Mayner

The coach on the right appears to have been converted from Drumm Train A. The Drumm Trains were withdrawn and some converted to hauled stock when the batteries required replacement in the late 1940s

Another attempt at a compact mainly scenic 'watching trains go bye" layout Thomastown and the Nore Viaduct in a 12X8 space. The 12X8 layout and fiddle/staging is designed to accommodate 10 42' wagons and single or double headed locos. The Kilkenny end of the station is in a shallow cutting before the section of line between Station Road and the Nore Bridge is on a high embankment before reaching higher ground on the east side of the river. The scheme would work well in N in a 12X8 space with scale length freight and passenger trains Visually the layout is best viewed at eye level with the railway is on the horizon, the raising ground and fascia disguising the approaches to the staging at both ends. The layout is designed around Peco Streamline track the Code 75 Bullhead would look very effective for a late 90s and the advent of CTC layout when the original GSWR bullhead track was replaced with CWR and Thomastown was closed as a blockpost. I used a minimum radius of 750mm in the fiddle yard and shallow cutting at the Kilkenny end of the station with a minimum 1m radius on the embankment/viaduct section. The trackwork in the fiddle yard and cutting is designed around Peco Code 75 (Flatbottom) Streamline track, the crossover in the cutting is based on using left hand curved points, the pointwork in the fiddle yard is based on using Medium Radius points. The siding behind the station building was laid in light flatbottom rail on wooden sleepers a good 1st exercise in laying handlaid track either with Peco Code 75 or IL1 Code 60 Rail either glued or pinned to ply or stripwood sleepers of soldered to copper clad. The siding was in place until the station was closed as a Block Post in the late 1990s, the sidings at the south end of the station appear to have been removed at an earlier stage. Open topped baseboard construction using either ply or the American L Girder construction is the only realistic for of baseboard construction for the section of layout that's mainly on an embankment, I have used 9,13 and 19mm ply for baseboard construction, using 19mm that was surplus to requirements from work. I don't know if Thomastown closed to good traffic during the 1960s or 70s round of closures, but the siding seems to have been used for stabling P.W. machines and the occasional crippled wagon into the 1990s. Train Services Locos and Stock. The Waterford-Kilkenny is one of Irelands oldest Railway Line opened by the Waterford and Kilkenny in the 1840s, the original company was later incorporated in the the Waterford and Central of Ireland extended its line to Portloise and Mountmellick with the expectation of connecting with the Midland at Mullingar to feed cattle traffic to the GNR (I) at Cavan. The company was not very prosperous and had the reputation of having the worst 3rd Class coaches in Ireland when the company was absorbed by the GSWR in the early 1900s. The line became an integral part of the GSWR after the GSWR takeover, the WCIR locomotives and stock quickly replaced by standard GSWR locos and stock and signalling and track upgraded to GSWR standards. In steam days main line trains appear to have been largely worked by Coey 4-4-0s introduced in the 1900s until replaced by diesel railcars in the early 1950s, goods by Woolwich Moguls, the GSWR 0-6-0 types and the humble J15. The line via Portlaoise seems to have been considered the main line and Carlow considered the "Branch" until an austerity drive in 1963 when Portlaoise-Kilkenny was closed completely and Dublin-Waterford train frequency reduced form four to two trains each way daily! Kingsbridge-Portlaoise-Waterford was one of the first lines to switch to diesel operating with the introduction of AEC Railcars in 1953?, the railcars initially operated with early 1900 GSWR Clerestory Dining Cars while Inchacore complete its first batch of 1950s Buffet Cars and Trailer stock. The B101 Sulzer locomotives appear to have been concentrated on Waterford during the 1960s working both passenger and goods trains on the Kilkenny line. 1960/70s developments. The Cherryville-Waterford line became increasingly busy during the late 60s and early 70s with new freight flows and improvements in passenger traffic. Bennettsbridge-Ballinacourthy Dolomite Trains. (1972-82?) 2--Trains Daily-----2 GMs (small)-----4w Hopper Wagons (similar to IRM Ballast) these were Ireland heaviest freight trains before the Tara-Alexandra Rd Zinc ore trains began operation. Bell Lines Late 60s-1997) CIE began operating Container Trains for Bell Lines during the late 1960s. 4w wagons were used before the introduction of the 42' wagons from 1973 onwards----IRM 4w Hopper Chassis? 1-2 Dublin-Waterford Bell line train plus "Specials' during weekend (2-3) specials sometimes operated North Wall-Waterford on Saturdays during the 1990s. Liner-Operation replaced loose coupled goods trains North Wall-Waterford 1977/78 Back to Back and Bogie Fertiliser Trains late 1960s onwards. Palletised Cement Trains---------1976? onwards Passenger: Staff Snatchers installed for non-stop operation Cherryville Junction- Waterford West late 60s early 70s Passenger train frequency increased from three to four daily with the introduction of Déise Express one of CIEs named trains of the 1960s/70s. The Déise a "Supertrain" was short lived withdrawn as an economy measure following the 1973 oil crisis, the Waterford Line lost its Supertrain accommodation and a 4th passenger train (ironically a 001 hauled Supertrain) was not reinstated on the Waterford line until the late 1980s

