Mol_PMB

Boyne Road branch might be another one to consider?

Sadly not an option here. Once I’ve got all my green samples finished I will try to coerce a female friend to give their judgement.

Well Ireland was well-supplied with Beyer Peacock products, so why not?

Going off at a small tangent on the GNR bulk grain vans, because there's one in the train above, #7 in the train. We can see the side with the ladder just to the left of the doors, and a stirrup beneath. It looks freshly painted in CIE light grey with a roundel. These grain vans appear to have been converted from standard GNR goods vans, 10t to the IRCH pattern. However, there is no mention of them in the GNR wagon diagram book held by the IRRS, and they may have been converted in GNRB days. Here's a view posted on the forum a few years back by GNRi1959. Note the ladder to the left of the door (this was only on one side of the van) as well as the grab rail on the roof. These vans discharged via small chutes on the side, just visible on the left margin of this photo; there was one each side of the double doors. Here's a view by Des Coakham posted on the forum some years ago by John Mayne, showing them being discharged: This version is higher-quality but cropped, and appears on the RPSI website: This IRRS view shows the roof hatches clearly, also an advert hoarding on the side opposite the ladder. The grab rail on the other side of the roof is just visible, above the top of the ladder we can't see. https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511443526 Another view of the same van: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511610703/ Another GNR van is shown on the edge of this image, posted on this forum some years ago by KIrley. Again, this is the side without the ladder, and it has an advert hoarding (for a different firm compared to the one we saw in the IRRS photo). Edit: I forgot one. Here's a photo posted by Irish Freight Models over a decade ago, which is of course a Ranks GSR type grain hopper. But just visible on the left is a GNR grain van, with the side planks reskinned. It's definitely GNR with an N suffix, and it's a grain van because the hatch on the roof is visible. Leslie sent me a photo of a very nice model of one of these; I hope to make something similar myself based on one of his GNR 10t kits. If anyone is aware of more photos of these GNR 4-wheel grain vans I would be very interested to see them. There were also of course the bogie Guinness grain vans as well, and this RPSI link is well worth a read: https://www.steamtrainsireland.com/rpsi-collection/52/504-guinness-grain-van

Here's a scan of part of that super image showing the grain vans as described above:

Excellent!

Very nice! Definitely sounds more like a Mason-Fairlie than a Forney.

Indeed. Even I don't try to represent the difference in leaf spring deflection or inertia when being shunted. Yet... Tank wagons (oil, tar, cement, ammonia etc), covered hoppers (magnesite), Taras and pallet cement 'blues' look much the same laden or empty too. Most types of container don't show their load state either.

A nice pic showing CIE pre-ISO containers on CDR road vehicles at Letterkenny. The containers are the later type with side doors and have probably been interchanged from rail to road at Derry/Londonderry. Also interesting to see some of the CDR road fleet. John Powell photo on Flickr, Andy Lance collection.

Lots of maintenance chores for the new year then! But I suppose it's good that some are an opportunity for a change or an improvement.

Ah, thanks - they look good. I've already ordered a pack of the Ratio extruded seating but what you've got may be better. Or perhaps it would be good to use different shapes of seat for each class?

I have started some experiments this afternoon, using five paints in stock. I have also ordered the Revell shade recommended by Mick and will add that to the comparison when it arrives. In each case I started with white mount board, sprayed it with a very light grey primer, and then added one fairly heavy green topcoat. These are shown with layout lighting only, but I've shown them against a white and a black background to see if it makes much difference. Photos with my iPhone. Here's that RAL colour again: The paints are as follows, all colours I had in stock in one form or another: 1 Tamiya spray TS-35 Park Green 2 Railmatch spray 1632 SR Malachite Green 3 Humbrol acrylic spray 80 Grass Green (this was rather an old can) 4 Railmatch jar 620 LNER Doncaster green (This was a very old jar, and I didn't really thin it enough for the airbrush) 5 Precision tinlet P50 LNER Loco Green - Doncaster (also a bit old, but I did a better job of thinning and mixing it) To my eyes (which are an imperfect judge): #1 is too bright and garish, also a bit blue. #2 is what I used on the H van, it's a bit bluish and a bit dark, but perhaps OK for a faded/weathered vehicle after a few years in traffic: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/51233007716 #3 is comparatively yellowish, but may be OK for a freshly painted vehicle on a sunny day: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53570664788 #4 is a bit too brown and too dark #5 looks pretty good to me, if a little dark when compared on the white background. Quite a good representation of this: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/52632577324 It's interesting how the black background makes all of them look much lighter than they did on the white background. I look forward to adding the Revell paints to the comparison. I've actually ordered two variants - 364 Satin Leaf Green and 360 Satin Green.

At the start of my 2-week holiday I had great ambitions for modelling progress, hoping to regauge 2 locos, build 2 wagons and 2 coach kits, and a long list of items on the layout. Well, it hasn't quite turned out like that, partly because everything has taken longer than expected, and partly because I've spent more time with friends over the holiday period, rather than home alone. That is definitely a positive, even if it means a bit less progress on the trainset. Progress will now slow further as I return to work tomorrow. Anyway, I'm now in a position of having got 1 loco, 1 wagon and 1 carriage each about 80% done, and a few of the layout jobs done. 156, the bitumen tank and the 6-wheel coach are all within sight of completion. This morning I worked on the tank wagon's ladders (from the kit) and then in an excess of enthusiasm I decided to replace the Bachmann catwalk with a more accurate one made from offcuts of wire and sprue. That's now done, but there are still a few more details to complete on the tank and its underframe before it can visit the paint shop. This afternoon it has been warm enough to paint, so the coach body is now primed and the roof is black. I've also done the first few panels of my 'colour chart of greens' to help me choose the right paint for my 6-wheel coach. More on this next week.

