Mayner

I have finally got around to fixing the detail castings to the van. It took a long time to get to the casting stage but the results were well worth the delay, the axleboxes and springs appear to have been common to a number of Irish Railway Companies including the GNR and should be available at some sage through Dart Castings.

To whet the appetite a little bit batch of rtr vans going through the paint shops. Workbench is beginning to look like a railway carriage shops.

New loco mysteriously appeared in the carriage shed at Keadue

We might be able to sort something out, I have a couple of superheated 15s on the to-do list and had test etches prepared for the extended smokebox, firebox, spectacle plate and heavier main frames.

Happy Birthday!

The layout at Claremorris was extensively re-modelled for the Knock Pilgrimage traffic in the 1940s, locomotive shed demolished and a through platform road added from the Tuam Line, East and West signal cabins an yard ground frame closed with new central cabin. Turntable from Glanmire road added to allow turning of Woolwich Moguls. The 1996 OSI ortho view should show the layout before the junction with the Tuam line was "rationaised"

Looking good, I look forward to the chassis build.

The one great advantage of working in metal over plastic is that you can nearly always rescue a model if you make a complete mess of the first build. I have a 30 year old J26 & a 27 year old J15 still going strong still on their original gears, wheels and motors. I made complete mess of the original build of the J15 and re-built both locos in the mid 1990s. Kit design has come a long way in 30 years more recent designs like the SG2, Bredin Coaches and no doubt 800 & the Bandon Tank use a lot more bolt together modular construction. After trying the steamers I found the Craftsman BR 02 & 07 diesels a good starting point, todays Judith Edge diesel shunters have a reputation of being easy to build, the RH 165DS s just right for Tuam Sugar Factory and seems to have spent most of her life in BR Blue.

I developed an interest in the Delaware & Hudson and pretty much settled on that road n the re Conrail era after buying an N Scale Atlas (Kato) RS3 around 20 years ago. I was fascinated by the number of railroads and variety of power in the North East, at the time nothing came close to the Atlas & Kato diesels in terms of detail and quality of running. I got hooked on Alco's clearing out Victors stock of FA1s and RS11 and hunting down a pair of Con-Cor PA1s. Apart from the RS3s little was available in D&H colours,. The FA1s were painted in the original CP maroon & gray scheme, the RS11s & PA1s in D&H colours. Second generation power joined the fleet when Kato introduced their U30Cs and SD45s including locos in D&H colour the early 90s, Erie Lackawanna & Reading SD45 joined the fleet both for use on run-though trains from the South and West to New England an Canada and for interchange traffic with other roads. The amount kit bashing and modification reduced and some of the less satisfactory power as replaced by newer Atlas offerings including the big Alco 628s in D&H & LV "Snowbird" colours and Kato PA1s. I haven't done anything with the N since a house move 6-7 year ago, most of the locos now live in a display case in the hall, everything else boxed away. Besides the D&H I had a brief flirtation with a Western Maryland logging/coal mining railroad in HO inspired by a late 1990s railfaning West Virginia, somehow or other I managed to resist modelling the UP & BNSF despite spending several week in the West an Mid-West I guess a day-job,4year old daughter, freelance garden railway and Irish Modelling itrests' keeps me occupied

An 800 or GNR Vs or possibly a Compound would probably sell better than the other less glamorous classes ;-). A collector would fee obliged to buy all 3 800 or 5 Vs but would probably be satisfied with one J15 or WT.

Happy Christmas everyone!

Cast iron is good in compression but is quite brittle with no tensile strength, with only single line of supporting columns it was only a matter of time of one snapping once the canopy started to flex. These 1:100 year weather events are becoming increasingly frequent, tornados seem to re-occur in much the same areas part of Auckland is developing a reputation of a tornado alley with two quite bad ones in recent years

I cant get the ink to work but excellent RM Web thread under Forums UK Prototype Discusson on the inside of a large 1960s goods depot. Lots of photos of seemingly organised chaos being transferred from road to rail, Scammell tractor and trailer units crowded city streets and typical Coppeeration Flats. come on Richie!!!

Beautiful stuff, can we please have some more!!!!!! Three great truck marques Bedford, AEC & Guy. The Guy Big J artics lasted a long tie possibly into IE day. Its interesting that the road freight division seems to have preferred AEC over Leyland although it was all part of BMC/BL EFE have rigid and artic versions of the AEC/Leyland Ergonomic & Bedford TK flat beds and vans, I think Corgi do a Big J tractor andtraier unit. Perhaps its time for an EFE or Corgi limited run CIE truck set.

Markings on both sides possibly to make the number takers job easier/safer when locos, coaches, wagons were marshalled in a train.

Prototype for everything department Shinge Roofing http://www.shingleroofing.co.nz/ The shingles are like a full size version of what David has described stuck in overlapping strips to plywood rather than a plasticard sub-base

I think the containers may have started life as open siders rather than shipping containers that were introduced to a can opener. These were for palletisied traffic like lime from Carlow to Belfast. This was before the development of modern curtain sided vans and containers, the section above the doors were fitted with green tarps. Most of this sort of traffic was lost in the 80s as the railways concentrated on deep sea container traffic

It would probably be easier to start with a complete kit than using Worsley Works parts to build a coach. The brass assembly is simple enough, forming the roof can be quite challenging and sourcing all the necessary bits and pieces time consuming and expensive. I did a how to for New Irish Lines and Alan Doherty on the Park Royals & Laminates http://www.worsleyworks.co.uk/NG/NG_NIL_Art1.htm The SSM 30T goods brake, Bredin coaches or one of my tin vans would probably be an easier and more economic starting point.

I don't think all that electronic wizardry will ever quite catch it

You big tease

Asking price dropped by $200k now on Al Jazeera http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKj_5cbMrksThe owners let the cat out of the bag in a 2010 interview. Council had refused resource consent to develop the township due to risk of flooding & earthquake.

I will probably look at doing the Achill Bogie at some stage after the G2 2-4-0 and Midland Standard goods. 2050?.

There were 10 4w Sorting Vans, they seem to have been used to replace pre-amalgamation 6 w TOPs on secondary lines main lines. Up and Down afternoon Sligo trains crossing at Carrick on Shannon 1975 © J W Sutherland. Interesting comparison in body profiles between early MK2 Bredin and later Laminate/Craven period stock The TPO has a similar profile to the 1st coach an early (1953) CIE Second Open. The heating van at the head of the down train is a 6 wheeler with a similar profile to the Laminates and Cravens, the rest of the train appears to be a mix of early CIE stock and Park Royals. The van in David Malone's photo appears to be coupled to a 4w luggage van possibly as part of the Night Mail to Mullingar.

Otira is a bit like Keddie on the Western Pacific a railway ghost town that never quite made it as a holiday resort. The town and hotel came on the market when the electrified operation through the tunnel ceased in the late 1990s. [video=youtube;h7_B-Xs2f1I] The main draw back is that Arthurs Pass at the top of the pass is much better sited and gets most of the trade, the Hotel only fills up when the road through the pass is blocked with ice and snow.

If you are going to that degree of accuracy, it would probably be a good idea to visit Whitehead and measure up 171s motion the class was "renewed" in the 1930s and the motion may not be the original. An IRRS London Area member Richard McLachlan richardvmcl@aol.com is working on indexing and digitising a large proportion of GNR loco drawings which turned up in a clear out at Inchacore Works in 2011 after being "lost" when Dundalk Works closed after the break up of the GNR. The drawings appear to include component drawings with enough information to build a new full sized locomotive!