StevieB

In Great Britain there were two standard forms of wagon brake: RCH where the brake lever operated the brakes on that side of the wagon, but usually with brakes on each side of the wagon, and Morton where the brake lever on either side would operate the brakes which were one sided only. Can anyone explain the equivalent Irish system, please? Stephen

Surely there is a very simple reason why Ballina is the freight capital of Ireland, namely the road network. On the western side of the country, the limit of the motorway network is a line from Dublin to Galway. That's why Sligo should also be on the freight network. All the infrastructure is there, the line is cleared for 201 operation, we just need an operator bold enough to take the step…. Stephen

Lovely piece of work.

There is another video featuring both the Waterford & Dungarvan and Waterford & Tramore lines, which is narrated by the former driver who appears towards the end of this video. Both are excellent viewing. Stephen

Every year about this time Model Railroader publishes its annual Model Railroad Planning magazine. Not that I am into railways across the pond, but there is always some good stuff in it, once you get used to the differences between them and us e.g. railways, language, etc. Once there was a piece about the design of pointwork to get rid of buffer locking, etc, not that American rolling stock has any, and I have applied its principles in the design of my layout which is slowly beginning to emerge. Unfortunately, we are only at the baseboard stage! Stephen

The freight 071 looked just like the real thing - only one thing brought it down to earth, the brakes are in line with the bogie frames rather the wheels - can't help that, it's the way they are made - otherwise brilliant. Stephen

I am a great fan of model railways having a 'history', thereby setting the scene for what is modelled. It must come form reading so many articles by Iain Rice. Your revised history is very convincing - a post 1957 scenario would be most interesting. Stephen

Manulla Junction was closed to all traffic in 1963. It ceased to be a block post in 1964, at which time the loop on the Westport line was converted to ground frame operation so that the locos of Knock specials could run round their trains. However, with the increasing use of railcars, it was dispensed with in 1966. The timespan of the photo is, therefore, 1964-66. Stephen

My original point got a lot of people going, producing lots of interesting detail about railed served industry, but it remains a fact that Ireland had very little heavy industry served by rail, only sugar! Stephen

They were variously stopped between 1960 and 1972. There are photos of some of them in the black and white livery, albeit being scrapped, but none so far in black and tan. Stephen

Two more photos of Manulla Junction have come to light: Southern Yard's recent photo of the western end showing a railcar set approaching, together with a steam loco and coach waiting in the connection between the Westport and Ballina lines. A photo by Father Brown, held by Mayo County library, showing the island platform looking in the direction of Claremorris in GS days. The platform is thronging with passengers making the connection between trains. Stephen

One of the things that sets the railways of Ireland apart from those in Great Britain, apart from the obvious gauge difference, is the lack of heavy industry providing traffic for the railways. However, it wasn't until a copy of Rails Through the West landed on my lap, that I realised just how big Irish Sugar was and just how much traffic it produced for the railways…. this was more like I was used to. And because of the lack of heavy industry, there was also a lack of industrial diesel locomotives. Irish Sugar had its Rustons, Guinness had a Hudswell Clarke and Irish Shell had a Hibberd, but was there anything else? Stephen

Yes, I agree, it's Manulla Junction. Who is the photographer, please? Stephen

Can anyone tell me what tender is currently attached to 186 and what is the best model to produce it from? I think it is a GSWR type C, but I may be mistaken, and the Wainwright C class tender looks close. Many thanks. Stephen

I'm surprised no-one has said anything before as the new models were announced just before Christmas - also being produced this year is the 4w heating van. I keep reading what might be termed derogatory comments about Tom's models - I got a pair of magnesite wagons for Christmas - very pleased with them. Stephen

In 1972 BREL at Derby rebuilt 22 BR mk1 coaches (6xBCK and 16xBSK) into GSVs for CIE. Silver Fox do a very nice ready to run version of the BSK conversion, but no-one appears to do a similar version of the BCK conversion. So, if you want to produce a model of this, you have either got to chop up a Silver Fox body or use etched sides. Bill Bedford does them this version and RedRich showed some trial etches for both versions on the previous forum. What are people's thoughts on the matter? Stephen

Has anyone had any dealings with James Mackey of MISR. I ask because I placed an order back in October and I've heard nothing since than. It's all the more odd because you don't pay for your order until it's ready, the old fashioned way of doing business. Stephen

I could be wrong but I suspect that Silver Fox were trying to find a use for their Cravens dmu kit following the arrival of the Bachmann rtr version. Stephen

Just as our models are scaled down, maybe colours need to be treated in a similar way? Also, weathering will tone everything down. It's the same with models and sound. I'm sure some are as loud as the prototype, but I digress. Sorry! Stephen

Paudie That's some very good advice from Patrick. Have a look at his layout in the layout section and you'll see what can be achieved by keeping things simple. Stephen

Has anyone tried using the Lima/Hornby GWR railcar as the basis of a model of the much loved and missed AEC railcars? I don't mean for the body but rather the mechanical side. In this respect the Irish railcars were surely derived from the GWR ones. Stephen

1. Waterford & Tramore 2. Quite a few Stephen

I believe that at least some of the mk2 coaches were obtained from Vic Berry in exchange for class 201 Bo-Bo's. During their refurbishment a couple were converted to buffet cars, if that helps. Stephen

Does Arigna Town ever get exhibited or is it just a home based layout? The big wide world out there would love to see it. Stephen

It's information like this that is so valuable to modellers of days gone by. Many thanks. Stephen