LNERW1

Great, hope I can make it.

RailMapOnline is a good source, with historic, narrow gauge, modern, industrial, light rail, tramway, metro and even HS2 layers, and has maps not only of railways in the British Isles, but also the Western USA, as well as some maps of canals and airbases for whatever reason.

I think I remember seeing that at last year’s August show- brilliant layout, I hope I can make it to the show even just to see that. Does anyone know if the MRC will be exhibiting that large 0 gauge layout? The name escapes me, but I must say I found it very impressive.

YES, they made 5741! I don’t CARE how much that costs, I WANT DUCK. (sorry for excessive capslock, I’m very excited)

That is precisely what I think could be done with the Portlaoise railway i mentioned above! The passenger stock might be a problem, as I am aware that the Stradbally Woodland Railway has problems with using BnM wagon underframes for any passenger stock due to some insurance problem, I presume the freight-oriented nature of the wagons, which would make the chassis less safe for passenger use(?). The railway south of Portlaoise runs under both the M7 and Dublin-Cork line, making it a really interesting run. It also has relatively accessible extremities, so putting up a small halt either end would probably not be too difficult, and the central plant would make a great park-and-ride station, as the sidings are relatively separated from the SISK plant, and could be converted to a station relatively easily.

Alright, I’ve just posted in another topic about this, but here we are. There are two locomotives, both i believe 4wDM Ruston machines, at the former Bord na Móna plant, I believe now in the hands of SISK, south of Portlaoise, Co. Laois. I have already contacted Bord na Móna and the Stradbally Woodland Railway about the locomotives, and will today be visiting the plant, and will post photos and details, such as fleet numbers, types (though I do believe they are Hunslet Wagonmasters). As part of Western Europe’s largest industrial railway system, I really think at least a few of these locomotives should be preserved. As it is, no Irish preserved railways really have a locomotive shortage, but it’s probably wise to grab a couple for storage while we still can. Please express interest here and rate the topic 5 stars, so more people will see this. Thanks, LNERW1.

Don’t think there are any more plants. I think it really is a massive pity that locomotives this interesting (and, more importantly, venerable- the article said they were 68 years old, much older than any of IÉ’s current stock) are most likely going to be turned into tin cans. I’ve actually contacted both Bord na Móna and the Stradbally Woodland Railway about two locos at the BnM plant near Portlaoise- there’s no point in just being upset about something when you can do something about it. If anyone is interested in helping, I’m starting another thread for just that- I don’t think it’s against IRM’s rules to try to coordinate preservation of locos on here?

IMG_1362.mov And so begins a new era of garden railway operation… maybe RC would be better, though.

Have to tell that to my uncle Andrew. As well as being one of our modelling brethren, I’m pretty sure he’s been to every Pogues gig. Like, ever.

You’re right, it took me a second to realise that… at first I thought it was stage 1 of making that awful gritty ice cream that SuperValu used to sell… Or maybe he is cooking it, but I didn’t think he had kids… well, now I’m confused.

Piano Man, Billy Joel. Just after listening to Don't Look Back In Anger, Oasis. Before that, Mr. Brightside, The Killers, and then Dreams, The Cranberries. If anyone beats that for variety, I'll build a kit for my layout and name the building after them.

Just watched the YouTuber Lawrie Rose (Lawrie's Mechanical Marvels) turn builders' sand almost identical to expensive modelling sand by cooking it. I'm not joking. This video at about the 10:25 timestamp. Very interesting idea, as he states builders' sand is very cheap (May be more expensive in Ireland, it's the kind of thing we'd do. Don't know though, never had to buy builders' sand).

So close- the main circuit and both passing loops are cleaned (although still not very reliable), all ballast has been sorted out, and I managed to run an LGB Stainz almost all the way around the layout. If I knew productivity felt this good, I wouldn’t be in as much trouble as I am over the roughly 250 pages of missing homework my teachers won’t shut their gobs about…

