Mayner

Now, why would I want to announce a rtr Class VS? I've already got one! Colm Flanagan has made about half a dozen for various of us over the last or so.

 

If you guys look up the link John has highlighted, I hope that you realise that the main photo isn't "Merlin" ( a Class V) but almost certainly No.207 after the UTA bought it in 1963.

 

John, I've noted your version of an Irish North train. Give me a while and I'll marshall it upstairs and see if I can persuade the camera to photo it.

 

Leslie

I managed to convince myself that I saw 207 Liffey at some time between first hearing “She loves me” and “Satisfaction”so definitely post 1963.

A master for a resin UG should be fairly straight forward to produce. Alternatively if you can find a builder the Worsley Works UG might be a workable alternative for batch building, especially if it can be made to fit on a Bachmann SECR C Class chassis.

I did a test build, as you suggested, and discovered I was building in HO. Oops, scaling error.

Making some changes now.

I went the opposite way accidently building a MGWR 6 coach possibly I S scale from a drawing in Model Railway magazine, I only noticed something looked when I built a matching pair of coaches from a drawing in a later edition of the magazine. I transferred the dimensions directly off the drawings without checking the scale.

I though for a moment that Laurie was announcing a rtr Vs 4-4-0 http://transportsofdelight.smugmug.com/RAILWAYS/IRISH-RAILWAYS/GREAT-NORTHERN-RAILWAY-IRELAND/17846660_NWbrJP#!i=1744829757&k=ZTq6jCm. I have managed to convince myself that I saw 207 in action on the main line, my first loco a a chisler in the early 60s

GLR3D Model Design seem to have mastered the art of 3D design with this van and the GNR full brake all that's needed is a couple of non-corridor coaches and a few bread vans to make up a typical Irish North passenger train.

Surprisingly kits of most of the common loco classes are available in kit form from SSM, Worsley Works and GLR3D. The little GLR JT tank appears to be a reasonably simple to build model for the beginner and ideal for the Belturbet branch. The blue liveried S & U Class 4-4-0s added a splash of colour, S worked to Enniskillen on a GAA special and possibly other excursions, while the modern U class regularly worked daily the Bundoran Express through from Dundalk. The SSM PP 4-4-0 and SG and AL 0-6-0 are suitable goods engines.

Brilliant stuff Tara & Valarie seem to have found a winning formula of using a the branch line railway as a vehicle to launch a performing arts project. It will be interesting see I the evening train ride develops into a regular thing nice way to unwind after a busy day/week, a couple of drinks would go down very well with the food and conversation.

It might be worth while looking at getting a Silhouette Cutter! I would recommend preparing a template drawing for one wagon and doing a test build to check fits and minimum width/sizes for strappings and other details, to avoid repetitive errors before batch building.

If you haven't gotten to deep with TurboCad it might be worth trying Draftsight its free 2D software http://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight/overview/.

The main disadvantage is that the TurboCAD is that the file format is incompatible with the programmes used in photo etching, laser cutting and 3D printing and its necessary to export the file to a dxf. or a 3d modelling format which can result in all sorts of interesting problems.

The 071s were delivered in a slightly darker richer shade of orange to that used for other locos and coaches. They were more intensively used than other classes and tended to be look a lot darker as they were usually covered in road grim.

Good to see those old H&M controllers still going strong.

A little information on the plough wagon. 3409m bought 1924 possibly war surplus built by a Belgian company 40 ton capacity 60' long bogies 49' centres.

I read somewhere think it was IRN that its planned to permanently close central cabin and control movements to and from the platform lines from the Waterford Check Cabin. The Line to Belview appears to be worked as an extension of the goods yard.

From an operational point of view modernising/rationalising the signalling at Waterford is long overdue.

I suppose the big question is whether the citizens of Waterford or the rail users & the NTA pay for the preservation of the cabin,IE is basically broke.

Spudfan

Any idea what's the purpose of the machine that looks like a loco with hydraulic jacks?

The underframe looks very light for a loco. The yellow machine with caterpillar tracks, dozer blade and Hiab crane is used for preparing the trackbed and laying track, saw one operating at Boora in the 90s

Not your regular excursionists I love it some very cool and happening people!

Could make the branch a trendy venue for cultural events and parties. IE might even get Arts & Heritage Council funding.

I just completed the test build of the horse box, need to beef up the strapping detail on the doors. The production versions of the Horsebox and Meat Van should be available before Christmas.

The horse boxes and vans lasted in CIE services into the late 50s, there is a photo of a van in CIE livery with flying snail in Des Cookham's Irish Broad Gauge Carriages.

The kit features fold up and slot and tab assembly, suitable for solder or glue assembly designed for 21mm or OO gauge.

