Mayner

Many years ago Tim Cramer scratchbuilt a 4mm 21mm Gauge model of a Bandon Tank in CIE green, model was sold to Brian Fennell an MRSI member and used on the Loughrea Layout during the 90s early 200s after Tim moved up to 7mm. Tim also scratchbuilt built a model of No90 in as-preserved (1960s) lined green livery real watch-making job

My modelling projects tend to go through short bursts of activity followed by long hiatus, I started Keadue shortly after moving to New Zealand nearly 20 years ago so its once again to decide whether to finish of abandon the layout! I started acquiring locos and stock roughly 30 years ago picking up a Worsley Works C&L 4-4-0T some coach and wagon kits at the Greenwitch Club Narrow Gauge Expo in Tolworth approx 30 years ago, picked up another 4-4-0T a couple of Branchlines T&D 2-6-0T kits and more rolling stock kits after I returned to Ireland in 96 where I spent 3 months working on a construction project in Leitrim and exploring the remains of the C&L. I picked up Bemo (Shinohara) HOm track on points at the Kivoli Centre in Bala North Wales a few years later and eventually started Keadue as a "quickie" layout in our home office after moving to New Zealand while converting the garage into a railway room for my American N Gauge and On30 narrow gauge. We moved home shortly after completing the garage conversion and started the scenics and eventually extended Keadue while making a decision whether to converting out garage on our new home into a railway-room workshop. 8L posed at Keadue with the daily mixed the station building is based on Drumshanbo before the addition of a second storey in 1917. The Building is constructed in Wills Scenic Material sheets with my own etched windows, chimney pots are whitemetal by Scale Link bought at an exhibition in Brighton during my 1st weekend living in London in 1986! The coach is built using a Worsley Works set of part with some detail added. CIE Posters were downloaded from Pinterest featuring the Holiday resort of Bray and one of CIEs new diesel trains with a silver A Class and new silver coaches and CIE Coach Tours just to upset the regular C&L section passenger. The most recent narrow gauge project was to complete a rake of 4 C&L open "crib" cattle wagons, but they are decoration at the moment because I mislaid my stock of Kadee HOn3 couplers ordered for these wagons and the coaching stock. Low relief buildings built using Wills Material packs and windows, the covered access way to the yard at the back is typical feature of the region. The car is assembled from Scale Link Austin 7 whitemetal kit The house is based on "Gilligan's" of Ballywillian, but seems to have lost its License a bit run down (Wills Cement Render sheet) and no name Guinness sign, the building was originally a full depth model from a layout set in Longford/Westmeath built during the late 80s signal is an SSM GSWR signal, car is another Scale Link kit possibly a larger pre-War Austin. No-one to be seen but fairly common in smaller towns and villages in the Mid West, possibly listening to Micheal O'Hare from a race meeting at the Curragh or an inter-Provincial at Corke Park. The Carriage Shed (Wills Roof. planked plasticard, nickel silver rail) is a bit of a vexation. The siding badly needs packing-relaying as cross-level are badly off coach bodies strike the side of the shed, I over-wetted the siding ballast and the MDF roadbed in this area became became quite badly swollen fortunately without disturbing the main line and running loop small mercies. The other recent project in this area is the coal dock based on one at Ballinamore assembled fro. m individual wooden sleepers, coal is semi-bituminous from a closed local mine. Loco shed is based on the smaller C&L sheds again Wills Material sheets with doors in plasticard. I need to line the interior in whitewashed stone and add a workbench. Don't ask about a pit! I need to add foliage/fencing to make this area look more overgrown. 3T waits to depart with a Cattle Special based on the loco a C&L stalwart in 1950s condition, I need to sort out couplers for the locos and stock, while I attempted to standardise on Kadee HOn3 I am tempted to convert to B&B couplers (a compact UK version of the Bemo/Continental loop coupler which I successfully used in EM gauge. 6T runs round the curve from the reserved to the road-side section, this scene was inspired by Ballyduff and Kiltubrid on The Tramway though I need to sort out the area behind the bridge and improve the backscene, the original intention was to represent the Arigna Mountains in the background. The C&L 4-4-0T used to 'stick" on the curve, the problem largely solved after I relayed the tack in this area 2-3 years ago. A cavalcade of enthusiast cars have pulled over to film 6T approaching with a laden coal special, 6T was drafted onto the section in 1956 apparently freshly painted in black, with 6t hand painted on the buffer beam rather than the usual transfer number, 6T was in the usual decrepit state and ended her days working demolition trains after the system closed in March 1959. One of the remaining challenges is disguising the entrance to the fiddle yard, I originally planned to fit a model Kiltubrid Halt on the curve near the bridge but the baseboard was too narrow for the road railway and station building, though the rear of the building would be a reasonably effective fiddle yard view blocker. Its likely the window and kitchenette/bathroom? in this area is likely to be a post closure alteration.

