Patrick Davey

Unlikely, unfortunately, but I had previously mentioned a Ballymena & Larne Railway starter set so it's good to see someone else has the same idea.......

Latest developments at the mill: 4 mm hardboard has been acquired and largely cut to size to start forming the backscene The front of the scenic area has been painted black to tidy it up The layout name is taking shape, there will be strip lighting behind this Unusually I have a largely free weekend so hoping to make more progress.

They'll probably be 'A Bandon'-ed....... Another taxi please........

BCDR 442 tank!

Ssssssseriously impressive!!!!!! I know of a certain layout in Downpatrick where this model would fit in rather nicely......

Very interesting discussion everybody thanks for your input, my gut feeling is still that it won’t be a J15 for my reason stated above but I could be wrong of course……. regarding the 440 issue I would expect that if somebody can make them work it would be IRM

No argument there, as that would apply to everything IRM produces. But I can’t see them standing on the toes of a relatively small manufacturer, as this might discourage them from producing further Irish models. Taking on the big boys with a much better Deltic and class 37 is one thing but I couldn’t see IRM trying to outdo OO Works.

BosKonay said so! Maybe it’ll be a tank engine. I heard a rumour that the tender is out……. ”Taxi……”

Not too insane to think of a Mogul as a possibility, to tie in with the RPSI new build.........

Yes I know many of us HATE speculation discussion and consider it a pointless waste of time but BosKonay has confirmed in the OO Works J15 thread that there will be a steam offering from IRM next year so am sorry but I can't resist a bit of musing...... So an IRM steam loco would need to have as wide an appeal as possible, timescale-wise and geographically, so I'm suggesting that it will most likely be an RPSI loco, maybe NCC No. 4 or GNR No. 171 - the latter might tie in nicely with ongoing efforts to complete the loco's restoration although if the model was announced next year then it might not appear until well into 2024 by which time I imagine the RPSI would hope to have 171 operational again. 131 might also be an option - the current livery scheme is very attractive I think. A model of an RPSI loco would hopefully make good commercial sense and in typical IRM/Accurascale style, it might appear in a range of livery options, covering everything from original company service right through to preservation. I don't think a J15 is an option, not after the OO Works models.

Great name that!

Yikes pricey.... but if it was a BCDR one I'd pay it....

Thanks Alan, appreciated!

I visited the site of Dungannon station yesterday, hardly worth photographing anymore. What a loss.

Love how the choice of window blind in the room was made to almost match the window arches in the main goods building!

Superb - great to see an update!

Two video clips comparing the performance of the OO Works U Class negotiating a Peco Y turnout, before and after weight was added to the tender. For consistency, the controller was set to '40' for each movement. BEFORE: Before.mov Not great, but oddly better when running tender first. AFTER: After.mov Seems better to me but I can't run it with all those coppers on it. Am also afraid to open the tender although obviously this will have to be done. Any suggestions folks? Cheers!

Now you are giving me more soundtrack ideas.........

Very helpful thanks John! I am a firm believer in small details making a big difference

I don't think it is, I think it just picks up from the driving wheels rather than the driving wheels plus the pony truck, and sends the current back through the tender wheels. Yip track is cleaned before every running session.

I had been looking forward to making this video but I was disappointed in the performance of the U class locomotive (OO Works). Despite being a thing of beauty, it wasn't running smoothly at all but I guess I have been spoilt by the effortless running of the recent IRM diesels. So I had to cheat a bit and slow some of the video clips down in order to get the desired effect, as the loco just wouldn't negotiate the (Peco) turnouts at anything other than a gallop. But here's the video anyway! 422535897_TheGNRYearsatBrookhallMill.mp4

Masterclass.

Another short video showing a CIÉ train shunting at Brookhall Mill. The procedure was that a mainline goods train from the south would stop at Lisburn, where the vans for Brookhall would be taken off the train and along with the brake van, brought up the Antrim branch and into the mill. The locomotive would then return to Lisburn and bring the rest of the train on to Grosvenor Road Goods Yard in Belfast. The reverse procedure would apply for the return journey. 1988755542_CITrainatBrookhallMill.mp4

Very impressive!