Patrick Davey

Here she is, with thanks to Ernie:

Railtec do this series of transfers for GNR(I) diesel railcars so I think if I take the 714 and put the 7 to the end I could be sorted for UG 147! Hoping the GNR lettering is correct.....

I took the bull by the horns and painted out the UTA lining on my OO Works UG, making it more GNR-like and suitable for Clogherhead. I still have to deal with the buffer beam number and add some weathering but overall it has come out very well. I will also be re-numbering the locomotive so some research needed there.

Looking great John - love the views inside the train shed!

Cheers David - I had been thinking that recently so it may happen!

My two OO works steam locos are settling in very well to their new home - it's amazing to see them glide effortlessly over the ancient Peco double slip at the station throat and the U in particular just looks 'right' when sitting at the platform: The UG looks pretty much at home with a short goods train: Although it will definitely need to get re-liveried into GNR black. When I repainted the three former Brookhall Mill linen vans into standard GNR grey I decided to give them a bit of weathering too. This came out a lot darker than expected but it'll have to do! I've also weathered my Provincial Wagons brake van as it was looking far too pristine behind these vans so it has been toned down a good bit too:

Now that Brookhall Mill has found a fabulous new home, the process of chipping my DC locos for running on Clogherhead can start and my two OO Works locos have now been chipped, and also fitted with ‘stay alive’ capacitors for extra running smoothness. The blue U class was not a great runner in the past but thanks to the great work of Alan Nixon who serviced and cleaned the loco as well as adding the chip and capacitor, she’s running much more smoothly than before. The black UG, although strictly inappropriate for this layout in her current late-UTA livery, was always a solid runner and is even more so now. Although I think I will definitely change her to an all-black livery which will be more appropriate for this layout. Many thanks to Alan @Tullygrainey

A friend of mine was awarded a third level qualification in Airline Studies. It was a BA.

Take it Easy(jet)

Taxi(way) for Alan!

Sure it'll give us a lift.

The puns are taking off now!

Hope the sciatica eases soon Tony

Fair play folks.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c784732yy5yo Not an actual link though, going by the 'artist impression' - looks like they are planning to move Sydenham station closer to the airport and make it easier for people to access the terminal from the newly-located station. Although that would certainly be an improvement!

This is superb - one of the best models on the forum this year!

Once the linen traffic from Brookhall Mill started to decline during the 1950s, the cash-strapped GNR board repurposed some of the former cream-liveried linen vans into general use, giving them the more familiar grey livery. Here are three former BHM linen vans, freshly repainted, at Clogherhead in 1957, along with an also newly-repainted open wagon. The urgency to get the vehicles into traffic was such that it would be a number of months before they would receive their white lettering.

Thanks to @Mol_PMB for spotting the latest update to the IRRS Flickr treasure trove - 355 superb photos from the lens of Gerald Beesley, a mix of B&W and colour, centred on Dublin with a nice selection from Belfast too (Great Victoria Street & Queen's Quay included.) Some cracking colour views of A class locos following their 1968-71 engine upgrade: black & tan heaven! This has been said many times but it's worth repeating: the price of the IRRS membership is worth it alone for access to the Flickr archive, over TWENTY EIGHT THOUSAND images from railways throughout the island of Ireland, very few if any have been published, and many many very rare and obscure locations featured. Very highly recommended! Very many thanks to the team at the IRRS for the huge effort involved in digitising and uploading these invaluable photographs. What a resource!

Just getting better and better!

He has well and truly retired Alan, now living in rural seclusion at Blackstaff in Co. Louth, with the two cats, Merlin & Peregrine!

Yes indeed David - that's the plan!

I am pleased to report that Brookhall Mill has a new owner, who will take great care of it and may well return it to the exhibition circuit. And with it, goes my final fling with DC - plenty of chips needed now so I can run everything on Clogherhead.

So much so, they asked for an udder sermon.

Mighty Kevin! Great to see you back at the buildings again. I love how you never shy away from a challenging prototype!

Lovely shots Ernie. The Athlone cabin almost looks Great Northern!