Apart from the outside Walschaerts valve gear a 500 Class would be a relatively simple scratchbuilding project. Plenty of room for a large can motor and gearbox simple geometric shapes no pesky curving running boards and crankpin splashers that make 19th Century locos so challenging to build. Building a rake of matching GSWR/GSR 1920s side corridor coaches used on trains like the "American Mails" and "Tourist Train" in GSR days would be more challenging, though SSM produce very nice kits of the GSR Bredin coaches used on the "Steel Train" during the 1930, strictly speaking the forthcoming Park Royals are too modern 500 and 501 were withdrawn in 1955, 502 was withdrawn in 1957.

There was a Model Railway Journal Article featuring the build of a 3mm GNR U Class 4-4-0 for Ballyconnell Road using a Worsley Works set of scratchbuilders parts. The loco was constructed using similar techniques to those used by Tony Mills when he pioneered 4mm on 21mm gauge to fine scale standards during the 1960s with the motor mounted in the tender with the loco driven by a lay shaft drive to the driven axle (Tony Mills developed his own 4mm fine scale standards independently of the Model Railway Study Group who developed P4 standard during the same era--a good example of convergent thinking. I cannot find the Journal with the article on the U Class, but I think the builder used "kitchen table" techniques to build the loco without the aid of a lathe or milling machine to produce the crank axle or valve gear parts.

The main issue with modelling Irish 5'3" gauge in 3mm Scale on OO gauge track is that you are modelling the track to a larger scale than the rest of the model, ending up with an effect not unlike the Triang Super-4 track of the 1960s with a heavier railprofile, larger sleepers with a wider sleeper spacing than with 12mm gauge track. The other complication is that the new generation of British Outline TT models & track systems are to 1:120 Scale as used on the Continent as opposed to 3mm Scale. 5'3" scales out at 13.33mm in 1:120 scale creating another non-standard track gauge for Irish Broad Gauge modellers. Ballyconnell Road (15.75mm gauge) is worth while checking out for what can be achieved in 3mm, though some of the technology used in building the locomotives is a close to miniature engineering-watchmaking than conventional railway modelling.

