Glenderg

If you're short a buffer Robbie, give us a shout on info@irishrailwaymodels.com and we'll send out a replacement, or replace the entire wagon to your satisfaction. I know it's a method of getting super close coupling by loosing a few buffers, but not recommended R

And just to clarify, it is not Offeecial IRM policy to have to wear a check shirt

Sorry, been busy all day, only spotting this now. I use a Silver Bullet Cutter, which would be up in the four figure range, and once calibrated and you've configured your workflow, it's a demon. There's no real limit on cut depth as you can drop the platen to suit, but you're limited by the blade itself. 1.5mm mounting board I've cut for backing for buildings, but it's no where near as handy as a laser cutter would be, as eoin rightly says above. Min thickness material I cut is 0.08mm acetate for the windows, max is about 0.4mm, usually with about 4 passes for a cut, and a single one for a fold or score. I'll make several of the same layer in CAD so that when it goes into the software it'll cut the single lines first and the multi-lines last. Doing slates for instance. In fact, getting a CAD process to translate to a single smooth cut/score operation, was the trickiest. Sometimes the software that's offered for each type of machine can be less than polished. It can make holes of as low as 0.3mm, handy for handrail openings. There are other attachments like the embossing & engraving tools, but I've not bothered to try them out. More for swirly patterns than stamping out a rivetted side of a wagon, I think. If you're going to get one, be prepared for a fair bit of time figuring out what it can do, and can't, and how to bend your CAD process to suit what you want. R.

Edit - there were a few where the entire vac assembly was painted ivory, but since rubber and paint are never happy bedfellows, could it be down to an over enthusiastic painter?

This is bugging me, big style. Why is it the Victorian lads only had 1 mega pixel cameras, I'll never know...

That does look like MGWR Attock stock but I'd be just guessing...However, the architecture on the left hand side bears no resemblance to limerick. There's no decorative arched brickwork, as seen on the right, in Limerick Colbert. More than Likely Heuston, if the roof panelling is anything to go by. Everything fits.

Don't have one in front of me to assist with photos, so hopefully this should suffice. There is a hole centrally in the base with two screws either side. (The side screws detach the entire bubble from the chassis, so leave them alone) Using a thin Philips Head Screwdriver, remove the screw in the centre, and the top part will come off, from solebar upward. You may need to assist the two lugs for each ladder from the frame. Refitting - Place the bubble back in it's location, and screw home. Using a cocktail stick, put the tiniest touch of superglue on either lug, and using a tweezers, guide each one into the openings. Repeat other side. R.

Superb, love the deftest of touches on the weathering. Is it a Brittania Pacific kit or scratchbuilt?

Hahaha, I had to take a stand. This proliferation of unnecessarily clean wagons is an abomination, I tells ya. "Glenderg says 'No' ", that's the new stance I'm taking. Messing aside, I only retrieved my hard drive recently with the archive of workbench photos that I've taken over the years, about only 10% or less was ever published, your station, goods shed, and signal box in particular. Must find some time in between climbing down chimleys with a red hat next month to post some photos to hopefully inspire, and a few wonderful failures to boot. Wrens Dutch Van being the highlight r.

That's quite impressive! Whip out them mullions, I'll post out some glazing I have to spare that should help. After all the effort thus far, it would be a shame to have it held back by 40 year old tooling. The real icing on the cake would be to drill two holes in either tank filler square at either ends, 0.35mm or so, insert yer lifting eye wire with a touch of cyano, and clip off. It's painful, but puts your model on a level beyond what's available off the shelf. possible ocd on my part, feel free to ignore . R.

Cheers all for the kind words. Thought I'd stress test my allocation of wagons through my loony layout - spot the odd one out ... Testing of a close coupling thingy is a must .. Richie

I had this recently on my test track, and it was back at the frog (?) where the two rails meet with a insulator supposedly keeping electrical connection separate. If I threw the points one way, all was fine, the other way, the 141 would stall, as it shorted. I'd check to ensure there's no oil or electrical connectivity at the frog itself. I had to slip in the tiniest shim of acetate/clear plastic to ensure proper electrical order and keep some distance between the two polarities. (that actually sounds like I know what I'm talking about )

I saw some 21mm track recently, (not IRM btw) and was frankly blown away by the difference, especially with a bubble sitting on it. I'll definitely convert should the prototype I've seen result in crossovers and the like. Not sure how exhibition friendly my efforts would be sadly. Every time I go to an exhibition/show, there seems to be some drama of my own making that requires I look "like a zombie" from stress and have to check stock in a cupboard or assembly hall...

