Glenderg

Just to point out, this is the incorrect box art - sort of. The four vent version is for the supertrain livery, rather than the later tippex one. R.

Or lack, thereof, rich. Might as well have used toothpaste to line it, brutal. Here are a few more, for those amongst you who enjoy pain and suffering. great value for a restoration project... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lima-Hornby-Jouef-Set-of-6-OO-Gauge-Irish-Mk3-Carriages-Repainted-Kit-Bashed-/201439547863?hash=item2ee6bb91d7

Jaysus! All for the love of some masking tape.....

So....it would be possible to pay to rebrand a 22K set if one had enough wonga? Just a thought....

I think Wrenneire has a pair of them, and the maroon steam heat van also. He'd be the chap to talk to.

Really interesting contributions by Old Blarney and Mayner! Just a note on historical accuracy, the collapses of 1963 took place on Fenian Street (Near Westmoreland Row (renamed to Dublin Pearse Station 1966), Bolton Street ( close to Broadstone, but that closed in 1961) and York Street - Where the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland is now. So it would make more sense for the surgeon to have grown up on Fenian Street, and rambled around the disused mill buildings and granaries that surround Grand Canal Dock and look back toward on Westland Row. It was also an area of mixed fortune, with small lanes of cottages tucked behind the grand houses or Pearse Square, so it allows the surgeons parents to come from any walk of life. It is also one of the main stations if you wanted to go to Bray from the city regularly, so it would be a nostalgic trip everytime he came to Dublin.

Not so grand. I would have loved him to build these things as well, but you can probably not have Santa's whole toy shop for Christmas... Ah, but one assumes.he has a wife who buys him kits for Christmas, or buys them for the axe murdering prodigy and dad and boy are to bond together whilst making it? I'll put the glue away now.....

Plus, to renovate what is most likely a listed building, starting in January, finishing in July is implausible. The two big dates are always around now, second week in September and in before Christmas. Most building jobs last 9 months, if it's the kind of renovation you're talking about.

Hmm, as someone who does the whole minding contractors as an Architect, and building railway bits and pieces, this is most disturbing, given that I was in college with Mr. Dwyer....eek. 7-8 months to build a layout would require a full time commitment, he'd be lucky to get the boards down and simple track if doing it on a piecemeal basis. The size of the room is relatively huge, that's about 380 square feet in old money. If I had a Client like that who asked me to build something epic like that - say a scale Connolly Station (an iconic layout for most dreamers), I know it is 36 feet from the front of the building to the tolka river bridge if modelled to scale, I would tell him to compress the scheme into 24 feet long, by 4 foot wide, accessible from both sides, perfectly modelled version of Connolly Station, with the track running all around the room to tie up (continuous running) and have a large spare board where he parks his trains not in use (fiddle yard) A room with those proportions, covered in boards would be truly implausible also. The boards that the layout would rest on may be about 600-1200mm /2-4 feet wide with a place to operate either side. A man's maximum reach to access track to clean is about 750mm/2 and a half feet. Theoretically, it would be possible for him to have a significant piece of the layout complete - the boards, track and wiring installed (by someone else - if he lives in a house like that, it's an insignificant cost relative to the 6 figure sum he's spending on renovation) He could commission the buildings and other structures to be completed off site - that's the most time consuming part of this hobby I find. There would still be an epic amount of work to complete if that's done - installation of signals, ballast (the cosmetic stone that keeps the track in place) people, vehicles, lighting, weathering. One assumes that during his travels, he has been collecting the running stock though throughout. It's what most do, waiting for that spare room to open up. hope that helps, R.

The LUAS is only a recent addition to Dublin's Streets, 2004 was when it opened. Prior to that there were tram lines in Dublin up until 1949, and 1959 on Howth Head. They were then ripped up. As for the layouts, I don't think so, but I'd suggest contact be made with the MRSI and SDMRC, both of whom have a presence here to validate. I'm a scratchbuilder, and the risk of hand injury is negligible if you've been at it long enough. The only risk is sanding your nails accidentally or having superglue on the tips of your fingers. However, his skills with a scalpel and access to high end medical tools such as forceps, arterial clamps, even scrubs, would be useful and are all part of my toolbox. As for the guy who is also a collector and scratchbuilder, I have to say that that sounds highly unlikely. Generally in an Irish context, if it is available to purchase off the shelf, and you have the resources, that's what you'll do. Scratchbuilding from about 2000 backwards, would have been painful, with Self Addressed Envelopes being sent to the UK for Mail Order Catalogues, and endless waiting time for parts, Postal Orders, and so on. It would be far more likely that your character would purchase a UK model, and hand it over to a specialist, who would do the modifications to make it Irish. This would be a prized possession at the time, being a rarity, and it would have cost a significant amount of money. As far as is plausible for the time period, he could have a boyhood interest in the end of the steam era in Ireland and the beginning of the Diesel Era, so there is a wealth of choice to pick from. One of the moderators here is in the "words" business too, as are quite a few others, albeit in round about ways, and I'm sure they'll be able to help in either a public or private way. And as for a "man" thing, well, it was ever thus I'm afraid Richie.