Examples of coaches marshalled at the rear of passenger/mixed trains There are some very interesting photos in the Waterford Museum collection of mixed trains crossing the Dungarvan causeway all with the coaches marshalled at the rear of the train behind the wagons https://www.waterfordmuseum.ie/exhibit/web/DisplayImage/K04VqVTJREsmM/1/Dungarvan_To_Waterford_Train.html UK1556 GSWR 4-4-0 4 Covered wagons, 1--6wCoach, 1 Bogie Coach, 6w Full Brake EK196 possibly a stock special. WDLR 0-4-2 ? approx. 15 convertible wagons with several 6w coaches coupled at the rear. EK10 WDLR 0-4-2? Convertible wagons and what appears to be a mixture of 4 & 6w coaches and a carriage truck coupled at the rear. Its possible the latter two photos were taken before the GSWR takeover of the Waterford-Dungarvan-Lismore line as part of the Rosslare route in the early 1900s, but the practice of marshalling coaches behind the wagons seems to have persisted into GSWR days. Piped braked Convertible Wagons. I have been unable to obtain specific information on MGWR wagons fitted with Vac brakes its possible that some were fitted or piped for use in passenger or mail trains. In 1893 the MGWR had 30 Fish Vans, 24 Carriage Trucks & 1 Mortuary Van piped only out of a total stock of 382 items of coaching stock. I mislaid the section of the Padraig O'Cuimin MGWR Wagon Stock paper relevant to Convertible & Cattle Wagons. The 10 Butter Wagons introduced in 1900-1 were "piped" for running with passenger trains. None of the 10T Covered Goods Wagons introduced after 1915 are listed as "piped" or fitted with Vac Brakes MGWR Fish Van Livery MGWR Fish Vans were painted brown "Initials and number disposed either side of the double door on the second plank down from the ventilation louvres" "On the bottom plank centred under the above mentioned lettering, was in italic letters "To run with passenger trains (Under MGWR, and "To carry five tons" under the number. This inscription was also carried by carriage trucks" Padraig O'Cuimin MGWR Carriage Stock 2 IRRS Journal No56 Oct 1971. A Fish Van/Meat Box with this form of lettering is just about visible behind 8 St Patrick in https://transportsofdelight.smugmug.com/RAILWAYS/IRISH-RAILWAYS/MIDLAND-GREAT-WESTERN-RAILWAY/i-KD7xbhM/A

Theoretically a mixed train with all vehicles fitted is classed as a Passenger rather than a Mixed Train, there was some discussion on RM Web on whether the Bala-Blaenau Ffestiniog branch train that ran with a single Presflo attached (no brake van) between Bala and Trawsfynydd was classed as a passenger or a mixed. What happened in practice depended a lot on local 'custom and practice" outside the sight of authority at Kingsbridge let alone the Railway Inspectorate, in effect the rules meant little on short country branch-lines including those not too far from Head Office There is a 1939 photo of a Mixed train apparently waiting to depart Mountmellick for the main line at Portlaoise with a pair of unfitted wagons coupled between the loco and the two 6w coaches, the Mountmellick Branch was short and relatively flat. There is a similar GSR photo of a Mixed train on the longer more steeply graded Fermoy-Mitchellstown Branch with what appears to be an unfitted GSWR convertible wagons sandwitched between a 6w full brake coupled to the loco and the remainder of the train consist a 6w composite and 6w Brake with birdcage lookout, presumably the Guard travelled in the brake at the rear of the train. From photos GSR/CIE appeared more observant about marshalling unfitted wagons behind passenger stock on short branch lines on other sections usually with the unfitted wagons marshalled between the passenger coaches and the 6W passenger brake at the rear of the train, from photos marshalling a single unfitted wagon behind the passenger brake at the rear of the train was fairly common, though I have a photo of an early 60s Sligo-Mullingar Night mail with what appear to be 4 unfitted H Vans marshalled at the rear of the train behind the passenger rated stock no brake van!

To add another twist "traditional" wagons such as H & Pal Vans ran with their vacuum brake gear isolated during the final years of loose coupled operation. A lot of fitted wagons stored awaiting scrapping at Mullingar in the early 80s were neatly stenciled "Vac brake isolated", the neat stencil lettering indicates that the vac brakes were isolated as wagons went through in-service repairs at Limerick of Inchacore, rather than in preparation for a final movement to Mullingar for scrapping.

Photo taken before the station layout was re-modelled in the early 50s when the locomotive shed on the left was demolished, the shed road extended to connect with the Athenry line as the new Platform 3. The light grey buildings in the left distance are pre-cast concrete loco crew facilities installed after Claremorris became the rail head for Knock Pilgrimage traffic

I have completed the final revisions to the artwork for the conversion kit and will be placing an order with the suppliers during the next 2-3 weeks currently I have confirmed orders for 4 frets, if anyone else is interested in placing an order please p.m or reply to this thread.