Good spots, DJD! Here are a few more that may be of interest: H vans, 2 out of a 3-pack, price is currently reasonable for that: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/267528643924 Gypsum hoppers 3-pack, these don't come up often: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/227153146643 Light green A42: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/227153161604 Not forgetting from @Georgeconna of this parish, a weedspray train: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/236556205426

Nice to see someone else building a 6-wheeler this week! Looks like an interesting prototype and excellent progress.

Many thanks! RAL 140 50 60 looks like the lighter green which is just what I'm after. Although the linked thread implies it represents the dark green, but this must be a typo as it also suggests that RAL 140 50 60 matches RAL 150 30 30. I think the reference to RAL 150 30 30 must be the dark green. If it wasn't -5 outside and not much warmer in the garage, I'd be out spraying some samples...

Agreed. There's huge variation in the appearance of greens in photos, and it can't all be explained away by lighting conditons or film sensitivity, or an individual's colour perception, because there are many photos of trains where the shade of green varies between vehicles, even if nominally in the same livery. So there are other factors at play, including paint application (and undercoats), fading, weathering etc. Equally I don't necessarily want to paint all my green vehicles in exactly the same shade. But I'm keen to have a starting point to work from. I keep coming back to these IRRS photos all taken on the same day. In the first pic, A25's paint job is only a year or two old, but it's a very different shade of green to the freshly-painted carriage behind it. I tried converting the image to monochrome and the loco is actually a slightly lighter shade than the carriage. In colour it's a much bluer tint https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53569610307 Then look at two other pics of A25 on the same day, and it looks quite different in each one. https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53570791109 https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511295386 At present I only have two green vehicles - an IRM A class and an H van that I painted in Railmatch SR Malachite, and then weathered. Here they are under layout lighting: In my eyes the colour on A42 is a bit too intense, it needs to be toned down a bit. Weathering may achieve that. The H van is a bit too blue and a bit too dark, though not too bad for a work-worn finish. https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53570664788 https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/54419669899 When you look at a train like this it seems fairly clean: But looking closely it becomes apparent that there's actually a lot of weathering that will affect the colour's appearance: And then it's interesting to compare the apparent shade of green on these two: with a very similar photo in much the same place, showing two other 6-wheelers in the same livery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53510409677 I think the light green looked lighter and yellower when first applied, and then faded to a bluer shade over time. The addition of some weathering dulled it and could darken it. I'm pretty sure these carriages were all painted the same colour to start with, but the first coach has been painted more recently: Anyway, I am going to do some experiments by painting up some offcuts of foam board in a variety of different greens so I can compare them.

Thanks to Ernie, a nice colour view of another Park Royal in the early BnT scheme, in 1962. I think it might be coach 1398 but the number is very hard to make out:

Super - thank you! 018 is just how I remember the A class. The train at Westport has a wonderful mixture of liveries - 3 carriages in 'silver', 2 in green and 2 in BnT. At Galway, the Park Royal on the right has the earliest version of BnT livery with a shallower tan band and the number on the black portion. My impression is that it's 1398 but I can't be sure.

Perfect, many thanks JHB for the info. That's what I'll paint then. The olive green leaf design will be fun to represent! Do you recall how the smoking compartments were typically arranged? It looks like most carriages originally had one smoking compartment marked with etched window glass, but later more compartments were designated for smoking using labels advertising "Wills's Gold Leaf". For example this former MGWR first seems to have gone from 1 smoking to 3 smoking: And this MGWR lav compo has one end smoking: Were Ladies compartments still in existence in CIE days? Or is this etching in the window long-obselete: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53508531276

A quick blast with the laser and I have some partitions, with picture frames for the first class: The tabs at top and bottom fit into the slots in the brass, and once clipped into place they are a firm fit:

The body is now all soldered together and I seem to have achieved something that is square, neat, and fits the chassis and the roof. Success! It's having an ultrasonic bath now, and will get primed tomorrow. I haven't yet thought much about the interior - I'll need to make some partitions and find some suitable seating. As for interior colours, I'm unsure. The instructions say dark brown varnished wood, but my experience of coaches of this era (places like the Ffestiniog and the Isle of Man) is that they were usually scumbled in a light yellow-brown, or painted cream. The lighting was gloomy enough so a pale interior colour was preferred. For seating, the instructions say blue cloth or red leather for first class, brown 'York Terry' (whatever that is) for second class, and no colour information given for thirds. These were built as first/second composites so there should be some upholstery throughout. Of course there are also some doorways between the first class and the toilets to consider. There aren't many colour photos of 6-wheelers in service, and even fewer where the interior is visible. This MGWR all-first from Ernie shows a brownish-green upholstery; above the seat backs there's a hint of some framed photos or maps? This GSWR first might have the same upholstery as the one illustrated above. Are the light rectangles we see actually mirrors reflecting daylight from the opposite side windows? https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511622569 These MGWR seconds seem to have red leather in the smoking compartments, a darker cloth in the others, and a generally cream-coloured interior (painted cream or maybe a pale scumble): This MGWR third is pretty convincingly cream for the interior window pillars, but we can't see much else of the interior: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53510409677 Looking at photos of the surviving MGWR coaches, they seem to have the remains of cream interior paint too. As do Eoin's models. Bit of a theme developing here...

I keep looking at the bits for a B101 and then put them back in the box...

Thanks for the advice. I've just done a dry-run and also studied Eoin's build again (he soldered before painting too). The instructions seem to recommend keeping the parts separate until painted, but I've decided to follow your advice and Eoin's method and solder first. Just about to start that...

Today the coach roof has been completed and etch primed, while the ends have been detailed using odds and sods of wire, split pins etc. I need to try and work out the assembly sequence of sides and ends, including whether to solder them together before painting. The instructions are confusing on this matter.