Mayner

I am not sure about the situation in the UK but its become increasingly difficult to source resin casting supplies in this part of the World, my two main suppliers ceased trading during the past 20 or so years. Years ago I cast wagon sides and ends using similar methods based on a Model Railway Constructor article published during the 1970s (4mm LSWR layout), more recently (15) or so years ago I produced a batch of one piece narroow gauge open wagon bodies usingv a 2 part plug mould cast from a brass master, also used Shapeways prints as masters for resin castings. The wagon body (with interior planking) was intended to fold up from a single sheet of etch brass, with separate strapping and end post detail. The Shapeways print was used as a master for the resin fuel tanks used with my initial (2014?) run of CIE 4w Heating Vans, tanks on the two more recent releases of the kit were 3D printed from my original 3D CAD (3D Model) Personally at this stage I find that it take a similar amount of time to perpare a master/scratchbuild a model using traditional methods as it does to design a model for 3D printing. One of the advantages is that I find that I can modify an existing model with quite minimal effort on the computer screen. Ending up with 3 variations to the CIE 20T Goods Brake , 2 variations to of the GSWR/GSR/CIE 10T covered wagon and potentially Great Northern, GSWR, Midland variations to the "Standard" IRCH open wagon by quite minor changes to the CAD work chages to buffer shank & w iron design.

We had run into a period of settled sunny weather towards the end of last week, so decided to run some trains yesterday mainly to test the re-powered #464 while clearing our gardens of fallen leaves. I covered the saga of #464s recent failure & fitting of replacement batteries in a recent post on Large Scale workbench thread https://irishrailwaymodeller.com/topic/16156-large-1203-scale-workbench/page/2/#comments, so time to put #464 to work with a freight made up to 8 cars and caboose, maximum that will fit in loops. Unfortunately more lively that before #464s batteries were not fully charged and had to return to the shops for 3hrs to fully charge her batteries after which it was dark and all trains put away for the night! As sort of compensation C19 348 (actually a smaller C16) (fully charged) gave a good account of herself working a stock train over the road, working 4 cars and caboose over the High Line above her usual limit of 3+ caboose on account of good (Summer) rail conditions. #464s crew placed the cars in the yard and placed the caboose on the departure road a fairly common arrangement, before running back light/off scene for charging. Posed RGS #20 on the table so she supposedly could work the return freight. #20 started life as a cheap Bachmann Big Hauler 4-6-0 bought on e-Bay about 16 years ago from a discount store in the States, later modified to resemble #20 at this stage anon runner waiting a battery & ECS (electronic speed controller/heart) transplant. Once one of the mainstays of the road seen little use since the arrival of the much larger K27 2-8-2 locos in 2017 & 2020. RGS Motor #6 on p.w. duties with the last of the railroads stock of yellow cedar ties, recovered from the 'main line" about 10 or so years ago. Cedar ties had been milled specially about 17 years ago for use on some hand laid switches and plain track. The Jackson County initially used AMS (Accucraft) narrow gauge flexible track on the main line when laid 17 or so years ago and "Sunset Valley" switches, AMS narrow gauge switches were unavailable at the time. To complete the road 3 switches and some plain track was laid on cedar ties specially milled to match the AMS narrow (American 3' gauge) ties, Sunset Valley used a shorter smaller section tie probabably closer in scale to Meter gauge /G scale track. Although cedar ties & a lot of AMS ties in main line use had been replaced by AMS about 15 years ago on long swicth in the yard remained on cedar ties which have literally rotted away despite being supposodely a durable decay resistant timber. It planned to replace with 3D printed ties soonish! Most of the main line was re-laid with Sunset Valley ties after the original AMS ties began to break down with UV light about 15 years ago. Some replacement Sunset Valley ties are beginning to show signs of 'bleching out" but no sign of breakdown or railfixing failure. Yep a garden railway probabably needs as much maintenance and replacement as the full size. Ironically treated pine timber has fared better than cedar. The freight house and loco shed are clad with trellis rail (ripped down on a bandsaw) glued to treated timber or ply substrate. Loco shed is stored under cover at the moment but Freight House lives outside all year, roof is a piece of galvanised steel recovered from a real estate agents sign

