Mayner

Scratchbuilding or commissioning someone to scratch build a GSWR 4-4-0 is probably the most practical approach for someone who wants a GSWR 4-4-0 as its difficult to see a manufacturer or "commissioner" with the possible exception of OO Works producing a rtr model or a kit. One of the difficulties in the sheer level of variation among the three classes of pre 1900 and six Classes of post 1900 4-4-0s that survived into the CIE era, not counting the ex-WLWR 4-4-0s JHB points out that 4-4-0s "The Kerry Bogies (a tiny engine) once worked the Kenmare branch all surviving members of the class were re-built by the GSR with Belpair boilers once common in Cork and Kerry all had gone by 1954. I produced a kit of the 52 Class with raised round topped firebox that could be assembled in GSWR or GSR/CIE condition, the majority of the Class were re-built with Belpair Boiler boilers in the 1930-40s in my opining spoiling the looks of the loco, 59 the "Quiet Man" engine was basically a 'one off" loco with a flush round topped firebox and 4'4" boiler not shared with other members of the class, possibly 3 sets of boiler and cab toolings for a single class of loco. The sheer number of variations in the slightly larger 60 Class are somewhat mind-blowing along with the original and superheated belpaire boiler versions, the GSR re-built come locos with new raised running boards and Bazin cabs similar to the large 321 Class to give them a more "contemporary" look during the 1920s. In all probability one of the large "modern looking" post 1900 321 or 333 Class 4-4-0s with a rake of Bachmann/Mainline Period 1 LMS coaches in GSR or early CIE livery would be a better option for an Irish "Train Set" steam loco, though unlikely to have hauled a solid rake of 6 wheel coaches unless on a GAA special. The re-built 321s were reasonably consistent in their appearance an express passenger loco used on the Main Line don't know if they worked to Limerick, Waterford or Tralee.

A Dundalk-Tuam Beet special operated up to the closure of the Tuam factory at the end of the 84/85 Campaign, Navan would have been served by a trip working to and from Drogheda. I was stopped by a very long Tuam-Dundalk empty special at Coolmine Level Crossing on my way home from work one Autumn evening in 84. Its possible Clogherhead might have loaded 2-3 wagons daily by a trip working from Drogheda in a similar manner to Fenit in its final years. In later years beet was usually unloaded directly by tipper lorry to the wagons from a raised section of the loading bank. Trucks would have been a mixture of Ford, Bedford and Dodge SWB 2 axle tippers with high wooden body owned by local hauliers rather than 'company' vehicles. There is a 1950s photo of beet being tipped into wagons at Tullamore in the O'Dea National Library collection

Don't think balancing was an issue more the fact that I produced 3 variations of the MGWR 2-4-0 and 1 of the GSWR 4-4-0. In my experience the demand for kits of Irish locos/stock is very low, with a relatively small number of regular customers, a high proportion of whom are experienced builders. There is little difference between balancing a 4-4-0 and a 2-4-0 ideally both types best assembled with a weighted tender to haul a reasonable load. Balancing appears to have been a problem with the OO Works GNR(I) U where there does not appear to have been a provision for transferring weight from the tender to the loco drawbar

Its more likely that a J15 hauled ex-GSWR branch line trains in CIE days, the majority of GSWR branch lines lost their passenger services by 1947 leaving Birr, Kenmare, Valencia and Youghal open to passenger traffic. Large ex-GSWR 0-6-0s and 4-4-0s likely to have been used on Cork-Youghal Line. Valencia branch trains were restricted to 6w coaches until restrictions eased and bogie coaches with large dia buffers allowed during mid 1950s Interestingly my ex-MGWR 2-4-0 kits sold a lot better than my ex-GSWR 52 Class 4-4-0 kits in a 3:1 ratio. Perhaps the best option would be for OO Works to produce a model of McDonald's NER D38 Class https://www.lner.info/locos/D/ner_38.php which look very close to the GSWR 60 Class, though its difficult if there is sufficient interest in a D38 Class among NER enthusiasts. Or to ask the company that holds the streaming rights to the Quite Man to sponsor a train set with a high quality model of No 59

