Flying Snail

Thats great news for us over here Leslie

Circus train loading at Heuston in 1961 .Taken from the IRRS Twitter: https://x.com/irishrailways/status/1064866932065792001/photo/1 Anything Anywhere Anytime .... love it!

Hi Leslie, I got back into the hobby during Covid, and I've had the pleasure of meeting you at the most recent Blackrock and Clontarf shows. On both occasions you've been very giving of your time and a mine of information. I'm the happy owner of some of your kits as well as two of the Dapol vans. As others have said above, the market appears to be heading to RTR - even for niche items from the Irish scene. However, your kits are great and very accessible for the beginner - having all the components required (and excellent instructions) to produce an OO model. They've helped me transition into building model trains, and its clear to anyone involved in the hobby that they been an important part of the Irish scene! Thanks for all you've done. I've no doubt that even in retirement that'll you'll continue to be an important part of the Irish scene for many more years to come!

The lettering on the Denny's van is rather elegant isn't it? It's all rather captivating - the faces looking out from the railcar and the P⁊T reflected in its windows. No need to wait for the breakfast fry either, sure you can have a mixed grill for your tea!

My New Irish Lines (Vol 10, No 4 - Nov 2024) popped through the letter box today - and there sitting on the cover is a fine photo from @jhb171achill of Cyril Fry's model of the Waterford & Tramore four wheel third No 4. According to the inside cover it was built for the Waterford and Central Ireland railway in 1878, sold to the Waterford & Tramore in 1900. Now, the interesting thing is that this carriage is different to that shown in the HMRS four-wheeler diagram that @Mayner based his drawings from earlier in the thread (that HMRS drawing is also from 1878) - Fry's only has two oil pots on the roof (instead of four) and the panelling is noticeably different. Could we assume Fry had seen the real thing or had access to a drawing/photo when producing his model, making this a third authentic carriage design to go with the two HMRS drawings? By the way - the cover also a nice picture of Fry's model of Waterford & Tramore's Bury Single too!

My condolences to Chris' family and friends. A real loss to the Irish model railway scene. RIP

I wonder ... isn't there a 20 ton brake van up in Cultra?

Congrats to everyone involved in the project - that was a nice piece. Great to see whats been done in Connemara. Looking forward to when it's open.

Well if thats too cheap for you, you can always buy them in accuracale's sale for €173

Geoff Marshall has a good piece on the new Dart+ set

It'll be on the RTE Player https://www.rte.ie/player/

Irish Rail press release on it: An Bord Pleanála approves DART+ South West Railway Order

These caught my eye when I saw the pre-announcement. I've a growing interest in the LNWR and the race to the North. I'm sitting here looking at my Improved Precedent that these would suit to a tee .... but the prices!? Dunno, it's a difficult one ... I want a few of them, but ... I wonder will these (admittedly beautiful) coaches sell well at that price point? Lots of decorative detail, but I don't see lighting listed ... could that put people off? Will people hold off in the hopes of price reductions? Should I roll the dice and hold off in the hope of getting them cheaper?? ... or maybe should I get the Parkside kits and do some actual modelling?

If I was to stick to the rules stipulated by Darrman then Mountrath (Kilbricken), a particularly nice Sancton Wood station that's now sadly derelict. If I were to stretch the rules a little, then Moate ( okay, a lot - but technically it still has rails through it), for the obvious reason that it would reinstate the Mullingar and Athlone link (not commercially viable, but I often thought it would make a nice heritage railway between two big towns - in which guise it might even happily co-exist with the greenway. It would need a very generous benefactor though) If I were to continue that train of thought and throw the rules completely out the window, then Valentia Harbour .... reinstating that station means reinstating the whole line

Excellent video - thanks for sharing

Welcome @Mol_PMB. IRM have done re-runs of some of their popular lines, so never say never again to the prospect of getting your hands on 007! ... any reruns of the A class will likely be different running numbers though

Very nice video of Paul Isles talking about the model in the Ulster Transport Museum and with the model looking very much at home on the MRSI's GNR layout: -> here

I went along on Sunday - thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the MRSI Dundalk works and Boyne bridge were superb - there was just so much to see in Dundalk, I could have stood there for hours. The FREMO layout was looking well and apparently that's only half of it. Indeed, all the layouts were excellent - I thought the bigger hall worked out well. Stradbally's Roisín Óg is a great piece of model engineering, I look forward to seeing it when they get it back on the rails! As for loot, I picked up a CIE route map from Tailte Tours, and another one of Leslie's vans - as well as having a nice chat with the man himself. I also got to talk with some of the IRM/ Accurascale star-studded team (Richard from New Junction) and Paddy Murphy was very giving of his time. To all the organisers: you have my thanks for a great day out.

Great pictures and videos lads - really looking forward to visiting tomorrow!

Nice, not only do they complement the Mk2b carriages, but they are a great size for smaller layouts. (another run of the Mk2b's due soon perhaps, maybe with the maroon livery?)

They mentioned early 2025 over on Facebook for the Irish Steam announcement - see the comments underneath the announcement here

So its not the jeep, but I think the Hunslet is a nice choice - makes sense with the Mk2b's too, and it will do well for IRM. And I'm not writing off the jeep just yet - I think I saw @Warbonnet say on Facebook that the Irish steam announcement is due in early 2025?

Fabulous - looking forward to seeing these in Clontarf!

wait, what did you just say???

Well, I'm told that one of bench marks for good art is that the longer you look at it, the more you see. Really good art should ask questions of the viewer and challenge their perceptions, surprise them etc. etc. ....... Clearly this Christmas Train belongs in The National Gallery or MoMA