Flying Snail

Thats true, DJ its a well specced loco to be fair, but I still can't get away from the price ... €444 is a big step up in price from Accurascale's pricing. Even if I do get to send Mrs. Snail into a panic with thoughts that my models are going on fire and about to burn down the house, is it really money well spent? (actually, its a good job she can't see any of my wiring)

To be fair to Hattons, they're VAT registered for Ireland so purchasing from them is at lot more hassle-free than many other UK retailers. https://www.hattons.co.uk/list/eventdetails?eventid=113

My comparison only got as far as the price ... which to my eyes has Accurascale well out in front

Beautiful looking loco. As others have said, the lining looks especially good! Thanks for sharing the highs and lows of the build with us too!

hmmm ... not sure I agree that Kilkenny is a coastal county. Despite ships being able to sail up the Suir to Belview, I think the presence of Wexford and Waterford on either side of the mouth of the Barrow rules that out. Another fun fact on Laois: The Vikings sailed all the way up the Barrow to Vicarstown in Laois and built a longphort at Dunrally ... but that doesn't make Laois a coastal county either Edit: I'll concede Kilkenny has an estuarine or tidal coastline, but I still contend thats its not touching the sea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Irish_counties_by_coastline Anyhow, I think Ernie (and everyone else not from Laois) would probably rather we move on and let the thread get back on track

which is ironic as its the most land-locked county in Ireland because (fun fact) Laois is the only county that has two counties between it and the sea in every direction!

The plate starting with ZP is a Donegal one and the one starting with ID is a Cavan license plate

Agree with the Bandon tank, it looks great - the owners do appear to have done a great job preserving the station's character while giving it a new lease of life in a different role

Modelling in real-time!

They're lovely wagons, I'd definitely pick up a few. As Northroader says, the battens would indeed be designed to prevent cattle slipping ... and not just during rough shunting but loading and unloading too. The floors get very wet, very fast once cattle are on them what with pee and scutter (the latter can be almost as liquid-like as the former)

Wow ... well thats certainly an interesting picture for sure! Intrigued (and bored at work) I did a wee bit of research on this .... From wikipedia: An official investigation was initiated after someone reported that a baboon was observed changing railway signals at Uitenhage near Port Elizabeth. After initial skepticism, the railway decided to officially employ Jack once his job competency was verified. He was paid twenty cents a day, and half a bottle of beer each week. It is widely reported that in his nine years of employment with the railway company, Jack never made a single mistake. Jack (baboon)

Great work as always Darius! I'm really enjoying the detailed look at what goes into a project like the Deccan Queen. Its great to see a railway that we don't get exposure to in this part of the world too! Am I right that in spite of the size of India's population, that there's not much in the way of RTR models and that scratch building is the only real option?

Its making me dizzy even just looking at them

My condolences @Class87 to you and all of Stephen's family and friends.

No passengers on board and thankfully it appears that there's no serious injuries to driver or others. Assume the bus is a write off but that damage to the railway bridge is likely to be minimal?

Yes, its devastating - the very high death toll continues to rise. This is a tough time for all involved.

Thats a very handsome looking model indeed, I hope it serves you well. I may get a move on and put in an order ...

Would love to see the loco, but I can't open your video for some reason. What are your thoughts on the model - build quality, running etc.? Any chance you could stick up a few photos on this thread please?

JHB mentioned RAL 6037 here (great resource, have it bookmarked):

Interesting photos as always. The shots of LM296 sitting abandoned at Kylemore are very poignant

It really looks great - is the brass chassis something of your own design, or are you using a kit from somewhere?

Quick question for the BR fans about these coaches: I'm not overly familiar with British railways, but I ordered the Dark Blue J69 ("Liverpool Street Shed Pet") because ... well, because its gorgeous! Would I be right that the Eastern Region Mk1 Subs in the caramine livery would be a good pairing to run behind it?

They look really good. Also looking forward to seeing the fusion of a traditional technique (Brass) with the modern 3D in your carriages. This is all so fascinating!

Sweet! Very tasty work there Darius (trying very hard to avoid the 'b' word )

Very atmospheric @Sean - I keep getting drawn back to have another look at these two pictures.