Mayner

1100&1100 were the first reasonably successful medium power diesel electrics designed and built in the British Isles and could be considered the forerunners of the BR Derby & BRCW Type 2 Sulzers. The British Rail locos and the B101 Class used an uprated version of the engine used in the 1100&1100 and their electrical system was considered superior to the Brush system used in the BR locos. The Inchacore built locos had a very high axleload by Irish standards and were restricted to 50mph as their plate frame bogies were rough riding and hard on the track. The 101 Class BRCW Sulzers were built with an A1A A1A wheel arrangement and fitted with drop equalising bogies to overcome the weight and riding problems of 1100&1101. Metropolitan Vickers may have gone for Crossley diesels in the A & C Class rather than the proven and reliable Sulzer engine to keep within the axle load and weight limits on the Irish system. Shapeways produce CIE Class B Sulzer designed by B Lancer. https://www.shapeways.com/product/PZZCYVXM6/cie-b-class-sulzer-locomotive-oo-scale?optionId=42321334 An Irish modeller built a batch of Sulzers to a high standard several years ago, but there about as rare as hens teeth.

Removing the wipers on the secondmans side seems to have been a common feature on both the A & C Class during the mid-late 1950s. Metropolitan Vickers electrical equipment had a very good reputation a factor that worked in favour of re-powering rather than replacing the Irish Metrovicks Possibly an economy measure to save on maintenance and stock up on spare parts when Todd Andrews was running the railways? There is the story about CIE removing half the light bulbs from the C&L "Bus Coach" as an economy measure during the same period.

Its possible B233 went straight from the black to the Supertrain livery. Maybe IRM will do the C Class for their next loco including the B233 & B234 Maybach variation with a porthole blocked out on one side as a puzzler. I always thought B233 looked especially smart in black with white eyebrows and yellow warning panels

The authentic Crossley sound! The Australian Metrovicks remained in services with their Crossley engines into the late 1980s on freight and Perth suburban passenger services.

O Gauge and larger scales have a great "presence" as exhibition layouts, the sheer mass and momentum of the models means you need to model very little outside of the railway fence, just tracks and trains. Multiple tracks and complex pointwork add to the main line atmosphere, somewhere on the Western Region judging by the buildings and structures.

A number of A Class appear to have been painted in the high band scheme before the all-black with white eyebrow scheme was introduced. There are photos of A6, 15,16,39 in Barry Carse's book. The tan band on A6 (the guinea pig for the scheme_ almost looks shallower than the other locos or possibly an optical illusion. The low band was originally called the "dipped" scheme in contemporary IRRS Journals may have been introduced like the black to make grime and oil spillage of the flanks of these locos less noticeable. Even the flanks of the re-engined Metrovicks tended to get dirty very quickly compared to the pure bred GM locos, I am not sure if the weathering arose as a result of oil leakage similar to the IC125 power cars in the UK or simply grime washed off the roof by the weather. Possibly a case for a some form of dynamic weathering (smoke unit?) so that the loco becomes increasingly dirty as mileage/time in service build up.

The A Class & the Liner Train wagons are a bit of a dilemma to me as I have basically decided to concentrate on modelling the Midland in the steam age before I was tempted by high quality Kato & Atlas American rtr N gauge locos and stock about 30 years ago In a way British and Irish "modern image" models (both kit and rtr) lagged behind the standard of what was available in the the United States and the Continent and what could be achieved by assembling some of the British and Irish outline kits that were available at the time, others were basically un-buildable or only fit for ballast. While the MIR GM diesels and rolling stock kits were reasonably good by the standards of the day and Q kits resin diesels could be built into a reasonable model, there were a few real horrors including a whitemetal A Class possibly produced by MTK for MIR with distorted and porus castings and cab ends with a distinct squint to one side. The IRM A Class seems to lift the standard for rtr locos in Ireland and the UK in a similar manner to Atlas commissioning Kato to produce HO & N gauge locos for the American market which lead the way to twin flywheel center motor drive as the standard for diesel and electric locomotives. Interestingly a lot of the improvements in the hobby are being driven by small businesses like IRM through their enthusiasm and business, rather to established players, thanks to changing technology and procurement methods.

