irishthump

Brian, Have you got a list of traders for this Sunday's fair?

To be honest I doubt if you will get great smooth slow running from those Hornby Deltic chassis'. I recently cobbled together a chassis from spare ho parts. It uses an Athearn frame, Atlas bogies and a Walthers Proto motor and is a very smooth runner. Here's a link to the workbench thread - http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/77-Graham-s-Workbench?p=74181&viewfull=1#post74181

Well one thing's for sure, I won't sleep a bleedin' wink tonight.... Clowns are scary!

What makes me laugh is you never know it's a "Golden Age" of ANYTHING until after it has finished!

From the sounds of it I'd say it was recorded from lineside. You can hear it in the second half of this video... The rate at which the sound plays automatically adjusts to the speed of the loco.

Stunning, as always!

That sounds great. Is this the newer 645 non turbo that was recently uploaded to ESU website? Installing the cube speaker is simple enough. Just remove the installed cradle and you can fix the speaker to the back of the cab bulkhead.

Yes, but once again you forget the huge number of modellers who don't have the necessary skill, time or inclination to build their own models from kits or from scratch. These people will happily pay for RTR models and will accept any detail discrepancies, minor or major. You point out that 30 years ago they made what wasn't available. I would argue that the improvement of RTR model has probably sustained interest in the hobby, making it accessibly to many people who would otherwise not attempt railway modelling due to a lack of modelling skill.

Thanks for clearing that up, Noel! Would you be able to post a video of 161sa showing the startup/shutdown sequence and all the other sounds? I'm very interested in hearing how this decoder sounds.

Noel, I emailed DC kits a while back about any plans for Irish sounds and they pretty much said that they would be selling a suitable decoder for a 141 but that they wouldn't be recording any original soundfiles for it. So my guess is they are using the generic soundfiles from the ESU website. Not sure about Tara Junction Noel's video, it sounds like Mr Soundguy's decoder to me.

Well done to all involved in getting this up and running. Hope it goes well and I look forward to seeing the models "in the flesh"!

Thanks, David. I really want to get the painting started before the cold weather sets in, so the pressure's on!

Been very busy lately but finally got around to doing some more work on the Silverfox A class. Added the brass parts from Weshty's excellent detailing kit and wire lift rings on the roof. I also drilled out all the light fittings as I intend to use LEDs and I cut off the moulded horn on the roof and added a separate part. I didn't attach the windscreen wipers, I might wait until the glazing is in. All I need to do now is add some handrails before priming.

Lovely work, Patrick. Can I ask you, I noticed you're sticking with the tension-lock couplers on your stock. Being from the other side of the pond I thought you would have converted them to Kadees. Any particular reason you haven't?

Just promise you'll post some videos when all is said and done.....

Oh that's sweet!

Wonderful work, Dave! What's the story with the joysticks?

Some sad news from the Model Railroader Facebook page: "With a heavy heart, I’m sad to report that Andy Sperandeo, who has been a part of our lives at Model Railroader magazine for more than 30 years, has died. As some of you know, Andy had been fighting cancer and other ailments, and the combination finally caught up with him earlier today. Andy started work at Model Railroader in 1979, becoming editor in 1993. In time he became executive editor and upon retirement a few years ago became a contributing editor. Readers today are most familiar with Andy through his monthly The Operators column. Information on services or memorials remains pending at this time. Neil Besougloff editor" Any of you who regularly read Model Railroader will be familiar with Andy's regular contributions to the magazine. A sad loss.

A useful feature. The Loksound and Zimo decoder so have the same function, but personally I find the running a bit jerky without any acc/dec delay. The Loksound has a function which halves the dec value, I find this is good for simulating light engine movements.

And there's the €100 waiver!

I second that motion!

If you want to go down the route of programming your own sounds you shoulf look at the ESU Lokprogrammer. I got one myself last year and now programme all of my own decoders. Engine sounds which are accurate for Irish locos are free to download from the ESU website and you can mix and match sounds as you like.

Same price here from Modelbahn Lippe but they do free shipping on items over €100 so it might be a better deal. http://www.modellbahnshop-lippe.com/produkt/ESU/29-7-0-48212-003003-0-0-0-0-0-0-grp-gb-p-0/ein_produkt.html/

A little more work done... As the body was too high on the chassis I filed the off the mounting lugs to allow shell to sit lower. I glued some styrene strip to the frame to allow it to rest at the correct height. I also needed a way to fix the shell to the chassis. I drilled 2 holes in the metal chassis on opposite sides. Then glued styrene pieces to the sides of the shell and tapped them to take screws. They seem to be holding fine, but if they wear out too quickly I can replace them with brass brackets later.

Just saw the weed spray train head southbound through Salthill and Monkstown station. Didn't even get a chance for a picture!