Mayner

A set of good quality needle files would be a good starting point for scratchbuilding/ kit building. As Northroader stated it would be simple enough to file the crescents to go round the bumps with a half round needle file. An alternative would be to use the chassis (provided the Radial Tank body and chassis are separate parts) and scratchbuild a body out of plasticard or even metal. That way you can sell the loco as a Radial Tank if the conversion does not work out. Personally I always found it easier to build something from scratch than to re-build a rtr model into something completely different.

I am very tempted only have to convince the rest of the family to move 12,000Km

How about one of the WLWR tanks used by GSR & CIE on the Clonakilty and Baltimore branches. Should be simple enough to fabricate the side tanks out of plasticard

No rust or missing doors when 019 was initially stored outside Diesel No 1 in 92/93. 019 received an overhaul and full repaint in the tippex scheme with points logo but never re-entered service approx. before being used as a guinea pig for the 201 paint scheme. The loco was in pristine ex-work condition in 010s old spot outside Diesel No1 when I visited Inchacore Works in 92 or 93 but was still in the same spot partially re-painted in the new scheme 12 months later. The remains of 010 was stored on Pullman Bogies outside Diesel No 1 following its recovery from the Lisburn collision until 019 took her place.

Well done nothing like getting stuck in using traditional scratchbuilding techniques as opposed to overanlysing the whole business and getting no where. Will she be Blacklion as Blacklion or after the re-build with Glencar's boiler and superstructure? The North Wales Narrow Gauge did much the same thing re-building the single Fairlies Snowdon Ranger & Moel Tryfan into one usable loco during WW1 when Moel Tryfan retained her identity despite receiving Snowdon Ranger's chassis/power bogie.

Going off on a tangent C Hamilton Ellis had a theory that William Adams designed the C&L 4-4-0Ts for Robert Stephenson there is a strong family likeness between his outside cylinder 4-4-0 & 4-4-2T locos and the C&L 4-4-0T in their original condition including stovepipe chimney.

I could not resist it and had to do a running test to check whether I had succeeded in acoustically de-coupling the track from the plywood baseboard, my past experiences with cork underlay was that ply baseboards are very effective sounding boards/resonators. The clip was very short as I tried to maximise dept of field which did not leave the camera processor with too much leaway. I am fairly happy with the result and will probably use the same principals when I get round to building a 21mm gauge layout on the baseboard framing that sits below East Dock. I took some photos using aperture priority setting at f22 on the SLR using the baseboard as a tripod to see what could be achieved with the narrow aisle on this side of the workshop/model railway room. Reasonable depth of field with A23r in focus at a distance of approx 800mm. The baseboard joint is sitting on miniature clamps creating an unintentional impression of distance/curvature of the Earth effect . The retaining wall got a coat of primer a base for painting the stonework and hopefully disguising the vertical panel joints. A23r hauling her train into the loop most of the train is in focus. The 'dropoff" will be modelled as a quay wall with paving just below rail level. The old style BR containers usually appear to have been transported in open wagons into the early possibly mid-1970s, possibly lifted on-off with Coles self propelled cranes containers apparently used for BMC auto parts traffic. The Bachmann containers make a nice load, opens also used to carry farm machinery, in addition to traffic like timber, bricks from Kingscourt, bagged fertiliser and bulk traffic including gypsum, beet, peat briquettes.

A Peco or Hornby uncoupling ramp or even a piece of flexible plastic is probably the best option for tension lock couplers such as Dapol, which are not really suitable for magnetic operation without serious modification. The Peco SL 29 "Decoupler" is designed to fit to Code 100 track https://peco-uk.com/collections/100/products/rh-decoupler but may be suitable for Code 75. We used Peco or possibly Hornby uncoupling ramps with Code 75 track under exhibition conditions for two days without a problem shunting and running round stock with tension lock couplers on a layout that otherwise used Continental style hook and loop couplers with magnetic uncoupling. The advantage of the Hornby or Peco uncoupling ramps is that you can experiment by moving them around until you find uncoupler locations that suits the way you operate the layout. A piece of flexible plastic as an uncoupling ramp, ends wedged in place by sleepers, experimentation needed to identify plastic with suitable flexible properties and ramp length, that a pair of coupling hooks can rise clear of bar, but long enough and flexible enough to deflect when hauling a train across ramp. Hornby also produce an uncoupler that can be converted to powered operation using a point motor.

