Mol_PMB

I bought a fairly cheap (£40) Fleischmann V60 chassis to see if it would be suitable as an RTR donor for the E401. I think the answer is yes. I can't imagine that there's any more suitable donor loco class out there. I used a junior hacksaw to cut one end off the chassis casting: With some minor fettling, the chassis would then fit into the E401 footplate. To align the axle and axlebox I added about 3mm packing at each end; this would give space for a proper mounting bracket each end in due course. The only thing stopping the bonnet fitting over it was the red plastic terminal on the top of the motor. However, I was able to replace that with a couple of smaller M2 insulating washers and that was enough to let the bonnet fit down snugly: You can also see in this photo that the wheelbase is a very good match. The E401 is 20mm + 32mm, while the V60 is 20.5mm + 32mm. So that's the good points. Slight disadvantages are that the version I bought has rather coarse wheel flanges, it would be fine on code 100 rail but not on code 75. Also the electrics seem to use the chassis block as one side of the circuit, which may make a DCC conversion more tricky. I haven't investigated that yet. And finally, there's the question of the rods. They fit between the E401's outer frames so could be left in place, but I think they might just be visible as the wheels go round, which could look odd. Alternatively they could be removed, leaving the geared drive onto 2 of the 3 axles. Personally, I'm not going to use this chassis option, because I'm going to build a 21mm gauge chassis with suspension and finescale wheels. But the V60 chassis option does look like it will work and I can design some mounting brackets for it. It's likely that more modern V60 models have better wheel profiles, but there was a limit to how much I was willing to spend on something that's a significant diversion from my own project. I've got another couple of busy work days coming up, but hopefully at the weekend I'll get the etch construction completed and the chassis design progressed too.

Thanks for the tip, I found your thread here but couldn't spot the E: Anyway, I looked through the archive itself which has a lot of wonderful photos of the quays and ships of Cork, and some railway photos like this one: https://publications.corkarchives.ie/view/368357679/334-335/ This image shows one of the elusive LMA vans on the far right: https://publications.corkarchives.ie/view/368357679/678/

Thanks Arran, that's very useful information! I'm sure you're right for the later containers like the ones you have produced. I think some of the earlier ones might have been a different shade though. It's often difficult to judge from old photos, and as you can see from my transfers I was undecided too. Because these custom transfers are printed using the old ALPS process I had a limited choice of colours. For the 'blue stripe' livery I was mainly using Jonathan Allen's photo as a basis, and this looks like a paler blue with a slightly greenish tint: This image from Wrenneire from the freight containers thread also hints at a paler, slghtly greener colour on the vertical panel, while the 'red stripe' box on the right has a different shade more like the RAL5002 on the FREIGHTWAY lettering: This post from Wrenneire also shows some nice colour views of the early ones: Applying the transfers over the container ribs has been a challenge in places! I had to design the transfer artwork with extra length to account for the wriggles, and it was difficult to get them to seat over all the ribs snugly. But I think I've achieved a satisfactory result and hopefully a bit of weathering will conceal any imperfections.

Agreed, E428 was allocated to Limerick from 1962 to 1974, possibly substituted by another of the class from time to time. I've seen several photos of E428 in Limerick. Incidentally here's two shunters together at Limerick: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53445965287 Also, two E421s went to Cork around 1962: E422 and E429. E429 was based there until 1974. I've seen photos of both of those in Cork. I think it was E421s that worked at Shelton Abbey, though I haven't seen any photos. However, for this thread, it's the E401s I'm more interested in. It seems that several of them were used in the Cork/Kerry area in the 1958-1962 period. E414 appears in several photos from that period, including this one from Ernie: We can also add E403 to the list, here it is shunting at Rocksavage in a photo in the NLI archive: https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000304718

Good luck!

Building an etched kit with no instructions is all part of the fun! Certainly needs a thorough knowledge of the prototype and some familiarity with the designer’s mindset - a bit like solving a cryptic crossword. I’ve found that writing comprehensive instructions during the test build process does take a few hours but it’s not too much of a chore, but then so far no-one else has tried to interpret them.

Thanks, this is really useful to get an idea of what the etches comprise. I don’t feel so guilty about forgetting the windscreen wipers on my E401 etch now! At least they’re readily available elsewhere. Cheers Mol

All Superb! The NCC railcar is especially nice!

If you do have any photos of the E401s outside Dublin, or can point me towards where they are published, I’d be very interested. I’ve seen 4 pics of E414 in Cork, and one of E410 at Fenit. And E407 I think at Newbridge. All are referenced in my photo list spreadsheet upthread. Otherwise they’re all in Dublin area. Cheers, Mol

There’s some spare locos and rolling stock in the North. A blue GM (or indeed a GN 4-4-0) and a rake of RPSI stock would be just the thing for Limerick-Galway services. I expect a WT would put in a good performance on the Youghals with a short train.

That’s interesting. I had seen a reference to E404 in Cork but not seen any photos. If E411 was down there as well then there were at least 4 different locos in the south west in the silver era. Probably not all at the same time, but it does indicate they got about a bit more than people might expect.

Do you happen to know which ones? I know E414 spent some time working in Cork and E410 was trialled at Fenit.