Most large organisations tend to have white elephants tucked away. Guinness spent/wasted millions on product development that flopped anyone remember Guinness Light?

Apart from the 500 & 800 Class 4-6-0 & the Woolwich most of the GSWR and GSR steam locos of the 1920s & 30s were flops or not as good as engines they were intended to re-place.

The whole business of the Drum Battery Train puts the waste with Alstom DMUs & EMUs into the halfpenny place, the final units were withdrawn after less than 10 years service because no one was willing to fund the cost of replacement batteries. This was at time CIE was struggling to import coal while new hydro electricity and peat burning power stations were coming on line.

The Fermoy & Lismore was basically the Duke of Devonshire’s private railway, no doubt the station buildings were intended to be in keeping with his castle.

The Duke seems to have been something of a railway enthusiast ,besides financing the Fermoy & Lismore and other local lines in Munster the Duke had his own private engine Dunrobin and station on the Highland Railway in Scotland.

The WDLR struggled to make ends meet, building its own station in Lismore probably cost less than paying the F&L for the use of its station and share of the signalling and infrastructure costs.

The diagram looks like the F&L and WDLR each had their own signal cabin controlling the signals and crossover at the approach to their stations. This would have allowed passenger or mixed trains from Tallow Road and Cappaquin to arrive in their platforms simultaneously.

The F&L side of the station is basically a typical branch line terminus with single platform roof, runround loop, goods yard and loco shed. The WDLR appears to have a platform road, run round loop and loco shed.

Crossover 6 in the diagram may have been hand operated at some stage and used to allow a loco to run round at train at either platform.

The crossover with the diamond crossing from the loop to the engine shed is a GSWR arrangement, which allow a train to shunt from the loop to the loco shed while a train is in section from Tallow Road. The WDLR appears to have had its own loco shed but no turntable shown in the diagram.

Train working at Lismore in WDLR days would have involved a lot of shunting, possibly with two passenger trains in the station at the one time, locos running round turning and servicing before re-marshalling their trains and in American terms interchange traffic between the GSWR & WDLR.

The GSWR may have routed goods traffic from the South-West to Waterford over the WDLR as a friendly connection rather than over the W&L which was considered a serious competitor.

Small obscure railway almost no published information, no kits or RTR sounds tempting

The engineers equipment makes an unusual model, I like the look of that drilling rig. The scrap containers were very heavily weathered to a browny black colourprobably a combination of road dirt and brake dust.

It might be worth while looking through back issues of the IRRS Journal from that era for equipment used in the electrification. CIE was acutely short of coaches at the time, s mainly loose coupled corrugated opens and the odd 1/2 height container wagon used or spoil.

Ready mixed concrete agitator on bogie wagon used to transport concrete to work site for signal and mast bases, short trains made up of 4w open and closed containers to transport tools and equipment, MK1 4w container flats fitted with Haib crane for erecting signal posts.

I lost most of my very grainy photos from the electrification. Loose coupled train made up of unconverted beet wagons and 4w container flats with half height containers seem to used to carry spoil, most ended up dumped a Liffey Junction.

Atlas "Rubber Duck" excavators widely used, CIE Priestman crane on Lomac hired in Ruston or NCK crawler cranes for lifing in point and crossing work, baby Metrovicks n engineers trains.

Lismore looks like an interesting little station

Not exactly the smallest station on the line some good photos of the line in the Waterford Museum collection http://www.waterfordmuseum.ie/exhibit/web/BasicImageSearch/offset/15/location/_3_25_14_/

Apart from the trice-weekly Boat Trains traffic seems to have been very light, the route was indirect compared with the road for Cork-Fermoy and Cork-Waterford traffic. Like most cross country lines CIE didn't exactly encourage traffic with a single one train a day stopping service, goods traffic over the centre section between Fermoy & Dungarvan seems to have been fairly light. Fermoy and Lismore seem to have the look of an abandoned railway about them with few wagons to be seen in photos of the yards.

Possibly would have been different had the route survived into the 70s with Cork Waterford Bell Traffic and Tivoli-Ballinacourty Oil-Magnesite, possibly export container traffic from Waterford Co-Op Dungarvan to Waterford or Dublin Port. A layout based on the line would make a wonderful scenic model with its combination of mountain backdrops compact station layouts and signature viaducts including Fermoy Capaquinn , Abbeyside Causeway, Ballyvoyle, Strabally, Kilmacthomas and numerous level crossings.

As the words of the novel go 'The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there' I would like to think they had Comely maidens to tend to the needs of the great unwashed like me in the standard class too

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I somehow think that after this picture was taken this lady went back to the superstandard passangers. Dont think you would get a beehive under that hat.