Interestingly I once spoke to Robin Clements and he considered the J18 rebuilt with Inchacore cab and X superheater boiler to be a Southern rather than a Midland engine. I think Rices point was that the ex-GSWR J15 was considered ubitiqous on the Southern system which is reflective of most writings on Irish railways at the time, at a practical level the TMD J15 kit or scratchbuilding a MGWR 0-6-0 are the only options. While Midland engines generally stuck to their territory there is photographic evidence of GSWR 0-6-0s working goods trains on the Midland in CIE days. Interestingly the section on Westport Quay in Rices' book includes a nice sketch of a J26 complete with CIE era riveted smokebox and Inchacore chimney although the kit is only available in its original pre-1912 form. 7mm is probably the best option for modelling the MGWR in the GSR/CIE era with a good range of loco and coach kits and easier to work in the larger scale than 4mm.

The TMD (Terry McDermott) Midland tank and J15 were the only suitable small Irish steam locomotive kits available for a GSR or CIE layout when Iain Rice wrote "An approach to Model Railway Layout Design Finescale in Small Spaces" in 1990, the situation is basically unchanged 40 years later. In Light Railway Layout designs Iain transformed the Westport Quay concept into Isle of Whithorn a Scottish roadside tramway terminal modelled complete with quayside branch and harbour a cross between PD Hancock's Craig (quite fittingly) and Jim Harrison's Torpoint both influential layouts between the 50s & 70s. Personally the Isle of Whithorn layout is visually and operationally more attractive than Westport quay, a roadside tramway section, the loco spur having a loco shed and a harbour scene in which the buildings form a backdrop to the railway. At the time most of Iain Rice's writing were aimed at the fine scale modelling fraternity that prefer the challenge of hand laid track and kit or scratchbuilt stock to EM or S4 standards and hand built building.

A bit more progress this weekend. I had originally planned to use Peco Point Motors with baseplates and extended drive pin salvaged from an N gauge layout, but decided to fit the motors directly to the points to eliminate the risk of lost motion with the extended drive pin and floating track base. The first job was to accurately fit and test run the track before cutting out the holes in the baseboard for the point motors, at the same stage I drilled holes for the power droppers, I cut out the holes for the point motors using a drill and jig saw, test fitting the point/point motor subassembly as work progressed, the hole in the top right hand corner has to be squared up.! Test fitting and checking alignment of point work and main running road on one board checking that the running road aligns with a point on the second board. Its necessary to cut the hole longer and wider than the headblock timbers to allow the motor to fit through, I infill the excess with black paper before ballasting the track The tricky potentially messy bit track lifted on packers before gluing and ballasting showing droppers to DCC track power bus. Track bedded in office glue aligned and lightly pinned in position, I was a bit to generous with the glue on this first section. Ballast sprinkled on and pointwork installed on second board. Underside of baseboard showing power droppers and point motors. I had shaken off excess ballast at this stage. Tracklaying and ballasting complete. I used fine ash ballast on some of the siding roads and a medium brown on the running line and loop, the difference in shading is probably related to the drying of the glue. Looking back towards the staging From the buffers the lines in the foreground are supposed to have been re-aligned in the 30s when a new grain feed store was built. I may inset the track on the right with cobbles or concrete as its supposed to be part of a quayside line or simply treat as a railway siding as it would be tricky insetting the point and not look very good in OO. I will do any necessary topping up of ballast covering baldspots by dry ballasting and gluing with dilute office glue and a wetting agent using an eye dropper. The glue is a white office glue which hopefully is more resilient than a woodworking pva. It will be interesting to see whether noise transmission from the track to the ply becomes a problem (especially locos with sound), the track is basically floating on foam underlay and will only be fixed rigidly at the baseboard joints, this layout is basically a test bed for a permanent 21mm gauge layout if it ever gets built. The Mill/Feedstore area the hoppers are spotted for unloading over the intake pits, the vans spotted for loading feedstuff from the dry store. I am almost tempted by Ranks Clara which had quite grusome corrugated iron grain elevators and stores in contrast to the massive brick and stone 18th and 19th Century maltings and mills.

