Mayner

Keeps taking me back to when I last worked in Dublin around 2002 our offices were at the corner of Grand Canal Street & Harmony Row. The staff canteen was on the 2nd floor overlooking the line between the Boston Yard and Pearse Station, explored the area around the Pearse Station and the Dock during lunch time. Amazingly our relatively new 1990s? brick clad office building which was in keeping with the existing street scape appears to have been demolished and replaced with a more modern open plan office block with curtain wall cladding. Interesting times 201s and MK3 Push Pull stock replaced the 2700 railcars on Northern Outer suburban services were stored during off peak periods on the running loops between Pearse and Grand Canal Dock, the occasional single 141 working Connolly-Rosslare passenger services if an 071 was not available. On weekends the Platin-Cork Bulk cement train regularly ran to the Boston to run round as the North Wall freight yards were normally closed Saturday afternoons and Sundays. Happy Times!

The Laminates & the Tin Vans were of modular pre-fabricated construction that could be assembled quicker and required less skill compared to the timber framed coaches built by CIE between 1951 &55. The introduction of the Park Royals & Laminates allowed CIE to speed up its carriage building construction during the mid-late 50s introducing a greater number of coaches more quickly that could be achieved with traditional carriage building techniques and the available pool of labour. Ironically Inchacore returned to traditional timber frame carriage construction in the early 1960s for the final batch of coaches designed and built by CIE shortly before the introduction of the Craven Coaches. Apparently it was intended to re-body the Laminates after 15-20 years (use due to the limited design life of the composite aluminium insulation body panels) but the concept of re-bodying the coaches became obsolete with the introduction of the stress skinned MK2 coaches from the 1960s onwards. Interestingly some Laminate coaches were re-skinned with new sides and windows in the early 80s presumably as a stop gap measure to keep sufficient coaches in services until enough MK3 were in services to allow Cravens & Park Royals to be cascaded to suburban and secondary services. I was quite surprised to see several Laminate coaches stripped down to underframes, ends and roof during a visit to Inchacore in the early-mid 80s, the coaches looked distinctly odd with the sides and interior removed and roof supported by the ends and underframe.

The owner of Markits has been in contact to advise that he is currently manufacturing axles for OO & EM and would be prepared to manufacture axles to suit the Irish Broad Gauge. This brings up few questions in considering if the idea is worth pursuing 1. Track & Wheel Standards. 21mm to OO standards or a reduce the gauge to 20.2 as advocated by Martyn Wynne or even 20mm to allow the wheel sets fit without having to within having to widen the body on the majority of Irish inside cylindered steam locos or move out the cylinders and outside valve gear on more modern locomotives Reducing the gauge to 20.2mm or possibly 20mm and adapting OO gauge standards would also allow increased sideplay (slop) between wheels and chassis. This would remove one of the major barriers to Irish Broad gauge modelling fitting a continuous run layout into the average Irish bedroom or garden shed. 2. Demand. Is there sufficient demand for a Markits "Irish OO" gauge axle to commission an order of 500-1000 driving axles? 3. Take up of broad gauge modelling. Is the lack of a Markits "Irish Broad Gauge axle a significant barrier to people modelling the wider gauge. 3. Potential level of interest in an Irish OO gauge. Would more people be interested in taking up broad gauge modelling if a continuous run layout could be fitted into the same or slightly large space than a similar OO gauge layout? Running clearances Markits wheelsets and some loco kits. A high proportion of 21mm gauge modelers work to EMF or P4 wheel and track standards. Markits wheels are designed for OO gauge use and are wider than the 2.28 maximum recommended for EMF. This leads to essentially the same problem that lead to the adaptation of British N, TT and OO gauge due to limited/negative clearances between wheels and splashers or valve gear on outside cylinder locos even when the back to back is set to 19mm to allow OO gauge clearances. Track gauge 21mm 21mm 20.3mm (Martyn Wynne Irish EM) 20.3 mm(Irish OO?) Standard OO EMF EMF OO Back to Back 19 19.3 18.6 18.3 Markits wheel width 2.5 5 5 5 5 Overall width wheelset 24 24.3 23.6 23.3 Loco Width between splashers Clearance Clearance Clearance TMD/SSM J15 24.3 0.3 0 0.7 1 TMD/SSM S 28 5 3.7 4.4 4.7 SSM GG/SG2 25.3 1.3 1 0.7 2 JMD 650/Ks 26 2 1.7 2.4 2.7

I am planning a limited release of the kits in May-June 2019. I am looking at a minimum run of 4 of each type in order to re-release the kits. Cost likely to be $150NZ per van + $30 shipping. Kits are etched brass, with whitemetal, brass or resin castings, designed for OO or 21mm gauge. OO Gauge NMRA110 wheels included I will consider a supplementary fret to cover some of the detail variations between vans including blanked out windows, recessed doors on heating and luggage vans. Please advise me if you are interested. 1. 2. 3. Tin Van Wallpaper

