RedRich

From my own experience with the baby GM's and I say this because they are manufactured at the same factory as the 071's, a cocktail stick and some T-Cut, white spirit on a cotton bud (q tip), a curved scalpel blade and gently scrape towards the printed number, be careful though as you won't want to eat into the paint finish and cause scratches. I have tried them all, and had good results. The curved blade takes time and a steady hand as I have said. The white spirit will leave a glossy effect after the numbers have been removed and this ideal for when you apply your new decals.. The T-Cut and cocktail stick takes time and patience but you get there in the end. One bit of advice I will say is to use Microsol on the area where the decal is to be applied, and brush on some Microset after the decal has dried, it will help remove the carrier film from the decal. Make sure that you use some kitchen towel to remove any water from beneath the decal or you could get air being trapped beneath it. You can then give the finished model a touch of varnish to seal the decal in. If you have an old model have a go and see what suits you, just be careful and you will be fine. With the arrival of DCC and DCC sound it seems as though the renumbering of models has taken a back seat in how we change our models from out of the box items, but it does give the model it's own uniqueness. Have a go and let us know how you get on. Best of luck, Rich,

Tom I have seen a few pics of 086 in Inchicore around 06 and she looks to have been recently painted. To be honest the Babies and the 121's have always been my favourite locos. I can vaguely remember the 3 classes in the Black and Tan livery. I am acquiring a renewed love of the 071's due to the models. It must have something to do with the novelty of having all these fantastic models. The more I look at 077 the more I love it. Rich,

Cheers Tom, my own searching is proving that you are correct. I am planing on getting another 2 071's in the IE livery. I think I will invest in an extra 077 and renumber them to 084-087. I will drop 085 from the list. Rich,

Great find Richie. This is very interesting as it shows the Bell containers with blue and white roofs. I love the buildings also. Rich,

I am currently sorting through my photo collection. I am hoping someone would know roughly when 085 was overhauled and received the Freight Livery. Photos in my collection show her in the IE Orange Livery in 2005. I can't find any of her in that livery any later. A lot of my collection is on the desk top and it suffered a disk boot failure a while back. I am hoping some can be saved and uploaded to an external hard drive. TIA Rich,

That would do the job nicely Stephen. If the weather is poor outside it will be cosy on the inside. Rich,

That's a great collection and a great find Tom. I have great memories of it. How many folk on here were even born then. I love the shots of the WLR line. which is one I have travelled on many times. All that freight is breaking my heart. I got a bit stumped with this one for a few seconds as it is a mirror image of a ship docked at the North Quay's. Rich,

Gotta say that I love 112. I wasn't ever fully taken by the freight livery on the prototype but I love it on the models. Rich,

Very nice shots lads's and 10 out of 10 for finding them. I can't remember ever seeing the wagon in Dave's pics. Did it actually ever run in service like that. Some other nice pieces of locos and wagons in the background also. Rich,

Stephen, I have been trying to locate some of my photos of Craigmore Viaduct for you. I have a new laptop and I am trying to upload as much of my collection as I can. I will have to see if the pictures on the desk top can be salvaged and put onto an external hard drive. Anyway I got these from the web. The bridge is going to be a focal point on the layout, and as much as there will be huge interest in operating the terminus section of the layout, I can see some evenings being spent watching an Enterprise or Freight service crossing the viaduct. We almost always view the real railway from platform, or ground level, and with our models we tend to view them from above. You could build some landscape at track level that would become a valley beneath the viaduct. Don't build anything behind the viaduct. get a back scene of the sky, or if you fancy yourself as a Constable paint a nice sky. That way there will be nothing behind the trains to distract you when you are viewing it. It will be an epic piece of work when it is built and I think it is always best to use photos of a real location and see it in person if you can. I have used photos of other layouts way back, but it's always going to be someone elses work. There is an opportunity to create something really beautiful here. I hope there will be invites to see it when trains are moving. Talk soon Rich,

The old Hornby MK111's are completely fictious as has been said. They are missing one complete seating bay. The underframe cabinets are wrong, and the bogies are woeful. The newer Hornby MK111's are scale lenght and based on HST coaches, they are flush glazed also. The Lima coaches have their advantages and disadvantages. Non flush glazing, poor bogies, they do however capture the overall shape of the coaches better than the Hornby equivalent. Jouef are also scale lenght and based on loco hauled MK111's and are also a bit of a mixed bag. Southern Pride Models produce flush glazing and fantastic bogie sides in white metal for Lima coaches and they are really good as an upgrade for the coaches. Shawplan also produce flush glazing and excellent etched window frames for MK111's. Whatever road you choose to go down, good luck and keep us posted. Rich,

Some people can have a personal attachment to a certain loco for a number of reasons. 220 was the first of the class that I saw up close and I had a good walk around it. I also had a cab pass and travelled to Heuston in her. The driver let her stretch her legs in the Curragh and it is a completely different experience having a view from inside the cab then it is to sitting in a coach. I'll never forget it and that's why I have a fondness for her. Rich,