Woodenbridge Junction was one of the most attractive stations on the system. The add was for Crossley stationary engines often used in farms and workshops which had an excellent reputation. The Crosley engines used in the A and C Class appears to have been an attempt to develop a lightweight 2 stroke engine to give AEI and edge over English Electric and Brush in a similar manner to the use of the lightweight 2 stroke 567 engine gave General Motors an edge over American loco builders that used heavier 4 stroke engines in their locos such as Alco and Baldwin. Western Australia appeared to have overcome the worst of the reliability problems with its Metrovick locos which used the same engine as the CIE A Class. The Australian Metrovicks lasted in service on Perth Suburban trains with their original engines until the lines were electrified during the mid-80s

While its a nice idea its difficult to envisage a manufacturer producing a wide range of rtr Irish steam locos even where there are common parts between classes, factors include limited demand and price point. The majority of models produced by IRM and MM are focused on the 70s-90s era, reflect the railways experienced by modellers in their 30-50 (largest group and greatest purchasing power) during their formative years, with a very small demographic group in their late 60s onwards having memories of steam in every day service. Although Chinese factories will produce a minimum run of 1000 plastic injection rtr locos or items of locos or rolling stock a contract manufacture would need to sell a minimum of around 3 times that amount at the current British/Irish price point for a similar rtr model. I think the Managing Director of Accurascale (Stephen) spoke about min. sales projected sales of 4000 before producing a loco. A number of Chinese and Korean manufacturers produced rtr metal (brass and nickel silver) models of locos and stock with a limited production run of 500 models which would need to sell at a price point 4-5 time that of an equivalent plastic injection rtr model. Several years ago I looked at commissioning a rtr Irish OO Gauge steam loco direct from a Chinese manufacturer, I would have needed to sell 500 locos with a €5-600 price range to make a profit. Although original pricing was based on a Midland Cattle loco, I would probably produced a GNR S or Compound had sales projections stacked up. OO Works have managed to sell approx. 100 of their Irish locos produced to date about twice the price point of a similar plastic injection loco, though I understand that the UG 0-6-0 which followed their first Irish loco the U 4-4-0 was slow to sell.

The scale gauge discussion in Ireland and New Zealand for that matter often revolves around the countervailing arguments of whether its easier to model to an established British Modelling scale and customise the gauge or to use an established gauge and customise the scale to model the Irish/Australian Broad Gauge and NZ/Australian/African 3'6" "Cape Gauge. Proponents of the established scale and custom gauges often argue that that those who choose a custom scale on an established gauge model the track to a different scale to the rest of the model as in 9mm scale on O gauge or S on OO for NZ 3'6" gauge although the track is sometimes handlaid or assembled with correct scale components. A recent local development has been the modeling of 3'6" to American O Scale on S Scale track to take advantage of Bachmann On30 American Logging locos and equipment used on New Zealands Bush Tramways or logging lines. Australians who model (Australian) Standard Gauge in HO tend to use HO on EM gauge track for Victoria and South Australian Irish Broad Gauge, Western Australia, Queensland and Tasmania appear to have gone their own separate ways for modelling their states 3'6" gauge systems with modellers in each state adapting differing scales and standards, which makes producing rtr models of Australasian 3'6" locos and stock extremely challenging commercially.

There were no dedicated automobile trains as such in Ireland apart possibly from the train used to transport cars between Rosslare Station ((formerly Ballygeary) and Rosslare Harbour before the introduction of RoRo Ferries during the late 60s/70s. Cars and Tractors were transported as individual wagon loads on open wagons from the Ford Cork plant and other assembly plants to destinations on the CIE system on ordinary goods trains. Dublin plants assembled BMC (Austin,Morris,Wolsey) GM Opel/Vauxhall, Roots Group later Chysler (Sunbeam, Hillman, Talbot, P) VW/Audi, Smiths Group(Wexford) Renault cars. The Ford plant had a siding connection form the Cork City Railway and possibly Smiths at Wexford South, cars from Dublin plants were loaded in the Dublin goods yards. Traffic died out following the introduction of modern double deck car transporter during the late 60s/70s with direct delivery from the Plant or Importers yard to the local dealership or garage. There is a photo somewhere of a late Austin 1300 on a flat wagon at Nenagh but I cannot find the file or a link. The photo on the Provincial Wagons web site is typical of how cars and farm machinery were transported on the Irish railway system https://provincialwagons.com/