First time I had a chance to operate the layout (play with trains) since June as a result of family commitments, CIE got an order to move another shipload of animal feed that arrived at Northwharf with the line open to wagon load traffic as-required. The yard is basically full of wagons! Local yard staff and train crews had hard words with Motive Power Control and sent a B121 after an A Class buffer locked running round wagons on the last grain special. The B121 is positioning bulk grain wagons for loading from the elevator, with hard topped wagons for bagged feed. There is a lot of shunting involved as only 2 wagons of bagged and 1 bulk grain wagon can be loaded at a time! The grey object behind the crane is a 3D print of an American elevator that took the best part of a day to print and punctured the printer p.f. film fortunately without destroying the printer LCD screen (the joys of home 3D printing) I am planning to build a dry-goods store in this area corrugated cladding and curved roof similar to Ranks Clara to fill the area between the old brick Maltings building and the elevator. The G Class dropped her guts (as been known to happen) and the B121 took over the shunting of laden H Vans between the mill and yard tracks. "Edward" and his handler moved the empties one at a time from the headshunt to the Mill. Its probable that wagons may have been used by capstan (rope) power on the Wharf siding though a modified tractor is likely to have been used by the late 60s, though a shunting horse would make a nice scenic feature. The wagon by the mill is a cripple (no couplers) and Edward go the gig because I seem to have mislaid my Hornby Peckett which is concerning. B125 with her train made up and ready to depart leaving Northwharf to slumber until the boat comes in. For me the real draw back with the layout, is that I can only run very short trains because of the restricted space (7'6")

Getting a bit pedantic B145 hauled the last Down Burma Road goods according to the WTT the WLWR down road was from Sligo to Limerick & Waterford Irelands Longest continuous main line even if it involved a reversal at Ennis Junction In its final years of operation the Sligo-Limerick and Limerick-Sligo goods trains basically operated as fast freights only calling at Ennis, Gort, Athenry and Tuam en-rout before becoming an all stations stopper serving Kiltimagh, Swinford, Charlestown and Tubbercurry on the Burma Rd

Stone buildings look very impressive, I must complete the buildings I started for the dock layout about 10 years ago, got to the same stage completing the stonew work and window openings and never progressed further.

In OO probably easier to scratch-build the body in plasticard on a Dapol Presflow or IRM Ballast Plough, in later years IE rebuilt the remaining ex-GSWR Brakes with similar running gear and ploughs to the "modern" ballast prloughs

The early version of the JCB3c similar to the Airfix/Dapol model had largely disappeared by the early 70s replaced by the more angular 3c2 model. When I started work in 76 our contractor replaced his 3c with a 3C2 possibly engine or hydraulic pump worn out An older machine might survive longer on light work like loading sand into railway wagons, I would fill-in or remove the teeth from the bucket, seldom used on a JCB (backhoe loader) and remove the backactor and replace with a rectangular block of concrete as a counterweight if only used for loading sand.

Adayoyle/Aghadavoyle was a popular location for models before Tony Miles built his Adavoyle layout during the 1960s/early70s a Model Railway Society of Ireland committee member had a OO gauge Adavoyle layout at at time models of Irish railways were extremely uncommon. I never got to see the layout, but saw some of the locos and stock, very much in the scratchbuilt body on a modified rtr chassis school of modelling. I picked up an O Scale Clogher Valley 0-4-2T on a triang Jinty chassis when the club disposedof his models. Loco body was a reasonable model in card and timber, but I wanted the chassis for a OO gauge project.

Have IE/Shannon Foynes Port Company identified an actual freight flow/customer or allocated funding for terminal facilities when the line re-opens in 2025?

Not much of interest in the way of shunting or the loading operation at Navan, the Dublin Port unloading operation is much more interesting with a lot more shunting. Basically the entire train of wagons is loaded inside a big shed, the only shunting as such is the loco running round the train. The entire Tara Mines operation was covered in an Irish Railfreight Video published by Paul Shannon during the early the 1990s, its possible Markle Associates may be able to help.

On the face of it Autumn makes sense relatively quiet time of year for cropping farmers and historically relatively dry settled weather conditions. The NZ Fieldays largest agricultural event in the Southern Hemisphere aimed mainly at the at the pastoral and forestry sectors held June (early winter) during the quiet period before the calving and lambing seasons when farmers have to work around the clock.. The Fieldays held in a permanent event centre is not as muddy as the ploughing https://www.fieldays.co.nz/attend-fieldays/about-fieldays

I built a small 4mm (EM gauge) industrial layout using C&L bull head track in a small apartment in the UK about 30 years ago! Pointwork handlaid using their abs chairs and sleepers and plain trackwork using C&L flexible track, fairly straightforward to use layout operated at home and at a number of exhibitions in Ireland and the UK including Warley As Horsetan indicated can work out expensive, especially if you use their pre-formed switch blades and crossing assemblies. Peco ready to lay Bullhead track system would probably be a better option if you are working in OO https://peco-uk.com/blogs/news/bullhead-oo-fine-scale-code-75-track Interestingly the chaired track is not too noticeable at normal viewing distance

