Mol_PMB

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.

The IRRS archive contains some very nice older photos, particularly those in the Harold Fayle collection: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/albums/72177720318213369 For those of you who are IRRS members, here are a few examples. DSER 2-2-2T no.27 around 1920: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53813452459/ WCR no.11 around 1900: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53813368063/ GSWR 2-4-0 around 1905: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53812198452/ GSWR 4-wheel carriage around 1920: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53813564205/ GNR no.70 with an express in the 1920s: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53813553975/ DESR 0-4-2 no.59 around 1906: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53813116576/ WLWR 2-4-0 no.6 around 1902: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53813563110 MGWR 0-4-2 Comet around 1900: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53813563865 GSWR 0-6-0 no.188 around 1920: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53812198922 GNR 0-6-0 no.145 around 1920: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53812188152 There are many more.

Lovely! The original pier at Fenit before it was rebuilt in the 1950s. A fair sized ship alongside. Limerick Steamship Co were the most regular visitors here. Pages 56-58 are good too - unusual view of the inside motion of an 0-6-0 goods engine, and a nice selection of goods wagons in a rather wrecked state. Pages 65 & 67 have one of @leslie10646's brake vans in a slightly ticklish position. Page 73 has a nice view of a 'Big Boy' van, 15065 I think. I must finish of my drawing of them, and then think about a model or two. I've been distracted by the layout construction.

That last image you linked shows a VERY busy goods yard at Listowel - there must be about 50 wagons visible, no doubt plenty of WLWR types amongst them. Market day? Going off on a small tangent, this parcel stamp is one of the rarer pieces in my railway philately collection: And in a fine example of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it', a parcel stamp of almost identical design from around 80 years later:

Lovely! I thought at first that the train at Loo Bridge was hauled by one of the single Fairlies, but on closer inspection it's one of the very similar-looking conventional 0-4-4Ts. I agree there are some super 'Easter eggs' to be found in the background of non-railway photos. Although from a later era I'm still amazed by the photo I found earlier showing a 1000 (D) class diesel shunter working in Cork.

This is a beauty. Zoom right in on the NLI original to see the details of the elaborate lining and lettering on the rolling stock. The train crew make a lovely cameo too: https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000251179 107 was built in 1881, but the line to Valentia Harbour wasn't opened until 1895. An unusual view of the Waterford coaling quay: https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000036651 The loco is presumably 'Erin' as seen in this view: https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000036650 No trains but what a delightful scene, asking to be modelled! https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000058719

124 at Cork with the mail in 1961. But what's that van behind the loco? Could be a UTA crest on the side. Pigeons? https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000305726

GSWR era at Cork, this is not really a railway photo but it has a lot of wagons in the background: https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000337575 Two items of interest: on GSWR convertible vans, the sheet covering the hole in the roof is also lettered GSWR. And there's a butter van in shot too. Also in Cork, and perhaps an even earlier era when the original station was still in use? https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000337571 Certainly some antiquated rolling stock, apparently on lines at right angles to each other (maybe lots of small turntables?). And an early loco partly visible, just teasing us.