Mayner

The IRRS in Library nights in Drumcondra station takes me back!. Some members used to stay close/run to the emergency exit door (kept ajar) to see what was passing/take the loco number of passing trains, mainly Night Mails and Liners when I attended in the late 70s. Sulzers had largely gone, loose coupled goods and banking had largely ceased. Regularly attended MRSI club nights at their North Richmond St premises close to the Midland "Liffey Branch" from the early 70s the majority of trains departing the North Wall loose coupled and banked could be heard from the basement clubroom or waiting for the bus home close to either the Ballybough (23) or North Strand (54) overbridges! Usually preferred the 23 as there was a good view of the railway in the Island Bridge area from the top deck of the bus on the way to the club on spring/summer evenings, those were the days!

Back in the day (early 1980s) I hoped that the GSRPS would convert Qs Class 131 into a facimilie of a GSWR Coey 4-4-0, strangely 131 would have been closer to ex DSER 4-4-0 No 454 apparrently the actual loco was based on the GNR Q Class design. At the time the GSRPS really appeared to be making progress as a preservation society. Establishing a base at Mallow, the loan of 131 to the Society and the successful move of the loco to Mallow, acquiring and restoring carriages suitable for an Excursion Train operation.

Im in my late 60s and have distinct memories of B101s in the late 60s-early 70s usually waiting at Island Bridge Junction to work Kingsbridge-Northwall transfer goods trains, though my first sighting of a B101 was in the terminal section of Dunlaoire on a parcel train. The B101s were bascially considered a "Southern engine" with Waterford one of their strong hold working over the Cork-Rosslare Route, Waterford-Limerick and Dublin lines, though there is a photo of a B101 in Supertrain livery on a north bound goods at Gort on the Limerick-Sligo line. The Class appear to have been mainly used on Kingsbridge/Heuston-Northwall transfer freights and possibly Kingsbridge-Dunlaoire parcel/mail trains in their leater years. Although less powerful than an Ar the B101s would have had an advantage over the 121 Class and single Bo Bos in working loose coupled goods trains over the steeply graded Island Bridge Junction-North Wall line. I bought a Qkits B101 in my teens, but the body was quite badly warped and at the time hadn't gained the skill to assemble or motorise the loco.

Possibly old news, Royal Mail https://www.postoffice.co.uk/mail/international-services?country=usa and other European postal services have temporarily suspended the shipping of packages to the United States. https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/360801044/european-postal-services-suspend-shipment-packages-us-over-import-tariffs. Seems to be tied up with the ending of the $800"deminimmis" exemption.

Well weather was fine this afternoon with cold weather forecast during the next few days before the beginning of Metrological Spring, so decided to finish installing the trackbase on the "Pacific Extension" or tail track of the wye I removed several years ago. The Trackbase for plain track on the garden railway is best described as a T Girder in CCA treated timber supported on timber piles, while track in station yard areas are supported on what's best described as open framed or solid topped baseboards framed in 4X2 treated timber. While some repair/replacement of the track base has been required after 16 years, most should be good for another 10 or so years. The original intention back in 2017-8 was to extend the "Pacific Extension" as a branch line into further into the garden possibly to serve a mine or logging camp, but ended up as a temporary 'tail track" to a Wye for reversing/turningtrains with one end of the T girder supported on wooden packers before making a 'final decision" on the 'extension". In the end I decided to replace the temporary packing with a (timber) pile and reinstate the tail track to its original length. I usually use 4X2 treated framing timber used in decking and outdoor structure as the vertical element of the T and 4X4 treated again used for piling in decking & light outdoor structures. Top of the pile is notched to support the vertical element and pile is supported (clamped) a minimum of 100mm before the bottom of the foundation pad (on firm subsoil). Bagged quick set concrete (just pour in water) makes life a lot easier than hand mixing! The end of the existing wye originally installed 2018. Trackbase reinstated for some unknown reason I had two pieces of 6X2 that fitted without the need to cut, that once had been used for a trackbase with one end cut at a matching angle! The green is a wood preservative. Green off cut on the right is a Kauri (native hardwood) offcut from an old pergola of which I have some more in stock to replace some short(ish) sections of trackbase that have decayed during the past 17-18 years. Tailtrack reinstated to its original length. I snookered myself by planting an apple (supposedly plum) tree on the line of the original extension, only suitable place left in our garden for planting a fruit tree! First train to test the reinstated tailtrack, now long enough for a large loco plus 10 cars. I changed from using brass to aluminium rail for new work when I originally installed the tail track with some interesting reprecussions cropping up this year. Serious problems at rail joints as a result of the aluminium rail reacting with brass rail joints and in one case causing rail joiners to fail as they could no longer hold the rails in alignment This time round I lifted the affected track panels ran the rails through a railbender (rolls) and lubricated the new railjoiners with graphite paste (LGB). Despite this the re-laid joints on the curve still require attention the K27 2-8-2 loco tends to de-rail its leading driver on the curve when running forward, though no problems when propelling its train around the curve.