I went through a similar phase about 20 years ago assembling kits of several British Railways steam locos only for Hornby or Bachmann to announce or release a rtr version 6-12 months later, though I think the odds of IRM producing a rtr model of a Mogul or Jeep are somewhat longer than a BR steam loco.

I get the odd Facebook message from people (usually in the States) claiming to have JM Design Freight Cars and asking for a valuation.

I looked at Waterford North but did not get too far about 10 years ago, although over a mile and a quarter long Waterford breaks down into four distinct areas that could be modeled as self contained or part of a larger layout for someone that has the space. While the freight yard is very large and would take up a lot of space Waterford North, the Wharf Cabin and Abbey Junction are reasonably compact and could be modelled as individual self contained models. Waterford North as a 4mm pointless cameo on an 8X2 Baseboard the platform at 1700mm should be capable of handling a 5 coach Mk3 set or 6 MK2 coaches. The model could be used with cassette or traverser staging at one or both ends or as part of an oval. Visually the Mount Misery rockface and gantry signal cabins are signature features. The Station Building is based on the present 1960s structure, the section of the Newrath Road in front of the platforms could be removed to improve the view of the trains or modelled as a 'cutway" showing the bridge structure. Widening the baseboard to 2'6 would and opting for an earlier era open up the opportunity of modelling the river and Newrath Road as a single carriageway with the bridge structure cantilevered over the river.

Now "The Junction" got me thinking Roy Jackson's Retford with its flat crossing of the ECML would be an excellent inspiration for a large 4mm Irish layout https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/model-railways/retford-in-em-gauge/#:~:text=Retford is a large EM,)%3A East Coast main line The Limerick Junction Island platform capable of handling Up and Down Mainline trains was/is? 1589' long. (Railway Lines of CIE & NIR Doyle and Hirsch 85) 12-14 trains of conventional (60') stock was once common at peak time, excursions and specials) I could not resist doing an Limerick Junction scheme based on Iain Rice's Carbon Crystal Crossing an American N gauge scheme in a 12X8' space which features a flat crossing between two railroads in the Mid West. The platforms scale out at 550mm just about long enough for a 4 coach train and loco. A OO gauge version of the scheme would take up a space of 24' X 16' The main challenge with this type of layout is incorporating the 4 legs of the junction into the available space, I followed the Carbon Crystal Crossing example by treating the Dublin-Cork and Limerick Waterford lines as two self contained ovals with the Waterford Line crossing over or below the Cork Line in the hidden staging. The staging on the Iain Rice scheme appears to have been intended to be accessed from the outside of the baseboard as opposed to the operating well, the secondary line included a raised section and a flyover with a byepass scenic section facing the operating well and the staging for the secondary line was at a higher level than the main staging. The reverse would work better in a restricted space, with the Limerick-Waterford staging at at a lower level than the Main Line staging The scheme includes the main features at the Junction Keane's Points the connection between the WLWR and GSWR line the North and South Cabins, Water Tower and Loco Shed, the N24 overbridge acts as a view blocker at the south end, with the Loco Shed acting as a view blocker for the Waterford Line, exiting behind strategically placed trees at the Dublin and Limerick ends of the station. Rice used a scenic section byepass section as a view blocker