Had bought a replacement set of batteries to re-instate RGS #20 which had been out of service for several years (https://www.steamlocomotive.info/largeimage.cfm?which=265) Once one of the mainstays if the line loco had been out of service for several years (once her old batteries wore out) & #463 had arrived to take over the lions share of the work. A modified Bachmann Big-Haulier 4-6-0 loco had been re-built with shortened smokebox, new more correct funnel, new plasticard cab, tender body modified & fitted with airtank to resemble the prototype, converted to battery RC and more recently fitted with vinyl custom decals, but hadn't run in several years. Turned out that the ESC "electronic speed controller" in the Radio Control set up had developed a fault since the loco was taken out of service and no direct replacement available. Manufacturers/suppliers of battery/RC systems for model railways is pretty much a cottage industry the original system fitted to #20 was supplied by RCS (Remote Control Systems) about 10 years ago, the owner Tony Walsingham had since passed away, Deltang a UK supplier of compitable systems had ceased trading and Micron a current UK supplier did not expect to have a suitable ESC in stock for another month or so. So #20 is now in storage waiting parts. A more urgent immnent need arose when #464 failed in service last week with a weak battery and needed to be restored to service urgently. So fitted #20 batteries to #464 to ensure the railroad had one heavy freight loco & a back up. #464s electronic system! The loco is a Bachmann K27 2-8-2 released in 2007, at the time 'no 'large scale" DCC interface existed so Bachmann developed a circuit board intended to interface with DCC & RC systems. RCS developed a 'plug & play' adaptor to interface with the Bachmann board and a separate ESC and RC servo modules. As far as I recall the ESC plugs into the Bachmann board with separate screw terminals to the RC receiver and a sound board. More recent combined ESCs and RC receivers are a similar size to a OO/HO DCC decoder chip!. Two 7.2V car batteries are mounted on the tender floor below the circuit boards, the heavy duty wiring and connectors on the right connect interface the batteries with the control system! The K27 also fitted with a speaker! The wiring/control system of the Bachmann K27 was overcomplicated much of the wiring loom on the right is redundant, could be replaced by 4 wire if an when the existing wiring system fails. Small circuit board on tender floor at left is Phoenix sound system. Anyway replacement batteries fitted! secured with double sided tape to foam strip at floor level, with capton tape across side and top of batteries. RC receiver fixed in position at top of tender, boards powered up receeiving RC signal and loco in forward gear (green LED illuminated) Headlamp had come adrift from platform so clamped in place while glue setting! Out on trial successful trial run before dusk Fitted a headbrakeman's Doghouse to #464s tender although loco does not appear to have been fitted with a Doghouse while running on the RGS I bought one as a spare part from Bachmann several years ago & add a point of interest to the loco. Apparrently fitted to some loco to accommodate the 'headbrakeman' as a result of a government requirement because of insufficient space in the cab for the full 'headend crew", the enclosures were fitted with steam heating, otherwise a man could quickly freeze to death during winter on high mountain passes crossed by the Rio Grande.

This time some work on the dry goods store a typical concrete and corrugated Irish industrial building of the early mid-20th Century. Although I had a collection suitable(ish Wills Material sheets, I decided to use 3D printing. Building is based on photos of a similar store at the disused Ranks Clara mill over 30 years ago! Building had corrugated iron (steel) cladding above concrete walls served by a siding & driveway. There are separate corrugated canopies over the doorways and individual concrete loading platforms The model was designed using Fusion 360 most challenging part was drawing the corrugated profile of the cladding! Basically traced from a roofing manufacturers drawing of the profile used in the re-roof of our house last year The model is a background building in semi low relief againts the backscene Design wise the concrete and corrugated elements were drawn separately then combined. The overall length of the building is longer than the printer 'build plate" so is designed as two separate 3D models with a halved vertical joint. I have run some successful test prints of the corrugated profile printed vertically, with an approximate 9h print time (overnight) for each full height section. Figuring out how to print the curved roof was the challenging bit, as the terminology/userinterface used by Fusion (Autodesk) is different to a brand of 3D modelling software I had formerly used. I'll add a downstand rib to the inner edge of the roof to minimise deflection and need to add a gutter at the eaves/edge of the roof! I'll probabably print the corrugated roofing separately in a number of sections on its side to minimise the layering effect, minimise the build time and risk of collapse of a relatively thin section. The building/roof is over 300mm in length! I am trialing a (cheap) waterbased Chinese resin for the build, print quality has been good, but some of the settings on the data sheet do not make sense and slicing software is showing signs of confusion possibly age or incorrect info on the dat sheet A bit easier to edit that add a new post. Test print corrugated profile for upper storey. My resin printer seems to have bedded-in/settled down since I first bought it about 4 years ago, previously wagon prints were basically unusuable heavily marked with poor surface finish. Next stage is to print a section of roofing & including gutter

