Mayner

In this part of the World 3D printing is used quite widely both by the trade and individual modellers. There has been something of a shift from using prints from high resolution local printers to make patterns for brass and resin castings to bureaus like Shapeways. Shapeways WSF material can be remarkably effective for models in S scale and larger. http://www.shapeways.com/product/87NEB8G56/nzr-9mm-p34-la8-complete?li=user-profile&optionId=42048578 WSF does not have the layering effect of some of the other materials, the secret in achieving a decent surface finish is to build up the surface in preparation for painting with a primer/filler aerosol, the WSF surface finish is reasonably good as it is for wagons. Some kit manufacturers are now using Shapeways to produce brass castings produced from 3D models rather than the traditional lost wax or whitemetal casting processes http://www.shapeways.com/product/T4J5YCQ2G/fowler-loco-cylinders-motion-brackets-and-crosshe?li=more-from-shop&optionId=56253872 The better designers tend to be experienced modellers who are also professional CAD draftsmen/ 3D modellers.

I have used DCC in N, HO & G Scale American layouts but have stuck with analogue for my Irish narrow gauge layout. The reason for sticking with DC was the amount of work involved in fitting decoders to small steam locos and unreliable operation as DCC fitted locos tended to be more sensitive to power pick up issues than DC. I use hand-held rather than panel mounted controllers as I prefer walk-around operation on an end-to end layout. I use live frog points and use the auxiliary switches on "Blue Point" switch machines to route power to the frogs and switch sections between controllers than a separate control panel. Power pick up was less of an issue with HO & N diesels than small steam locos as the diesels had pick up on both bogies and flywheel drive, while the steam locos picked up on only 4 or 6 wheels. Northman: That Morley Vortrak controller seems to be an excellent piece of kit, still use a 40 year old H&M Safety Minor. The combination of panel and hand held control seems to offer the best of both world, hand held for shunting the yard and panel control for watching trains go bye on the main line. Most of the American style DCC systems are designed for walk-around operation on large American layouts. At an operating session visiting operators sometimes bring their personal Digitrax or NCE throttle and loco consist to run a particular train. Train movements are often controlled by dispatchers or train controllers from a control panel similar to Connolly signalling centre. Once a detection and signalling system is added there is little to choose between DC and DCC in the complexity and amount of wiring. CTC Panel Oakland Pacific layout Auckland

Hi Andy There seems to enough interest to go ahead with both the overlays for the Dapol coaches and a scale length/width coach. I am planning to release side overlays for the Second Open, Brake Second Open and BGSV in September/October. The coach likely to be sometime in 2016 once I have released the MGWR 2-4-0 & CIE 4w container wagons. Luckily its the middle of winter here and I have more time to catch up on my work backlog There seems to be a reasonable level of interest in a set of parts for a scale width/length coach

The 62'9" wagons were air braked originally used on liner trains to from Dublin to Cork, Limerick and Galway. The wagons were converted to carry timber when the log traffic started in the mid-1990s. The Galway train was a Liner/Mail with a mixed consist of coaching and freight stock, with the wagon running at the rear of the train behind the mail & parcel vans. A short train of these wagons appears near the end of Colm O'Callaghans video

At one stage the GSWR & F&RHR had plans for a cut-off line between Dunkettle & Fermoy to reduce the overall journey time to Rosslare and the possibility of adding Fermoy to the Cork suburban network. Pfitzer appear to have originally planned a much larger operation at Ballinacourty with quarries at both Bennettsbridge & Lombardstown on the Kerry road supplying dolomite. This would probably resulted in heavier magnesite & oil traffic between Ballinacourty & Cork which would have kept the western end of the line very at least until the 2nd oil crisis hit.

Electro-motive seems to have lost serious market share to General Electric and other manufacturers in recent years. Partially to do with the thirsty 2 stroke engine and difficulty in developing a prime mover that meets American & European emission requirements. Locally Kiwirail are replacing General Motors 645 powered locos with MTU powered Chinese imports but planning to retain GE U Boats for their fuel economy and superior low speed haulage ability on heavy freights on steeply graded twisty lines. About 10 years ago IE were considering replacing the 201s on MK4 passenger services with "light weight power cars" something that would have made more sense than re-powering the 201s & 071s as most of the high speed milage is on fast passenger rather than freight traffic. Mullingar-Athlone would need major investment even to be maintained as a diversionary route. The line is disconnected at the Athlone end, most of the sleepers needed replacement and rails were burred over about 20 years ago.

