Glenderg

Well said. Only the other day the new CEO of Hornby was waxing lyrical about their homegrown distribution partners, and today Hornby are trying to make out they were "aware of the limited resources available to Modelzone and their ongoing restructuring" or some other arse covering nonsense, and how they were "mitigating their exposure should the worst happen" so it's no surprise their stock will be at max price. If not sold, it's straight back to margate, unlike the rest, which will go for a song to keep the liquidators happy. A sorry corporate mess that will have further consequences methinks. R.

Lovely indeed. Scale seems no problem to some though.... http://www.aviation-design.fr/?rc-jet-model-fouga-magister-1-3-scale

Third photo in that batch. Good god!

Classic Shem!

Top stuff as always. Love the Lmk-Dub transfer idea!

Disturbing stuff from Broithe Towers. Thanks for the warning.

Now that is a pleasant surprise! It's like looking at Steve Rabones 1984 photographs, superb stuff altogether. Richie.

did it have much sun, were they spanish speaking, was it nice ...??? lol

Jesus Broithe, was afraid you'd left for good.scared the hootenany outa me!

Agreed eoin. I have looked into this in some detail, even the loonies scratchbuilding their own rigs and motors. Youtube is full of them, but these are folks with many years of CADCAM experience so know where costs can be cut and software improved. And that's one of the huge barriers here. Most CAD work for the pro's to produce a 3D model costs around £40k stg, about 2500 hours of work. A lot of the software that's used by these 3d printers is not partnered with Autodesk or Solid works, The big hitters, and converting models to a usable format is a nightmare, usually resulting in nicely curved corners being tesselated to A harsh series of angles. It will be a long time before the refinement we require is available at a reasonable price, and if the clowns in europe have their way, a special licence will be required to buy the material to stop fellas building barrett rifles and pipebombs in their bedroom. The logical approach would to to produce a high fidelity model and get the component produced by a medical rapid prototyping company, guys who specialise in things like ,blister packs for rennies etc. Theres a heap of them on this island, and it would just take a leap of faith and some lateral thinking to make things happen. I'm particularly thinking of a plant on mk4 DVT 'cab"..... Richie

Farewell to the jhb express then!

It's a bit of a nuisance all right. It's specifically orientated toward tablet and phone browsing, and particularly crap if you are desktop bound. If you do get it working, it's worthwhile, in particular Finnyus's latest batch. What internet browser/machine/flux capacitor are you using JHB?

Oh that is sweet as a nut!

I don't know how you have the patience for that John! Surely the tolerances with all the various arms and cranks is silly small, getting increasingly more difficult as the number of drive wheels increase? Is is really tricky to get a smooth running system? It's the one side of the hobby where I happily sit on the ditch and admire others' work. I am though looking forward to the instalment on pickups etc., something I do need to tackle on some of my stock. Richie

My odyssey with Irish Loco's starts with the 121's, frog marching cement bubbles from through limerick junction to limerick, as I struggled up the hill past Mrs Macs Post Office in Pallasgreen with weighty schoolbag on my back, worrying about Buntus the morrow, and how them lads in second class deserve a hidin next time football is on in the yard. What's this? Peering through the old cast iron bridge I hear it. A horn up at Hill Street Lads putting coins on the tracks again. How they get home before me? It's getting louder. Schoolbag not so heavy. I can see an outline of a kitten the scary anticipation, heart going, kittens become a bloody tiger clackety clack, does no one else see this epic machine? CLACKETY CLACK, THUMP, awesome momentum of this juggernaut, snout like a greyhound on her jesus this bridge is gonna give, if my heart doesn't first PAAAAAARP of the horn, CARUMP, CARUMP, carump. BOOM and the noise is phenomenal. CLACKETY CLACK, clackety clack Gust of stinky smoke and wind. dart across the road to see the last as I blink into the wind. and she's gone west. silence. but I think it was 24, no could have been 21 it was hauling.... neighbours car approaching - "no I'm grand for a lift home" scramble across to pick up the featherweight bag and wander off home, admiring the run down railway hotel alongside, wondering what it was like when the place was in full swing? A violent imprint on my 8 year old mind that changed machines like that from inanimate objects to forever after being referred to as "she". Brutal and functional she was, yet elegant in an odd way, but who doesn't like a powerful woman every now and then to shake your bones, Des? Could be a life changing experience! Richie.

