Mayner

It might be easier to keep the ship/container transfer in the background In most modern ports the railway sidings are usually in a separate area from the ship loading area, with reach stackers and straddle handlers shuttling containers between the railway sidings and container storage/stacking area such as Dublin Port & overseas. http://www.port-tauranga.co.nz/About-Us/Port-Map/Sulphur-Point/ In Taraunga and Auckland Ports lines of modern warehouses separates the container sidings from the container storage and sorting area with reach stackers and straddle carriers running back and forth between the two areas like ants The arrangement in Waterford and Belview where the same gantry served both ship and rail is not the most efficient and is generally avoided in modern practice. Rather than swapping the containers around it might be worth having rakes of wagons with different wagon. The real challenge is whether to start switch containers around between each move or even run the occasional train of empty decks to collect urgent export traffic, or simply have a number of different rakes to ring the changes.

The Crest system uses a 2.4GH transmitter receiver similar to RC model planes and helicopters rather than Wi Fi technology. Its a pretty good system has been available for many years the main change seems to be the mobile phone style keyboard transmitter. Mainly used for G scale with either on board or track power or HO track power like Patrick's layout. I am gradually converting the garden railway from DCC to on board battery RC using the Australian RCS system. Finding a space for a radio receiver/power controller and batteries in an HO or OO gauge loco will be challenging, its tight enough fitting the gear in a G Scale loco, many users place the batteries and control gear in a coach or box car with a jumper lead to the loco.

There is a contemporary Bruce Heaven drawing in one of the back issues of New Irish Lines not sure hoe accurate or if its on line. My own version 30' over body 20' wheelbase 10'3" wide at waist level 9'6" at cantrail.

The shed extension might have been a WLWR thing, Tuam goods shed had a similar arc roofed timber framed extension. The goods sheds more or less functioned in a similar manner to a modern Logistics warehouse or distribution depot, as a local distribution centre and warehouse. There was little or no modernisation or mechanical handling into the 1960s when the railways started to palletise sundries traffic. The goods shed would have been used for more urgent/valuable sundries traffic basically anything from a needle to an anchor, beers, wines, spirits, cigarettes, motor parts, tyres etc, individual full wagon loads could be loaded/collected by the customer on a milage siding. Several stores including Clonmel were used as bagged cement stores under Railplan 80 with sundries traffic handled in caged pallets in Uniload containers. Before containerisation the goods sheds tended to be used for sundries traffic, with wagon loads handled outside the shed. A farmer might buy a wagon load of cement or fertiliser and use"his wagon" as a mobile warehouse unloading it when needed. This still goes on to a certain extent with train load traffic in the US a broker might buy a train load of grain or other commodity during a glut and store it in a yard somewhere until the price rises.

Brilliant photo. No42 was the last surviving Ivatt 2-4-2T lasted until 1963. Ancient looking but fairly modern by GSWR standards one of a class of 6 normally used on Cork-Cobh & West Cork passenger services. There may have been some kind of swap between sheds as an ex-MGWR 0-6-0T 552 was transferred for use on the West Cork in the same era. The 2-4-2T may have been hand for getting into nooks corners around Inchacore and Broadstone a larger loco could not reach. 42 seems to be getting a boiler wash out and having her tubes cleaned a job that would be done in much the same way in 2013 as 1893 when 42 was built.

Holy moly! that's ambitious. Look forward to seeing the backdrop on the Lower Glanmire Road & around the tunnel mouth!

Interesting RM Web thread on the economics of 3D printing up to 17 hours to print certain models and $350 for a high quality print of a small N scale tank locomotive body. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/74402-3d-printed-kits/page-4

There is a photo of 28 and a couple of UTAs steam outline diesel shunters on the ITG Website http://www.irishtractiongroup.com/previous_locos.htm

Real time piece 1930 GSR electro mechanical lever frame possibly Heuston, mechanical staff exchange at Maynooth 121s on the Sligo, 1970s state of the art CTC with line side telephone, gantry crane controlled by whistle signals in the Lifting Shop at Inchacore.

Marc That GSWR cattle wagon is seriously gob smacking stuff

I used the old Athearn SD9 mech as a basis for motorising an A Class and found it easier to fabricate a frame from KS Brass box section and strip than trying to shorten the Athearn die-cast frame. I managed to keep the drive to both trucks by removing one of the flywheels & mounting the motor low between the frames.