Photo of a MGWR 0-6-0 and coaling crane at Broadstone in GSR days. Possible conversion for the HO Jordan steam navvy? http://www.gclaser.com/ho-scale-jordan-303-erie-b-2-steam-shovel-detail-kit/

Its nearly 60 years since Eiesenhower warned about the defence industry taking over. The United States foot dragging over the Pacific Trade Agreement is an excellent example of how their approach to trade and protecting American corporates has not really changed much since the 19th Century

it may be something to do with enthusiasts being reluctant to get to dirty and close to the coal stage. Some of the larger depots such as Broadstone, Cork & Tralee seem to have used small self propelled rail mounted steam cranes or even a diesel crawler crane like a 10RB for coaling. In some depots coal was dumped on the ground and loaded with a crane than using a coal stage, the MGWR used hopper wagons for loco coal traffic between the North Wall and Broadstone. At Broadstone and Cork loco coal wagons were unload from a raised gantry system similar to NER coal drops. The cranes seem to have used a roll-over skip rather than a grab, so the coal men would have to load the coal into the skip using a shovel, but at crane could tip the coal into the tenders of the larger locos built from the1900s onwards. I think Anthony Burges book "Chasing the Flying Snail" may have some photos of the coaling arrangements at Tralee

Wonderful modelling challenge fits in with the GUBBU years perfectly

The vans certainly look the part! I hadn't thought of swapping the ends between a Parksde Vanfit and a Pallet van to build a pair of Irish Van

Has anyone a photo which shows the roof detail for the boiler/generator compartment? The CIE drawing isn't very clear there appears to be a removable access panel immediately above the boiler and funnel shaped exhaust vent above the generator.

My mother was working in England during the War years and had vivid memories from arriving in a blacked-out Midlands up to the invasion She worked in a Leiceter factory that made radio equipment under the cover of textile manufacture in an attempt to deceive the enemy. The strategy succeeded in that the factory and Leicester escaped the level of bombing and destruction in nearly Coventry. They had moralle boosting talks from visitors like Montgomery & Bradley about the importance of their work to the War effort About mid-morning on 6th June all workers were summoned to a staff-meeting and informed of the invasion. Her boyfriend an American airborne infantry officer was wounded during the invasion, & put down his survival to my mothers gift of a miraculous medal. They went their separate ways after the war, but kept in touch and met again more than 40 years later before they both passed away

"Sundeala" is a trade name for softboard or woodfibre insulation board it may be sold under a different trade name in Ireland. I used it on top of chipboard or mdf on open and solid top baseboards in N gauge, and it worked very well with Peco flexible track, could push in the Peco track pins with a small pliers and resulted in extremely quiet reliable running. For framing I have used everything from traditional 2X1" softwood to braced ply. Ply is probably one of the better options as softwood tends to be more expensive and the poorer grades tend to warp and twist.

Not sure if Business Class in Ireland and the UK is more a hangover from the old British class system than anything else, I work for a government body and use air travel regularly in connection with my work, New Zealand Government policy even for senior management is to book the cheapest available flight and use economy class. The main benefit of Business Class for domestic air travel is the ability to access the Business lounge at major airports rather than the inflight service. We are finally starting to catch up with Ireland and the UK after some 10-15 years starting to use teleconferencing for meetings and training sessions rather than spending a large part of our budget on travel and accommodation. Public transport is not really a viable option for business travellers getting to and from an airport or railway station, larger organisations have accounts and agreed rates with taxi companies rather than using individual expense accounts. Comparison with conditions in the UK is difficult, I don’t think Ireland has the critical mass in terms of population density (overcrowding?), distance and heavy industry to support a main line railway system without a disproptortionately higher level of public subsidy for every passenger carried or tonne/km carried in comparison to countries like the UK. In recent years IE has gone from one of the lowest to highest levels of subsidy per passenger km. While CIE/IE managed to consistently grow intercity passenger traffic at a single digit rate through the 70-90s, the intercity railway became less relevant in the big scheme of things as despite massive investment and booming passenger figures up to the GFC rail continued to lose market share to the private car. Surface travel is not a serious option to air in countries with a low population density spread out over a large area. I once used the Overlander to get home on a Saturday from a course in Wellington, unfortunately the most interesting 200 km of the journey was by road as a freight de-railed and blocked the line during the early hours of Saturday morning. The survival of IE/CIE and the Irish Railway system seems to be a throwback to the protectionist era of the 1930-60 when existing businesses and jobs had to be protected regardless of the cost in terms of damage to the economy and emigration. This mindset supported a resistance to change at both governance and shop floor level that lead to a focus on industrial relations problems as the railways become less and less relevant.

I think the idea of CIE/IE ever having a golden age is something of a contradiction. While the railways in the 80s & 90s were interesting from a railfans point of view, the reality was a rail system that was approaching a state of collapse with poor services with extended journey times due to inadequate investment, poor staff morale, deferred track and infrastructure maintenance. The system appears to be in a lot better shape than it was in the 80s & 90s whether the Government should continue to subsidise rail is a difficult political question. Personally I think 1st Class rail travel is something of a red-herring; the 06:15Cork-Dublin is unlikely to be overcrowded with plebs, more seriously as an employer I would be asking serious questions why I am paying an employees to spend most of the day travelling rather than using video or tele conferencing for an important meeting.

The Park Royals, Laminates and Cravens had 3' dia wheel smaller than the 3'7" fitted to British Rail MK1 and most earlier Irish stock. For some reason Murphy Models used a small 10.45 mm wheel rather than the correct 12mm on the Cravens, I am not sure how this effects coupler/buffer height when coupled to other manufacturers coaches.