I'd recommend getting hold of Tom Ferris' witty and brilliant The Trains Long Departed. For instance, a caption beneath a photograph of one of the SLNCR's tricomposite bogies quotes "This line was a law unto itself in many ways. On every railway carriage in which I ever travelled the door handles were on the right; on this line they were on the left" That should start as a benchmark for the peculiarities of this much loved and slightly odd railway line, as it was not assisted by Government guarantees or baronial assistance, as many previous lines had been in the earlier fervour of railway building. It had been built by the generous landowners for the locals because of local necessity, names including the Gore-Booths, Hazelwoods and Lurganboys, whose names adorned some of the locos. The whole operation teetered on the brink of insolvency for it's first 20 years of existence and in 1894 government officials engaged in negotiations with the MGWR and GNR so HM treasury could get their money back. The directors fought back, since the nearby Claremorris to Collooney line was being given handouts by the shovel load, and so, in 1897 the board had their payments reduced and interest rates rescheduled. When the nearby neighbours opened their railway, they approached SLNCR to run it, but the scheme was abandoned. Eventually the Waterford & Limerick Railway got to operate it, who later became Waterford, Limerick & Western. This led to the third station in Collooney, mashing the previous two along with the MGWR all in one little geographical confluence. There was the idea of the Ulster and Connaught Light Railway in 1903, which planned for a narrow gauge running from Newry to somewhere in Galway. There was also a river shannon branch planned at Rooskey which would have absorbed the Nerwy & Bessbrook Tramway and the Clogher Valley and the C&L. This crackpot idea actually had quite a bit of logic, but the Great War put paid to it. To quote Ferris once more "Even the most fanatical of railway enthusiasts might have shuddered at the prospect of having to spend maybe eight hours in a rattling narrow gauge carriage to make an unlikely odyssey from Newry to Rooskey" In the early 20's, Independent promoters drew up a proposal for a broad gauge branch from Dromahair to Arigna to tap the coal mines of the valley. The SLNCR offered to work it, but no government money was forthcoming, and so the C&L had that monopoly which kept it on life support until the late 50's. One thing that struck me about the chapter is how "the Englishman loves his roast beef" and that kept the traffic flowing for the SLNCR from out west to the cattle sidings of GSWR Cabra. On closure, half the goods vehicles were cattle wagons. Wagons would transit onto Enniskillen to be distributed via the GNR to Derry, Belfast or Greenore in time for overnight sailings to England and Scotland. According to the book, "at different times, other types of locomotives were tried, usually 0-6-0's or 4-4-0's, hired or bought second hand from the GNR, and new engine orders always went to Beyer Peacock. There is mention of incidents during the Civil War, which destroyed a number of vehicles, and required urgent replacements. Possible scope for foreign ladies and carriages? Richie.

I hadn't actually considered a running locomotive, more for pairing it up behind a 141 and using it as a test build for a second one which would be powered. As for using a 141 chassis fran, it would be the right choice, but requires a cut n'shut. That's why I thought of a cheap class 20, with cosmetic bogie sides on, but the old ones had a die cast chassis... Are the railroad ones in plastic yet? Any of the American sd 45 or sw1500 have little of their bodies that could be transplanted too and whichever strategy is used, it could be tiring and expensive...

I also do ransom notes better get back to work...

Lol, the 121 was/is a great idea. I built the cab, chassis, and main body yesterday evening but all the curved elements and strange angles double up the amount of styrene and chances of going off-plumb increase. None of the door panels or vents are done, kinda dreading that bit. It would make more sense to get it done as brass panels, with the curved joints made up by infilling with milliput and sanded down, but I don't think it would be feasible as a tutorial/group project. I'll post up the photos when it's finished, up on jacks or on the back of a low loader! Off the top of me head I can't really think of an alternative. R.

Superb Hunslet - you'll have poor heirflick in a tizzy! a wonderful scene ! richie

Thanks all for the feedback. Happy to provide a tutorial HA but it would have to be something other than the flats - the drawings are commercially protected However, you have the right idea, and i'm thinking about doing a tut on a 121?

Thanks lads. There's another batch to come this weekend. Kirley - correct - it's going in the post shortly! R.

Humbled lads, truly. RR - you inspire me, Bosko, wish I had your temprament, Bracken, wish I'd your hair.

Signal levers made out of staples