Great to see more photos of Greystones, the scratch built locos and stock used on the layout was an improvement of many of the kits that were available at the time. The Cork exhibition brings back memories, interesting to see some familiar faces! The late Frank Davis and I connected and exhibited our EM gauge layouts together at the Cork exhibition. Frank had a nicely detailed Western Region end to end layout, I was in to British outline industrial modelling at the time with a small semi-self contained quarry layout based on the Iain Rice "Bankfoot" plan. Although designed and built in isolation our two layouts connected together and operated together without a hitch apart from one or other of us marshaling a mineral train that was too long for the fiddle yard or run round at the other end. The joint operation turned out to be such a success that Frank exhibited Wentworth and Bankfoot together at Warley after I moved to New Zealand

I have the N Gauge version of the CMX, I used to run it around the layout behind the locos in a freight than a special track cleaning train. The most time consuming part was moving other trains about to make sure that all the visible and hidden yard trackage was cleaned. I used isopropyl alcohol as a solvent rather than meths as it did not leave a residue, though it could leave you a little lightheaded in the attic on a hot summer evening. I found running the Clean Machine round the layout about once a month was adequate after a couple of weekly cleans, I have since re-gauged the Clean Machine to run on 12mm or TT track for my Irish narrow gauge layout, but has not been tested as dust is more of a problem than track grime as I seldom run the layout.

It would be interesting to work out the comparative costs of producing the parts by CNC milling and photo engraving. I guess the main advantage for both types is the ability to repeat once the CAD file is converted to a CNC or Photo Tool and it saves time involved if forming the part by hand and minimises the risk of error in marking out. The DSER 2-4-2Ts were basically a development of the earlier 2-4-0Ts with a bunker and trailing axle to increase coal capacity. The main mystery is why the remaining 2-4-0Ts were not rebuilt into 2-4-2Ts as their coal capacity basically restricted them to short distance work to Dun-Laoire and Dalkey. Inchacore did not seem to like DSER locos especially the passenger tanks! There is a good account of the late Jack O'Neill's 1st encounter as a fireman with 433 an ex-DSER tank in "A Decade of Steam" he immediately gets off on the wrong foot with the driver by insulting "his engine" by calling it a yoke. One of a number of firemen transferred to Grand Canal Street, redundant as a result of the introduction of AEC railcars on Dublin-Waterford passenger services, no doubt not too happy as result of the transfer form Waterford and suburban passenger work with its frequent stops and starts and cramped cab of a tank loco. Jack seems to have ended his shift impressed with 433 smooth running, free-steaming, haulage ability and speed. Lifting a seven bogie Boat Train off Dun-Laoire Pier and skipping through Blackrock at 50mph. He seems to have enjoyed his time at Grand Canal St as a fireman, his only complaint about the loco was the extreme heat in the cab in Summer.

A 20' or 40' container in the original B&I grey and red would be nice! B&I was the 1st company to commission CIE to operate Liner Trains for container traffic in Ireland. Bell originally intended to use road haulage as a feeder to its Waterford Port operations, but was forced to use rail due to the poor state of the road network in the South East and the rest is history so to speak with a highly successful rail operations. CIE introduced a Cork-Dublin Port B&I Liner Train in the late 60s to act as a feeder into its Dublin Port-UK cargo sailings after B&I shut down its Cork-UK services. The dedicated B&I Liners operated until CIE could provide sufficient capacity on its own liner trains. CIE also operated Liner Trains of export sugar in B&I containers from CSE Carlow to Dublin Port. The B&I Liners were loaded/unloaded in the B&Is Terminal near the end of the Alexandra Road Tramway. B&I traffic was carried on 4w 20' wagons until sufficient bogie wagons were in service by the mid-late 70s. There is a colour photo of a 001 Hauled Cork-North Wall liner (bogie wagons) with B&I containers in the original grey & red livery on the cover of Locomotivces & Rolling Stock of CIE & NIR 1st Edition and a 1972 black & white photo of B181 on a B&I Liner made up of 4w wagons passing Cabra Bank. The 40& later 35mph speed restriction on 4w wagons were imposed following a series of de-railments of tank wagons on jointed track on the Midland, rather than stability issues with 4w stock on CWR. These derailments (Dunamon & Moyvalley) may have been due to an overall deteriorating standard of track on the CIE system from the 80s onwards as track maintenance and renewals were deferred until the system reached breaking point in the mid 1990s.

I remember watching the driver of the 12:00 Cork Liner walking along the 6' "pulling the string" when his train was checked at Island Bridge Junction in June 2004. His explained that his 201 Class took a long time to release the brakes and he needed to manually release the brakes so that his train could move off immediately it got a clear signal and presumably avoid blocking the approaches to Heuston

Excellent and just in time for Christmas. Their 42' turntable is mighty tempting http://www.midrailcentre.com/4mm-scale-00-em-p4

Interesting stuff. Nice to see a tutorial on assembling the under rated Worsley Works Laminate coaches. Is your clamping/bending jig available from an engineering suppliers or of your own design? I use similar techniques for forming roofs and curves in metal, though the jigs are a bit on the crude side

Don't want to be too pedantic, if you work in OO the actual difference in gauge works out at 13½" which accentuates the narrow gauge look of some models when viewed head on. Our models behave differently and need a larger kinematic envelope (allowance for sway/cant) than the prototype, the majority of locos and as they are largely unsprung and run round far tighter curves. In addition some models are substantially wider than scale, the Jouef Class 40 British Rails longest diesel scaled out 18" wider than the prototype In practice its really a matter of setting structural clearances to suit your highest, widest-longest locos and coaches rather than trying to scale down the prototype. In the UK and Ireland specific requirements existed in relation to minimum platform widths and distance between coaching stock and tunnel walls/bridges(sufficient space to open carriage doors while in tunnels, on or under bridges in an emergency), unless an exemption was granted.