Splurged out on an 071 & a pair of Cravens for my Matariki (Maori New Year) present. The prices were very competitive and the Irish VAT refund nicely covered shipping, costs. Might have to go back to Mark's for some 11pin decoders and other items. Well done

The New Irish Irish Lines archive http://newirishlines.org/ is a good place to search for drawings and photos of CIE wagons Vol 3 May & Nov 2002 has drawings of the standard covered van and Bulleid triangulated underframe by David Malone who published a number of pioneering articles on modelling Irish Railways to Scalefour standards in the 80s & 90s including Practical Model Railways and Model Railway Digest

The GSWR 2-4-2T locos designed for the Valentia & Kenmare branches were originally fitted with a water spray arrangement to reduce rail/wheel wear on the sharp curves. The RNAD wagons take me back to my volunteering days on the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway in Wales in the 90s. The vans were an ending of the Cold War dividend to various mainly 2' gauge preservation schemes up and down the UK. The wagons were used at Royal Navy ammunition depots in various parts of the UK and sold by public auction/tender. Most of the vans had the imprint of shells in the floor. Being the Navy the wagons were generally in good condition the only problem the wagons were to 2'6" gauge. The re-gauge involved pumping the wheels out on the axle using a large hydraulic press, machining a shoulder on the axle and pressing the wheels back to the correct back to back on the press.

The GNR 16t bagged cement vans were very close in design the BR standard ply sided 12t van and the Parkside kit. Approx 140 of these vans were assembled by the GNRB in the 1950s all of which went to CIE following the break up of the GNR in 1958 The main difference from the BR vans was the brake gear and the absence of ventilators in the ends. The Irish vans only had handbrakes with independent either side hand brakes similar to oil tank wagons and mineral wagons rather than the Morton clutch and vacuum brake arrangement on standard BR wagons and vans. GNR bagged cement van The CIE standard H van was developed from a GSWR design and quite different in outline and design of underframe to the BR vans. Bodywork the H vans mainly plywood sides and ends, different strapping detail and a flatter roof profile than the BR vans. Underframe Inchacore pattern buffers, either a standard Irish Railway Clearing House underframe or Bulleid triangulated underframe with hand brakes with one brake shoe per side, the fitted version had an 8 shoe clasp brake arrangement, the handbrake operated by a handwheel rather than lever. GSWR & CIE standard H van 26000 series pallet vans. Similar in design to the earlier BR Palvan but with pressed metal ends and sliding doors, unfitted on Bulleid Triangulated underframes. These wagons appear to have been assembled using components imported from the UK. The body is quite different in detail to the excellent Parkside kit, the CIE vans had at least 3 different designs of end stamping. H van and Pallet van Some people have used the Parkside BR van as a basis for building/kitbashng the Irish vans but involves a lot of work.

For a moment I thought you were starting a layout based on the Phoenix Park Tunnel line with a station near the real North Circular Road serving the Stoneybatter area of Dublin I travelled quite a bit over the North London and other London Cross country lines, even reaching Dalston Junction after it was closed to regular passenger services. Tons off atmosphere short passenger trains and unusual motive power on Interegional freight trains. Will the layout have a 3rd or 4th rail? I preferred the old ex Southern Region slam door to the more modern 303 units, then there was the oddity of BR EMUs mixing with Tube stock between Queens Park and Harrow & Wealdstone on the Euston-Watford DC line.

Like the joke about the lid not fitting on a famous (notorious) UK kit manufacturers coffin http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=14708

I finally got around to detailing the Midland Horse Box and Meat Vans, using superglue rather than solder for a change to attach overlays which took a bit of getting used to. I used cocktail sticks to apply the superglue to the overlays, and used the end of a tootpick dipped in Tayima extra thin cement (MEK/acetone) to clean up any excess glue as work progressed. Removing cover slip/door hinge overlays from the fret. Overlay attached corner plates have to be wrapped around the corner once the end detail is applied. One side with beading and solebar overlays attached Completed Meat Van Horse Box Close up detail Meat van I have some minor design modifications to simplify assembly of the brake gear for the production version of the kits which should be ready for release in the Autumn. I now have enough of these vans for a typical Midland section train, next stage will be to complete the test build on the 2-4-0s.

Originally developed for N gauge B&B coupler is reasonably un-obtrusive, relatively easy to set up and a reasonably priced alternative to Kadee. http://modelrailmusings.weebly.com/bb-couplings.html. Another alternative is to use the Bemo coupler http://www.parksidedundas.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eparksidedundas%2eco%2euk%2facatalog%2fPARKSIDE_DUNDAS_ROLLING_STOCK_WHEELS%2ehtml&WD=bemo&PN=copy_of_PARKSIDE_DUNDAS__ACCESSORIES_%2ehtml%23a3255#a3255 The Bemo coupler is compatible with the B&B and can be converted to magnetic & delayed action.