Its being done in New Zealand one transport company is trailing a dual-fuel diesel-hydrogen truck for long haul work using the existing engine https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/131659022/southlandbased-transport-company-launches-dual-fuel-truck-powered-by-diesel-and-hydrogen-gas while hydrogen diesel conversions are being trialled on short haul waste disposal and civil engineering work in Auckland. Meanwhile Huyandi is pushing fuel cell technology with its Xcient range of trucks https://www.hyundai.co.nz/trucks/xcient/fuel-cell?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9-qCsqywgQMV_R-DAx2MtAs8EAAYASAAEgJJKfD_BwE The fuel is carried in cassette/container mounted behind the cab on the diesel conversions, probably need a fuel tender (not unlike the Union Pacific Gas Turbines) for a diesel loco to run from the West of Ireland to Waterford and back. Don't think there is the traffic density to justify main line electrification in Ireland, though battery for passenger trains seems to be a no-brainer after all a Drumm Battery Train managed Amiens St-Gorey and back 90 years ago, before introducing battery trains into regular service on Dublin suburban duties.

Crude as hell I normally used flatbottom rail soldered to copperclad sleepers to represent flatbottom jointed track and bullheard rail with abs plastic chairs and sleepers for bullhead. I dropped a clanger of spacing the Yard tracks too close to the running line and struggled with getting double slip points to work! The main weakness was that I struggled to build a workable 21mm gauge layout within a 7'6" x1'6" space with 1:6 points, the same space is now occupied by a OO gauge Timesaver shunting layout which uses Peco small radius points and a run round loop and fiddle yard long enough for a Bo Bo diesel and 4-5 wagons. The MM B141 runs on Ultrascale EM profile wheels, stock mixture of modified OO wagon kits on Gibson wagon wheels on extended axles. If I was starting out again I would probably work to Double O Gauge Society Intermediate rather than EM standards, allowing stock IRM/MM/Bachmann wheels to be used, the increased OO running clearances potentially allow main line locos and stock to run through smaller radius curve/crossing angle than using EM or P4 standards

Less is more in a way, the backscene with the coastline and hill really brings the layout to life.

My first proper job was as an Apprentice Barman for about four weeks in 1973 after I completed the Inter Cert before one of my teachers persuaded my parents to send me back to do the Leaving. After being shown how to pull a pint my first customer was a builder who paid for a pint with a Scottish £20 note that I thought was play money, the bar manager was pleased when I asked him about the note and the customer took it in good part and was happy with his pint. At the time bar trade was unionised at the time strictly male only and took family connections to get the job, I was technically minded wanting to go into engineering but ended up in construction management and regularly got to spend Scottish banknotes 20 years later! Think Dublin Dairies and TEK used horse drawn milk floats into the 60s. Some smaller Dublin Market traders and coal men used horses into the 70s-80s, there are tales of travelers and traders taking their horses in the lifts of Ballymun Flats, before the 'urban youth horse" culture developed into a major phenomon on the 'praries" on the Council Estates on the outskirts of Dublin City during the late 80s and 90s.

Depends on whether you consider the CIE 121 Class a variant of the General Motors GL 8 and GA 8 export model or vice versa because some variants share a common cab design. The B121s are considered to he a high cab variant of the GL8 model of which 96 Bo-Bos appear to have been supplied in total including 69 to Brazil (metre gauge), 15 Ireland, 12 Tunisia, 53 A1A A1A 12 Taiwan & 41 Bangladesh, 12 Co Co Queensland Australia (3'6' The 96 (5'3") Victorian Railways (Australia) T Class (Variant EMDG8 built under licensein Austraia) are considered to have been the inspiration for the GL8 and B121 Class The 94 GA 8 export locos ran on wagon trucks (bogies) with two traction motors mounted in the loco body used mainly in Central and South America. Not to be outdone Australia produced a 600hp 3'6" gauge Bo Bo loco which looked similar to the B121 Class Rtr models and kits may be available of the Victorian T and various GL & GA 8 variants in HO Scale, one of the big surprises was that Australian modellers and manufacturers like their American counterparts model the standard gauge in HO scale.

Interesting . I use removable wagon loads, in this case coal glued with PVA to thick plasticard and a stripwood packing piece. Wagon body was cast in resin part of a rake of 8, 10 years dust and pet dander has taken the sheen off the coal!