The ballast pit at Lisgoole Town on the late Richard Chowns Castle Rackrent system is a good example, simple siding into a shallow gravel pit dug into the side of an Esker or dry river bed where gravel accumulated. Wagons would be 1-2 plank dropside wagons rather than hoppers, loading most likely by hand from the face. Some pits may have had a small steam driven crusher, screens and washing plant feeding a small overhead bunker. https://highlandmiscellany.com/tag/castle-rackrent/ Pretty much a pre-amalgamation thing as the larger companies line the GNR, GSWR,MGWR & possibly DSER used crushed stone ballast from large quarries like Goraghwood, Lisduff and Lecarrow from the early 1900s. The GSR & CIE used the Newbridge ballast pit as a dump for spent ballast and general rubbish apparently up to the 1970s.

We are caught in a pincer movement with the Government trying to get a return on the $1b+ of taxpayers money pumped into funding fibre networks throughout the country, the network companies trying to get us to convert to wireless or cable in order to abandon its copper networks. Broadband is reasonable we don't use our monthly quota, we try to minimise our 9 year old daughters "screen time" IT exposure, we hate to throw anything out so analogue TVs hooked up to Freeview digital receivers, wife records kids TV programmes and wierd continental movies and gets huge enjoyment trying to manager her ever growing collection of recordings on different media. Personally I prefer to just play trains

We are being constantly being bombarded with apparently mouth watering offers to transfer from copper to fiber or wireless. The ulterior motive is that our telephone network providers want to abandon its legacy copper based systems Being Luddites our existing plan is more than sufficient for our needs and we want to retain a copper land line for international phone calls or as a back up in an emergency especially if wireless networks are off line as a result of power cuts or natural disaster

I have ran out of castings for the handbrake wheels, but no shortage of end castings. It might be worth e-mailing enquiries@dartcastings.co.uk as they may have a stock of handbrake castings in search of a potential market. The MGWR van parts including axleboxes, springs, roof vents, handbrake wheels and end castings were likely to be cast from the same mould

Great selection of layouts, interesting to see several models of the Woodhead Route.

Gilligan's at Ballywillan on the MGWR Cavan Branch pretty much in the middle of nowhere like most intermediate stations on the branch. The station had a long cattle bank served by a loop opposite the station building, the goods yard and shed was further up the bohereen past the station. Possibly Gilligan's got some business in connection with cattle and general goods traffic (bacon?) or more likely a refuge for passengers on the up Night Mail while the train shunted the yard, passenger traffic was not exactly high priority on the Midland. Some examples of urban and rural modelling New Zealand style Typical hotel/guest house run down part of town Ministry of Works standard concrete bridge in the background. "One Trak Minds" modular group riverside scene cabbage trees, flax and bird life, old open wagons dumped into river to prevent scouring. Typical river crossing using standard NZR timber bridge components. This form of construction was still common on secondary lines until recent years.

I visited my 1st exhibition in about two years today one of the most striking things was the contrast between the realistic modelling of scenery (sometimes animals!) buildings and structures on models of New Zealand prototypes compared with an almost generic standard of scenic modelling on British models. On club "layout" was quite novel incorporating separate NZR and British Rail layouts on a common baseboard. The contrast was interesting everything was either scratch or kit built on the NZR side and everything fresh out of the box rtr on the BR side. The NZR side was bascially completed to a high standard while the British Modelers had completed tracklaying and wiring but had not started the scenic work. Most Irish layouts with a few notable exceptions tend to be indistinct in their scenery, buildings and structures and could be anywhere in the UK with the possible exception of Ireland. Has anyone thought about modelling the distinct regional variety between different parts of Ireland such as the GNR, County Down, C&L & SLNCR Drumlin Country of County Down and the Border & Midlands Region, the MGWR & GNR branch lines ines in the rich lands wooded lands of County Meath with their ancient monuments. The MGWR main line & GSWR Athlone Branch a caravan trail across the bog of Allen. The GSWR in the fertile river valleys of Munster. The GSWR on its dramatic traverse of the hill country between the Blackwater and Lee valleys with its dramatic viaducts and steep gradients and oddly placed Rathpeacon marshalling yard The Fuscia lined West Cork branches and small harbours. The Government Extension lines through the wildest most uninhabited parts of Connemara, Mayo & Donegal? I tried to capture some of the atmosphere of the ridge of the Arigna mountains and the Lough Allen area in my Keadue narrow gauge layout. Thought are divided between open stone wall country of central Mayo-Roscommon or the Drumlin Country of Cavan with its hills and lakes for a 4mm broad gauge layout. Anyone have similar ideas or aspirations?

