Mayner

The pallet vans had at least 3 different types of ends. Its possible that Patrick may use the sides and underframe from the donor Vanfit s a basis for the plank GSWR version of the H Van. Hint Hint!!

Much more attractive than gritty post war reality a bit of the blarney & splendid scenery was what was expected of Ireland at the time. The movie must have attracted a lot of Americans to visit Cong & Connemara and profitable business for CIE Coach Tours.

[video=youtube;L6YrqZ7HZ-0] 59 a D17 or GSWR 52 Class loco seems to have been Tuam's regular passenger engine used on Tuam-Galway local services in early CIE days. Its possible that the ex-GSWR 6 wheel coaches were in regular use on the service at the time. "A Decade of Steam" gives a reasonably good account of CIE steam working in the early 1950s from an engineman's perspective. 59 is described as "Tuam shed's favourite" with the enginemen reluctant to send the engine to Inchacore for firebox repairs in case they would never get it back. The 52 Class appear to have had a reputation of higher speed and smarter running on the Tuam-Galway local trains, than the larger 60 Class working the Limerick-Sligo train. Possibly it was less of an effort for the Tuam crew to put on a bit of a show with a lighter train and a relatively easy section of line, than for the Limerick or Sligo crew to keep time with heavier trains on a difficult road over a much longer distance.

The GSWR were supposed to have been plans to build total of 10 500 Class 4-6-0s, this appears to have been cancelled after the amalgamation in favour of buying another 15 sets of Woolwich parts. The Woolwich had wider route availability than the 4-6-0s and could be assembled at a fraction of the cost of building a new loco. Another likely factor is that the GSR board may have quickly realised that the operating department was struggling to find enough work for the 13 4-6-0s already in service. CIE appeared to have had similar problems in the early 1950s Interestingly 500 Class cylinders and motion parts were used in the rebuilding several of the 400 Class into two cylinder engines. 402 was supposed to be the best of the re-built locos basically a 500 class with large driving wheels

Excellent work on a very distinctive pair of wagons Nelson. T The finish on the little 4wheeler reminds me of the open wagons I saw during my first journey on NIR in 1980, the GNR & SLNCR used low sided 6 wheel wagons for carrying ballast a few of the GNR ones survived into the 1970

NMRA going beyond DCC? http://www.nmra.org/news/proposed-standard-layout-command-control-lcc-published-comment "The Board of Directors has agreed to adopt standards for Layout Command Control (LCC), formerly known as NMRANet. LCC is an operating system protocol which will work hand-in-hand with DCC, handling all "non-motive power"-related functions on a model railroad layout, such as signaling. In essence, LCC is DCC for the rest of your layout. LCC was developed over the past several years by the OpenLCB Group, a large group of volunteers with expertise in electronics, networking, programming and model railroading, similar to the group that developed the Java Model Railroad Interface (JMRI). The final draft of the LCC protocols and specification documents have been published for comment on http://www.nmra.org. Look for an article describing all the benefits of LCC in an upcoming issue of NMRA Magazine." Time Period: Sunday, March 1, 2015 to Tuesday, September 1, 2015

I found messing around with CVs and sound to be something of a passing fad. Apart from changing an address I seldom change a CV and got rid of all my sound equipped locos about 5 years ago. The new Bachmann Bluetooth system appears to be aimed at people "who wants something simple" to get started, rather than something that expandable into a more complex model railway system. The one advantage of DCC over proprietary systems is that the system was developed by modellers and has become an internationally recognised standard for digital control sytems. This allows modellers to mix and match the best of different manufacturers products as a model railway becomes more complex, rather than being stuck with a particular manufacturers control system, decoders and accessories.

Not exactly a stoppage more a case of running the weekly train when there is enough traffic. Tonight the logging train made it though from the landing site to the mill. Meanwhile back in the workshop work continues on the railcar chassis. 1st serious attempt at milling and turning. I was intending to build the chassis with one fixed and one rocking axle but ended up fitting sprung hornblocks to one axle as I overdid the slotting. Bolt together assembly with accurately drilled holes and turned frame spacers seems to be a lot quicker than the solder and fold up spacers used in most 4mm kits. View of the transmission showing Northyard gearbox and silicone tube coupling. The motor will be secured in place using silicone sealant once the chassis is painted. Little and Large G Scale T&D Inspection Railcar & 4mm CIE Wickham trolley