The current IE Loading and Structure gauge is detailed in Appendix 3 of the IE 2018 Network Statement http://www.irishrail.ie/media/ie_2018_network_statement_(final_version).pdf. As far as I know the British Railway Modelling Standards Bureau (BRMSB) was an industry body that has long ceased to exist. The BRMSB standards were developed following WW11 in an attempt to develop common wheel and coupler standards, but the Bureau did not have the same level of influence as the National Model Railroaders Association (NMRA) in the States. At the time major manufacturers like Hornby, Trix and Tri-ang preferred to maintain their in house standards in order to maintain market share and competitive advantage. The "4mm & 7mm scale societies" in the UK may have developed Loading and Structure gauges for their specific areas of interest. The EM Gauge Society developed a table of Standard Dimensions for 4mm scale including a typical British loading gauge and structural clearances based on the "Model Railway Handbook 7th Edition https://www.amazon.co.uk/Model-Railways-Handbook-Railway-News/dp/B001G888TK & information in Railway Modeller and Railway Engineer. British and Irish railway companies tended to develop and establish loading and structure gauges in isolation, the Great Northern section of IE still has a more restricted loading gauge than other sections of IE despite a programme to increase clearances in the 1990s.

Lough Swilly Transport Ltd seems to have offered direct road freight services between Donegal and the UK. The company appears to have operated between 1983&2004 and had a registered office in Dublin and may not have had a connection with the LLSR. The Lough Swilly Transport tractor and covered trailer were fairly modern and looked like they were set up for logistics work, possibly for line haul work for parcels traffic between Donegal and major centers in the UK.

Funnily enough the first time I saw a Bus Eireann coach (complete with Red Setter logo was in London . Another bizarre moment was passing a Lough Swilly Transport tractor and trailer unit on the M6 in the West Midlands, for a moment I though the LLSR had gone into cross-channel haulage. CIE/Bus Eireann used UK based contractors to operate services to and from London and other destinations in the UK. At one stage the coaches bore Bus Eireann branding.

I haven't been able to find any direct reference to a GNR(I) G Class 2-4-0. O.S. Nocks "Irish Steam" indicates that GNR(I) had 75 4-4-0s & 9 2-4-0s in service in 1916. The GNR was formed by amalgamation in 1875-76 the 4 H Class built in 1880-1881 appear to be the sole 2-4-0s introduced by the GNR(I), the H Class are supposed to be based on a Dublin and Belfast Junction design. Its possible the GNR (I) G Class were a pre-amalgamation design, each of the amalgamating companies are likely to have had 2-4-0s for passenger work the question is which company Dublin & Drogheda, Dublin & Belfast Junction (Drogheda-Portadown) Ulster Railway or Irish North Western? While some INWR & Ulster Railway 0-6-0s lasted into the late 1940s the remaining 2-4-0s would have become pretty much redundant with the introduction of large S, S2 & Compound 4-4-0s and the light weight U Class type from 1912 onwards.

Good work! The Chester Club set the challenge exhibiting Dingle in Dingle so to speak, and you have beaten them by a fair margin on the mileage front. Might even re-awaken some interest in modelling the West Cork in West Cork.

I always had a soft spot for Gort, most of the yard was retained and used for storing redundant wagons after the end of wagon load traffic. A lot of cement and possibly fertiliser traffic in later years appears to have been in connection with the merchants yard which was at a lower level than the railway, I remember watching a forklift off loading bagged cement off a train parked on the main line and delivering the pallets direct to the merchants yard. Adding a head shunt improves the operationally flexibility of the station as a train from the Athenry direction can now enter the Ardrahan-Gort section while a train is shunting the yard. I would be inclined to reverse the crossover from the main line to the yard to allow a train from Limerick to run directly into the headshunt/layby and shunt clear of the main line. A further crossover controlled by a ground frame could be added further out to allow North bound goods trains to depart without setting back into the station. There was a similar arrangement for south bound cattle specials from the Up yard in Tuam This allows two trains to cross at the station while a goods is recessed in the layby or shunting the yard, a common arrangement on the Galway Line and Mayo Road. Goods yard head shunts were fairly uncommon on the Limerick-Sligo line, Ennis & Tuam being the main exceptions, I guess traffic traffic levels never justified the investment.