I made a couple of display cases using ripped down shelving material with doors and shelves from a local galzing merchant, we managed between us to double up on the overlap for the sliding doors. We also picked up a very nice hardwood display case on a local on-line auction site. The only remotely challenging bit was routing the panels for the sliding doors with a very cheap plunge router.

IFM have an on-line store linked to their Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/Irish-Freight-Models-1252098201500518/app/251458316228/?ref=page_internal Silver fox list the Open Standard and Buffet Car bodies my be vinyl or printed plastic of the Dapol body shell rather than a resin casting, roofs, gangways and ends appear to be pure Dapol. http://silverfoxmodels.co.uk/ir-ie-buffet-car/

I normally assemble the brake gear as a removable sub assembly, so that I can assemble the wheel sets, test and paint a loco before final assembly. Basically I solder all the lower connections between brake rods, hangers and stretchers but leave the top connections free so that I can remove the gear. I omitted the inner pull rods on 191 and installed a central rull rod to strengthen the whole assembly as the brake gear is practically invisible beneath the loco in 4mm.

Silver Fox have a reputation of producing reasonably well finished but not particularly accurate models of Irish locos and stock. The Silver Fox "Laminates" appear to be based on "Bredin" coaches built by CIE in the early 1950s (using traditional coach building techniques) rather than the Laminate Coaches built in the late 1950s, Laminates has been used as a catch all description by some enthusiasts for CIE coaches built during the 1950s although there are significant differences in construction and visual appearance between CIE Bredin & Laminate Stock. The coaches appear to be based on the Dapol Stanier 60' coach most likely using a cast resin body in conjunction with Dapol bogies, underframe and roof and may be shorter and narrower than scale. The traditional steel underframe and LMS/GSR style bogies are reasonably correct for coaches built up to 1953-4, most of these early coaches were relegated to suburban use/withdrawn by 1982-3. These coaches ran in mixed rakes with other stock including Craven, Park Royal and Laminate Coaches The Silver Fox Laminates are probably a reasonable layout coach, but may not compare with kit and rtr Irish coaches by other manufacturers. Irish Freight Models produce Laminate & Park Royal Coaches in kit and RTR form

There is a great story in an IRRS Journal from the mid-70s of the driver of the GNR Enterprise becoming locked in the toilet compartment of a new BUT railcar on Kellystown Bank between Dundalk & Drogheda. The driver placed his bag or a brake block on the "deadmans pedal" and left the cab to answer the call of nature while the train was travelling at line speed.. Meanwhile a passenger managed to jam the lock on the toilet door, luckily the driver had a screwdriver in his jacket pocket and returned to his cab in time to avoid wrecking the train or having to explain his actions to management or the irish Railway Inspector

Brian Fennell a member of the MRSI Loughrea group scratchbuilt a rake of 15-20 mainly GSWR cattle wagons about 20 years ago. Provincial Models produce a nice model of the standard IRCH cattle wagon used by the GNR & SLNCR, no one produces a kit or rtr KN

The Cement Factory Branch opened in the 1930s up to the mid 60s most of the traffic went out in wooden bodied GNR vans or CIE H Vans. In the 1950s the GNR acquired a small number (12?) of bulk cement wagons for traffic to the Athy asbestos factory, these wagons were similar in general appearance to the then standard British Railways plywood bodied van but with an all steel body with the bottom section formed into a hopper. The GNR bulk cement wagons ran singally or in cuts of wagons in ordinary goods trains rather than the block or unit train workings of more modern cement wagons Platin came on line in the early 70s. The cement factory branch would make an interesting model in its own right, with a number of sidings serving separate industries including a factory and the oil terminal in addition to the cement factory. The oil terminal came on line in the mid 1960s to handle block oil trains from Foynes. The terminal could also receive oil sea and continued in use for oil traffic to Platin until the plant converted to oil burning in the late 1980s

I finally got around to ballasting the main line through Utah Junction following the track re-lay. Ballasting is basically a much more expensive scaled up version of small scale loose ballasting techniques using screened stone chips and 50% diluted concrete bonding agent. Glue applied using a large syringe and a length of clear plastic tube rather than an eyedropper . Waiting for some rain to wash away the stone dust from the rails and sleepers. Big improvement in overall experience , though I need to build up the ground around the water tower. There is a noticeable bump/change of level in the main running line opposite the water tower where I replaced a decayed section of decking/track support. I improved cross levels on a section of the main line in this area where the cross levels were badly off leading to excessive swaying and pitching as trains ran through at not quite speed. The area in the background has started to revert to bush https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_bush with self seeding shrubs and trees (including a Tasmanian Blackwood and a Sweet Gum) in the 10 years since a large gum tree in this area fell over fortunately not landing on the railway. The pencil pines by the water tower were planted about 5 years ago to provide more "scale" foliage, in the foreground a dwarf box hedge is taking over the area between the edge of baseboard and main line.

