Colonel

Fairly sure the FVR has been in use after 2000, because my wife and I had a ride when I was building Fintonagh and that was only in the 'teens. Will check my holiday diaries and confirm later. What I certainly do remember is driving from our hotel in Bundoran only to find the site deserted, though a portacabin door was open and when I poked my head inside to ask if trains were running a very nice lady with a lovely Donegal accent replied - of course, I'll get the boys for you. Two lumbering giants who looked like they were filling in between duties for the All Ireland front row soon appeared and climbed into the diesel, while I happily sat in railcar 12's cab, taking photos to eventually build Clogher Valley No1/Donegal 10. A pleasant, if unexciting trip followed: lovely scenery along the Lough but at little more than walking pace, it took quite while & then the two drivers joined me in the railcar for the trip back. Turned out I probably knew more about the history of the railcar than they did and conversation turned to more everyday matters, including the fact what, while they were now in their thirties, they both intended to "take a wife soon"!

A bit of gentle modelling at last - and very cathartic too. Looking at what I might do, decided that adding some detail to the bogie and power truck might be a good idea and so it proved. Fiddly, but nothing too dramatic, just bits of plasticard and some white metal castings I found in the spares box. The front pony is a complex affair and available photos aren't all that clear on detail. As you can see above & below, there's a cast axle box/spring unit, with strapping hangers fabricated from plastic strip, while the 'splashers' are likewise 10thou. Eventually will need to work out how to add the front coupling and starting handle: the former looks like it was hinged to go up and back to allow access to the latter. The guard irons could still do with a bit of tweaking. The power bogie has also had details added. The prototype was chain drive, but this is barely visible, so simply added cosmetic outer frames from plastic sheet, then, like the pony truck, white metal axle/spring castings together with bits of plastic to represent hangers & what look like shock absorbers.

Remarkable what the alchemists are getting up to these days. If the chassis is separate, or can be cut out, suspect there is a HighLevel motor gearbox that could fit. Certainly looks like it would be possible in 7mm scale: Slaters do this style of wheel and they come on 1/8" axles, ideal for aforementioned gearbox

Love that middle picture in the pouring rain. Not sure it is a scene we are ever likely to model successfully. That said, there was a layout, years ago, where a chap had covered pretty much everything in gloss varnish to make it look wet. It was set in Dorset and called Piddling Down. True, honest!

Great work, as ever. From a modelling point of view, shorter coaches are very effective at making trains look longer. For example three fifty footers are only fractionally longer than two Mark 3s, or similar.

Modern stock may well be so much safer now, but the six wheeler have so much charm - both as the prototype and the models themselves. Likewise from the basic viewing perspective, for me, two six wheelers look far better than a single modern coach. In other ways, not sure things have moved on. Recently went down to Brighton by train. The journey involved the so called Javelin high speed train to St Pancras, then a Networker down to the coast. The Javelin is impressive, except that it stops at pretty much all stations from Ramsgate to Ebbsfleet, only getting up speed going under the Thames to Stratford International. Incidentally, there are three 'international' stations in the South East (Ashford, Ebbsfleet and Stratford) that have no international connections whatever. You can only go via St Pancras. As for the Networker units, considering they are used on journeys like Brighton to Cambridge - at least a couple of hours - the seats are appalling. Half and hour at best before you start being uncomfortable. Many seats on both trains don't align with the windows either! In many ways, it is still an amazing railway. Shame they can't get some of the details right.

Love that last photo.

Yes. Well done Ireland. England were a basket case horror show!

Thanks Leslie and everyone. Interesting to read of your solutions, though zips let us down in this case. My wife has always used a small rucksack, with lots of zips, including ones on inside compartments and the passport/wallet was very much at the bottom, but they still got it. It wasn't a particularly crowded area either, otherwise it would have been across her chest, not her back. When it is warm and sunny and you are not wearing many layers, it is harder to find places to stash things, but one of those body belt wallets is now on the list. Nobody gets to be a head teacher, without having at least a small control freak inside them and nine has been looming large the last few days. Nil bastardo caborundum, as the saying goes!

Have I just broken the record for "wow" emojis? A further lesson from this salutary tale is just how much time a single incident (which only took seconds to enact) then wastes: Phoning the bank to cancel your cards Two hours at the police station, to report the crime Probably the same ringing the tour company, rearranging flight home Likewise finding and then filling in the form for an emergency travel document Same again (and more) ringing the British Consulate for help and advice, because you can't call the passport office - they have to call you A whole morning going up to the consulate in Las Palmas to collect the ETD Three hours trying to submit an insurance claim yesterday - and am sure that is only the start. Still got to get a new passport for the missus - more on line forms, as the ETD is only valid for a single trip Likewise new driving licence No wonder I feel knackered. Really hoping to get back to a bit of modelling soon.