To get back to the original topic Hazlehatch and Celbridge one of my favorite small stations ideal for just sitting back and watching trains go by. Using selective compression the area section between the two road bridges could be modelled in a reasonably modest space, the station has a railway village atmosphere with distinctive Sancton Wood Gothic station building and stone railway cottages. I explored the station after getting my first car around 1980 and was a favorite spot for watching the Ballina, Cork and Waterford on mid-Summer evenings in the late 90s early 20s. The station became more accessible with the introduction of the Kildare suburban services in the early 90s and transformed when the Cork Line was quadrupled between Clondalkin and Hazlehatch in 2008. Hazlehatch was one of last stations to handle cattle traffic, the station along with Leixlip on the Galway line served a meat packing plant located between Leixlip and Celbridge. The cattle pens were modern tubular steel rather than the traditional rail or stone construction used by the railways. The station was closed to goods traffic, sidings and mechanical signals removed during November 1975 as part of the Heuston-Ballybrophy CTC project, the former layby-goods siding west of the Celbridge-Newcastle road was extended and converted into a CTC to allow fast passenger trains to overtake goods and Liner Trains. Until recently acquiring or building suitable locos and rolling stock would have been the main challenge in modelling a station or section of busy main line, the challenge is now financing the stock and providing adequate staging to operate the layout in a prototypical manner rather than simply relax and watch trains run bye. Its should be reasonably achievable to stock the layout to operate a model or Hazlehatch between the early 1970s to early 2000s as suitable locos and rolling stock to cover the majority of passenger and many of the freight diagrams are either available, have been produced or are due for release in rtr form or as kits. The line was re-laid with CWR on concrete sleepers (points and crossings on timber!) during the 1970s as part of the Dublin-Cork Line Upgrade. Peco Bullhead Track with Large Radius points would be a good choice for modelling Hazlehatch in pre-CTC days Peco (SL8302) Code 83 Concrete Sleeper Track and Code 83 points should give a better visual appearance with a lower profile than Code OO concrete sleeper track for modelling Irish concrete sleeper track, the Peco Code 83 points are more prototypical in appearance and design than Peco Code 75 and Code 100 points which largely eliminated the Ziz-Zag effect (end swing) that occurs running long bogie coaches and locos such as the 201 Class (GM Co Co) through crossovers. 2005 Photos!

RMweb and this forum were established and operate on two completely different business models. RMweb is controlled by Warner Publications and like the majority of social media sites its existence is dependent on selling 3rd party on line advertising content.https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/news This forum is add free established on Stephen's initiative as a forum to promote Irish Railway modelling and is controlled by Irish Railway Models

The Royal Mail like most postal authorities sell bags, boxes and envelopes https://shop.royalmail.com/postage-and-packaging?p=2. Locally it usually works out cheaper to send a small item by International Air Parcel in a post office pre-paid bag than supplying your own packaging. I seldom order a single small item by mail as the post office charge the International Air Parcel rather than the Airmail rate if the envelope or jiffy bag is greater than ½' thick. Apart from specialist suppliers like Markits or Alan Gibson Works, I usually order from UK suppliers such as Hattons, Gaugemaster, Rails or Kernow who usually carry a large range of models, accessories and tools in stock. Personally Brexit is not an issue the majority of my UK suppliers are vat registered and supply at 0% Vat , the Irish Government tightening up on import VAT is part of an international trend something that was bound to happen and largely dependent on developments in Customs scanning technology. The technology now appears to be working with most items clearing customs, the new Scanning technology is also resulting in lower customs clearance costs which are reflected in An Post and The Royal Mail 'processing fees".

Things appear to be returning to a degree of normality and I have largely cleared backorders since our suppliers re-opened after the Christmas/Summer Holidays and we are now in a position to accept orders. A (very) small number of "flying snail" Brake Vans including a light grey version from the original (Chinese) print order are currently available. https://jmdesignmodelrailways.com/ The Open, Covered are available in undecorated format complete with to be painted and finished by the customer. The undecorated wagons are supplied with wheels and couplings fitted to chassis, one piece body removable for painting and removable roof. The Open and Covered Wagon are supplied with decal sets which include 1. CIE Snail & Wheel Logos, 2. Tare information. 3. 10 Sets Running Numbers. A separate decal sheet is available with sufficient decals for 4 wagons (4-5 different schemes!) 1. 16404 Early GSR/CIE with GS lettering and running numbers. GS apparently painted out and grinning through paintwork. 2. 16407 & 16410 Mid-late 1950s with small snail and stencil running number 3. 16406 CIE wheel logo "Bulk Grain" and GSR? block lettering. 4. 16404 & 16406 GS I am planning to discontinue the Ranks Ireland version of the grain wagon once we fulfil current orders. Decals are not a viable option for the Ranks version due to the challenges in achieving a satisfactory finish over the raised rivet detail and there has been insufficient interest to date to justify tampo printing.