The Digitrax is in widespread use among American modellers in North America, The UK, Australia and New Zealand. While the system is getting long in the tooth change or development of the operating system or throttle design would probably result in a certain level of resistance from individuals and clubs with large layouts, where it is pretty much the norm for visitors to turn up with their personal throttle plug into the Loconet network and start running. With 15 years experience running a Digtrax system indoors and outdoors the main advantage are reliability, robustness and above all good after sales service. The command station from my original Empire Builder set bought in 1999 is still going strong. I still prefer the user interface on my DT300 Throttle from 2001 upgraded to RC in 2008 to the more recent DT400 series throttles introduced in 2005. I suppose the most surprising thing is that DCC manufacturers like Digitrax, Lenz, NCE, Zimo do not appear to have designed their products in terms of planned obsolescence, but realised that modellers think long term in terms of control systems and getting the customer through the door to buy the starter set was just the beginning.

Another week or so should be clear Wall and broken plant pots supposed to be part of an abandoned lime kiln or coke ovens/smelter, some landscaping and planting when the Triffids die back. Pumpkin pie for Easter? needs to darken. More pumpkins on the vine climbing our neighbours fejoa tree, starting to fruit sign of approaching autumn and longer nights. Back in the workshop the "engineers" have set up the railcar final drive to get a feel for the new fangled gasoline powered technology. The motor is a 3v unit supplied with the kit gearbox and neophrane tube coupler by Northyard NZ local specialist supplier of model railway parts (mainly S Scale) Luckily the axle and worm wheel diameter match. 1st stage in building the railcar chassis, drilling out the axle holes with my Christmas present a 50 year old Unimat set up as a vertical drill and milling machine. The first job was to clamp two strips of brass together with the aid of double sided tape, then mark out the axle holes and frame profile on the upper strip, centre pop the axle holes and clamp the strips in position on the milling table. Next stage is to cut out the profile of the frames with a milling cutter, which should theoretically leave me with a pair of identical frames with accurately drilled axle holes.

The classic was the re-boilering of DSER 2-4-2T, 4-4-2T & 0-6-0 with GSWR boilers and later the development of the X superheated boiler that could be made to fit the GSWR 52 Class 4-4-0, ex-Midland 530 Achill Bogie 4-4-0, 566 C Class 4-4-0 & 563, 567, 594, & 614 "Standard Good" 0-6-0s While there was a lot of focus on the high average age and number of types in the GSR loco fleet. The introduction of the Woolwich Moguls, Midland Cattle engines and 400 & 500 class 4-6-0s against a background of falling traffic lead to a surplus of large modern main line locomotives that were too heavy to run on secondary lines. This may have lead to the scrapping of 3 of the recently introduced but problematic 400 Class 4-6-0, ex-MGWR 646 Class 0-6-0 and the partial decimation of the ex GSWR 321 4-4-0 & 355 & 368 2-6-0 while the majority of the 3 Classes were modernised and worked on top link services until the end of steam The 5 342 Class mixed traffic 4-4-0s introduced in 1936 almost seem to have been intended to replace the 341 & the Coey 4-4-0s scrapped in the late 1920s. It almost looks like the 800 were intended to replace the scrapped 400 Class, restoring the number of express passenger locos to 10, releasing the 500 Class to take up their intended mixed traffic duties, releasing Woolwich for work elsewhere

There seem to have been quite radical changes in motive power policy between Maunsell's depart to the SECR in 1913 & Morton's takeover in 1930 Maunsell had developed a proposal for a 3 cylinder 0-8-2T banking tank (perhaps an Irish equivalent of his SR Z Class) which was dropped in favour of the 900 Class A1. Building of futher Maunsell's excellent 341 Class 4-4-0s was dropped in favour of the 400Class 4-6-0s >It is rumoured that frames intended for additional 341 Class locos were used to rebuild the 321 Class locos in the 1920s Morton the MGWR CME although more senior was pipped for the GSR job by Bazin the GSWR CME with Morton as assistant. Bazin seems to have been opposed to superheating small and medium sized locos, but Morton was allowed free rein to continue the superheating of the 650 Class 2-4-0s at Broadstone. Morton reversed this policy with most GSWR & Midland standard classes superheated with a range of standard boilers from the 1930s to the end of steam. The scrapping of the 900s was unlikey to be a complete loss, boilers, wheels, motion were standard with other classes. Bazin Bazin

The odd thing is that 901 was built in 1924 after Watson's departure 9 years after 900. One of the theories is that some of the problems with Watson's locos arose as a result of friction between the Civil Engineers, the CME and the Chief Draftsman. One of the oddities is the speed with which the GSWR introduced the excellent 500 Class 4-6-0s so quickly after Watson's departure, were Bazin & Joyant working on the design when the boss was not looking?

