Mayner

1 piece frames and horizontal frame spacers The Worsley Works set of parts is supplied with a simple fold up chassis and pair of nylon gears. The chassis is designed for 21mm gauge & one of the vertical frame spacers appears to be designed as a motor mount. I originally motorised the loco using a Black Beetle motor bogie, which I have since 'borrowed" to motorise a SSM Wickham trolley. Whenever I get round to it I will look at the option of fitting a layshaft and 2:1 spur gearing to the Worsley Works chassis, or simply order a 21mm gauge 28:1 Black Beetle from Steam Era Models. Its simple enough to build a G611 using the Worsley Works parts, steps, marker lights, possibly exhaust housing and other detail parts can be assembled from brass strip of tube. I started to build a G601 out of plasticard but never got round to forming the engine access panels, this loco was powered by a Tenshodo Spud totally unsuitable for a small shunting loco. There I still quite a bit of work to complete G617 to an acceptable standard, better to make a fresh start on G601

The photo of the VW Combi van under the viaduct takes me back of have a photo somewhere of my nearly new Rover 214SI parked under Stradally Viaduct during a weekend gricing the remains of the WDLR from Fermoy to Waterford.

New Zealanders still talk about Munster and Thomand Park like it was yesterday. The reaction at work today that it was that it was better to go down to Ireland than Australia or South Africa or France. Hopefully we will go for the Grand Slam in the 6 Nations

Great video, its interesting how rapidly 1970s state of the art Connolly CTC panel became obsolete while there is relatively little change in civil and mechanical engineering practice. From a heath and safety perspective I would have more issues with CIEs workshop and laboratory practice than the staff snatchers. Workers were exposed to significant risks in the workshop and the laboratory footage, there was no risk to public safety while mechanical exchange was in use at Enfield and Maynooth the stations were closed and the signal man is in his cabin.

I think the DC Kits G Class may be a better option than the Worsley Works or Silver Fox models. The master for the DC Kits loco were prepared by Mike Edge and has a higher level of detail and a better motor bogie than the Silver Fox model. Although more expensive the Black Beetle with a 27:1 gear ratio would be a much better option for a shunting loco than a Spud or standard 15:1 Blackbeetle http://www.dckits-devideos.co.uk/shop/kits_modelling/irish_railways_inc_murphy_models_rtr_kits_transfers/cie_irish_rail_class_g_shunter.php I built a model of G Class using the Worsley Works parts several years ago. I had to carry out quite major modifications to the cab due to a design error in the kit. Basically the position of the cab doors and windows were transposed on the one piece cab fret and it was necessary to cut out the cab sides with a piercing saw then swap them around after 1st assembling the cab. Worsley Works appear to have modified the artwork in response to the problem. The witness marks to the cuts are visible on the photo of Mike Edge’s Worsley G but not on Patrick Quinns loco. http://www.worsleyworks.co.uk/Image-Pages/Image_4mm_Deutz.htm

News section OO Works Web Site The issue of finding suitable replacements for Mashima motors has been discussed on RM Web. Wider issue than OO Works as most British made gear boxes are designed around Mr Mashima's motors

http://www.ooworks.co.uk/construction Link now seems to work.

Providing running clearance for 21mm gauge wheels sets and crank pins could be challenging with the combination of cast metal and resin construction The construction section of the OO web site in includes the U Class http://www.ooworks.co.uk/construction

Its a pity they did not film the concourse, the bars in Chicago Union Station bring back some happy memories from 2003 & 2004 We have been through Chicago Union Station a number of times on AMTRAK and METRA services METRA platforms are a lot less claustrophobic than the AMTRAK platforms. American train crews tend to be enthusiastic about their work, we once had a METRA Conductor giving a running commentary on the towns, districts and railroads on a Saturday morning run from Harvard into Chicago, the traditional uniforms and ticket and the ritual of the Conductor placing your ticket above your seat is a real throw back to the days of traditional railroading. I spent several days taking pictures of trains including the California Zypher on Donner Pass in 2001 and finally got to ride the train from Denver to san Fransisco in June, getting on the train in Denver is a lot less frantic than Chicago!

Should make Peco, Dapol and other British rtr and kit manufacturers more competitive outside the UK which is good news to anyone buying track, kits, detail parts and tools from the UK.

There is the legend that 800 was scrapped and her name and number plates swapped with 801

:trains:Used to work near Pearse Station in 2003-4, during off peak periods there used to be a great line up of 201 powered Pushpull Sets stabled between the station and the Boston Sidings. From memory the 201s were in the as delivered paint scheme the large yellow nose scheme was introduced in 2005. Never thought I would get nostalgic about the MK3 Push Pull sets, though I developed similar feelings for Network South East 1st generation DMUs on Bedford-Bletchley & Gospel Oak -Barking trains

A great impetus for scratch building and British manufacturing industry Perhaps Hornby might resume manufacturing in Margate

I almost get the impression that the Government would prefer to let CIE and the railways eventually fade away, than grasp the nettle of breaking up CIE than develop a coherent surface transport policy including adequate funding for rail infrastructure and service based funding

Most likely the stone goods store at the city end of the station which may incorporate part of the old passenger station from the 1860s before the present station was built. IE and various developers have been floating around schemes for commercial developments for the past 20 year The present signal cabin is a fairly modern standard GSWR/GSR/CIE design and unlikely to be of historical significance. Perhaps a group of enthusiasts might like to buy it and restore it as a club house, if Cork ever goes over to power signalling