Blackham Transfers http://www.blackhamtransfers.com/ have produced custom transfers including green & yellow snails, solid and stencil wagon numbers. Provincial Wagons are on their list of Blackham Transfers current customers. Blackham transfers are rub-on similar to Letraset and have the advantage of no carrier film, I am still working from a stash I bought about 20 years ago Both Blackham & SSM will produce custom transfers which is a lot handier than applying individual letters/numbers for things like wagon & coach numbers, tare and load lettering.

Finding space to do anything in our garage has been like a 3 dimensional chess game, no sooner than I completed the baseboard framing for the Irish broad gauge layout than it became covered by other unfinished products and models.. Thankful these days there has been some progress. Progress with other projects finally freed up space to clear the traverser and about 12' of baseboard, while the N gauge will probably be returning to the house by Christmas. Anytime between 1890 & 1963? 650 Class and perishable (6w bk3rd, horsebox and string of meat vans. I will have to find a permanent home for the watertower. 1960s Night Mail, heating van TPO 3 fitted H Vans, to connect into the Galway-Dublin Night Mail at Athlone or Mullingar I have a photo somewhere of a mock up of a Midland station and AEC railcar set. At this stage I am toying with the idea of a U shaped layout with a Mayo Line or Limerick-Sligo crossing station in this area buildings possibly buildings based Ballymoe or Kiltimagh entering as a double line through station from traverser with road bridge view blocker before entering single line section to terminus on opposite side of room. Like idea of mixing MGWR & GSWR (ex WLWR) lines possibly one road GSWR bullhead other MGWR flatbottom rail. Variety of MGWR & GSWR steam power and rolling stock. Baseboards are open frame construction with trackbed supported on risers so the ground contours are both above and below the railway, possibly with some bogland and a river crossing (lattice truss bridge?) on the connecting section between the two stations .

Test builds nearly complete, some minor changes to the artwork to get the cab interior to fit and I had forgotten the ashpan sides leaving a lot of daylight in the area between the driving wheels! 657 (MGWR 33 Arrow) as rebuilt with superheated boiler in1925, before receiving a saturated (original style) boiler and presumably GSR cab in 1939, rebuilt with CIE Y superheated belpair boiler 1953! Loco is on a OO Chassis. Funnily enough I have only found a photo of one superheated loco (23 Sylph) in this condition fitted with tender coal rails. Which indicates that at this time coal was of high quality and the superheated locos very economic of coal and water which was the whole point of the exercise. 654 late GSR/CIE condition. Originally MGWR 23 Sylph this loco went through four re-builds/changes of boiler between 1924 & 1959 and eventually ended up with a Y Class superheated Belpair boiler the model covers the 1939-59 period. I assembled this loco lat week in a bit of a hurry and haven't bolted the back end of the loco to the chassis with the cab sitting a bit high. The kit includes parts to build the loco with either MGWR or GSR/CIE condition including alternate cabs, boiler fittings, leading axle springs, tender coal rails or coal plates. There was a lot of detail variation between individual locos as the class was overhauled/re-built by the GSR & CIE particularly around cab handrail location and rivet detail. Handrail and rivet locations are half etched on the inside of the cab side sheets and drilled out or embossed to taste by the builder. 3/4 front view 21mm gauge loco. 21mm Chassis with inside valve gear & Mashima motor & Hi-Level Road-Runner+gear box fitted. I have assembled the chassis with an equalising beam suspension system rather than as a compensated or sprung chassis for comparison. Rear view of the chassis, I seem to have mislaid the gear wheel for the final drive! Motor is an old stock Mashima 12x20, the 10X20 motor is considered to be a better motor and currently available through High Level. Gear ratios are pretty much a personal thing the 650 Class were mixed traffic rather than express passenger locos, 40:1 or 53:1 should provide reasonable torque and range of speed for these locos. Wheels are vintage Mike Sharman and unfortunately no longer available, Alan Gibson Workshops supply suitable wheels to an EM or S4 profile and extended 1/8" driving axles.

Great piece of railway, I walked through one of the tunnels and had a look around Kells Station over 30 years ago. There is an article in one of the "Steam Railway" magazines in the early 1990s with an inspiring photo of a J15 at Glenbeigh Station in the early 1950s though I can't seem to find it. I would not get too hung up on having historically accurate locos and stock if you are just starting out in building a layout. You can always use modelers license with the line staying open like the similar Mallaig & Kyle in Scotland and running your own choice of locos and stock.