There was a piece in one of the IRRS Journals on the incident. A Killarney or Trelee bound goods was wrecked at the Mill, apparrently the points were set for the siding rather than the Main Line.

I There is an IRRS Journal Article (possibly early 1980s) on CIEs First Diesel Programme in 1945 which included a proposal for a "Luxury Tourist Train" and diesel locos. The original expectation appears to be that Bush and other potential suppliers would supply the Tourist Train and locos complete, but were unable to supply a complete tourist train or locos because of material shortages and the lack of workshop capacity as Britain was recovering from the War The Tourist Train and proposed single cabbed diesel loco may have been inspired by American rather the British practice as the first CIE Chairman and proponent of dieselisation A P Reynolds visited the States on a fact-finding mission on diesel traction during WW2 while in a similar role with DUTC. Interestingly CIE shifted to Sulzer engines in combination with Metrovickers Electrical equipment for the two Mixed Traffic locomotives and the six proposed twin engined Express Locos before being forced to cancel the dieselisation policy following a change of Government and Nationalisation of CIE

The main difference between the D Class and the contemporary LMS, GWR & SR diesel shunters seems to be that the Irish locos used a Mirrless engine and Brush electrical equipment (2 traction motors) unlike the British locos that mainly used English Electric engines and electrical equipment. Versions of the "standard" 2 motor LMS/BR diesel shunter were built by outside contractors with different engine-electrical equipment combinations but not apparrently a Mirrless-Brush combo.

It may be feasible to custom/home etch to your own designs, etchant and resist may be available through electronic hobby or component stores. Some hobby electronic suppliers produced home etching kits. Resist (thats used to protect the area to remain after etching) drawn on with a pen or an iron on film and etchant (usually ferric chloride) for etching. Stewart Hine published an article on the home etching of number plates and other custom etching in Model Railways magazine during the early 70s. Still relevant for home etching if the edition with the article can be located.

Decided to run freight this afternoon although heavy rail forecast The train consist was fairly typical of the as-required freights that ran out of Ridgeway on the Northern end of the Rio Grande Southern druing its final years, a pair of usully leased DRGW K27 Mudhen locos Stockcars for seasonal livestock (mainly sheep) movements, boxcars for ore (usually zinc) loading and the occasional tankcar. I have both volumes of Sunset of the Rio Grande Southern which includes a detailed account of train working in the roads final years with abstracts from Crew Call sheets which include the numbers of the actual locos used, train cosist (freight cars & traffic) and estimated time on the road usually 2-3 days for a return trip over the more heavily trafficed section of the road between Rico and Ridgeway including the Telluride branch. Anyways to my version of reality! Train set out from Ridgeway behind DRGW K27 No 463 & 464 cut in as mid train helper with a train made up of Stock Cars, Tank and Box Cars. Mid-train helper usually cut in behind laden Stock Cars marshalled behind loco at head of train. Possibly an early Spring move of stock to higher pasture, its early Spring here camellias beginning to flower, maybe should re-name the Jackson County the Camellia Line. Both locos use on board battery radio remote control using NiMh batteries with radio receivers power controller & sound system mounted in the tender. Everything appeared to be normal at this stage, not realising the train had lost a Stock Car since leaving the staging in the garage! Photo should give a clearer impression of the overall length of the train, the max that would fit in the camera frame at this distance, there are another two boxcars and a caboose out of frame in this photo! Keeping point loading down on the RGS many bridges & trestles probabably the main reason for the use of mid-train helpers with larger locos like the K27s. But there is also a series of photos from the early 40s of a train double headed with a smaller loco a 4-6-0 No 20 double heading with a K27. I am hoping at some stage this year to install cosmetic trestle bents to this raised section to resemble the famed RGS Ophir loop https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10231497641718482&set=gm.1114868626949908&idorvanity=297689325334513 It started raining as I took this photo, so time to back the train up the High Line (along the fence in the background) to the staging in the garage, trains approx 30' long at this stage. This spot called Arboles after the dwarf conifers we planted 15 or so years ago which are no longer dwarf! Arboles is the usual 'loading/unloading" place for livestock a remote spot not unlike some of the stock yards on the RGS & DRGW. I amde the mistake of using re-cycled ballast at Arboles, without thoroughly drying/roasting the ballast to kill off any organic material in the mix. In partial shade the moss takes over during Autumn-Winter months, currently dying off as a result of a combination of residual weedkiller and drying out as a result of slightly brighter/longer days. Like the story of an ore-hopper disappearing out of a Ballymena bound train on the Cushendall Line, I only discovered that I had lost a Stock Car on the outward bound trip by accident! The car was originally coupled to 464 at the rear of the 1st cut of Stock Cars at the front of the train as it left the staging, thankfully a bed of leaf mulch is very soft and no harm done, though will need to check coupler alignment when 464 or other locos cut in as mid train helper are departing the staging, there is a reverse curve on the approach/departure from the garage. The Ballymena incident re-counted by EM Patterson in the Ballymena Lines was of a laden ore train arriving in Ballymena with one less car than in the Guards Journal when it set out. It appears a milesman found the car the following day upside down in a field at a lower level beside the lineside. Being unfitted and having chopper couplers it was thought that the wagon left the rails (possible track or wagon defect) and overturned as the train was running down grade and the wagons on either side re-coupled.