Not another Autumn/Fall Stock Rush! Apart from the Christmas Holidays these days the only time I regularly run trains on the garden railway is during the Autumn or what Americans call the fall. Very little running since the last post mixture of the weather and gammy knees as I get older. I did a major leaf blowing/lawn mowing/leaf clearing exercise on Sunday after an arborist did some tree-removal/canopy lifting on Saturday, trees grow a lot faster in our region than in Ireland and the UK but also die off quicker. I decided to run a couple run a stock train and a freight with K27 2-8-2s 464 and 463 on Sat. afternoon but had to postpone until Sunday afternoon after the coupler pulled out of the tender dragbox on 464 on the empty Stock Special. 464 had earlier rolled over on the High Line just like RGS 455 in 1944 https://digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/id/61596/ luckily without serious damage (landing in a bed of mulch), was re-railed and continued her journey until the coupling failed on the first stretch of level track! She managed to back her train up to the staging with some manual help, leaving only 348 a small 19th Century 2-8-0 and 463 to work the Stock Train and the Freight as opposed to the two 2-8-2s and the 2-8-0 as planned with the 2-8-2s as train engine on both trains and 348 as "Helping Engine" on the "Hill" In the end it was decided to combine the two trains and run with a helper loco throughout and divide and "Double the Hill" with the return train, although it was dry the rails were greasy and 348 slipped and stalled with 5 cars and a Caboose even on a 2% grade. C19 (16 actually!)348 departing Jackson City with stock cars with K27 463 cut in behind heading the general freight a reasonable representation of an RGS freight in its later days though usually hauled by a pair of hired DRGW K27s 348 is actually an Accuracraft DRGWR K16 bought second hand from the States, the owner had neatly re-numbered as a similar though larger K19. The RGS bought 3 K19s from the Rio Grand during the early 1900s but I am not going to bother changing the livery or running number! Passing the Summit section of the line with the locos on a 2% down grade the train is stretched out over 20' The trees behind the train were bought as 'miniatures" about 10 years ago! 2024-2025 firewood weathering beside the railway. Pulling into Utah Junction where the train will divide and revers before running up the 4% grades of the Highline to the Garage staging. 348 reverses her portion of the train on the Wye at Utah Junction, the recently cut back tail track is just about long enough for 348 and her train. 348 has pulled her train onto the Highline at Utah Junction as 464 pulls her train towards the Wye 464 has pushed caboose 400 onto the stock train before positioning 401 on the main track at Utah Junction 464 left the caboose on the Main Track before leaving her cars on the main leg of the wye before reversing and attaching to 348s train 348 departs with 463 as helper at the rear caboose 402 waits on the Main to be attached to the freight by the Pusher loco. Usually older wooden framed caboose were coupled behind the Pusher loco though some shorter caboose had reinforced underframe and could be coupled between the train and Pusher. I tried to video 348 & 464 with the stock but it was not a success and the train stalled on the grade, 348 and 463 did just about made it with 348 slipping and 463 "digging in" on the hill. 348 tends to slip when overloaded, but with the "chuff' sensors on the tender axles just goes quiet, though 463s sensors are on a driving axle axle the loco just stalls when overloaded. https://youtu.be/bCuaEICTlbM

