Mol_PMB

Yes, after a couple of beers I couldn’t stop myself. What’s it worth to you? I wonder whether my 450mm sector plate is long enough for a 2-4-0 and a carriage?

I must confess I'm in danger of buying this myself, even though I don't need it and it will probably just sit in the cupboard of shame and never get built! They were good-looking machines: Though I'm not sure I'd want the devil's engine:

Better not to discuss the size of my parcel... I have several carriage etches as well as two tin vans on the way (remind me why, when I'm building a freight-only layout...)

Thanks for your kind comments. I've got a busy couple of weeks ahead so I may not have much time for actual modelling, but I've been thinking ahead to the buildings needed on the layout. This image from Colm Creedon's album is a good overview of the structures around the sidings I'm modelling: The buildings to the right of the track all still exist, with some changes over the years, though perhaps not for much longer as they have been sold for redevelopment. The buildings behind the loco have all vanished. Broadly, the layout backscene will be at the ridge-line of the buildings to the right. The footprint can be modelled almost to scale, with a bit of selective compression. This is an aerial view of the surviving buildings, but from the 'wrong' side - the tracks were on the far side. The middle, lower building has lost the canopy over its railway-side platform, but is otherwise not changed too much. The tallest square block used to be taller still, with a corrugated-iron storey and pitched roof on top. The oldest, stone-built part on the right has remained almost unchanged. The 'gap' in the buildings was there in the 1960s but was different in detail, and the nearest buulding seems to have changed quite a lot. Here are some fairly recent views from the side with the track. The buffer stop is a red herring - it should be at the other end of this length of track. https://www.flickr.com/photos/183791426@N02/51141882491/ So, from left to right I have the following buildings to represent: An old, stone-built mill structure A tall tower, seems to be rendered, originally with another corrugated-iron storey and pitched roof A lower, concrete building A gap, with a wall behind A smaller low building, perhaps not much more than a loading canopy in the 1960s These can all be modelled in half-relief against the backscene, and there will be platforms and canopies in front of them adjacent to the track. I'm reasonably comfortable with the info I have on these structures from maps and photos, that I can create a reasonable impression that will look right and fit the space available. It's worth noting that several of the old photos show different features on the roofs of these buildings - I'll have to choose which period to represent. Then, at the front left of the layout in front of the track, there's the complex of buildings that no longer exists, which I will have to estimate from photos. This appears to be a slightly chaotic structure of concrete and corrugated asbestos cladding, associated with bulk grain handling. There's going to be a lot of guesswork in representing this (I don't like guesswork) because it only appears in the background of a few photos, all from similar angles. I haven't yet found an online map that shows this structure. I guess it was built in the 1930s and it was still extant in the 1970s. The 1971 photo above also shows a new, brick-built single storey office/gatehouse structure that's not in the older photos. I probably won't include this on the layout. On more practical matters, I visited my parents this weekend and they still have a 'proper' traditional model shop in their town. I have bought a load of materials for these structures, as well as a couple of wagon kits and a donor carriage for conversion to an Irish prototype. And even a bufferstop for all of 50p which I need for the siding at Quartertown.

Stunning work! Good to hear that you're mended and modelling again. I thought I was going to see a photo of a Lego castle but you've gone a lot better than that. The Lego Castles page looks great though - Cahir is a very impressive model. Bunratty Castle was an annual visit for me as a child, and always a super day out. I have many fond memories of the place, not just the castle itself but the village. There was another historical site in that neck of the woods with much older (bronze age / iron age?) settlements recreated, one of which had an escape tunnel 'the souterrain' which to an 8-year-old me was the third* most exciting thing in Ireland. * The top two were (2) Bunratty Castle, and (1) a train trip from Ennis.

Excellent! I've paid the duty on mine and expecting the parcel on Wednesday.

Stunning. What a beautiful layout and a nicely balanced palette of colour and detail so it all looks ‘just right’ together.

Very nice. Just this morning I went shopping for some corrugated sheet materials to build a 1930s ish corrugated asbestos clad grain store for Quartertown. The photos I have of my prototype are all from the same angle so I’ll need to guess some of the architecture. I must look for some photos of Clara to see what that looked like for more inspiration.

@leslie10646 did you notice a couple of your kits on ebay? Or is it your alter ego selling them? https://ebay.us/m/oYccYv https://ebay.us/m/zFFMN6 And not forgetting @Mayner ‘s range, this MGWR 2-4-0 kit is a bargain waiting to be snapped up: https://ebay.us/m/BYqLO8

One of my friends was at the Tolworth show and sent me these photos of his favourite layout there… One of the things that strikes me from these pics is how well the town backdrop works, from a range of different viewing angles. The perspective and merging the 3D into the 2D seems very natural. I expect a lot of thought went into that, and the result is excellent.

Tracklaying is making progress. Everything takes longer in 21mm gauge, although @Rob R ‘s 3D printed track bases help a lot. I have now completed the tracks in the fiddle yard. For the scenic side I have most sections ready to lay, but a little more soldering work is needed before I stick them down. The fiddle yard is ‘pointless’ with a sector plate each end. This saves space and avoids having to build lots of 21mm gauge points. Here’s a closeup of the shorter sector plate: Track alignment is controlled by a miniature home-made bolt beside the nearer rail. I’m not relying on this for power transfer; there will be a separate wired connection.