I wanted something that looked a little bit more like an Irish hedge than a strip of foam rubber or pot scourer. I had a read of Barry Norman's Landscape Modelling and he recommended using pan scourer with Woodlands Scenics foliage net. Pan scourer did not work out but I had some rubberised-horsehair and it did the job nicely.

Fantastic Moggie great atmosphere and fair play for having a go at something as odd ball even by Irish standards as the steam era West Cork.

Great tutorial Gareth. Styrene is a very easy material to work with all you need is a craft-knife a steel straight edge and imagination. Are some useful tips on the Evergreen web site http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/Book.htm

After building two rakes of coal wagons I thought it was about time to show it actually runs too. First off 3T with a laden coal special.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzctNhlwjAE 6T with the daily mixed empty coal wagons need to do some work on the sound effects

Interesting photos from the early 1950s including good 3/4 view of D Class shunter 1003 in early CIE livery

I found Howes "Weathered Black" to be pretty good an eggshell or matt varnish will give two totally different effects. Similar loco same paint totally different effect. 6T in Halfords satin black

Well done on finding that gem there is a whole series on the Australian Metrovicks! WAGR must have sorted out some of the problems with the Crossley engines to keep the locos into the 1980s.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F8s1InPWxM&NR=1&feature=endscreen.

Paul Greene took over Studio Scale Models from Terry McDermott in early 1990s and was probably the driving force behind the GSWR 6w coaches and open and convertible wagons. I wonder if Paul produced S scale photo toolings of the SSM J15 & 6 wheel coaches, the GSWR & MGWR convertible wagons are a dead ringer for the SSM 4mm kits.

Some more editions of IRN published on the RPSI web site July 1965 takes me into more familiar territory The Stones had just released Satisfaction, C233 & 234 just received their Maybach power plants, bulk cement and Shelton traffic started. NET supplied Albatros in New Ross and Gouldings Alexandra Road with raw material (sulphate of ammonia). On the down side The GNR Derry Road closed in February, the Guinness Tramway had just closed and Mallow-Waterford had two more years. http://www.steamtrainsireland.com/IRFN/IRFN1103.pdf. The most striking thing was the UTA were literally giving away its railway assetts £21,000 for 24 steam locos, two diesel railcars and some boilers. Mostly modern GNR locos Us, Vs, SG3 & 4 NCC Moguls................& the Warrenpoint Branch for £30,000. The only consolation was that 207 might just show up on steam powered Belfast-Dublin "Tourist Train", I may not have imagined seeing a big blue steam locos with smoke deflectors crossing the viaduct at Gormanstown as a kid all those years ago:banana:

Even more gob stopping photos of Kilbrandon on the S Scale Society Web Site http://www.s-scale.org.uk/gallery15.htm the station is based on Killorglin.

If anyone wants to have a go I have 4 sets of Georgian windows and doors complete with foot scrapers for the doorway and brick arches.£10 fret including postage just right for a two storey house around Dublin's North Inner Citty. I can do a similar fret for a 3 or 4 storey building if anyone fancies a go at a replica Monto or Merrion Square.

For someone wanting to have a go at 3D printing its probably better to have a go at building a model using free software and a bureau like Shapeways before forking out for a 3D printer. A lot of models have been produced using free software such as Google Sketchup, the demonstration version of Cubify Invent http://cubify.com/products/cubify_invent/index.aspx or Alibra are probably a better option as they can produce a file in a printer friendly format.

I used Loco-Buffer http://www.dccsupplies.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=24_231&products_id=884 as a USB interface with JMRI open source software at one stage to set up route setting on an N gauge layout. The main benefit of computer control was that it didn't take long to get the system up and running and easier to let go of with only a virtual panel to scrap when I had to dismantle the layout. The main draw back of computer control or any form of automation is that when you add signalling and detection you will end up with nearly as much wiring and hardware as Connolly CTC.

JHB Nearly as bad as a Dublin man been asked in South Kerry "arru from Tralee?. 1975 brings back mixed memories doing the Leaving all those line closures, it was another year before I was working and could splash out on a rambler ticket. Except on a wild calm day its always windy in the stone wall country across east Galway and Roscommon either a South Westerly across the Atlantic or an Easterly all the way from Russia. I helped out operating the MRSI Loughrea layout at a few exhibitions about 20 years ago I always remember a German woman looking at the layout and remarking that the country around Loughrea must be pretty bleak.