Ha! One of the first days that I had the workshop set up in HQ, I dragged down two members of the squad - as Wrenn says - the guilty shall remain nameless. I explained the concept of trying to solder raw brass to raw brass. Bit of flux, same solder, and they were masters on first go. No ambulances called either. Most of the issues with Brass Kits is the nomenclature of the parts - "take the crankshaft that should align with the connecting rod, not the big end now (danger here) to the inner valve spring, and mount it to the Jannckers socket in the position it is normally found in" It's this kind of nonsense that puts the vast majority of kit builders off, myself included. I don't have a DeLorean to go back in time, nor a desire to do an apprenticeship in Inchicore, Broadstone, or Shildon. Imagine if the humble Airfix Typhoon/Sopwith Camel/Spitfire that many of us cut our teeth on, came with a typed wall of text, talking about intake manifolds and the like? We'd have thrown our hat at modelmaking years ago!

I suppose I could, now that I've bodged my way through brass assembly without burning the nads off meself, to do one with a soldering iron. Thankfully there's no need for Carrs Red/White/Purple, the greatest branding exercise I've ever seen. Some good solder, some flux, and an off the shelf iron is all that's required. I'll leave the resistance soldering and low melt solders to Professors David Holman and Eoin Murray, but I'd really like to see more lads have a go at the brass, it's really not that difficult at all. BTW, thanks for the kind comments, I missed having free time to do all of ^ . R,.

China have been on, when I asked them about tooling. Simple reply, sadly. 起床院子 R.

My recollection of trawling suggests that when they had the grey and orange livery, they had a specific branding, very similar to the one on 25195, but more compressed. The "CIE" in the centre was of the early version, and the "bulk cement" was a standard stencil. But when they came to go ivory, they seem to have played around with it - given the "CIE" a more Art Deco style, and a custom stencil for the bulk cement that had more distance and presence than the previous orange/grey livery version. If adopted, it would have been a gradual change of corporate branding, in the way black and tan was to supertrain. Sadly it wasn't given the thumbs up across the range, but at least she held it until the bitter end. I do love an aul livery oddity, and would loved to have found more to add to our range, but they just don't exist in photographic form ...yet....

Totally agreed. The only ones I've ever made were for Bredin MK2 roof profiles at 10'3" (i think?) and though they took weeks to build, they've served well , and still do. Keep on trucking, these are inspiring posts. R

Fabulous stuff Eoin, my first real opportunity to properly catch up with stuff folk are at. Your workshop is immaculate (unlike my Somme-esque landscape in Crumlin ) Have to say I love all the jigs and helpers - are they all home-brew or picked up over time, they certainly look careworn and top quality. Rich.

Can one of the Mods correct the spelling of this thread. It's upsetting my OCD. - Edit and it needs to be done to help others searching this forum.

That's what you said. That's what I responded to. You have an actual track plan of Omagh, and you're going to compress it to suit. Why anyone, having hard data of a track plan, would embark on this strategy of building a baseboard without validating a compressed track plan, is a mystery. Measure shed, draw it up, superimpose trackplan, and compromise accordingly would appear to be a more straightforward approach. I'm not having a go at your idea, not by a long shot, but if you got the track plan to match your actual shed dimensions, you'll save yourself a few headaches along the way. I say all of the above in a friendly, helpful way, not to have a go. I also say it because I've gone and screwed up in a similar vein, and would not like it replicated by someone else. Rich.

You're cutting the legs for a baseboard that you don't know what size nor design it is? I've proffered the "Lay track in haste, repent at leisure" but this takes the biscuit Slow down, stop cutting timber, measure the space available, and get out a wee notebook and start sketching a plan for track, baseboards and so on. Then start cutting legs etc. Rich.

Thanks lads, it means a lot, and I did think CIE were odd in the way they went about design - turns out our counterparts across the ditch have a similarly oddball way of doing things, which I find delightful and challenging all at the same time. A piece of rolling stock with 4 different buffer patterns? Yip, seen in the flesh several times. Or another with two different types of brake gear on it? And for a man who has an unhealthy interest in axleboxes, whoa-hoa, it's been a roller coaster so far - roller bearing - hooded and unhooded, grease box, LNER, GNR, sloped, no mind yer standard BR Timken's! Yes the OCD is strong on this adventure, but as Mies Van Der Rohe once said, "God is in the Detail" Rich P.S. the Irish stuff has not been put on any backburner either, we're "all ahead, flank speed" as Garfield might say.

Best laugh I've had in a while!!!