It looks like those long MGWR buffers might foul the loading gauge on the running line when you are playing spin the loco. Locos turning on the Athlone MGWR table fouled the loading gauge on the Down Mayo Line and was interlocked with the signalling system.

Very few published photos of Castlegregory JHB very rare.

There is quite a bit of Sommervile and Ross (in the Castle Rackrent layout, the original layout was supposed to be in Joyce Country the terminus of a branch from Tuam, the layout was gradually extended eastwards towards Waterford. Station buildings are mainly North Kerry , The Burma Road gets a look in the station building at Moygraney is based on Kiltamagh though the signal box is from Towcester. There appear to be a few Australian 5'3" items of rolling stock Victoria Railways seems to have been rather fond of blue. Alan: Models of GSWR locos are challenging to build most locos had a combination of sloping smokeboxes, curly running plates, wrap around tank engine cabs & thousands of snap head rivets and drawings are not exactly easy to find. Apart from the SSM 101 no kits are available, the 201 0-6-0T the tank engine version of the 101 would probably be the simplest build should be possible to use many of the kit parts including castings, frames and smokebox. The 0-6-4T & 0-4-4BT have grown on me down the years would make really distinctive models and was surprised to find that the sole surviving NZR Single Fairlie 0-6-4T has a GSWR design cab, bunker and trailing bogie. A couple of GSWR 0-4-4BT were built as Single Fairlies, perhaps some deal was done in return for dropping the Fairlie royalty payments or the GSWR drawing office did a nixer for Avonside

The Midland Great Western built a track laying machine that worked on much the same principal in the 1920s complete with trolley that carried track panels along the train in the video. The GSR preferred to use the machine to lift track and dismantle lines. The Midland engineer patented the design which was developed and used in the UK into the 1960s as the Morris Track Layer see 1.39

Somehow or other the Shannon/Foynes and Galway Harbour Development Plans http://www.galwayharbour.com/new_port/dp.php?c=97 remind me of the rival 19th Century plans to establish a Transatlantic port on the West Coast. The rival plans to establish a container port for the new super vessels on the West Coast almost has the air of a South Sea Bubble about them underwritten by the state. Its possible that Limerick Foynes are considering transhipping container traffic between the Far East and ports in Europe on a new deep sea wharf rather than purely Irish container trade. This is starting to happen in some ports with most of the traffic arriving and departing by sea rather than through the port gate. Another factor is that now that shipping companies have become masters of playing port companies off against each other, locally Maresk has changed ports so often in recent years its difficult to keep track of movements. With three main container ports this is less of a factor in Ireland, most of the industry is relatively near Dublin & Cork, Waterford has to compete with Dublin and Cork to stay in business as it just has not got the population or industrial base. I think IE estimated a figure of $8m eu to re-open the Foynes branch as a basic railway for the Pallas Green traffic using used cwr on conc sleepers recovered from the Cork line re-lay, probably one train working. Level crossings should either be eliminated or automated, the cost of paying for a second man over 36 years to ride in the cab of the Tara ore trains to open and close the gates at Beaupark would have more than paid of a set of crossing lights and a barrier.

I stuck with the DesignCAD mainly because I don't want to take another 10 year getting used to another programme. The main advantage for me is that movement of the cursor can be calibrated to move in steps by the key board arrows, as I prefer to move the cursor with the arrows rather than the mouse. The personal version of Sketchup may be an option for 3D I was surprised to find that one of the local sheetmetal workshops use Sketchup for prototypng before converting to the cutter software.

I think Foynes and Waterford ports are in competition for the Pallas Green zinc traffic whenever the mine gets to the production stage. Train lengths and the short length of crossing loops and sidings is a real issue. While IE claim that its freight services are profitable, operating and maintenance costs must be high given the low capacity and age of the rolling stock, both the 071s and 201s are getting on a bit and fuel hungry. On average the loco and wagon fleet is now older than what the GSR took on in the 1920s, the vacuum braking system pretty much obsolete. Provided you had the traffic longer trains would allow freight to be carried at a lower rate and justify a financial case for new locos and stock and longer loops and sidings.