Being a typical Guardian reader I just had to post this. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/mar/23/im-proud-to-be-called-a-nerd-the-pop-and-rock-greats-who-love-model-railways

I seem to have spent a lot of time planning North Kerry Layouts for someone that's mainly interested in the Midland! I explored the North Kerry Yard, Ardfert, Abbeydorney, Spa and Fenit by bicycle while on holidays in Tralee shortly after the Fenit Branch and the Tralee-Abbeydorney section of the North Kerry closed to Beet Traffic, at the time Tralee North Kerry Yard was in use for Goods Traffic as the GSWR Yard was being upgraded to handle container and palletised freight under the Rail Plan 80 Scheme. The layout plan is based on fitting a 21mm gauge Fenit Station and Quay in the 17' x 12' garage, I originally drew up a plan for an L shaped shelf layout to fit a 7'6" X 5' space, but was unable to develop a workable plan for OO let alone 21mm gauge! In a way Fenit is ideal for a quickie layout as the main feature is the backscene a panorama of Tralee Bay with Sliabh Mish in the background, almost an Irish Kyle of Lochalsh with little in the way of foreground features or buildings, the Station Building Engine and Goods Shes appear to have been demolished many years ago, the Warehouse on the Quay being a simple structure. I have sketched in a possible continuous run connecting the pier and staging, alternatively the pier could be swung round to form a peninsula with access on both sides with the staging restricted to the area at the Tralee end of the station near the loco shed Operationally it could be quite interesting a small fleet of Self Propelled Steam Cranes were used for loading and unloading cargo until rail operations ceased on the quay in the mid-1970s, when traffic was heavy CIE used a G Class loco for shunting wagons over the Causeway between Fenit Station and Quay with Main Line Diesel Locomotives or an E Class working trains to and from Tralee, with Beet Specials operating between Tuam-Tralee-Fenit and Abbeydorney during the Autumn and Winter. The layout is mainly intended for modellers who are more interested in kit and scratchbuilding than collecting rtr-models though IRM & MM rtr locos and stock would speed up getting the railway up and running. In GSR/CIE steam days the GSWR 101 Class and ex-GSWR 6 wheel stock would have predominated, (regular passenger services ceased 1934), an ex-MGWR Small Tank redundant form the Waterford & Tramore was transferred to Tralee to work the branch in the late 1950s. Scratch building possibilities are endless with ex WLWR locos including Fenit Harbour Pier and Harbour Company"Shamrock" later GSWR/GSR/CIE 299. A 7mm model of Fenit Station or Pier would make good 'stand alone' models in 7mm, Alphagraphix produce etched kits of d 1934), an ex-MGWR Small Tank redundant form the Waterford & Tramore was transferred to Tralee to work the branch in the late 1950s. Scratch building possibilities are endless with ex WLWR locos including Fenit Harbour Pier and Harbour Company" Shamrock" 299, GSWR Ivatt 2-4-2Ts and ex-MGWR Small Tank locomotives.

Maybe the RPSI get the contract for retrieving the Strategic reserve from the Tunnel The Swedish Lads came well prepared for the job, Scandinavian people take their fun very seriously https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkaFe0umF7s

One of my earliest railway memories is of a large blue steam locomotive with smoke defectors hauling a long passenger train crossing the Viaduct during one of our summertime trips (by car) to the seaside at Gormanstown as a small child during the 1960s. Imagine my surprise when I years later I discovered that there were large blue steam locos in Ireland and I might have actually seen 207 on the Tourist Train or a special!

The challenges of building a relatively compact layout in a small space. Set track has the great advantage that you can test different track layouts before committing yourself to the final layout and fixing everything down. I had similar problems with couplers and small radius points in the fiddle yard on my large scale garden railway when I changed from LGB (similar to an inverted tension lock) to Knuckle mounted couplers and eventually replaced the fiddle yard points. It might be worth replacing the narrow couplings with Hornby R8267 Medium Width tension locks if you are committed to Hornby or Peco Settrack points, changing to the medium couplers should reduce problems coupling up and de-railing . https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/magento/hornby-R8267.html Another potential problem is a bogie stock de-railing running through conventional crossovers, the reason CJ Freezer used left and right hand points to construct crossovers on the Minnories Suburban layout in 60 Plans for small railways. You seem to have avoided this on your layout and the diamond crossing arrangement has been used on full sized railways where space was tight

