RedRich

The wealth of historical and accurate information available to modellers these days is as important a facet of the hobby as anything else. You can't have a model if there was no prototypical evidence for it. You can of course kitbash or design and build your own models, but if you have no photographic evidence then your project is dead in the water. This post has been a great eye opener for me and the amount of evidence that has been provided is hugely appreciated and very interesting. Well done to all that have contributed.. Now that the OP has the correct information he can accurately portray his model of 086 by removing the broken wheel logos and applying some IR decals. Rich,

I have an AT AT from Hasbro myself Fran. I got it in 2011. I have a small troop of about 14 Snow Troopers 3 AT AT drivers and General Veers in it. Conor has an attack on Hoth with an AT ST and some figures. He also has a Defence of Hoth set also from TESB with a turret, some fire power, some rebel soldiers and K3PO. I love the original triology myself, and I can just about stomach the last part of Revenge of the Sith when Anakin turns. I was watching Jonathon Ross a few weeks ago when Warick Davies was on it. I don't fancy the idea of Disney making a seventh movie. I have the Blu Ray collection with all six movies plus extras and the remastered movies look great. I can understand Lucas changing the Han Solo Jabba the Hut meeting in A New Hope. Some of the other changes like R2 flying I can't take. Lucas had originally considered a CGI Yoda to replace the Frank Oz puppet in TESB and TROTJ, thankfully he didn't. Anyway back to topic it's looking good Fran. I think you should go with the brass wire hand rails and grab irons. I removed the hand rails from my 141-181's and left them sit in some warm water for a half hour adding some more warm water every few minutes. I used a hold and fold to clamp them in a straight position over night to cool down. They look great now and there's no bending or curving in them. I got some Detail Associates EMD lift rings for the 071 models as I feel the rings on the models are over scale. They look far more in scale. Trying to find time to do anything though is the hard bit. Rich,

I was lucky to have traveled the line in a loco with my Gran Uncle when I was young. Taking the New Ross line at Abbey Junction, going under the Road Bridge, passing Glenmore. It was a lovely line, I do hope they save it in some way, it would be a shame not to. Last but not least excellent photos River Suir and thanks for sharing them. I think I will do it myself time permitting. Rich,

That's coming along nicely Fran. Kato seem to have a fantastic after sales and spares catalog. A few more Manufactures doing the same would be nice. Slightly moving away from the theme of your thread. I notice in the pics that you are also a Star Wars fan. My youngest lad loves it, naturally I encourage him to get as much Star Wars products as he can, being a fan myself. Rich,

Excellent find Eamonn. The in laws live in Cheekpoint and I really miss the traffic on the Barrow Bridge, especially the Beet season. I believe that the central span of the Red Iron bridge is in Africa now. As Seamus has said it's interesting to see the ship travel at that speed through the Barrow Bridge. The view from the in laws looks directly at the opening span so it is hard from that viewing point to gauge the speed. Rich,

I agree with Fran and Richie. A classic example of the difference between resin and brass models is the LMS twins 10000 class (brass models) released some years ago and the Silver Fox versions in resin. D&M have produced amazing brass models of the Rail Cars and Enterprise rolling stock, imagine how they would look in resin. Even the recent LMS twins from Dapol look miles ahead of the resin versions. D&M have proved themselves extremely capable of producing a cracking kit or rtr model of an A, C class to the standard of their other models. Rich,

It is definitely a 47' 6 bogie wagon that the container runs on as has been pointed out. It would be impossible to run it on a 42' flat as there would be no room for the Hose Stowage and other boxes at the ends of the wagons. It looks a great model by the way Tom. Good luck with it. Rich,

I think we'll have to make you the chief corespondent for IRM Eamonn. Superb photos, you even caught Dave with a half smile. Rich,

I thought so Des, they look fantastic as does the complete finish on the model from Seamus's works, top work all round. Rich,

Should be a good one Eamonn. My brother went to see them some years ago and Simple Minds were also on the bill. I remember Jim Kerr saying he and Charlie Burchill felt like men out of time when they heard Oasis, at least Simple Minds and OMD are still making records and playing live. Rich,

Without a doubt Fran, especially when you look at the standards of the latest Steam and Diesel models. If you want to start to rebuild an economy you need to get people back to work, but if rebuilding an economy from inside means higher labour costs and eventually higher retail prices you shoot yourself in the foot. I couldn't see the US based companies bringing manufacturing back home if it meant costs sky rocketed. Even with the market being small for Irish Railway models I would hate to imagine the costs if they were produced here or in the EU. It is a case of swallow hard and hope for the best. I wonder are Phoenix and Rail Match produced in the UK. Rich,

Fran Dave Jones from Dapol was saying that if you don't have a presence on the factory floor in China mistakes do creep in before you can do anything about it. Paddy Murphy did say himself that the Chinese know lot's about model trains but nothing about real trains. Rich,

I preferred Ultra myself Eamonn. It's No Good and Home are great song's. I was watching some of OMD's performance at the Henley Festival the other night, they played Electricity, Souvenir, and Enola Gay. They sounded good. Rich,

DM have remained relevant and proof of that is how many new songs they play every night on tour. I do have a soft spot for Black Celebration myself, Stripped is a classic, the live version on 101 is epic. Blasphemous Rumours is also a favorite of mine. Rich,

Stephen I think that most modellers would want MM coaches to compliment the EGV and Restaurant. Although you would need seven for the full rake. Maybe if they released two different running number Standards you could buy the required amount and renumber them. Personally I would prefer to see Super Standards and Composites released in the IE livery. Rich,

I agree, DM had a purple patch with Music for the Masses, 101, Violator, Songs of Faith and Devotion. I think the change in direction that the group began to take after the Devotional tour led Alan Wilder to quite the band. Never let me down again is always a high point during their shows. Enjoy the silence is still my favorite music video. Rich,

the set of Galway coaches originally consisted of, 5601 EGV 5411 Restaurant 5209 Standard 5213 Standard 5216 Standard 5225 Standard 5232 Standard 5233 Standard 5235 Standard The set ran like this for a while, but as you say it was broken up over time and IE liveried Standards would appear with Galways. The Galways also included a refurbished interior. There were no Super Standards or Composites converted for the set. The Lima MK11's are actually shorter than the MM ones as Lima made them the same lenght as MK11A's in their range which as with the prototype were shorter. I'm led to believe that the Galway EGV on show in Nuremberg had an orange roof, but with MM's track record recently for correcting livery details before full production I'm sure this will be corrected. Rich,

He was on Later with Jools Holland last year, what a unique guitar player. I was catching up on Game of Thrones over the last few weeks before the new series, he looked every part the executioner. One of Canvey Islands greatest. Rich,

John there is definitely a different shade of orange (or as you say browny tan color) on 088 when compared to 086 in the link of the photo to Model Shop Belfast with the latest released models in post 784. Rich,

A completely under rated guitar player Fran. I saw him in Cork years ago what a band, musically very tight. It was one of those gigs where everyone danced, all it was missing was Bootsy Collins. Rich,

Thanks for that Minister. I've been to Inchicore on a few occasions and I have never seen it. I was too distracted by locos and coaches. Rich,

It is a bit strange looking as you say Iarnrod. In the end they are a fantastic model and it can be corrected. Personally I think the panels on the models that have them are a little well nourished looking, but it isn't a deal breaker. Rich,

That's a great photo Eamonn. I don't recall ever seeing one of those wagons in a Bauxite livery, only Grey or a very heavily weathered condition. Rich,

John it seems to offer a lot of consistency across the batch, and you should feel very pleased with the results. Rich,

You're welcome, it does give the model a nice bit of character. Rich,