Unless you are a professional user or can get a student copy an AutoCAD or Solidworks license would be pretty serious investment for an modeller. I have use DesignCAD a 3D an inexpensive modelling programme for all my drafting including masters for etching and 3d printed models through Shapeways. It probably took me 5-10 years to really master the programme and after 15 years I am still discovering features that would probably be second nature to professional designers like Richie & Dave. Most of the cheaper programmes have their idiocyrcries weird things happen when you try to convert a DesignCAD file into stl. for 3d printing or dxf. or drg. for photo engraving. The 2D version of Draftsight has had good reviews and is free http://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight-cad-sof...'>http://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight-cad-sof....'>http://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight-cad-sof.... I looked at changing to TurboCAD or Draftsight but could not get used to a new user interface after 15 years with DesignCAD. http://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight-cad-sof... DraftSight - Dassault Systèmes http://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight-cad-sof... Going back to modelling the GSWR in 1910 the tapered boiler Coey 4-4-0 were really distinctive machines the GSR rebuilds with parallel boilers and canopy cabs really spoiled their appearance.

Sticks of rhubarb.......... worse than a Triffid the vine has started to climb the trees into the neighbours garden should be spreading its tendrils in Ireland in another couple of weeks. 1st of the pumpkins should be ready to eat in a few weeks

Nothing to report on the small scale side in recent weeks, mainly focused on the workshop installing a permanent power supply to the work bench and sourcing parts for the Unimat, buying a lathe/milling machine is only half the cost. I used the Unimat in anger for the first time when I turned a couple of silver steel replacement valve gear pins for a G Scale 2-6-0. The Dinge Railcar and a G Scale 2-8-0 are the main priorities at the moment. The railcar is urgently required to replace the Bachmann railtruck on the mails after the final drive gave up , parts for rear axle out of stock, the 2-8-0 has been out of service for over 5 years and is needed before the smaller engines wear out. Dingle Railcar sub assemblies Fresh from the paint shop. I am planning to build a separate chassis in nickel silver with a Northyard or North West Shortline gearbox as I am not 100% happy with the design of the kit chassis. Railcar posed on the main line outside the engine shed. The body is finished with aerosol car paint, in an attempt to get something close to the GSWR/GSR purple lake. The finish coat was applied over several layers of red oxide primer filler sanding down between coats. The ply required a lot of filling and sanding, I would have probably would have been better and faster to scratchbuild the body in plasticard. Close up of railcar Most of the weight is over the front axle with the whitemetal bonnet and castings. Roof to be painted dark grey/dirtyblack, grab handles, door knobs and glazing to be fitted. Some US narrow gauge lines ran similar railcars. Rebuild of Bachmann 2-8-0 into DRGW C25 The Bachmann large scale 2-8-0 was out of proportion to Bachmann Big Haulier and LGB American narrow gauge locos and stock. The rebuild is intended to improve the proportions with more typical North American details than the Mexican or South American look of the stock Bachmann engine. The cab took approx. one week to do laminated in 3 layers from 0.030", 0.060" & 0.030" Evergreen plastic sheet. The 3 ply construction is to resist warping and buckling, allow for detail relief and glazing rebates. When working in plasticard I usually stick the working drawing to the plasticard with glue stick or schoolglue then mark out/scribe with a Stanley knife or craft knife using a sharp blade and a straight edge. Apart from the cab the main visual changes to the loco were replacing the funnel, raising the headlamp, shortening the front platform by 1/2", narrowing the overall width of the loco and tender by a similar amount and removing the outside Baker valve gear on the loco, the DRGW engine had inside Stephensons gear. This loco will be fitted up either with on board battery radio control or wired for DCC with some form of "keep alive" decoder, even with pick up on all wheels reliable pick up on a garden railway can be a problem particularly in conditions of high humidity, i.e. most of the year! Unexpected problem in the Coke Ovens area Never get this with Woodland Scenics! Tomatoes plants and pumpkin grew up in one week after levelling out compost bin for landscaping. Better leave conifer planting until after the harvest

Very neat work Nelson the sand box shout out GNR. The GBL T9 might be an in expensive basis for a GNR Q or S Class or even a GSWR Coey 4-4-0, a few appear to have been kitbashed into Caley and Highland classes

Seemingly as a final fling the GNR operated a fast Belfast-Omagh-Enniskillen service with a single BUT railcar for a few weeks before the Irish-North closed in September 1957. The Enniskillen railcar operated as part of a fast Belfast-Derry service splitting at Omagh. The railcar used to haul a classical GNR Clerestory Brake Composite between Omagh & Enniskillen. The 701 Class railcars were Second Class only without a luggage compartment or van. No. 19 is a MGWR goods brake dating from the 1870s complete with wooden bake blocks, the vans were painted green rather than the usual MGWR dark grey or black. The photo of the C&L carriages was taken before the GSR removed the Balliamore carriage shed to save money on the rates and the carriages started to fall apart from the lack of shelter and a decent coat of paint