Spent a fair amount of time exploring the lines in the North and North West, including Settle & Carlisle, Ravenglass, Alston & even Warcop while working and living in London & the Home Counties between 30-40 years ago. For much of the time I had the benefit of a company car and no questions asked about milage or petrol use. A fan of David Jenkinson I checked out the route from Blea Moor Tunnel to Dent & Garsdale & his fictious branch to Kendal and the Coal Road over the moors from Garsdale Road (Dent Station) to Grasdale. Happy times!

I guess that I have gradually shifted from traditional (kit/scratchbuilding to digital modelling methods over the last 20 or so years as my eye sight got weaker and my hands less steady. First using 2D CAD to prepare artwork for my own etching parts rather than traditional drafting/scribing and cutting out parts with piercing saw/snips/craft knife and more recently 3D modelling to produce resin printed wagons. The shift to 3D printing certainly increased my own productivity compared to traditional methods adding 40 (complete) wagons of my own design to my personal collection during the past 4 years, compared with approx 10 kit built wagons during the past 20 or so years. We subscribed to Onshape & Fusion 360 (Autocad) 3D Modelling software for our commerical work producing successful models with either software. Onshape offer a freeplan for non-commercial use resulting designs become open source to platform users, a free version of Fusion 360 (with limited features) is available for personal use in some countries excluding NZ (I use a pay as you go subscription rather than an annual sub. TinkerCad (Autocad) is a free entry level 3D modelling software (Some of Rob S examples have been produced with TinkerCad). Currently I am beginning to use Fusion 360 to produce models of buildings, including typical Irish early-mid 20th Century corrugated iron/asbestos and mass concrete industrial buildings, I have enough wagons for now and probabably stick to etched brass for pre-amalgamation coaches. To buy or not to buy a printer? I only bought a resin printer after the bureau that successfully printed the test prints of several of our wagons refused to carry out further 'small scale model" prints because it wass not worth while because of the high reject rate and post print clean up cost (special effect and industrial work more profitable. At the end of the day I struggled to achieve an acceptable print quality with our printer (except fantasy animals/creatures for our kid) a Photon Mono. Eventually out sourcing our printing to bureau in China one of which (Facfox) consistently produce consistent high quality prints at a fraction of the price including shipping (to NZor UK) of using a local bureau/printer. I am finally after a lot of experimentation beginning to achieve an acceptable level of print quality with my resin (Anycubic Photon Mono X) printer, but planning to try the "makerspace" at the local Public Library to trial FDM printing of replacement sleepers/track base for my large scale garden railway & possibly buildings. A number of local engineering/manufacturing business that offer CNC milling also offer 3D printing services. Personally I think trialling some simple 3D models on TinkerCad to first get a feel for the modelling process, then some test prints at the library trialling different processes and possibly prints a local or Chinese bureau, before leaying out several $ hundred on a 3D printer. Starting commercially I had the advantage of using a professional designer who worked in the print shop that successfully printed out initial models and a print shop owner who from day 1 told me that he was reluctant to print small scale models. Gauge O and the larger scales tend to be more forgiving than 4mm and the smaller scales, FDM layer lines may be reminesent of wood grane and surface imperfections as millscale on steel

A Missouri Pacific Railroad director/senior manager put it succently in Beeb & Cleggs "Mixed Train Daily" that fast freight and mail had priority over passenger services because they were more profitable than passenger services when a MoPac crack streamliner was side tracked (on several occasions) to allow the freight/mail to run through non-stop. Traditionally 1st Class passengers, Season Ticket , Mails andGoods traffic paid the shareholders their dividends, Parliamentary/3rd later 2nd-Standard Class passengers were just a nuscience. In this part of the World long-distance trains are strictly for Tourists, everyone else can, drive, fly or take the bus. Mail has ceased to exist replaced by Courier/Logistics companies.