Different Country indeed porter wheeling passengers luggage in backround. The Supertrain publicity from the early 70s included hostess in more contemporary dress,dig those chequer board platforms and purple orange trains

Gang,

 

I'm all upset now having purchased two of them 1st Class Craven yokes provided to us modellers by young Mr Murphy. I never thought about how the alignment of the windows to the seats or even the seats to the windows might have changed when the conversions took place. I just thought of the type of passenger that would occupy the first class seats and decided to place a superior type of person in my First Class Cravens. The women wear hats, have gloved hands, matching shoes and handbags whilst the men have removed their headgear and placed it in the racks above the seats. The newspapers and magazines they have in their hands are, The Irish Times, Financial Times, Playboy, Mayfair and other salacious publications that were only obtainable in the North of Ireland. My evening is ruined. I'm going to have to change the interior of the coaches, and ask all of them people to move from out of their seats because they don't have the right to be where they are. Mayhem will be heard in my railway room for days.

 

Seriously, thank you to each of you for providing this interesting historical information.

 

David.

What no Cork Examiner "The Paper" on the Cork expresses boy?

For he late 60s era you will need airline seating and orange mini-skirted hostesses with beehive hairdoos :oin the Superstandards.

Good to hear that you are still beavering away and exploring the world of CAD & 3D design. The real fun begins in exporting from Turbocad to the photo engraver or 3D printing formats.

I would not panic too much about lead or the soldering, from an occupational health perspective our exposure from hobby use are likely to be very low and unlikely to result n harm, in terms of heath effects there is little difference between soldering, using solvents to weld plastic and spray mist from painting.

Good hygiene and adequate ventilation are probably the most important, with reasonably priced spray booths and extractor fans for soldering on the market.

While Inchacore built 1st 1145 &1146 were the 1st to be fitted with double glazing, the credit for air conditioning goes to the GSR at least one of the 1937 "Bredin" Composites was fitted with "Stones air conditioning plant".

Presumably the intake air was fed through a refrigeration unit to adjust the temperature & humidiiy similar in principal to a heat pump and vented through the roof & window vents

Preview 1953 Corridor 3rd shrunk drawn in late 1950s green style to provide some contrast. The 61'6" coaches shrink down nicely to fit the Dapol body shell without distorting the overall proportions as the sides of the Dapol coaches scale out marginally lower than the Irish coaches.

Half etching the sides leaves hinges, doorstops, widow frames and panel joints in relief, the builder can mark the outline of the doors using a square and a scriber.

I have also drawn up a jig for cutting out window openings, & drilling out for door handles and grab rails.

I am looking at finalising the brass work for the flats later this month, then its a matter of sorting out some castings probably for release in early-mid 2015.

While the lead time and turn round on the etching side of things is quite rapid, lead time form pattern making to the finished castings are much longer and less predictable.

A narrow gauge railway was used for hauling out targets to the Curragh Camp rifle range. Does anyone know if it still exists?

I was on the Craven's last weekend and it was stepping back in time but in a magical way. Brought back many memories of trips gone by!

 

They are really comfortable (to me anyway) and I wonder if the same people who described them as dirty and past it back in the 90's are happier with their more cramped, hard stiff railcars now?

 

The lighting in the one I was sitting in, was the standard central, fluorescent system up along whole length of the roof the carriage.

 

I was on a carriage years back, passing Avoca, and I remember the lights were not central strip lighting. They were in sets, kind of circular, like a sausage slowly unravelling. Can anyone tell me was that the lighting in the earlier set of the Craven's? Or were they a different carriage?

Cravens originally had a reputation of being very rough riding compared to older stock. The coaches were very light and the B4 bogies used under the Cravens did not ride as well as a Commonwealth. At one sage a Craven was fitted with DB pattern bogies and additional weights to see if it would make ay difference.

I like your description sausage slowly unravelling.

Circular fluorescents used to up-grade the lighting from traditional light bulbs in a lot of the pre-Craven stock including Park Royals and Laminates.

Not sure what lighting the Cravens had at first, had strip lighting when I started exploring the main lines in the mid 70s.

By the by, the maroon versions of the LMS coaches appear to be only £11.80, against the crimson and cream at £12.90.

Replica do kits of B4's that appear to be a direct fit to Dapol coaches (same Mainline lineage?) Is that right?

And, yes, I would be interested too - in the BSGSV at least! Should have said so sooner.

I noticed the price difference too, as I write this a pair of Maroon coaches should be winging their way south for evaluation. Possibly looking at a set of test etchings mid-September.

The big decision at this point is whether to reproduce the window frames and cover slips over the panel joints in relief by half etching the sides similar to the Worsley Works Park-Royals or to engrave the outline similar to my Tin Van kits.

It should be possible to buy the basic bits for a layout coach for around £30, with say another £10 for detailing (interior, castings, roof pipework, ventilators etc.