Wonder has he been to Woodlyn Park, Waitomo, planes ships trains? http://www.woodlynpark.co.nz/

The Limerick-Ballybrophy line used to be treated as a main-line rated for 70 mph running and the two daily passenger trains running through between Huston & Limerick up to the late 1970s. Before the re-modelling a train from the branch could run direct to the three main line platforms, trains ran round on the main line as there was no release from the Limerick bay platform. Trains crossed over from the branch to the island platform by an impressive double slip crossover at the North End of the platform. The foundations of the single road engine shed is just about visible at in the arial photo, the shed was last used as a shelter for asbestos removal from the Metrovick diesels and Park Royal coaches

Its probably better to look out for a used Atlas, Walthers or Bachmann Spectrum loco. The Model Power RS2 is based on quite old tooling, the chassis and running may not be up to current standards. The Model Power RS2 was originally introduced in the 1960s manufactured for AHM and Mehano in Yugoslavia. I used a few of their N gauge locos. Best described as disposable locos, the only advantage was that the models were cheap even when compared to Bachmann and Lifelike. I don't know if running quality improved when Mantua took over production. http://www.ho-scaletrains.net/ahmhoscalelocomotives/id31.html

Derby either built or re-gauged a number of Midland Railway vans to replace NCC stock destroyed as a result of air raids on Belfast. Slaters did a kit of a standard Midland van, though the vans sent to the NCC had slightly different diagonal bracing https://slatersplastikard.com/linePage.php?code=G3W024

A bit techy for modellers, probably best to try and chat to someone who has driven or maintained 071s or 141s.

The EU Emission Trading Scheme or the modern equivalent of the South Sea Bubble. Ballina Beverages admitted that they mainly use rail because of the lower carbon emission costs compared to road transport. http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/ets/index_en.htm This provides a subsidy to high energy sectors such as mining, power generation and heavy industry to use rail, which is not available to light industry and the service sector. Coca Cola & Coillte/Smart Ply Europe are likely to be classed as major energy users and are required to buy carbon credits or offset their emissions if they exceed their quota or allowance. It my be more profitable for a cement company to offset it excess Irish emissions by building an energy efficient plant in a less developed country than return to rail in Ireland. Possibly explaining CRH expansion into Eastern Europe, India & Asia during the last 8-10 years

A company that does laser cutting for sheetmetal work, or graphics or architectural models may be able to help. http://www.cncgroup.ie/technology.html http://www.snowlaserstudio.com

Travelling through Cherry Orchard was running the gauntlet for passenger on evening trains into Heuston in the 70s & 80s. CIE & the Gardaí did not seem to be too bothered about attacks on trains. While the Mk 2s & MK3 coaches were fairly safe passengers were sometimes injured by flying glass in older rolling stock.

I think the change from Grey to Orange bubbles was tied with CIE using up its stock of grey paint in the late 60s rather than an attempt to colour code wagons with different brake gear. The grey wagons in the Cabra Bank photo appear to have the later type of brake gear with 4 brake shoes rather than the earlier style with 8 shoe coach style brakes and hand brake wheel. The prime purpose of the paint is to prevent corrosion, the paint job on a newly built wagon should be good for at least 10 years before a repaint, this could result in considerable overlap between livery styles with a class of wagons built in small batches between 1964 & 72. Its just about possible that grey, orange and vanilla wagons may have ran at the one time The grey and orange wagons in the earlier photos certainly look cleaner than the later vanilla scheme. Was it something to do with the loading process at Platin, or was it simply that there was nothing to be gained for Irish Cement or CIE by keeping the wagons clean? An owner or road fleet bulk tanker driver by contrast would be quite religious about keeping his or her truck shining as the cleanliness of the truck is pretty much a reflection of how they run their business.

There were a number of design variations between the 1955 & 1959-60 batches of tin vans, plus in service variations among the Tin & Hooded Vans. The Tin Vans were originally introduced with full depth outward opening doors, the doors seem to have been shortened at an early stage most likely to avoid striking the edge of the floor and difficulty in closing. The final batches were fitted with recessed inward opening doors similar to the hooded vans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4U5MWhTpnM In later years windows on both tin and hooded vans were replaced with solid panels on an add-hoc basis, possibly to replaced damage panels. some tin vans lost most of their small windows apart from a single window in the guards compartment, in some cases the large boiler compartment window was replaced by a solid panels or possibly double doors. The vans were culled from main line service in the early 70s following the introduction of the Dutch Vans and CIEs programme of rebuilding Bredin and early CIE coaches into heating and luggage vans. A small no of the 4w heating vas were retained for suburban and branch line duties. There are photos of 4w TPOs in use on the Sligo Line in the early 70s and may have been used on Ballina-Limerick passenger trains. Some of the hooded vans lost their gangways and were repainted in an all over orange colour scheme similar to the Van Hool & Atlantean busses. These vans were used on Connolly-Dunlaoire mail trains until replaced by 20' ISO containers on 4 w flats. The underframes from the hooded vans had one last fling on the main line in 77 or 78 with Sean Connery & Donald Sunderland as coaches in the 1st Great Train Robbery!