Me too Tom. It was always my favourite prototype loco from the class, I just love that livery on the models also. I think young Vincent would echo our sentiments. Rich,

Out in that glorious weather Tom and then that beauty comes along, lucky boy. Rich,

My own personal taste would be non sound. I did toy with the idea of sound in one model for a bit of play value, but then I thought about what is was I wanted to create myself in a model. My own memories of watching the prototype will always be the sound of the loco when it passed, I could tell what it was with my eyes closed. But my abiding memory is of the wheels of wagons and coaches on rail and that sound when the wheels crossed over the rail joints. The noise of the rail joints becomes nullified if you model CWR. I have seen some layouts in 00 gauge where the builder has cut joints every 17th sleeper into meter lengths of track and when I hear that sound in a model it sounds real, and that's the kind of sound I like to hear. I did hear a sound model with that noise on the decoder but you could still hear it when the loco had disappeared off scene and it just didn't feel or sound right. I have spoken to exhibitors in the past that have had their layouts back to back at a show with one that has sound fitted locos, and the operators said the noise drove them nuts after a while. Having said that I have always enjoyed Gerry Byrnes Ballybeg layout at exhibitions as it is still nice to hear a baby or A Class, even if it is a model. Rich,

Agree FraN, the 4VEP is a disaster compared to the Bachmann 4CEP. The class 31 chassis from the first batch are crumbling. Some people have had problems with the 67. The class 60 and 08 were and still are at the top of the pile. However I do think that Bachmann are leading the way, followed by Dapol. Rich,

You are spot on they do have plug doors but they are different to ours. Even the windows in the doors are different. I'd run a mile too, if I saw the state the MK111's are in now. Rich,

The Dapol MK111's are a finer model when compared to the Farish ones which look a bit dated now. I remember that there was talk of one of the manufacturers producing a 442 class unit some time ago. The inner coaches would have been ideal for a repaint in Irish colours. They have the electronic doors like our own. Never came to fruition though. Rich,

Believe it or not Des I spoke to George about four years ago about the Rolling Mills. The 10 inch roller was the biggest one he had. I was after something 12 inches that could be used for rolling roofs and sides on MK1 coaches, Bredins, etc. At the time George wasn't interseted in producing anything bigger than the 10 inch roller. I contacted http://www.metalsmith.co.uk as they had a 12 inch roller. At the time they said they were working on improving the roller and it wasn't for sale. They never have updated their website and I don't think they are even producing the bending bars anymore. I made a set of bending bars myself ages ago that could be held in a bench vice. I heated them up and dunked them in some oil to blacken them. They turned out smashing. I'd say they could be somewhere in my fathers house, finding them will be another thing. I did find a supplier for rolling mills a few years back. I will post a link when I find it. Go for the riveting machine Des. I saw a chap using one some years ago at Scaleforum. It's a beauty and it gives much better results than Archer rivet decals. I'd say that the workshop at casa Sullivan is a real Aladins cave Des. Rich,

Beautiful work John. I have no doubt that these models will be a huge success. I know the amount of work that has gone into them, because I was working on a couple of similar projects a few years ago. The rolling mill is an absolute necessity for rolling boilers. I think rolling roofs, etched sides or coach sides designed for a kit or replacement for a rtr coach are better being done on a rolling mill for greater accuracy. I can't wait to see more progress. Rich,

God know's where they are now Vincent. There is a small bit of footage on one of the Markle production's. It was an impressive place. The next time I am in my Fathers house I will have a dig around. Rich,

I haven't been in Abbey Park for a long time Tom. The last time I was over that way I was playing a match in the Clover Centre. There's a huge difference in the area now compared to 10 years ago. It used to be a lovely walk from that neck of the wood's. Pass the Bus Garage and the old container terminal. The flour mill's and Sion Row. Then the Station. If that didn't stir you interests nothing would. I have vague memories of the old Station building and it was a sin to pull it down and replace it with the eyesore that is Plunkett today. Could you imagine what the whole area would look like now if the backside hadn't fallen out of the building trade, and the recession. I remember a model of the proposed development was in the tax office reception for a few months in the early 2000's. Rich,

I agree Richie. Maybe uncle Des could produce a transfer set for her including the patches that replace the cab front IE logos. You could then let the weathering materials loose. If there is a deal there is a Weshty, that's the man's motto, and he always delivers. Rich,

True Vincent. The North Quays part of the docks in Waterford and the old Bell container terminal were very impressive also. However it would make the model very era specific. Eugene Nolans model of Plunkett and Waterford West is a magnificent layout and even some of the Suir is modelled also. Rich,

That's a very enjoyable piece of history Tom. Thanks for posting. Rich,