josefstadt

More to do with the fact that the MkII a/b stock was air braked, while the ex-BR GSVs were vacuum braked.

Dave, the 6-wheel vans, 3153-3156 lasted until sometime after the end of November 1980. But, as JHB says, the 4-wheel vans would all have been gone by that time. I remember the MkII a/b stock on the Galway line and, as far as I can remember they had black window frames.

Definitely Cravens. The Mk2 air braked stock never ran with the vacuum braked ex-BR GSVS, only the converted Dutch Vans which were air braked.

Or, given its domestic arrangements, how about 'Sheffield Crucible'? I certainly agree with the others that it is a great layout and am looking forward to seeing its progress.

Congratulations Mark. Fair play to all concerned!

I'd agree that the icy conditions played a major part in this accident. The lorry certainly looks like it was skidding as it entered the crossing, possibly due to late braking if the driver was, as has been suggested earlier, inexperienced. It is, however, strange that the crossing was not equipped with the heavy metal barriers which rise out of the road surface to stop vehicles encroaching on to the railway, a feature found at most level crossings in Russia.

Certainly not at all boring Noel. I'm finding that your layout and your reports of the current work on it are providing a great incentive for me to get on and make a start on my own layout.

Fantastic looking layout. Love the way you've blended the scenery into the backscene. Keep the photos coming.

Certainly a beauty of a photo. So evocative of a long gone era.

Amazing!

Excellent pics as usual. In #18 it looks like N and M are paying homage to their drinks. And well they might! The return flight looks a bit lightly loaded.

For me, the pics of 230, 087 and 156 have disappeared.

Brilliant as usual Anthony.

Interesting piece and indeed excellent shots of liner trains in action. Notice though, nobody from Irish Rail interviewed - it was during the Dick Fearn 'Railcars good, Railfreight bad' era.

Or 'net nie blankes' ...

There's always 'The Fall' which takes over the 21:30 slot from next Sunday.

When the liner traffic was added to the Galway Night Mail trains the flat wagons used were air braked and these wagons were always at the rear of the train. The GSVs, TPOs and Parcel Vans used on these services were fitted with through air brake pipes to connect the locomotive's air brakes to those on the wagons. Thus when operating in this manner part of the train was vacuum braked and the remainder was air braked. The modified GSVs, TPOs and Parcel Vans received the suffix T.L.A. [Train Line Air (piped)] as shown in Glenderg's photo of 2979 above. The photo also shows the air pipe running along the solebar of the TPO.

A very enjoyable day out was had, notwithstanding the failure of 8113 in Connolly. 8113 did put in an appearance in Connolly, shunting the train into Platform 1 at approximately 08:50. After 8113 was failed at Connolly, ‘Enterprise’ liveried loco 233 worked the train to Midleton and back from Cork to Connolly. The train is seen here arriving in Midleton just after a heavy shower. Once all passengers and RPSI crew had disembarked, the train drew forward into the engineer’s siding to allow the following scheduled service (14:15 ex-Cork) arrive into Platform 2. 217 was rostered to work the train back to Cork and arrived into Midleton having crossed the 14:45 Midleton-Cork railcar service in Carrigtwohill. 233 followed the train light engine from Midleton to Cork where it is seen emerging from the tunnel as it backed down onto the train in preparation for the run back to Dublin. After a spirited run up the main line the train is seen after arrival at Connolly station. As craven1508 says the beer was great as were the sausage sambos! Well done to all.

The question of creating flangeways when using plaster to represent concrete infill between the rails was discussed on the New Railway Modellers site some time back. Although that discussion related mainly to level crossings the solution proposed would work equally well for any area of hard standing: 'If you want to create a level crossing with plaster, you need something to create the clearance slots. I'd find some string which is a snug fit into the gap between the check rail and the stock rail on a set of points. Cut lengths an inch or so longer than the width of the road, one for each rail. Coat them in something sticky. Pulling them across the top of a Pritt stick might do. Then press them against the inside faces of the rails. Once you've laid the plaster and let it set hard, pull up the string and clear out the slots alongside the rail. You may need a bit of sandpaper and card to ease the slots if they prove too tight for some of your stock. Look out for six wheel locos and long wheel base wagons.'

The GS&WR operated 'sleeping cars' on the Cork-Dublin Night Mail trains for a short period during late 1879 / early 1880. Accommodation on a 'sofa berth' was available at a supplementary fee of 2/6d (16 cent). Between 1908 and around the end of World War 1, the GNR(I) provided couchette accommodation on the Night Mails between Dublin and Belfast/Derry and on the Derry-Dublin service. In this case the cost was 5/- (31 cent) irrespective of the distance travelled.

Worth waiting for! Well done Sulzer, lovely work on the layout.

Nope. Still coming up as 'Private'.

Yes, they do alternate years. So next year's show will be hosted by the SDMRC and will be on the Southside - recent shows have been in the Booterstown area. Then it will be back to the Northside with the MRSI and so on.

I presume that these are pre-production models, but the bar area on the catering car doesn't seem to have been correctly modelled. There should be a wall separating the bar area from the seating area, with an entrance from the narrow corridor. Also the bar counter and the serving area behind it do not seem to have been modelled.

For the whole period you are modelling you will need lots of Cravens. '67 to '72 they were the 'Top Link' stock. From '72 onwards they were progressivly displaced by the MkIIs and then the MkIIIs, but they would still have been seen on the main line. You will also need the Bredins, Park Royals and Laminates for this period.