Interestingly the GSWR diagram shows No91 with the correct style of splashers. Cambridge Dictionary definition of diagram: a simple plan that represents a machine, system, or idea, etc., often drawn to explain how it works: Never scale from a drawing golden rule during a working life in construction and engineering Extract from GSR Locomotive Drawing Register issued IRN Sep-2014 Drawing 91 Inchacore Class J29 Ironically the Drawing more correctly GSWR & GSR diagrams Drawing 90 Inchacore Class J30 notes that there were several detail differences between 90/99/100 and notes that the only drawings available depict No90 while the actual diagrams appear to depict 99-100 with their curved topped tanks and extended splashers. 90-92 appear to have been built as 0-6-4T combined loco and carriages, 99-100 0-6-0 as tank locos for the Fermoy-Mitchellstown. 90 & 91 rebuilt as 0-6-0 following removal of carriage protion. It looks like the water may have been originally carried in a well? tank under the rear of the loco/carriage portion. Interestingly not a lot of difference in water capacity between 0-6-4T 370gal, 0-6-0T 430 gal and 0-6-0ST 410 gal versions, possibly 91 & 99 beccame a source of spares yo keep 92 (1945) 90, 100 (1959) going.

The Fell centre-rail system was used on a number of lines in New Zealand the most famous application on the Rimutaka Incline opened in 1871 remained steam worked until replaced by a tunnel in 1955. https://www.rimutaka-incline-railway.org.nz/history/fell-centre-rail-system. The Incline with its 1:15 gradient was on the then main line from the capital Wellington to the interior, from the late 1880s trains were worked by multiple Fell locos spaced through the train. The Fell system was used into the 1960s for braking on two steeply graded coal branches in the South Island.

Description of "Rowlands Mix"by Dave Rowland. https://www.wis.co.uk/andy/16mm/rowlandsmix.html author of Bradford Barton Tralee & Dingle book, full of excellent photos and drawings of locos and stock https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Tralee-Dingle-Railway-Rowlands-David-Bradford/32380000274/bd

Unfortunately weed/plant growth on ground level lines are almost impossible to control unless the track is laid on a stone or concrete base, its almost impossible to controll grass/weed growth in top soil. Ideally grould level lines like the Sheehaun should be laid on a bed of fine stone min 75mm thick topped with crusher fines (stone dust) or a bed/ slab of concrete (min 50mm thick). One alternative that might work for the Sheehaun would be to use a sand/cement/peat mix as a track base/ballast instead of a concrete slab, this was popular method among UK garden reailway modellers during the 1980s, the peat/cement mix was more flexible than ordinary concrete/sand & cement and peat retaining mositure apparrently caught that typical BnM 'green track' effect. There was a "Model Railways" magazine article in the early 80s about running live steam in the garden (Greater London) and some track repairs to the peat/cement mix track/base/ballast.

Six 358-363 converted to articulated coaches 1932 apparently used to handle Dublin Eucharistic Congress traffic in No as June 1932 before transfer to Waterford & Tramore. No as 358 (3rd)+359 (1st/3rd/Brake), 360 (1st/3rd)+362 (3rd), 361 (1st)+363 (1st). Interestingly only one set fitted with a brake & a lot of 1st Class accommodation (Tramore race winners/gambling fraternity)

Actually classed as a Goods Brake Van apparrenlly for general use. The H C Casserly photo was described in the IRRS paper as "11 ton brake van No50 built 1892, shown in rebuilt state with 'glasshouse: at Broadstone 1932 A raised guards lookout(s) and drovers compartment/(s) were almost a standard feature of MGW Brake Vans until a 'conventional' van with balconies at each end and no duckets were introduced during the early 1920s Interestingly a pair of 6w 20T Brake Vans with guards compartments (with raised lookout) at each end and two passengers compartments were introduced in 1912. There is a photo of these vans in a decrepit condition in one of the collections in the IRRS Flickr Site. P. O'Cuimin Feb 1970 IRRS paper Wagon Stock of the MGWR includes details of MGW Brake Vans. Brake Vans listed "Generally brown" 1874 type mid-green as running circa 1923-4 Scratch built model of 1874 Brake (1stStandard Type) Brake Vans, plasticard/stripwood approx 30 years ago. My model of the 1874 van is based on a 1931 LGRP photo of No29 in MGW livery still with wooden brake blocks. The HC Casserley photo of No 50 appears to be a re-built verison of a new type of van introduced 1892 for use on the "new Western Lines. O/Cuimin indicated that the van as built was quite different to the 1932 photograph, origonally the 2 passenger/drovers compartments were located at each end with the guards/luggage compartment in the middle, no balcony but retaining a birdcage look out, 56-61 introduced 1904 were listed with differning compartments and 'this design" used for 'renewal" (replacement) of 1874 vans with same leading dimensions as in the 1892 Class. I suspect that these older 'caboose' style vans were withdrawn/taken out of use as more 'conventional" steel underframe Midland, GSWR/GS vans became available during the late 20s-early 30s. In his 'Enginemans Son" IRRS paper PJ Currivan wrote about playing 'cowboys & indians" in the long line of caboose brake vans stored in a siding in Athlone during early GSR days, his father was a former GSWR driver transferred to the Athlone Midland shed following the amalgamation and wrote about his adventures growing up on the railway. PJs two Engine Mans Son papers are a great read. Basically looking at short 14' mainly GSW Cattle Wagons or 14' Convertibles for modelling the GSR/pre-Amalgamation period the longer KN Cattle Wagons only seem to have appeared in CIE days. The Midland mainly relied on Convertibles to handle the bulkof its cattle traffic with covered cattle wagons relatively rare and camera shy 430 Covered, 1613 Convertible still in service 1924