Tonbridge Show Saturday Unfortunately, I've had to withdraw from the Tonbridge show on Saturday. My wife and I had been having a lovely holiday in Gran Carnaria, when on Saturday her passport and wallet were stolen from her bag - the day before we were due to return home and we only made it back last night. Never had anything like this happen before, but the consequences were significant. It took until Wednesday to get an emergency passport so we could travel home, while the insurance claim will run well into four figures. The lessons are simple. ALWAYS leave your passport in the hotel safe. Credit cards can be cancelled - though again, split them and any cash up, so you always have back up. Maybe worth paying separate insurance on your airport car parking too. Stansted charged me £268 for the extra four days! At least Gran Canaria was warm, sunny and indeed beautiful, though the 20c difference in temperature back home was a bit of a shock, especially as the central heating hadn't kicked in... In the end, you can only try to learn from the experience, because it was nothing compared to what Noel has been through and indeed any amount of human suffering around the world.

Came out a couple of years after I made mine. Of course... ... and have made the SL& NCR one in 7mm too. JB is right in that a 7mm scale, minimum space model railway could certainly be built around a railbus. Keep it to just a working diorama, with a single line and no points and you could do it in less than a metre. Go along the Iain Rice cameo route and a loop plus two sidings and fiddle yard need 10' 9" in old money - at least that's how long Northport Quay is.

I scratch built one of those in 7mm scale, though it is now very much part of my 0 gauge project. Wonder what colour it would have been had they trialled one in the very early 60s?

I know virtually nothing about these locos, but the models scream quality of the highest order. If they were hand built models, we'd all be jumping up and down at the standards achieved. Just because they are commercially produced, ready to run examples in no way lessens the achievements. Congratulations to everyone involved and indeed Accurascale Models in general. The bar is being well and truly raised

Only just picked this up and can only agree with all the other comments. Regardless of the time and effort we put into our models, it is loved ones who matter.

Rivets look great now. Small scale modelling can be as much about artistry as precision at times, I think. Some items need to stand out to look right, either by size or paint job. Others look better scaled back a bit. And let's face it, tiny items like rivet heads only need to be fractions of a millimetre too big to look wrong - something even a coat of paint will exacerbate.

One the one hand, it is just a 141. Plenty of models about, but this one is special, being HO and hand crafted. Well done you.

When I first joined the Chatham Club, back in the last century, one of the then senior members scratch built all his locos from tinplate - either 5 gallon Castrol GTX tins, or catering size food tins. Indeed, thinking about it, weren't Leinster Models kits originally run plate?

Interesting piece of archaeology. Back in the day, stuff like this was all you had when there was no rtr - and very grateful we were too. Even etched brass kits were few and far between. I think I made two: a Terrier and an Adams Radial, both in EM. The Terrier was ok, but the 4-4-2T neither ran nor looked good. Chassis on both were 1/16th brass strip and the axle holes didn't match the coupling rod spacing! Ultimately, it got you into scratchbuilding...

Put a Donegal van next to a Sligo Leitrim one and there really ain't much in it.

Here's that Casserley photo I mentioned the other day, which shows just how small the six wheelers could be against more modern stock. Indeed, width over the body was often only 8'6 - not exactly making the most of the wider loading gauge. The photo comes from the book below. Well worth getting hold of a copy.

Hmmm... On the whole, coaches got washed regularly and stayed fairly clean, while locos soon acquired at least a patina of dust and dirt. So unless a loco is modelled ex works, for me, it needs at least some weathering and looks all the better for it, because it shows it is working for its living. Decals, lettering etc therefore don't need to be 100% accurate in terms of colour, so beware overthinking? Coaches maybe do need to be a bit more accurate, but then the effects of weather and daylight, plus the quality of the film processing of the time, all create confusion and the same goes for how we choose to light our models, of course. How big is a flying snail on a coach in 4mm scale? 5mm max? Add in the two foot or even one foot rule and would say accuracy and sharpness of the lettering is more important than nuances of shade. I use 4mm scale Midland Railway crest transfers on my 7mm scale Donegal stock and they provide a perfectly decent impression - to me, anyway and (so far!) haven't had any complaints. This probably isn't helping!

That reminds me - I've got one of those! Should have been using it on the current railcar project. The extra hand it offers would have been very useful.

A lot of effort for not much progress in the last few days and Maggie Coulter's goat seems less than impressed too. However, at least I now have [fingers crossed] a working chassis, so as the old saying goes, the rest is just cosmetic. Clear photographs of the prototype, especially things like details on the front pony are few and far between, so I'm relying as much on pictures of models as the real thing and the former look like their builders have been making assumptions too. So, I've made a basic frame for the front pony out of L section brass strip, with two plates each holding a top hat bearing for the wheels soldered to this. The unit has been soldered to to the brass chassis plate and then all the details [note the white metal spring/axlebox casting] will be glued in place. The next photo shows how articulated nature of the chassis works on a 3' radius reverse curve, while the third picture shows the underside. That's probably it for the next week or so, as I have a host of other stuff that needs doing, but hopefully things might then progress better after that.

Hang my head in shame: the notice in the Gauge 0 Gazette was from Allen Doherty (Worsley Works), NOT Roger Cromblehome of Alphagraphix. Many apologises to everyone and especially to Roger. Long may he and Alphagraphix prosper. Read twice, at least, before reporting...