Walk around layouts tend to be more achievable in this part of the World the traditional suburban home was on a ¼acre section with room for a double garage, workshop or railway room, while despite intensification more modern homes tend to have an integral double garage. Our first home had a 24X14 garage I originally planned to build an On30 Colorado Narrow gauge layout with the Orphir Loop https://digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll21/id/14496as a center piece but quickly downsized to N because it I would have needed twice the space to make it work in O Scale, I never completed the N because of a house move but still have most of the track and stock as it may come in useful if we have to move home or downsize. The Peninsula featured open top L Girder baseboard with stringers and risers. Even getting as far as a mock up for the Geared Logging Locomotives We placed MDF as a temporary road bed to test the stock on the Loop The shortie On30 Bachmann stock tended to look unconvincing and dominate the scene, the loco was produced by Broadway Limited a plain but reasonably close to scale model apart from the gauge! a Sn3 or HOn3 (smaller in scale) layout would have worked well in the available in space but would have cost a fortune compared to Bachmann. A year later the N Gauge is running on temporary track on the peninsula. The layout is actually in operation at this stage with a mixture of permanent and temporary track. The main running line was developed into a Dumbell arrangement in a similar manner to the N Scale North Kerry concept with hidden trackage and staging behind the scenic break and elevators which linked up with the track on the peninsula to provide a continuous run, I managed to complete most of the hidden trackage before receiving a job offer that lead to a move to another town and from N to G and later 1:20.3 Scale American narrow gauge. Most of the baseboard material went into the garage/workshop in our new home and should be adequately seasoned after nearly 15 years!

I did some planning on a North Kerry themed layout several years ago, inspired by an New Irish Lines article on Barnagh and to see if it was feasible to fit in an American style "Walk Around' layout in our recently renovated garage. The line had the usual 3 passengers and a goods with a Limerick-Abbeyfeale passenger working up to the late 30s/early 40s with 1 passenger and goods in CIE days the passenger ceased in 1963 the Listowel-Ballingarne Junction closing completely in November 75, a Tralee- Listowel Goods and beet from Abbeydorney to Tuam via Tralee lingered on for a few years longer. Although closed to passenger traffic in 63 Passenger trains regularly operated over the line with Tralee Race Specials, GAA, Knock and School excursions and even as a diversionary route for the South Kerry until 1974. Part of the exercise was to see what could be achieved in N, OO and 21mm gauge with a similar layout theme in an identical space. My most successful layouts have been in N Gauge mainly because its feasible to build a layout with better operation potential than a OO or larger scale layout in a similar space. P North Kerry in N Barnagh-Abbeydorney The layout features a central peninsula with Abbeyfeale and Listowel stations on opposite sides of a central view blocker/backscene. Staging tracks are on the hidden section between Barnagh Tunnel and the Tralee end of Abbeydorney. The line climbed steeply from Newcastle West to the summit at Barnagh then descended gently towards Abbeyfeal and Listowel before undulating to Tralee The siding/loop at Barnagh may have been used for crossing or re-combining goods trains that exceeded the load limit on the grade from Newcastle West to Barnagh. I successfully used similar "Surround Staging" on American N gauge layouts in Ireland and in New Zealand before our move to our present home. The main focus of the layout is goods train operation with Two Crews working the up and down daily goods trains to the crossing point at Listowel or Abbeydorney before changing locos and returning home. Crews of cattle specials would work through to Limerick or Mallow or possibly through to Dublin or Waterford Ports. North Kerry in OO Barnagh to Abbeyfeale I just about fitted in the peninsula for the OO version with Barnagh and Devon Road as intermediate Halts. Siting Abbeyfeale beside the staging fits in with American practice of placing a main yard/station close to rather than equidistant from staging on a continuous run layout. Due to the grade West bound goods traffic tended to accumulate at Newcastle West until there was enough traffic to justify sending a loco from Limerick, though its possible that wagons were attached to the rear of the Limerick-Abbeyfeale passenger. In WLWR & GSWR days the "Mail Trains" carried van traffic attached at the rear, a possible reason for the unusual double loop arrangement in the goods yards at both Abbeyfeale and Listowel. Patrickswell North Kerry in 21mm gauge. I was largely restricted to a single station and staging yard because of the larger minimum radius and the longer points (more prototypical switch and crossing angles) required for 21mm gauge and chose Patrickswell because of its attractive setting simple track layout and appearance of double track with the North Kerry and Croom Lines parallel West of the station. The North Kerry and the Croom Branch split into two separate single lines at the crossover at the Limerick end of the platform, the lightly drawn crossover and siding were removed at some stage before closure. A section of the Croom line was retained as a siding for crossing trains after the 1967 closure of the branch until the cabin was closed in 1983. Apparently at one stage the Waterford and Limerick attempted to force the GSWR to double the line from Patrickswell to handle Cork Limerick Direct Railway Traffic, the GSWR routed its Dublin-Limerick goods traffic via Charleville Junction and Patrickswell before absorbing the WLWR. Needless to say nothing has become of these plans, though I am planning to replace the present roller shutter garage door with a wall and conventional doorway at some stage this year, my garage is largely a workshop than a model railway or layout room.