What a dilemma Accurascale have three Irish locos/'powered units" at the tooling/production stage and Irish modellers are concerned that Accurascale may not release a rtr model of a C Class (the only remaining gap in the CIE mixed traffic diesel fleet) within the next 5 years. Interestingly Accurascales production of prestigious one off or small classes of express passenger locos restricted to particular routes like the Class 89, Hunslet and the GSR 800 Class idicate that modellers/collectors may be guided by emotion rather than practicality in buying locos and producing relatively rare prestigious locos may potentially be more profitable than the more hundrum examples, though Accurascale seem to be doing nicely producing large runs of locos like the Class 37 & 31 duplicate by other manufacturers, but may not apply to the much smaller Irish market. While I had already pre-ordered an ICR and was mighty tempted by a Hunslet (got that Wow factor when I first saw the new NIR Enterprise set at Amiens St about 56 years ago) I am in my late 60s & not getting any younger and decided to cut back on my collecting, passing go on a Hunslet and cancel the IRC. While I purged my collection of British Outline and American Outline On30 & HO about 15 years ago I still have to make a decision on the future of my collection of American N though could come in useful if/when we have to downsize to a smaller home or God fogive a "Retirement Village"

No 278 failed in service earlier this week requiring a visit to the shops for some urgentish repairs. First sign of trouble was the loco was unable to build up raise steam/build up pressure with (a lot) of water apparrently leaking into the cab, traced the source of the problem to the boiler filler valve wasn't seating properly resulting in water leaking out of the boiler when I lit up the loco (gasfired). Normally hand-tightened with a socket, the threads in the boiler filler hole had become worn and the filler (Goodall Valve) was no longer steam/water tight once the boiler began to warm up. Contact Accucraft in the States who revealed that 278 was at least 25 years old and suggested chasing out the existing threads by a 10x1mm tap, Accucraft manufacture in China (in their own factory) and use metric rather than imperial threads. Sourced a suitable tap in a local engineering/tool supplier so problem at the boiler filler solved. There were also some steam leaks around the seating of the banjo fittings that connect the sight glass and pressure gauge to the boiler. In close up a visible split in the fibre washer on one side, the washer on the other side although still steam tight disintegrated when I removed the banjo valve! Replaced the sight glass which had become obscurred with oil condensate after several years use. Its something of a challenge to avoid breaking the sight glass as everything has to be in alignment before tightening the banjo connection to the boiler. I used some fibre washers I had in stock for seating the banjo fittings to the boiler & hex nut above the sight gauge (I need to replace the washer with something smaller/neater, but works for test purposes. There are 3m sealing rings between the sight glass and brass fittings at top and bottom of glass. Drill was to fill the boiler to water level (approx 75% of gauge) check for leaks, then gradually raise steam checking for leaks, fittings are 7 & 8mm I use open end and ring spanners. Photo is after steam test and stationary test run on rollers. Tender is actually used to carry water, stops the gas tank freezing and can potentially be used to top up boiler if loco is fitted with a 'blow down valve". 279 can be topped up on the road while in steam using a 'Goodall Valve" & a water bottle. I use water collected from our household de-humidifiers as tap water would potentially be damaging to a loco boiler! Next locos to take 279 place are likely to be 4mm J15 started several years ago!