There was a king of inferiority complex about Irish railways and particularly CIE when I first joined a club in the early 70s, the majority of members modelled British, Continental or American outline, Irish railways particularly the GNR tended to be modelled by craftsmen for the challenge of modelling something different and novices like myself who could only afford second hand Tri-ang. People who wanted quality models and reliable running tended to buy and collect Marklin, Fleischmann, Trix and Rivarossi Continental while a smaller number collected Wrenn and Hornby Dublo, a few collected Athearn, Walthers and Atlas but the running quality and detail of American stock was not great until Walthers and Atlas commissioned Roco in Austria and later Kato in Japan to produce locos during the 1980s. Irish outline became more main stream with the introduction of kits and later rtr models from the mid 1980s, but I suspect like NZR modelling in New Zealand remains a minority interest compared to modelling and collecting British, Continental and American models. Curiously despite New Zealand modelling having a high profile with a national guild similar to the NMRA that published a quarterly magazine available in book and magazine stores nationally and the availability of a comprehensive range of kits produced by several manufacturers in three scales , its still pretty much a minority interest and no manufacturer has commissioned high quality models of New Zealand locos and stock. British, Continental and American modellers have all established national groups, the New Zealand Model Railway Guild, AMRA (American Modellers) and Garden Railway Associations host bi-annual national conferences with regional annual conferences. Because of its craft base the standard of NZR modelling tends to be higher and more realistic than mainstream British, American and Continental modelling, with realistic scenery and structure modelling including accurately modelled native trees, vegetation and land form (either flats or mountain), birds, animals human figures, buildings and structures. Clubs are not all in major cities some are small remote centers, Athlone is a large town by any standards

Interesting mainly West Cork, South Eastern and Midland wagons with a small number of GSWR/GSR. I wonder had they been carded/withdrawn/broken up and Carriage & Wagon Department not informed the Traffic Department or the Control Office. Railways are famous for siloed thinking I had some interesting interactions as a HSA inspector with IE about 20 years ago and quickly I found out that Signal and Electrical did always not keep Permanent Way in the loop about things they were doing on or very close to the line.

Reminds me of a fire drill during the construction of a large Watford shopping center during the late 80s. Although there was relatively little of a flammable nature on site we were constructing the concrete frame the company recently had major fires on two of its most prestigious London sites and an order went out from head office for a fire drill on every site. Anyway to get to the heart of the story, my job was to physically check that the site was clear after our trade contractors managers and foremen had completed a head count that the site was clear. Like Harry a concrete finisher was diligently chipping away with his hammer and chisel wearing ear defenders inside a plant room. At the time apart from safety helmets and steel toe capped boots construction workers seldom wore ppe, our concrete finisher was probably the only one of the over 100 workers on site to wear hearing protection, being already a bit deaf he did not hear the klaxon and preferring to work apart from breaks he was invisible to his work mates and his boss forgot to check. The look of surprise when he realised that he was the only one on site was something else, al those were the days!

Interestingly Colin Flannigan appears to have built his first BCDR 4-4-2T out of a Ks Adams Tank Loco kit during the 1970s

Nice to see these Triang(-Hornby) upgrades, their main line diesels & MK1 coaches were cutting edge models by the standards of the day and still pass muster 60 years later.

Kia Kaha! (Maori Stay Strong) Don't let it get you down, life is full of ups and downs it will come right in the end. As a teenager I wanted to be a mechanical engineer but could no get into college because secondary school did not teach the required subjects, was unemployed for 6 months before I was offered what's now called an Internship in construction, very quickly discovered I had strong problem solving and project management skills and completed a lot of interesting projects over the past 30 years. Although there have been setbacks along the with construction boom-bust cycle I am definitely better off than when I started out and in a way have fulfilled my mechanical engineering ambitions even if its in 1:76 scale

Final castings arrived for the Luggage Vans on Monday morning, expect to start shipping outstanding orders of Heating and Luggage and Luggage Van Kits from early next week.

The Ore Wagon looks fantastic combination of dumb and sprung buffers, IRM highly unlikely to bring out a mass produced rtr version, real Mike Sharman or Richard Chown stuff. The British Builders archives held by the HMRS and various Museums are a real treasure trove of 19th and early 20th Century Irish locos and rolling stock.