Interesting contrast between the C&L in GSR days with reasonably clean locos well maintained stock and infrastructure and run down CIE condition. It looks like Leyden's Coal Screens and loading plant may have been built on the foundations of the Arigna Iron Works dating from the early 1800s with later additions in concrete and corrugated sheet Some of the buildings were roofless by the mid-late 50s with the roof sheets but not framing removed from the large concrete building on the right and the 'lean to building beneath the ropeway.

Its coming around to that time of year again days becoming shorter/cooler before leaf fall and winter more inclined to run trains than during the summer. Weather was good wasn't busy and I decided to run some trains Friday afternoon usual pattern a Way Freight or Pick up Goods to Jackson City the principal Town (railway depot/yard) on the line and a Stock Special to Arboles a small country Depot in the middle of no-where. 464 is on shed at Jackson City having worked in on the previous days freight. Almost drought conditions since before Christmas apart from the tail end of a tropical Cyclone in February which brought flooding and brought down trees, some damage to the Jackson County. The 'metal' fill in the Loco Yard has become nicely consolidated trying to avoid gluing, as glued ballast/paving tends to break up after 2-3 years. 348 arrived at Arboles with the Stock Special. Probably should change the name to Arbol as only one of the trees planted is thriving. The Caboose was uncoupled from the rear of the train before pushing the Stock Cars into the Siding for loading and re-coupling the caboose. Smaller stock yards tended to have 1-2 loading chutes and the loco would have to stay on the train and position the cars for loading which could be a slow process. The DRGW tended to use these small 2-8-0s for stock and freight trains on lightly laid branch lines until abandoned during the late 1940s -mid 1950. Close up of the Accucraft Kuckle couplers. Which are basically a scaled down version of the prototype, uncoupling is by raising a pin with a lifting bars on the freight car, caboose or loco. Departing Arboles tender first. 464 waits to take over from 346 at Jackson City. The stock train is too heavy for the small 2-8-0 on the 4% grade to the staging in the Garage 464 awaits to depart with the Stock Train as 463 arrives with a Way Freight (West) and 348 makes up 463s train (East) for departure. Nearly Tea Time! 463 has drawn her train into the clear to allow 464 to depart with the Stock Special. The next move was for 463 to either reverse or draw forward clear of the yard to allow 348 to position her cars on the Departure Road (at left of 464). Unfortunately rain was forecast, it was getting dark, and we had to abandon the session for another day! 463 pushed her train back to the staging, 464 returned picked up the cars that 348 had positioned and departed (in the dark) with 348 banking the train. Natural Weathering. I tend to allow dust to accumulate of freight car roofs as its very time consuming to remove. The Stock Train was caught in a sudden shower yesterday and I allowed to dry naturally with a reasonable effect. 348 was dried in the traditional manner with an oily rag!

Suspended timber floor or concrete slab depending on era built. New Ross had a timber floor, possibly brick or concrete foundations/rising walls. Corrugated or weather board on timber framing. Interiors lined with tongued and grooved boarding or possibly wallpaper on hessian on rough cut boards. Timber frame with corrugated iron roofing and either timber weatherboard or corrugated iron cladding was and to a degree still is the standard for of construction in New Zealand, its an extremely resilient form of construction with many building from the 19th and early 20th Century still in use to this day, our house is just under 100 years old corrugated iron roof, original timber wall cladding, joinery and framing all hardwood with some modern upgrading. It might be worth contacting IE Chief Civil Engineers Office who may have drawings of some of the buildings signal cabins at stations on the Wexford Line were upgraded during the 1990s. Its possible Thompsons or Carlow Museum may have information on corrugated iron buildings supplied to railways, Thompson's have been in business since the early 1900, Keenan's of Bagnallstown was another major Co Carlow based structural steelwork/corrugated building supplier.