Another year older few if any of last years un-finished projects completed here we go again. GSWR coach painted, interiors to be fitted, decals, glazing and couplings still to be fitted. Brake 3rd hole above the ducket is for one of the side lamps. I like a mixture of open and closed droplights. 4 Compt 1st a lot more legroom and seating with armrests. I still have to finish installing pick ups on the J26, paint the loco and decide on lettering or a numberplate. The interior is not a pretty sight at this stage, not happy with the results from brush painting the partitions, will replace when I get my hands on some Evergreen planked styrene.

I think it was more a case of the cost and availability of land. A railway company would leave itself open to a lot of political pressure and potentially loose a lot of money if its stations were incapable of handling the traffic generated by a cattle fair or other peak seasonal traffic like fish or fresh produce. The Government funded railways (Baltimore, Valencia) tended to be a horse of an other colour with scrimping on construction and facilities compared to privately built lines. Galway and Harcourt Street stations were on relatively short but wide sites with station, goods yard and loco sheds in close proximity, while relatively small stations like Athenry and Loughrea spread out over the best part of a mile. Galway had/has the advantage of a loop that extends almost out to Renmore which allowed the station to handle long passenger and goods trains. While the Loughrea mixed passenger train usually loaded to 3w wheel coaches and half a dozen wagons, the station was capable of dispatching over 100 Cattle wagons in 4-5 specials during the big autumn cattle fairs. The average mixed on the Valencia line appears to have loaded to a couple of 6w coaches and 18-20 wagons. On the narrow gauge the C&L coal trains appear to have loaded to 10 wagons and a brake, on Keadue 5 wagons and a brake appears to reasonably With selective compression in 4mm 10-15 wagons appears to be a reasonable length of goods train.

Finding a home for the loco shed has been a problem since the day I bought it many years ago. It did not work in on the last N gauge layout so kind of now or never for the N gauge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WasCaeonY_s&feature=youtu.be I finished (most of) the wiring on the staging, industries yard board and surprise myself by running some trains to test that the layout is workable. Baldwin RF16 "Sharknose" diesels 1205 & 1216 picking up a cut of boxcars from the paper-mill. Rather like the Irish Rail MK2AC coaches the D&H acquired the sharks from a scrap dealer for an equivalent amount of scrap metal (boxcars). I have cut an opening in the baseboard for a river/stream to add a bit of visual interest and use up a Micro-Engineering bridge kit. I was playing with the AF feature of the camera with an aperture of f25 on a tripod to try and get a decent depth of field(difficult in N) The building behind the locos is a silo for storing household coal common in the North East and other parts of the US & Canada that have hard winters. A paper mill is a no-brainer as a lineside industry on the D&H. Shorter exposure moving train. The layout is similar in concept to Castlerackrent with an industry to add operating interest and act as a view blocker to the staging/fiddle yard. The Sharks leaving Port James on a local freight. The dilemma at this stage is whether to keep the layout as an Office Display piece or keep it in the garage and expand it into a large continuous run Class 1 layout (so I can run my collection of American diesels.) and once again let the Irish 21mm layout take a back seat. Mill/staging baseboard. Control is DCC (Digitrax DB150 command stations with radio throttles) the layout is divided into 3 power districts protected by Powershield PX1 digital circuit breakers (circuit board in left center), the circuit breakers both simplify fault finding and appear to have prolonged the lift of the command stations. Seep point motors connected to Lenz stationary decoders. Power feed to be wired in for pointwork and stationary decoders to be connected to circuit breakers. Trackwork, point motors, electronic components have all been salvaged from a layout started in Ireland about 20 years ago. Trackwork is Peco Code 55 with Electro frog points, I initially wired the points using the built-in switches to control frog/crossing changeover but have since installed sub-miniature micro switches and as relying on the combination of blade contact and built in pointmotor switches lead to intermittent contact & un-reliable slow running.

Nice to see the MGWR van assembled with the alternative doors! I will post you a set of end castings & handbrake wheels. I haven't heard back from Dart Castings on whether they have these particular castings in stock. The amount of tarnish is a bit odd on a fret straight from the engravers, possibly rushing with pre-Christmas orders. Those 6 compt GSWR 3rds did not exactly have a lot of leg room, most were withdrawn/converted to turf-wagons during the Emergency.

The Worsley Works Laminate Brake Standard is based on the 1909-1913? series built in 1959.

Interesting exercise which basically demonstrates that a small country terminus or through station requires a similar space lengthwise to a large terminus or junction station. Makes sense though on a railway system that was set up to handle 50-60 wagon goods trains and 20-30 wagon goods trains were not exactly un-known on country branchlines. It will be interesting to see how your North Wall scheme works out.