Its likely that some of the criticism of ex-Midland locos in the GSR/CIE as sluggish and poor steamers may have been due to the lack of familarity with Midland locos on the Southern and at Inchacore. With a few exceptions ex-MGWR 2-4-0s on DSER and Bray Suburban trains, a pair of 0-6-0s a Standard Goods and a Cattle engine on loan to Waterford for the Beet Season and the successful use of ex-MGWR Cs Class 4-4-0s on Kingsbridge-Nenagh-Limerick trains during the 1930s, ex-MGWR locos worked the majority of goods and passenger trains on the Midland until displaced by railcars and diesels. Jack O'Neil describes his first 1946 run as a fireman on 540 assisting the down Galway Mail from Mullingar to Athlone, talks about the rough riding (Woolwich Moguls also had a bad reputation) advised if he had false teeth to take them out when getting on! Described the loco as free steaming and easy to fire and a steady runner until "notched up beyond 65%" (worked hard) Jack's last fired one of the Class "being worked to death" on DSER suburban service "until no longer safe to be on the road" in 1954 . Also notes a high speed (70max) 1954 run with 543 on the "Caddagh" (Dublin-Galway via Portarlington) a precursor of the Cu na Mara" railcar express of the 50s and 60s and a 1939 run on a Limerick-Kingsbridge via Nenagh with 60mph running. The MGWR large 4-4-0s appear to have been designed as mixed traffic locos capable of hauling heavy passenger and livestock trains, the locos had smaller 6'3" driving wheels and the valve gear was set up differently to the GSWR 6'7" 4-4-0s which were designed for high speed running on the Cork Main line. The MGWR 4-4-0s would have had to be worked harder to achieve a similar speed which would have also increased maintenance costs. It likely that overloading and a backlog of maintenance became a significant problem during the CIE era as train frequencies were reduced in an attempt to control CIEs worsening financial position and overloading was identified as a significant problem with the Woolwich Moguls and rebuilding of some Moguls as 4-6-0s Woolwich cylinders and motion, 400 Class boilers was actually proposed

Interesting photo of 543 formerly MGWR C Class No10 "Faugh-a-Ballagh" at Wexford in 1954. The Class had a reputation of rough riding being considered top heavy and poorly sprung, its possible the bogie is out for attention to a bearing.

CIE converted an ex-GNR DUTC AEC Regal bus into a railbus during Howden's brief period as CIE General Manager before becoming UTA Chairman. CIE seems to have lost interest after Howdens departure, like the UTA no need for railbuses or branch line railways when it could operate its own bus and road freight services. Oddly Thurles-Clonmel was one of the few bus routes licensed to a private operator after the railway closed, CIE found the Thurles-Clonmel route unprofitable and licensed the service to a private operator. Don't know if anything is available with a similar roof profile destination board arrangement.

Haven't had time to do anything on the model railway front since the beginning of June, though I recently managed to dust North Wharf off for a short operating session using A23r as motive power rather than the usual B121 which revealed a problem with buffer locking with the larger loco and wagons running through Peco Small Radius points. The backstorey was that Northwharf remained open for goods traffic after regular services ceased in the early 70s, an Ar supplied to work a special of imported animal feedstuff" and shunt the yard after a ship was diverted to Northwharf as a result of a storm. Looking the part train made up and ready to depart behind A23r. A considerable amount of shunting was involved in making up the train as only 3 wagons at a time could be loaded at the "Mill" Buffer locking developing as A23r begins to propel a cut of wagons over the crossover between the main running line and loop (Kadee 19 Coupler) Buffers now locked with wagons propelled through crossover onto loop, de-railment likely if loco continues to propel wagons. Loco and wagons buffers and couplings in normal position. Loco was uncoupled from the wagons during the shunt and the wagon moved with a pinch bar. Lesson ban 6 axle diesels from North Wharf! The model Metrovicks tended to be a bit clumsy for shunting and more importantly took up more space on the traverser than the Bo Bos reducing the train length for 4-3 wagons. The main reason for using the small radius points was to fit the "Timesaver" track layout into the available space! Curiously Jack Kennedy spoke about the SLNCR 0-6-4Ts regularly bufferlocking when shunting the yards, giving the photographers plenty of time to compose/set up their photos!

Great to hear that John Walker is still producing fine work after all those years, first came across John's work with his Ballinagee Layout over 40 years ago, the the time there was virtually no commercial support for Irish modelling, buildings, structurers, locos and stock were mainly scratchbuilt or heavily modified rtr. The main exceptions would have been the Woolwich (Wills whitemetal kit) and re-painted Palitoy LMS corridor coaches, the steam locos which included ex-DSER 0-6-0 442 and ex-WLWR 2-4-0 290 (Enniscorthy Pilot Loco) were built in plasticard with Arfix tender drive and scratchbuilt non-powered loco chassis