Smokebox & Front Footplate The smokebox former is designed in two parts to reproduce the distinctive extended smokeboxes fitted to some classes of locomotives re-built with superheated boilers. The bolts fitted to the main section of the former are intended for bolting the smokebox to the boiler-firebox assembly and the running plate, the bolts fitted to the extended section are basically alignment pins. Smokebox fitted to boiler-firebox Original 2013? smokebox fitted to boiler-firebox: It was necessary to remove a section of the wrapper that fouled the driving wheels on the original wrapper one of the inherent problems when you are unable to scale down full size gauge and running clearances in a model. Frames and running board compromises TMD/SSM J15 The frames on the SSM/TMD J15 are designed in two sections in order to reproduce the open section between the rear of the buffer beam and the front of the cylinder block at the front of the loco and to allow the model to be assembled to a narrower than prototype gauge and or compromise wheel standards. This feature was absent on locos re-built with new deeper mainframes by the GSR including the preserved 186. I did not notice this feature when I produced the original fret, but included it on the revised version. The revised mainframes are modelled full length and include a half-etch line (viewed from the rear) for modelers who intend to assemble the frames in two parts in accordance with the original TMD/SSM instructions. The chassis is designed with half-etched lines for hornblock cut-outs and fluted coupling rods! Work in-progress with Saturated J15 with McDonnell linkage reverse built 1860s-1900, Post 1900 Saturated "Coey" J15 with raised sandbox, revised cab and direct reversing lever, Superheated J15 original frames and linkage reverse. I expect to complete the amendments to the fret and place orders for the production fret by late next week with a 6 week lead time to delivery. From a personal modelling perspective next job is to complete the artwork for the large capacity Type B tender to run with the Coey J15 on the Limerick-Sligo goods and assemble a Type A tender to run with the Superheated loco, an even bigger challenge will be to sort through my stock of J15 parts for boiler fittings and buffers to complete the two locos and where required order replacement parts.

I designed a fret for converting the SSM/TMD kit into the Z Boilered superheated version of the loco about 10 years ago. I assembled two J15s from TMD kits during the 80s-90s picked up a part built kit at Expo EM about 20 years ago and bought a further two kits from Paul Greene shortly before he sold the business to Des Sullivan during the late 2000s. Apart from the MM 201 and repaints of BR stock reasonable rtr models of Irish locos and stock were virtually unknown and apart from the SSM/TMD available kits were nothing to write home about. Although mainly interested in the Midland I basically gave up on scratchbuilding during the 80s and I was planning to build a model of Kiltimagh and the J15 were the staple motive power on Burma Road goods trains so I ended up with 5 J15s and decided to build one as a superheated loco to add variety. The original fret was very simple basically heavier main frames fitted to some locos by the GSR smoke box and firebox parts and a new spectacle plate. Additional parts were included to replace the fragile brake gear and reversing rods and Belpaire firebox formers similar to that used in the Y Boiler version of the JMD 650 Class kit. Although I gained considerable experience in designing loco and rolling stock kits over the past 10-12 years, I ended up with a 12 item snag list after I completed the test assembly of the firebox, boiler and smokebox after I converted a 2D design into a 3D object. The first boo-boo was forgetting to attach the half etched smokebox wrapper to the main fret and I appear to have "disappeared" a copy of the original fret complete with wrapper! The main design change in design from the original fret is to include a former/jig for forming the firebox and bolt together assembly of the three main sub assemblies. I removed the center section of the former/jig once I soldered the wrapper in place. I was reasonably satisfied with the fit of the wrapper, though those fragile sandbox rods are a pain! The cab and running board for the loco were assembled about 10 years ago! I have designed the firebox-boiler-smoke box to bolt together using 10BA bolts. There may be variation in the diameter of boiler wrapper in individual kits supplied by TMD and SSM, the kits supplied by Terry McDermott in the 80s-90s were supplied with boilers formed from brass tube, the boilers wrappers in the two kits supplied by SSM in the late 2000s were rolled from sheet brass and were marginally larger in diameter. I will cover the smokebox assembly and modifications to the running board in a separate post.

Most likely 455. According to a "Decade of Steam" 456 was scrapped early in 1955 (boiler/firebox problems) 457 (large yellow numerals on her side tanks) was transferred to Limerick shortly after the arrival of the diesel electrics and ended up as Goods yard Pilot, 455 remained on the DSER "very run down but still defiantly pounding up Killiney Bank with her six bogies of "Commuters" "

When I was living and working in London during the late 80s-early 90s a work colleague used to take the Sleeper on Friday evenings after work to go mountain biking in the West Highlands, often spoke about waking up and looking out over Rannoch Moor in contrast to the frantic pace of life in London, he used to return on the Sleeper Sunday evenings always arriving on time at work on Monday mornings. We were all young and wild then thought nothing of it used to drive on a 400+ round trip every other weekend to go volunteering on a Welsh narrow gauge railway it was a point of honour to arrive in our destination before pub-closing time on a Friday evening and stay up half the night, these days I don't know how I managed to survive!

