josefstadt

Congratulations Stephen!

Could you take the caps lock off please. Using all upper case in a message is the equivalent of SHOUTING!

Stunning work Anthony.

Reminds me of the story of an American who thought that Bombay was part of a B-52 and not a city in India!

If it was the catering tent, then it would be horses, horses, horse, Horses and Horse or Horse and horses + horses!!

Its straight out of the 'A prototype for anything' department.

The railways of Viet Nam would also make an interesting subject. The either currently use, or in the recent past used, diesel locomotives built by manufacturers in Viet Nam, USSR, Australia, USA, China, Romania, Czechoslovakia, India, Belgium and Germany. Steam locomotives, longer in use on the state system (DSVN), were built in France and have a distinctly French appearance. Steam locos were numbered using the French system - e.g. a 2-8-0 was classified as a 140, while a 4-6-2 would have been a 231 class. I’m not sure where the coaching and freight stock in use was built, but a lot of it has a Chinese look about it. One aspect of the main line from Ha Noi to Ho Chi Minh City (Sai Gon) - generally referred to as HCMC - which would be of interest to modellers is the track layout at Nha Trang, a beach resort city about 400 km north of HCMC. The station here is in the city centre, about 1.5 - 2 km east of the alignment of the main line. Approaching from either direction (i.e. southwards from Ha Noi or northwards from HCMC) the two tracks run parallel without a physical connection eastwards to the station, in a layout reminiscent to the former set up between Lavistown and Kilkenny. Approaching the station there is a scissors crossover, after which a busy road is crossed on a level crossing and shortly later trains enter the station itself. Between the level crossing and the platforms in the station, another running line can be seen diverging to the right-hand side. This is the end of a tight loop which takes the main line between the backs of houses and industrial units and allows trains continue on their way without having to run around in what would otherwise be a dead-end station. In the centre of the loop there are freight sidings and engineering workshops. It would seem that all passenger trains (possibly except the couple which terminate here) use the loop in a clockwise direction. I can’t say if freight trains use the loop as they might run around or change locos here during the time they are serving the yard. Unfortunately, when planning a recent trip to Viet Nam I didn’t know of the interesting layout in Nha Trang so didn’t put in a stop there.

Though pity the guy who spends the entire session in a different room staring at computer screens and talking to the operators on a two-way radio.

You are right about the re-signalling John. The switch over from the traditional ETS system to CTC on the South Eastern took place in April 2008. The IRRS Journal for October 2008 (No. 167) has an article on the subject. The IRRS has a large collection of Working Timetables and Wekly circulars which covers the period you want Dave. Call dow on a Tuesday evening 19:30 - 21:45 and have a dig through what they have.

Then the bar car would have to be named 'Fr Jack'

Shows just how meaningless the logo is when they have to put the company name on the vehicles as well. Also, why did they need to put the logo twice on each side of 4003? Surely one larger logo centrally placed would have looked better (ignoring the crappy design of the logo).

Great pics Noel. Pity we can't see the same with both locos working!

Thanks Kirley.

Wonderfully evocative layout!

Willkommen Sie auf der Seite! Ausgezeichnete Layout. Herzlichen Glückwunsch (Welcome to the site! Excellent layout. Congratulations).

New Australian soap about the racing industry: 'Neighburgers'

Great work Kirley, looks the biz. What's that with K801 in the background?

Went into my local fast food joint and ordered a burger. The server asked what I'd like on it. I said 'A fiver each way' !!! I hear that a certain lasagne product is just racing off the shelves.

Thanks for the plan BosKonay. It is a superb looking set up. Congratulations!

Superb layout and great progress BosKonay. Any chance of a current track plan with a rough idea od dimensions, please?

November 2009 saw unusually heavy rain over a prolonged period, with the ground in many places becoming saturated. At the time of the Wicklow incident, the Arklow-Gorey section was also closed (14 to 27 November) due to a small landslip and concerns about the stability of an embankment just north of Inch. Also, during this period, the DART, Sligo, Ennis, Galway, Westport and Cork lines were closed or severely disrupted by flooding for varying lengths of time.

Yes please Mike. Post plenty of pics please!!

Indeed, as Snapper says, it was the 16 November 2009 derailment in the cutting just south of Wicklow station. 29026, working the 04:10 Connolly-Arklow empty train, ran into a landslide, resulting in the closure of the Wicklow-Arklow section until 22 November. Fortunately the driver was unhurt.

Great work as usual Noel. Can't wait to see the 101 at work on the layout.