was operated by horse. Some interesting pictures of both narrow and broad gauge industrial railways here: https://transportsofdelight.smugmug.com/RAILWAYS/IRISH-RAILWAYS/INDUSTRIAL-LOCOMOTIVES

Agree that its nice to be reminded that Ireland had narrow gauges other than 3'. In fact, despite it being another 3' gauge, I think the BnM railways are an excellent example that there's also more to industrial systems than the sterotypical urban factory setting so many of us associate industrial railways with. At least one author has claimed that Guinness had the largest industrial railway in Ireland. In fact that title goes to the BnM network - its network even dwarfed the County Donegal which is often referred to as being the largest narrow gauge railway in these islands.

Agreed - 'simple' solutions are often not simple to implement!

On the face of it, it seems very simple for Accurascale to just implement a shipping rule to 'send all US orders valued between $335 and $800 via the mail and all others via courier until Aug 12'. However, it's not that simple at all. For instance, let's suppose Accurascale implement the above shipping rule - but then US tariffs change again before Aug 12 in a way that makes shipping orders between $335 and $800 cheaper by courier instead of mail. What happens if Accurascale fail to spot those tariff changes and don't change their shipping rule accordingly - resulting in their customers missing out on the lower cost option. Would a US customer be entitled to be upset at Accurascale for imposing the higher cost option on them? It seems obvious to me that to avoid the above scenario, Accurascale would have to commit resources (i.e time and money) to: track US tariff developments on an ongoing basis for changes; and, for each new change - investigate various scenarios involving shipping options, order values etc. - and then implement new rules to pick the best shipping option. The safer (and cheaper*) option for Accurascale is to let their American customers do their own research and choose their own preferred shipping option - that way American customers only have themselves to blame if they have to pay higher than expected tariffs. *I expect Accurascale have crunched the numbers when making their decision and have taken into account size of the US market, and the likely negative impact on sales etc.

As mentioned above - had Harcourt St. and Broadstone remained in use in 1966, they would have received two of the names of the executed leaders that were allocated to other stations. In addition to Dev and Collins, another prominent name associated is Countess Markievicz - she ended up on the anti-treaty side of the Civil War, so she probably presents the same civil war politics dilemma (btw, we have since had public buildings and spaces named after all three of these). But, if you want to continue the 1916 theme and pick a name that would be acceptable to both sides of the Civil War - then I suggest you also think about those who died in the fighting in 1916. The most senior of the rebels to die in the fighting was probably The O'Rahilly, who had tried to stop the Rising going ahead, but still turned out to take part. He died covering the retreat from the GPO - cut down by a machine gun, he was refused medical treatment and left on the street to bleed out despite the rebels' surrender. He lived in Herbert Park, so Harcourt St would be a good candidate for him. Another prominent death was the pacifist Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, who was arrested while trying to prevent looting and summarily executed. Now all that being said, if a station was being named in more recent times I think it more likely that the search for names would be broadened out to include literary and civic figures as well, so if your scenario involves a modern day renaming of the two stations you might consider some of those too?

Enjoy the process, and share some pics of the build!

@Noel converted a Lima Mk 1 into a Generator Van - he talked through the process on his workbench thread

They look very well, you've done a very nice job with them! And its great to see of another supplier of Irish kits. Looking forward to seeing pre-assembly pictures of the next two as well

Yes, exactly - thats why bracing/framing is important

Nice pics - glad you enjoyed it! You've drank the Dart beer ... now you'll have to get the Dart tee-shirt

Yes, its traditionally used for baseboards so should be fine. You're right that it's a good idea to seal the baseboard before placing any track and landscape - varnish or an emulsion paint would do nicely.

I picked up some MDF recently for a different (non-railway) project, and I found it to be very heavy when compared to plywood. You should find both in Woodies, but I'd consider going with ply over MDF for that reason. If you use timber bracing to stop it bending, something in the 6mm to 12mm range should be okay

You've picked a good weekend for it ... its nice and sunny today (Sunday) Train related attractions are limited, but the National Transport Museum in Howth should be open from 2pm to 5pm today - don't let the name fool you, it's not on the scale of any of the major transport museums in Britain, or even the excellent Ulster Transport Museum in Cultra. Its very much a small scale volunteer operation. However, its an interesting spot with some nice gems - mainly buses and commercial vehicles, so no trains but they do have a tram or two. I recommend checking with them that they're open though. My top train related recommendation* on a day like today, especially for a man who likes his Guinness, is to get the DART to Howth and take the cliff walk. Fabulous views and you can take a break in the summit inn for a well deserved pint/lunch, before heading back down into the village for more pints or maybe out to the Transport Museum. Theres some nice pubs and restaurants in Howth, especially if you're into seafood. Be warned though - while its "near" to the airport, getting there from Howth by public transport requires heading back to the city centre. However, by taxi the airport is just 20 minutes or so from Howth (depending on traffic). * I would also have recommended the DART to Greystones and taking the cliff walk from there back to Bray station, but a landslide in 2021 has resulted in the walking trail's closure

I forgot about the bubbles .. despite picking up a few packs. No, it was the 800s that I was thinking of. Now as for N ..... yes, please!

Anything will be relatively small compared to the last announcement (..... except maybe a 201, and MM has them covered)

Its a good idea alright to get as many pictures as you can, from as many angles as you can! The writing you're asking about - do you mean the oval plate in the centre of the water tank? That'll be details of the foundry that manufactured it. There's a good shot of it here - its the fourth slide: https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/50010034/seville-place-dublin-1-dublin I can't make out all of the letters but its a good starting point, and someone will have details of the full name somewhere

Those are two fine looking engines!

Thats a very nice job - you can see from the early pics that a lot of fettling and finessing went into it.

Definitely makes sense that a lifting train would need to have its own water supply once rail access to local water towers had been cut off. Also, another reason why you might be seeing so many tanks turning up in pictures is that water hardness is a big issue in many parts of Ireland - so another use for water tanks would have been to bring in water from other areas with soft water. I think, for example, the GSWR/GSR used old tenders to supply Limerick Junction. More info on the use of old tenders in this role is here:

Just coming into this thread now following the announcement of the latest run of cement bubbles. I have to say the amount of research here is very impressive! Excellent work @Mol_PMB!

When you click on each set in the shop, you'll see the wagon numbers listed at the bottom of the Description tab EDIT: Just spotted MOGUL has pulled together the wagon list

Thats very interesting indeed @ttc0169 Thanks for sharing - every day's a school day!

I think you're referring to Mk3 generator vans added the De Dietrich Enterprise formation to replace the locomotive HEP. Technically they're push-pulls too of course, but the lads were talking about the Mk 3 push-pull sets. I'm open to correction, but I don't recall Mk3 generator vans being added to the Mk 3 push-pull sets.

I saw them at the Collectables Toy Fair out by Dublin Airport in March ... they're very good indeed.

Good luck with them, they're a nice set . As well as the push-pull driving trailer, you can also get a Mk3 generator van from Silverfox (ready to run or kit form). SSM also do an etch that allows you to convert a Mk 3 coach to a generator van.