I'd give him about €20 for the Mark III, so long as he threw in the Animal DVD. Then at least I'd have something to watch whilst the brake fluid goes to work on the coach....

But shur twas done JB, so it was, so.

Idiotic idea.

Compo mk3? My recollections are coach a was first, coach b was either Cafe/bar or a restaurant. Coaches c to f were standard open, and the egv was either behind the loco or at the end of the rake.

Clearly a southside shark, showing off, probably looking for a signal for it's iphone 9. A northside shark would have battered everyone be now, and there would be no video and no witnesses.

Well I'm sure the Anto's and Georgeconna's of this world might puke at some of my ideas, but I'll give it a go. And john, primer isn't required all the time. A wash and a scrub with wet and dry works wonders. Well, that's what me missus does to me.....

John - no problem, it's in the works anyway. Paul, I'd happily make a fool of myself on youtube if it would help. If I did, say a MKIII, would that be of use? Not sure how good my phone is for filming, but I'll give it a go.

No need to big it up dave. It's just me kitchen.

Gents, We approach that time of year when the attic beckons and wives take to evening classes that baffle and confuse in equal measure. Are there any things that folk would like help with? I'm thinking of doing one on masking tape ( settle down with the excitement) Would Love to hear from some of the lurkers on this, see if we can get some of the specialists to offer their experiences. R.

Nailed it Patrick. I can smell the froshty mornin' from here :-)

You miss my point completely Noel. It's a very specific and technical item, which should be in it's own separate thread. That way, someone else, in three years time can find a chat about Cobalt Point Motors via the search. If you search and it returns this thread, you'll have 142 (and growing) pages to navigate for it. I make the point not for my benefit, nor yours, but for the greater number of forum users.

Hold up pilgrim. 01 the thread is going wildly astray, and any info, if replied to is Hard to find, if another should search for similar later on. 02 doing a search on the topic results in a very informative thread by scahalane on the subject - empty box, top right of page. 03 failing that,, there is Google, YouTube, and cobalt themselves. You've asked very useful questions, and were they answered, would disappear into the depths of this forum. put them into the right thread please.

Shaping up to be something superb. Love the track layout for the per way area onto the main line. Nice north wall vibe about it.

The MKIIIa's had 9 windows, taller and shorter than the MKIII SO's 8 windows. The only benefit of having Hornby's over Lima's IMHO is that it's a one piece mould. It is practically identical in all respects to the Lima. As for prototypically correct, neither of them are. The Lima's all have square droplight apertures in the corners, all ours were rounded. The doors themselves are smooth on IR, Lima's have the BR dent, and the hydraulic door arm is missing. Minor issues that no-one is going to get upset by..(I hope!) And as for flush glazing, neither of them really have that feature, though Hornby's is closer to flush. Mad idea Dhu! but I like your thought process. The unfortunate thing is that you'd be left with a seam across the joint on the roof, which would be pretty tricky to get right. The overlay, as WB says, is what I was thinking. This is just a quick comparison of the two side overlays to see the difference in pattern. (and the distance between the white stripes was different - only noticeable with MKIIIa connected to the EGV. The wanderer has some nice shots of the MKIIIa's, you'll have to use their running numbers to search - 6201 + etc. and 6401 for the restaurant.

The roads in ireland that are windy indicate that the land is good, so the local authorities bought the land to existing boundaries. Poor land, boggy stuff, marsh ground etc. is usually straight because the land was cheap. So in effect, road boundaries are around for a hell of a lot longer than rail boundaries. The rail companies just bought the land and engineered through it. They usually erected the bare minimum of a boundary. The farmer was responsible for his animals if they broke onto the line. Of all the times I clambered around the Lmk -Lmk Jct line growing up, I don't remember a similar stretch of boundary from one field to the next. Variety is the key, as Riversuir has described with his photos. Here's a selection of photos showing the type of ditches etc. lineside from the period.