My custom transfers arrived so I thought I'd take a break from the E class and decorate some boxes. Work in progress. Containers by @Arran at C=Rail, most modified to some extent, and custom transfers by Precision Decals. The MOL transfers are from C=Rail and the CIE roundels are from Railtec. This was the custom sheet:

I have fond memories of 112's sabbatical down south, including a busy beet season.

A quick reassembly to pose with a couple of trucks. Looks big compared to the van, but they were, as shown in Ernie’s photo: Suppose I’d better turn it round…

With traditional injection moulding there was a huge up-front cost in the tooling, which had to be funded by a society as you say. But with modern 3D printing technology such as the Templot / Plug track process it's apparently possible to design and print custom turnout and track bases with a few clicks of a button. I don't think the traditional approach is the only way forward.

I suppose the guide rails on the sides of the A-frames (not shown in the model images) could be used for power supply and control. Or use radio control and batteries?

I agree that the right gauge is 21mm. I have seen 20.2mm mentioned in several places but is anyone actually using this? I can't see the point of inventing a new gauge that doesn't match either the prototype or what the modellers have already. 19mm is almost indistinguishable from P4, and there are already established parts, standards, gauges, wheelsets etc for that. P4 may well be a valid option for Irish modelling, but it's not one that we need to provide new bits for. With 21mm, the basic plain track would be the same regardless of wheel standards. From the point of view of track standards, the differences are in the positioning of checkrails, and to a lesser extent wing rails, on pointwork. But these can be dealt with at the click of a button with the Templot / Plugtrack approach. This is true, and another issue may be the need to add suspension or compensation to rolling stock, which in some cases will require a new or completely rebuilt chassis. It's all possible and I admire the excellent results achieved by those who do so, but it's not going to appeal to many potential new 21mm modellers. So far, I've dodged the issue by not building any points. But I recognise that I have a mix of wheel standards on my rolling stock which may need resolving before I run things on a layout. Swapping wheelsets isn't too hard if there's a source of alternatives, but that's a bit of a challenge. I haven't got the patience to wait a year for Ultrascale, and I don't think many potential new 21mm modellers would have either! I wonder how much longer Ultrascale will continue to trade; it may not be a good idea to base the development of a new set of parts on a single supplier with such long lead times and an apparent reluctance to increase capacity or outsource manufacture to improve delivery times. Even in OO, RTR manufacturers have tended towards finer wheel profiles over time, though there remains a lot of variety out there. My gut feel is that the 1mm flangeway would be a place to start, which would match what quite a lot of people are using already (as listed above by John) and would tolerate the finer OO wheelsets as well as EM. In P4, the checkrail gap would need to be reduced slightly to provide full wheelset guidance at the crossing nose.

I love the little story with each photo, the different times of day and season, just enough to set the imagination off to complete the picture. Very inspiring!

Yep, I’m too young to remember them anything other than blue. And I still need to organise myself a trip behind Uranus to see a black one…

Ah, I should have consulted my library before asking a daft question! I did nearly include green as an option. I must go back and re-read the GNRI locos tome.

Beautiful work! Really captures the lines of the real thing. Will she be blue or black?

I suspect that the most practical way forward involves Templot and 3D printing. I think 3D printed track bases for both plain line and turnouts would actually be very easy to produce, with an understanding of Templot and 3D printers. Certainly people are churning them out in other gauges and I think the track gauge is just a simple input parameter to Templot However, 3D is not my strength. My mind works best with 2D stuff like etches and laser cutting. So I don’t draw in 3D CAD and I don’t have a 3D printing capability. We do have some people on the forum who are good at 3D printing.

Axleboxes soldered in place, and wire fitted for spring hangers. That's all for this weekend, there may be more tomorrow evening.

I've been making some progress on the frames this afternoon, though I'm not going to get them finished today, which had been my target. Some of the details are a bit fiddly: the spring hanger brackets seemed to be particularly prone to pinging off somewhere and being eaten by the carpet monster. Fortunately I had forseen this and included some spares on the etch! They look neat when done though. I've also put some strips of lead flashing into the fuel tanks which have added a useful 25g to the weight. The underside now looks like this. By design, there is a compromise in the position of the frames - they ought to be about 2mm closer together in reality, behind the buffer centres. In the model, the combined effects of 21mm gauge wheelsets with slightly overscale width treads, the extra sideplay needed for a 3-axle loco on trainset curves, and the need for the wheels to be electrically insulated from the frames, all meant that I had to place the frames a bit further apart than the prototype. That does have the secondary advantage of the buffers not being directly aligned with the frames, thus enabling sprung buffers to be fitted. However, for a 16.5mm gauge model the frames could perhaps be placed closer together. I've now started playing with the axlebox castings. These are intended for LMS Ivatt tenders and they are the closest I could find, but they're a little bit too deep and wide for the E class. I'm sanding them down to fit. Combined with the frames being slightly further apart, the axleboxes seem to stand out a bit more than on the prototype, but I hope it won't be too noticeable when complete and covered in some grime. There are still quite a few fiddly details to add to the frames and footplate; this stage is taking longer than expected but I'm still pleased with how it's looking.