Great news- the rest of the G scale collection has been retrieved! The items that have been brought onsite are: LGB Stainz, No. 2. LGB Stainz, No. 3. LGB "150 Jahre Deutsche Eisenbahnen" 4WL coach with articulated axles Modified Bachmann bogie (baggage) coach, dark green (heavily damaged, one bogie deattached, couplers broken off, door broken, coupler stems snapped) Modified Bachmann (ordinary) coach, maroon (missing one coupler, but can easily be replaced) 3 rudimentary open wagons, using LGB flat wagon as basis, with scraps of wood composing sides, with load of assorted bits of wood and coal (one missing coupler, but can be replaced) 2-4-0T locomotive, inside cylinder, outside framed, dark green (think its a C&L loco, but I honestly don't know enough about the C&L to be sure) 0-4-2T locomotive, maroon (has NCC lettering so I assume it's a Mid-Antrim loco) Aristo-Craft 0-4-0WT, PRR lettering (damaged axle or axle housing) "Green River" station building There's also plenty of Preiser figures, along with a couple Bachmann ones (which my 6-year-old brother wasted no time in using to recreate his favourite John Wayne movie, El Dorado). If I can find time to photograph them on the layout today, I will.

If anyone has a 3ft one of these, it would be easy enough to get it onto the BnM line just south of Portlaoise...

Seriously though, please tag any G scale modellers you do know if you think they'd be interested

Oh well, suppose so...

Thanks- might be more beautiful if I bothered me arse to clean the track... It's just a layout i set up on my patio in a sudden spurt of modelling enthusiasm. I haven't run anything on it under its own power yet, but I hope to clean the tracks so I can run something before I dismantle the layout to use the track for the main railway. It may be reassembled at a later date, though, but if anyone with G scale models living near me (see community map) is interested, I could have a running session with the layout if I get it clean. If you know anyone who might be interested and lives near enough, let them know. Thanks! PS- I didn't address the fact that, quite honestly, it's probably the way I've photographed it that makes it look good.

IIRC the business was bought by the man who runs the "Peckforton Light Railway" YouTube channel, and rebranded as RC Trains. I'll see if i can find a link. Here it is: RC Trains Homepage

Ivor predates the 1984 TV series by a decade at least. It may have taken a little inspiration from the Railway Series, but is generally quite a different experience from watching Thomas. There is a running joke in the Thomas fandom going along the lines of “Say it with me- not every show about talking trains is a ripoff of Thomas”. It’s true, and in fact Ivor doesn’t even talk!

The Sheehaun Railway Historical Society is delighted to announce the discovery of several colour photos, the only known to exist, of the pre-closure SLR. Below are the two clearest found. Above is No. 3 shown at Sheehaun Quay. This photo was not captioned, but appears to show Number 3, one of the imported German saloons, and Railbus 1. The SRHS has also been notified of rumours of 8mm film of the SLR taken by Seán O’Sullivan, known to most enthusiasts of the SLR for taking the haunting photograph of No. 3 on the last train of the pre-closure SLR. No comment will yet be given on the credibility of the rumour. LNERW1, SLHS Chairman

The line at the end- "Thomas seems unlikely to run out of steam for years to come". Little did they know, thirty years later Mattel would be finishing up the short, swift and painful process of running it into the ground. The fact that this year marks the 40th anniversary of a series that is still going (In some form), really impresses me.

That story would probably be the beginning of the Season 2 episode “Moo!”. I can’t remember the name of the story it was based on. Also, the Season 5 episode “A Better View for Gordon”, or involves a crash through the end of a terminus that took heavy inspiration from Montparnasse, but may have bern partially inspired by the 1900 Harcourt St. crash.

Correct, more or less. All seasons from 1984's Season 1 to 2008's Season 12 used Gauge One models to represent the standard gauge locos on the North Western Railway (North Western Region under BR), with 0 gauge being used to represent the narrow-gauge locos of the Skarloey and Mid Sodor railway when used in shots with the Gauge 1 models, but larger more detailed Gauge 1 (which at that point is basically being used as G) used in shots displaying just the narrow gauge. There were also Gauge 3 models made of Thomas and Percy, in about 2002 IIRC, for use with the Gauge 1 narrow gauge props and the larger scale models used for the short-lived 2002-or-3-I-cant-quite-remember spinoff, Jack and the Pack. There were also larger scale models of the engines cabs built for use with larger model figurines, and a full-sized version of Thomas' cab, bunker and firebox, albeit painted entirely green, for use with human actors in 2000's Thomas and the Magic Railroad. So yes, mainly gauge 1.

One of the many horror stories made by Thomas’ community- this one based around more shock and gore than anything, but many of the spooky tales made by fans are based more around psychological horror. Search YouTube for “The Half Engine”, I would recommend [thebogieboy]’s video. And yes, that is the formatting used by the channel. This video is an overview of notable ones.