Came across a large number of Kiwirail curtainside containers finished with artwork of native New Zealand flora and fauna (fancy name plants and animals) in one of the local railyards yesterday. I saw a solid train of these containers passing through Hamilton following their arrival late in the Country last year, but hadn't seen any in regular service. I initially thought that the artworks was intended to deter graffiti, (the majority of Kiwirail wagons and containers tend to be heavily tagged) which appears to be correct https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/napier-kiwirails-new-containers-feature-native-new-zealand-art-to-combat-graffiti/W4OKQRUTSNBNZA73FBYIQNTRWY/ Will be interesting to see whether the local taggers can resist the temptation? The Herald article indicates that the new containers were funded by the State to replace "aged box wagons" i.e. bogie curtain sided and sliding door pallet vans once to transport export forestry products and inter-Island freight traffic. New ish containers possibly going into storage as a result of fall off in rail traffic as a result of a number of North Island paper, pulp and saw mill closures and the temporary? closure of railferry services between North and South Island.

The tooling for the coach sides was prepared for a production order which resulted in some toolings produce multiple sets of coach sides which unfortunately results in some anomolies in our pricing! (a) Buffet Car -------------------------1 Set of sides-----------$60NZ---------- approx £25.00 Buffet Galley side Buffet Bar side (b) 1339055 Series Side Corridor Third/Second/Standard-----------Standard fret produces sides for 2 coaches!------------------$72.55------------------approx £30.00 1904-8 Brake Second Overlay & set BSSGV sides -----------Standard fret produces sides for 2 coaches!------------------$72.55------------------approx £30.00 For some reason several years ago the etchers paired sides for these coaches on a single tooling! Note the BSSGV Roof and Door details are on a separate fret-----1 Set of sides-----------$60NZ---------- approx £25.00 The 1356-1371 Open Seconds/Standards, 1904-1908 Brake Seconds/Standards and 3201-3212BSSGV overlays were originally mamufactured as sets of sides for 3 coaches! Price for a fret with 3 sets of sides for identical coaches would work out at $85.00 nz------------------approx £35.00 Price for 1 or 2 sets of sides for identical coaches would work out at $72.55 nz------------------approx £30.00 All prices exclude shipping. Note Prices for the coach side are indicitive only and based on supplying from NZ rather than direct from our supplier in the UK. I expect to issue quotes to prospective customers for Van Kits and Coach Sides by the end of the Month to place an order with our engraver during September for delivery to customers Jan0Feb 2026.

Finally managed to find some time this week to almost finish the Tin Vans one or more of which started over 10 years ago, though still have to replace the glazing on one van and fit door handles to several! Silver Vans finished in Tamiya "Bare Metal Silver" aerosol, the Heating Van was assembled fro the 1st batch of kits released 10 or so years ago, the Luggage Van from the 2021 batch. Both vans are 21mm gauge, I haven't gotten round to fitting couplers to the Heating Van, I am thinking of replacing the Kadees on my 21mm stock with B&B couplers reliable delayed uncoupling and less obtrusive than Kadee. I was inspited to finish these two vans in silver by a series of FW Shuttleworth photo of the Night Mail being made up at Sligo in 57 the consist included a pair of almost brand new Bulleid Vans, a an ex-MGW Meat Van and a ex-MGW 6w TPO dating from the 1880s, a an ex-MGW 2-4-0 shunted the train but likely to have been worked to Mullingar by an A Class. d Consist of the Sligo Night Mail about 15 years later based on photos of Bulleid Vans supplied by David Malone, a UK based modeller who did some pioneering work to promote Irish Broad Gauge modelling in P4 during the 80s & 90s. David assembled a couple of my Vans with fully detailed interiors including a boiler in the heating van and parcels/luggage in the luggage sections. Luggage Van finished from the original test build of around 10 years ago decals supplied by Des or SSM Luggage Van in original condition. Luggage Van with 4 window panels on both side replaced by solid panels. Heating & Luggage Van with a 3 window panels replaced with solid panels. G617 had a spruce up after replacing worn decals before return to service. I masked the black paintwork and re-coated the white areas with a Tamiya "Pearl White" (gloss) aerosol, before finishing the loco body with a satin aerosol clear coat, unfortunately the orange on the SSM broken wheel logo does not show up too well aganst a black background! Having almost cleared my workbench I thought this was a good time to do some urgent repair work on a Large Scale loco before, resuming work on the next unfinished 4mm loco/s project.