It goes without saying that someone would first have to acquire/purchase the re-production rights before starting production. I would expect that Grange and Hodder would require Allen's permission to use his tooling/artwork for another customer. In my experience in as a manufacturer, demand for Irish outline etched kits and scratchbuilders parts is quite limited. In general there has been sufficient demand to produce a single run of a loco/coach kit or coach side overlays, (10-12), in general once an item sells out there is insufficient demand to produce a repeat run of 10-12 items. All sales are pre-orders. Pete McParlin had a similar experience with disappointing sales when he introduced an extensive range of Backwoods Miniatures 4mm Irish 3' gauge locos and stock during the 1990s and later shifted to British and American outline locos and stock. Peter told me that he only sold one Clogher Valley 0-4-2T locomotive. In recent years I have found it worthwhile to supply etched parts direct from the etchers to individual customers (mainly in the UK) the company I use has no minimum order quantity and charges a flat rate per sheet regardless of quantity.

Progress continues on 181 & 229, most tedious job was opening up the holes in the brake gear frets with an 0.55 drill held in a mini-pin chuck. It was necessary to shim the collet with paper and constantly re-tighten to stop the drill slipping! All holes bored out to size one set loco/tender brake gear 50% second loco. Anyway 36 holes opened out in the loco brake hangers alone, helped keep the mind diverted. The hangers are basically a beefed up version of the hangers used in the origonal TMD J15 kit over 40 years ago. Brake gear as fitted to 124 6-7 years ago I am one of those people who enjoy assembling chassis & brake gear Some cosmetic stuff. Plumbed up the leading splashers "Coey 15" 229 which were not quite plumb, got to sort out the RH buffer shank while I am at it, also re-set the chimney and fitted the lamp irons. one of those niggling details. A bit more work on 229s tender, fitted the coal plate/tank top and added tool boxes I had in stock from the origonal loco kits, replaced axleboxes from my own #D prints I'll probabably add a 3D printed tank filler. Some more work on 181s tender added sandboxes I had cast in brass from 3D master for use with the 52 Class kit and added whitemetal toolboxes. I'll probabably replace the toolboxes with 3D printed or brass toolboxes used with the 52 Class. I have to add axleboxes and spring castings supplied with the origonal kits.

Well into autumn now most of the neighbourhood and railway covered in fallen leaves after completing a major clearing operation on the weekend. yes we have seasons in this part of the World. Railway under there somewhere. We collect fallen leaves for mulch and weed control in beds around the railway. RGS Works Goose #6 managed to navigate her way round most of the railway, but tended to de-rail her leading truck. Some how or other leaves/debris opened one side of the bonnet We cleared the deck and railway by lunchtime but covered in leaves by mid-afternoon, but probabably another couple of weeks left at this stage before end of leaf-fall and beginning of winter & time to bring out the live steam loco.