It was 375/6s that were being built when I had my spell on the production line. They did indeed have the mastic sealer joins. After a fair amount of searching on Flickr I have found an example with the broad raised join, basically as per the sample model: This is not how the trains were when built, or for much of their lives.The picture above shows a raised rubber strip which must be a later modification. Originally the joint was a thin line, and the specification for applying the Sikaflex was that it should be flush. The whole design vision of these trains was to be flush-sided and sleek. The inmates of the Playpen* would have spat out their crayons in horror at a vertical rib on the sides! Here's another photo from Flickr which is a 375/8 and shows the original design which was also used on the 375/6 and the other early Electrostars: When I looked at the sample model, this joint was the one thing that really jumped out at me as being 'wrong'. Now I appreciate that this version represents a train in its current condition rather than original state. Perhaps the tooling will allow for a more subtle joint line on the original liveries and other classes? As built, the door seals were also flush, and most more recent photos I've seen also show a flush door seal. It's possible that there have been modifications since, with pressure-sensitive door edges that may be a bit raised like on the model. This distinction won't stand out so much because the door seals are all black, and the visible width of the seal hasn't changed. * Playpen - the glass box in the corner of J shop, where the Industrial Design team were based.

Nice - thank you. The brown one 18459 is in H van, but the grey one 15242 is a former GSWR ‘Big Boy’, longer and higher than most other vans. Originally it would have had planked sides but many were later sheeted.

You might want to take another look at the bodyside near the intermediate ends, where you have a bold raised bead line running vertically. The end module (last 800mm or so of each end of the carbody) was bolted on with 6 big bolts (2 M36 and 4 M30 if I remember correctly from my time in U shop). This left a gap between the end and the bodyside, which was filled with black Sikaflex sealant from a big air-powered sealant gun. The gap was filled flush, not to a raised profile. Also, the end module included the part below floor level. So that joint continued down across the solebar. This photo on Flickr (not mine) shows what the end joint should look like: Not like this: More recent builds may have a slightly different treatment in this area, but it's still not a raised bead line, and again the joint continues below the solebar. Again, a photo on Flickr, not mine. The raised bead between the doors also looks wrong to me. The doors were designed to seat very flush, there isn't a raised portion where they join: Cheers Mol

All those Rebels causing trouble…

This photo is one of Colm Creedon's scrapbooks, and shows B153 at the junction where Webb's siding joined the Mallow-Kerry line: I think it was taken on the same occasion as this one in the IRRS Journal; it's the same loco and it's fair to assume a couple of weeks delay between the event and the upper photo appearing in hte 'Echo'. Although the upper photo is not at all clear, I am pretty confident that there's a brake van at the back of the train. I had been wondering whether trains to Quartertown Mill would have had a brake van, or if they would have been treated as an extended shunt move. From Mallow to Killarney Junction is about 3/4 of a mile on the up main, then there's another 1/4 of a mile from Killarney Junction on the Kerry line to where the Quartertown branch diverges. The branch itself was nearly 1/2 a mile long, so the total journey was a 1.5 miles each way. Anyway, it looks like they did use a brake van, which will make the shunting more interesting on the layout! I'm presently assuming that trains were usually hauled in both directions, running round in the loop at the mill, . But I am aware that the IRRS special that visited was propelled down the branch, so maybe that method of operation was used for the freights too?

I was having a look through the Dermot McCarthy collection (Cork Local Studies Library) and found this slightly gloomy shot dated 20/06/1953: https://corkdigitalarchive.ie/items/show/1796 Of interest to the wagon nerd like me is the Gunpowder Van half in shot. Note the very low roof, sheet sides, cast plate on the door. These were rare beasts. Here is a preserved GB equivalent which is similar in style and construction: The fancy lettering on the side of the Irish one (we can read 'VAN' and perhaps make out the last few letters of 'GUNPOWDER'), may be the remnants of GSR livery. The 1975 CIE WTT includes them in the list of wagon types, with 8 ton tare, 7 ton capacity, and number series 15355/15444 [not continuous in that range, there were just a few converted from normal goods vans]. Sorry I'm a day late with this post...

Indeed, it’s E410, the one I’ve modelled. I really like that sequence of photos on the quays. E407 also features in the photos, which is the other one I have half-finished, though my model of that will be in black. I’ve also seen photos of E403 and E414 in Cork in the silver era. But we do have a D in Cork here, in 1955 before the E’s arrived. Strictly it was a 1000 class then:

Ooooh - you're right. And not just the railtour, but a 1970s bitumen working too. That shows that a brake van was used on the branch, which was something I was wondering about. I've also found several groups of very nice Fenit photos too, that I hadn't seen before. That lot will keep me busy for a few evenings!

Wonderful - some more rabbit holes for me to explore. Thank you!

I do love these late 1950s colour shots. That lighter green livery did look great.

That's super - thanks for sharing! One or two of the first CIE repaints in the train too.

Thanks JHB! I do like the stealth black livery and if IRM were to produce either of those locos I would have to buy them!

Good idea. GSR period and early CIE (say pre-1955 ish) would fit well here. Photos become much more common from the mid-50s and the railway changed dramatically with the influx of diesels and the closure of branch lines and smaller stations in the late 50s and early 60s.

You need to be an IRRS member to see their Flickr archive. There are instructions on the website about how to register your membership number and Flickr ID. It’s well worth it with around 30,000 Irish railway images, and more being added regularly. The period best covered by the archive is probably 1950s to 1980s, but there are plenty of older and newer images too.