The West Cork and West Clare and other Tod Andrews closures appears to have been based on projections that CIE would loose less money, or possibly make a profit (in terms of operating and capital costs) if the passenger and goods traffic was transferred from rail to CIE road passenger and freight services. The 'improvements' tended to be more Bureaucracy and Incompetence with the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing rather than cooking the books. The Policy Makers that decided on closure or a change in operating policy failing to inform Way and Works or Mechanical Engineering of a decision. Good examples were CIE ordering the G611 Class and the Western Region ordering the Class 14 "Teddy Bear" locomotives for Branch Line & Trip Working when they were largely redundant with Branch Line closures and changes in freight operation in both Ireland and the UK. In a lot of cases the work or project was already budgeted for a particular project and could not be used for a more relevant alternate project, very much a case spend it or loose it and keep staff employed until they could be re-deployed, retired or became eligible for redundancy. Sometimes it was cheaper to keep someone on the books (doing nothing) until they retired if they were unwilling to voluntary transfer to another role than offer and pay redundancy, during the 1980s my father (a fitter) was refused redundancy because of his long service while younger staff and some of his apprentices were offered and took redundancy. I ran into the same problem as a Head of Department on a UK Heritage railway although less than a mile long we had the same management structures and siloed mentality as British Rail. Some "improvements" such as the 'relaying' of parts of the Burma Road, Youghal Branch and other lines was actually the P.W. Department replacing good quality rail and track panels with worn material before closure for use on other lines, for many years CIEs track maintenance on secondary lines was based on patching using material cascaded from the mainlines and recovered from branches/closed lines. The Mechanical Engineers Departments tend to do the same using stocked locos and rolling stock as a source of spare parts before they are officially withdrawn and scrapped, hence long lines of stopped 001s at Inchacore, redundant 4w wagons at North Wall and long lines of stopped Class 31 Locos at Totton before they were actually withdrawn

I haven't any personal experience with Kato track, the photo looks spot on for American track and looks a lot more realistic than Peco Code 80 or 55 N gauge track. With the realistic track and standard and details of 3251 I almost want to resume where I left off my American N Scale modelling buy some Kato track and keep my stock of Peco for staging and hidden track I know of one large layout in Auckland which uses Kato track, the owner is the former owner of a model shop and importer of American and Japanese railway models prefers Kato to other system

Ken Fair play! especially producing kits for an unsung railway like the DWWR/DSER. I have used PPD for over 10 years and they consistently turned out high quality work and resolve problems when they occur. I have basically ceased design and manufacture of etched kits because of the lack of demand and I am focusing on models for my own personal use. Have you looked at a jewelry or precious metal supplier producing lost wax castings direct from a 3D model as opposed to resin casting? The lost wax castings for my 52 Class kit were produce from 3D printed masters as I did not realise that my supplier could produce the wax moulds by 3D printing https://morrisandwatson.com/3d-printing/ Unfortunately I haven't figured out how to form or 'loft' a 3D flare or skirt for a dome or chimney for the 52 Class I also use lost wax castings, when its necessary to produce duplicate or multiple patterns of producing whitemetal or pewter castings of components like springs or axleboxes. Lost wax casting worked out quite reasonable in cost, its possible that businesses in the Ireland and the UK are offering similar services to Morris and Watson.

I originally planned (2010)to produce the Tin Vans JMD using a cast resin body (from a 3D printed master) before going down the etched kit route. One of the main draw backs was high production costs due to the short mould life (<20 repeats per mould?) and labour intensive nature of the casting and clean up process. 12 years later I quickly found out that resin casting was not an option for producing the CIE 20T Goods Brake van. The local (New Zealand) companies that once carried out resin casting have either gone out of business or shifted to resin printing.

Leslie You made me reach for my copies of Locomotive & Rolling Stock of CIE and NIR. It looks like like you have sold more 54 Double Beets and 177 less 20' Skeletal Flats than CIE actually built. 300 Flats is not bad by any standards for a resin casting. I still have to get round to building my 'stash' of PW wagons, but haven't been able to find the time since I gave up my 'day job' several years ago.