The DWWR opens almost look like early ore wagons with those massive solebars extending past the end framing almost like dumb buffers. Perhaps a hangover from the boom years of the Avoca Mines when copper ore was shipped by rail to Kingstown (Dunlaoire) Mineral Wharf. Hopefully some day you will get round to building a typical 19th Century DWWR 0-4-2 Goods Locomotive to haul them

It might be worth while trying Humbrol Decalfix rather than Microset and allow at least one week to allow any trapped moisture to evaporate before applying a clear sealer. Microset may be too severe Railtec Transfers recommend Decalfix which has worked well in finishing our rtr 3D printed brake vans. I use Gunze B523 "Mr Super Clear UV Flat" aerosol(misted on from a distance) for finishing wagons and locos as Testors Clear Cote is no longer available. Batch building wagons I allow a minimum of one weeks drying time after applying decals in a room with temperature and humidity control before finishing.

1100 and 1101 were basically the fore runners of the British Railways Derby and BRCW Type 2 Classes probably one of the most successful and useful Modernisation Scheme designs. https://www.derbysulzers.com/cie.html The main weakness in the two Irish mixed traffic prototypes was rough riding due to the plate frame carriage bogie design, the 1100-1101 engine and electrical were sound the Metropolitan Vickers electrical system was considered superior to the systems used in the BR Type 2. Its possible CIE went for plate frame bogies because cast steel bogies were un-available or prohibitively expensive in 1948 or someone in Inchacore simply compared notes with Eastleigh on Southern Railways experience with EMU and diesel electric locomotive bogies. Its a pity that CIEs budget did not stretch to bringing 1100-1101 into line with the B101 Class by increasing the BRCW order to 14 sets of parts, an additional pair of B Class locos with universal route availability would have been very useful until sufficient re-motored A Class were available to replace the B101 and pairs of GMs on the heaviest duties. The E Class are German locos with high speed Maybach Engines and Mekydro hydraulic transmissions, CIE gradually phased out the D301 Class Ireland sole example of the classic British diesel shunter by the late 1960s.

Completed the baseboards and installed track underlay this weekend. I fitted DCC Baseboard Alignment boards to the baseboards ends using a piece of ply with two pilot holes as drilling ji The underlay is dense foam ground sheet glued with PVA and weighted down until dry. I fitted strip basswood to the baseboard edge to assist with track alignment. Mock up on the outside work bench, Tower Building inspired by Grand Canal Street and overbridge will act as fiddle yard view blocker. Set up in the Workshop/Layout Room with Fiddle Yard baseboard fitted. The fiddle yard baseboard is basically an inverted box with an open top. I am planning to use a traverser using metal drawer slides., I will need to fit stripwood runners to the ply ends and an intermediate to support the slides, the traverser table will basically sit on top of the slides clear of the ply framing. The next jobs are to sort out the traverser top for the fiddle yard and drill out the pilot holes for the point motors. I seem to have disappeared most of the track/pointwork for this end of the layout since Saturday morning, I suspect it has fallen into the narrow gap behind the under-baseboard storage units which will require a major clear out

Dan Renehan a CIE driver wrote a series on papers on CIE diesels including the E401 & 421 Classes in the IRRS journal during the 1980s. The majority of the operational E401s lost their exhaust cowl and silencer as a result of an exhaust fire when one of the class was working as Inchacore Works Pilot (Sambo). The class were gradually withdrawn in the late 70s/early 80s though apparently the the last operational loco possibly E401 retained her silencer and cowl. The E401s were basically worn out after years on heavy duties working Heuston-North Wall transfer freights. Some E421 originally based at Connolly were transferred to Heuston to undertake coaching pilot duties. According Locos and Stock of CIE & NIR (Doyle & Hirsch) E401,411,415,417 and 419 were withdrawn by 1979

I did not realise that the GSR operated a Cork-Bandon local passenger service, I was under the impression that Bandon was served by Cork-Skibbereen & Clonakilty trains in CBSCR and GSR days. The Muskery is an odd one the GSR received a 5% Baronial Dividend on the CMLR share capital for 10 years following the Amalgamation, the GSR operated a skeleton service of one or two trains daily in its final years until the dividend payments ceased in 1934. Presumably the payments would have ceased if the GSR closed the line earlier. According to Shepherd the GSR wanted to close the Timoleague and Courtmacsharry line in 1925 but continued to operate the line possibly in order to continue receiving a dividend under the Baronial Guarantee scheme but was worth while keeping open for goods and excursion traffic.