Provided groups/ individuals come to an agreement to take over Worsley Works items, the simplest & cheapest way to resume production would be to continue using Grange & Hodder to carry out the etching as they are likely to control the photo tooling used to carry out the actual etching. It only becomes necessary to access the "artwork" if there is a problem with the existing tool or intend to use a different etching company. Basically the "artwork" is prepared by the person that designed the original model, 'phototool" prepared by the etching company. Etching companies have a 'set up' or tooling cost for producing a phototool for a particular model and a separate production cost for each sheet etched. Not sure about Grange and Hodder but some etching companies charge a flat rate for each sheet etched & do one off/small orders. It seems a pity that no Irish Model Clubs or Historical Groups appear to have come forward to safeguard WorsleyWorks Irish Broad gauge items which appear particularly significant to modellers of Ulster's railways with Worsley Works collection of sctratchbuilders parts for GN, NCC/UTA locos and coaching stock and distinctive railcars.

Interesting article identifies that the fall off in traffic/declining profitability arose as a slump/drop off in trade, but blames the railway directors for "making no serious effort to avert disaster" (fall in value of railway shares/drop in dividends.). Even during the 1920s the railway sharges would have been seen a good long term investment among the wealthier classes. At the time a grandfather was a GSR driver and my mother spoke about the impact of the General Strike on the family, my grandfather remained at work, but my grandparents with young children struggled to source coal to keep the house heated and posssibly other essential supplies.

Second hand tanks possibly ESSO 1950s mk1 tanks stored in the "Railway Village" outside Inchacore Works during the early-mid 1970s. The tanks complete with raised oval plate for ESSO logo were stored in a fenced area (wooden posts/mesh wire app 8' high) between the railway cottages on the lefthand side of the roadway to the "Works". Tanks were removed and area later cleared/possibly re-developed for housing. Attended the IRRS 'annual visit' to the Works during 70s/80s

Sheds, garages, outbuildings are pretty much the norm for railway rooms in this part of the world, pretty ok once you have reasonable insulation, dehumidifer and heating on thermostate, solar panels ans storage heaters? Probabably best to build something simple to start with or even a temporary oval around the cabin to get something running. I set up a temporary N gauge oval/folded under the purlins in our 17'X8' loft to 'get something running' when I returned to Ireland during the late 90s, before setting up a layout on proper baseboards, at the time I was modelling American N and was experimenting with maximum workable train langths before starting a layout. I am from the keep it simple school of thought a large oval of Large Scale track with 3-4 yards loops around our garden for the past 17 years, operate every couple of weeks, before that relatively frequent moves of home location. O Gauge/scale might be worth considering as an option with your available space, back in the 70s David Jenkinson a prominent British modeller started work on a large 4mm (EM gauge) layout "Little Long Drag" almost an American sytle walk around layout based on British main line practice with several stations (Settle-Carlisle mountainous northern section of Midland line to Scotland) https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/139701-railway-modeller-1973-little-long-drag/ Interestingly David abandoned the project after completing tracklaying and getting the layout to an operating state and turned his focus to modelling a simpler O gauge layout a fictious double track branch line in the same space. One advantage in starting out in OO, O gauge or American outline HO is the sheer amount of reasonably priced high quality rtr models currently available compared with 10-20 years ago, while the amount of Irish outline models produced is limited compared with British or American outline a high proportions of locos and stock that operated during the late 70s-late 90s was produced in rtr form by MM or IRM/Accurascale during the past 20 or so years

Contacted Alan the other day to order for some CIE Laminates and C&L Narrow Gauge items. Alan apologised that he 'had not got any" and is retiring and closing down.

Designing the 3D model is the simple part there is quite a learning process involved in converting a model into a physcial object, printer resolution and choice of resin are significant factors. Resolution. Typically 1mm is considered the minimum thickness/girth for a resin printed object & our designer tested/pushed these constraints to the limit in models like the 20T Brake and GSR Grain and found that it was necessary to increase the thickness of components such as axleguards, brake linkages to achieve adequate strength/print reliability Print quality/acceptable level of detail is related to printer resolution, although our initial supplier produced excellent prints we began to experience quality problems after we shifted production to a supplier who used a machine that printed to a higher resolution. Our designer formed strapping/raised detail as a skin on planked wagon bodies, no problem with our initial locally printed models, but planked groves running through strapping/raised detail after we shifted production. Solution depth of strapping deeper than grove, rather than modelled as a surface feature or skin. Resins and print set-up (slicing software). Many of the commonly available resins are too brittle for use in 4mm stock. My preference is for an engineering resin with resilient or good tensile properties. (I currently use Australian Monocure resins (non-hazardous (flamable/explosive)) Solvent based resins with IPA clean up, basically "intrinsically safe" electrical gear and ventalitation system, and odors. I use a "Anycubic" Printer with the origonal slicing software although no longer supported and 'auto support' application no longer functions. Selecting resin and print setting is basically a process of experimentation, ideally small simple projects different resins and printer settings. 4mm Axleguards and small detail parts 45º set up & print settings in accordance with manufacturers recommendations, parts orientated to minimise warping/twisting as a result of experimentation, Monocure 'Tensile?" resin approx 20 repeats. Large Scale 1:20.3 handbrake wheels and loco number box. settings as above. Draining resin out of 3D printed part. Not really a problem I experienced, with desktop printers parts are printed upside down and at an angle, otherwise form drain holes in 3D model before printing. Printing small/detail parts. I have printed parts including buffers brake linkages wagon underframe on over 200 wagons. Door handles/grab rails not really feasible. It might be worth checking with the local library service/evening classes on 3D printing.