Typical CIE passenger train of the 1950s-80s similar in outline but no two vehicles alike! Nearest the camera 1964 Built 6w Heating Van 1356-1371 Series Open Second/Standard-----CIE 1951-54 Stock best described as a MK2 Bredin GSR Bogies constructed using traditional coach building techniques-definitely not a Laminate. 1372-1378 Series Corridor Second/Standard--CIE 1951-54 stock: on Bulleid Triangulated Underframe with Commonwealth Bogies Built 1954. An earlier batch of these coaches 1356-1371 had conventional steel underframes and ran on GSR bogies----definitely not a Laminate Possibly a 1958 built 1449-1496 Series Laminate Open Second/Standard. These were CIE largest/most common type of second/standard class coach during the 50-70s used mainly on main line duties before the introduction of the Supertrains in 1972 The CIE 1951-54 Stock were built using traditional coach building techniques welded steel underframe, timber framed bodies with aluminium body panelling with cover slips. The Laminate bodies were modular construction using composite panels Aluminium skin-Insulation (asbestos?)-Plywood internal lining allowing high volume semi-skilled construction. Interestingly CIE reverted to traditional coach building techniques for it last 100% Inchacore built coaches in 1962-4 1145-1146 Superstandard/First Class and 1444-1448 Second/Standard which ran on Bulleid Triangulated underframes with BR style Commonwealth Bogies. While British Railways designed and built literally thousands of MK1 coaches for all its Regions during the same period CIE built/assembled three different coach each using totally different coach building techniques.

IRM/Stephen, Fran, Patrick's excellent customer service approach makes good business sense and is one of the key principals of Total Quality Management. Looking back over the events of the past 10-12 years what impresses me most is IRM 'founders" strategy of setting up and funding the add-free Irish Railway Modeller news group as a vehicle to promote interest in Irish railway modelling, which in turn provided a springboard for the launch of IRMs first model the CIE Ballast wagon, the directors had the capability to commission the models directly from the Chinese factories without an intermediary after DJ stuffed up, the quality of the first model and doing business directly with the Chinese factories provided the spring board to expand the IRM range of Irish models and more importantly from a business perspective launch Accurascale and enter the UK market, a text book example of business start up and expansion.

Looks better equipped/organised than the East Wall Rd depot during the 70s-90s era when most of the yard was full of cripples/redundant stock. Given the DSER theme how about a spur from the DSER line south of the Dodder into the Ringsend area and a rail connection to the container terminals on the South Bank of the Liffey.

Definitely interested in the CIE Commonwealth bogies if released separately for my Worsley Works Laminates and Park Royal. Wonder how my Park Royal (not bad for a 1st attempt at a brass coach) will compare with the new IRM models BR (BSGV)Vans (34 total) were mainly used on Intercity trains with mixed Craven, Park Royal and Laminate stock. Dutch vans (10 total) tended to be were less common (less popular with Guards) on Intercity Trains. CIE also converted 18 older coaches into TL BSGVs during the mid-late 70s to replace Tin Vans on outer suburban and branch line trains. Apart from a suitable BSGV Van the main item missing to model a conventional 1972-1987 era CIE Intercity train is a Buffet Car.

Explored Penmachno Quarry once and sometimes used the road over the Denbigh Moors and through the Penmachno Valley as a 'short cut" driving from Scotland to Portmadoc. Model seems to follow the route of the NWNG Bedgellert-Betwys-Corwen scheme hopefully someone will bring out a rtr model of NWNGR single Fairlies Snowdon Ranger or Moel Tryfn Funnily enough I was thinking of a similar WHR minimum space layout with Bachmann Baldwin, Kato England loco and Quarry Hunslet based on an junction at Nant Gwynant between the General Undertaking and a line from the South Snowdon Quarry but I already have more than enough on my hands

I love your nicely organised workbench, tools and fixtures, mine looks more like a scrapyard! Nice work with the piercing saw.