In 4mm Irish outline demand/interest has been primarily RTR with little interest (sales of) kits or scratch-building components. Our best selling 3D printed wagon RTR CIE Goods brake sold approx 100 units in 5 variations/batches of approx 20. Others types of RTR wagon varied 10-30, little or no interest in 3D models in kit form. Etched kits tended to sell 10-20 units, though MGW Horsebox & Meat Van less than 10. Different skill sets & types of software designing 3D models and 2D drafting (etched/laser cutting etc). 3D printing whether your own printer or a bureau, min quantity is one model, while etching involves a tooling or set up cost (min size sheet approx A4) plus a cost per sheet. Another issue is achieving an acceptable standard of finish with a 3D print in 2mm, its challening enough to achieve an acceptable finish with a resin print in 4mm, while some processes only come into their own in 7mm and larger scales.

Read through the thread and in some cases seemed like groundhog day or re-discovering things/problems I wrote about nine or so years ago, each day is a brand new adventure. Anyway this mornings 'lightbulb' moment was my planning to number the supeheated J15 191, I built a model of 191 a saturated J15 based on a colour photo in Irish Railways in Colour a second glance" over 30 years ago. Looked up the 'bible" Locomotiver of the GSR and sure enough she is listed as a saturated loco. Turned out I was using a photo of 181 a superheated engine from Irish Railways "Transports of Delight" website. Anyway almost finished soldering the main components and some detail work on 181 & 229 (apart from brake gear) before cleaning up the models for final detailing and painting stage. Almost but not quite there todays progress with 181 & 229 Mainframe assembly complete 191, lamp irons fitted front end both locos. Classical TMD J15 front end, shallow mainframes, guardirons/cosmetic front frames intergral with loco body (mainframes end more or less flush with smokebox front hiden behind cosmetic frames/guardirons. 3/4 front view saturated J15, open area between bufferbeam and cylinder block/smokebox front! J15 as rebuilt with new heavier frames and superheated boiler 1930s, some superheated J15 notabably 101 retained their original frames!. Frames & guardirons on this model are based on photos I took of 186 during a short visit to Ireland from Scotland in 1994. Not the most noticeable feature, I have infilled the area between the bufferbeam and smokebox and modeled the franes projecting above the running board in this area. Buffers (Markits?) just temporarily fitted after opening out holes in buffer beams with needle files/broach, but foul on tender brake hangers so possibly substitute with Alan Gibson Thankfully I located enough crankpin bushes to complete 181 and have sufficient detail parts in stock to complete both locos.

While its feasible (with a suitable choice of resin & printer) to print a wagon with separate body, chassis and roof its often simpler, quicker and cheaper to produce a wagon as a single print. The JM Design range of wagons were printed in full size 'bottom up" printers using specialist engineering resins in print houses in New Zealand, Singapore & China. In the end our Chinese print house proved the only one capable of consistently delivering consistent high quality prints at a reasonable cost. Interestingly packaging (card box & foam insert) was a significant cost factor, also wheelsets, couplings, decals & paint (all quantities). Being located in New Zealand business was registered for GST (local equivalent of Vat) in order to claim back GST/VAT paid on expenses plus annual Accountancy Fees for business accounts, soo selling kits or model trains is an expensive business with hidden costs. Enda @Past-Avenue produces a modified version of my Grain Wagon under license as it was not feasible to reliably print the original verison on his printer. In the end I discontinued producing 3D printed wagons, with relatively low level of demand for Irish outline kits/batch built RTR items it was not worth the effort financially