Mayner

Markits produce 7 & 9mm blackened brass disc wheelsets and a 9mm spoked wheelset in OO. The wheelsets are available in either plain or pin point axle for inside of outside bearing use. The codes are: MRJO7 Di/b---7mm disc inside bearing MRJO7 Do/b---7mm disc outside bearing (26mm pin point) Its probably best to phone Markits directly to check on availability, the website gives an update on the current situation ++44 1923 249711 10:00-16:00 M-F markits@btinternet.com http://www.markits.com/default.html

IE's ownership of Rosslare Port allows IE to cross subsidise its loos making rail operations with the profits from Rosslare Port operations, though it could be argued that the the profits from Rosslare are insignificant in the overall scheme of things. There is an expectation for CIE group companies to use the profits from businesses such as Rosslare Port and CIE Group Properties to fund investment in public transport.

Nice to see the model railway portraying normal life. It was ironic watching the video with Miriam O'Callaghan challenging Varadker on school re-openings on the same day we had a case of community transmission among children in a New Zealand school, fingers crossed

A scheduled Limerick-Inchacore empty barytes may have been to provide a regular path for positioning the wagons for use on weekend p.w. work in the Dublin area. The Barytes wagons may have been restricted to 35-40mph max speed by the early 90s and an as required Timetable Working would have provided a slot for a slower train between 100mph passenger workings. CTC control with computerised train routing was extended to Cork and Limerick (via the Junction) by the late 80s and a timetabled slot with a computerised train Number would have made things simpler for the people at Train Control than having to manually enter a path into the system. One of the Irish Railscene videos from the 90s mentions the difficulty of pathing Foynes-Ballina oil trains via Portarlington during the closure of the Limerick-Claremorris line during the early-mid 90s. These trains were routed via Nenagh rather than via Limerick Junction due to the difficulty in finding a path for 2 axle wagons between Intercity passenger services. During this period the "day" Cork Liner and its return working was usually made up of 62'9" air braked container wagons which were converted to carry log traffic around 95-96 after the ending of the "Mail Trains" The other liners would mainly have been made up of 42'9" flats for container traffic & 47'6" flats for keg traffic with 2 axle wagons for IE fuel oil. Liner trains were restricted to 15 42'9/47'6" wagons or 12 62'9" wagons until 201 & 071 Class replaced the 001 Class and pairs of small GMs on Liner Trains. Trains of 18 42'9"/47'6" currently operated, but 62'9" and "Pocket Wagons" are still restricted to 12 Longer trains operated I have a note somewhere of a Tralee-North Wall Liner made up to 34 TEU (20') made up of 10 42'9" flats with 40' shipping containers and 14 2 axle empty keg flats. The train was awaiting departure (& a loco) at Tralee and the member of staff I spoke to emphasized that the train was longer than usual returning empty kegs to Dublin after one of Tralee's summer festivals. Liner trains would have carried "Sundries" & domestic freight traffic in IE/CIE owned containers until the ending of "Sundries" traffic and the shift to deep sea traffic in shipping company containers around 1993-4. Sundries traffic in 10' containers (business normally carried by courier or logistics firms) could be heavy occupying several wagons on a liner train.

I wonder whether any film record exists of the construction of the Silvermines Branch which was built during the same era and involved quite substantial earthworks, RTE filmed an Irish Language language documentary on the operation of the Silvermines-Foynes barytes ore trains in the late 60s which featured the loading & unloading of the trains. It was interesting watching the earth moving operation, I "served my time" with a Dublin house builder and organised site development work using similar plant D8 dozers and Euclid motor scrapers during the late 70s early 80s. As a general rule developers and contractors will avoid earthmoving during the winter months when the ground becomes saturated and instead concentrate on structures and bridges. No doubt Dick Hampton was working on a cost plus basis and got paid extra for shifting the mud and "unsuitable material". Some motor scraper operators/owners were larger than life characters the fighter pilots of the earth moving who wore cowboy boots and hats and smoked cigars while dozer and excavator operators tended to be much more stoic in nature.

A couple of photos of the empty coal train at the "town" end of the layout taken with an iPhone. Photos are usually taken in the opposite direction looking towards the engine shed. I was pretty amazed with the depth of field with this simple point and click camera compared with a Canon DSLR I usually use for model photos. 6T passing the station building. The corrugated shed and station building are based on Drumshanbo on the C&L all modelled in Wills material sheets the stone work painted in Floquil "Concrete" with the mortar courses picked out in an off white. The station is based on Drumshanbo in its original state before the addition of a second storey in 1917, the water tower and the cottage in the background are Wills kits the whole scene is only a foot wide from fascia to backscene. 6T was my second T&D Hunslet 2-6-0T assembled from a Branchlines kit during a Christmas holidays in the mid-1990s The level crossing, its planned to extend the layout on to a second fiddle yard beyond the hole in the backscene so the coal trains can run through to Arigna and mixed trains from opposite ends of the line terminate in Keadue as a double ended terminus in a similar manner to Fivemiletown on the CVR. There once was a curved stone wall with a gate pillar at one end between the level crossing gate and the Leyland Comet but disappeared under the furniture when Beeze our tabby set up shop at this end of the layout. The level crossing gates are again Wills and pivoted to open using a brass pin drilled into the gate and a brass tube into the baseboard. One of the gates was accidentally damaged but repaired with micro strip and plastic weld, the damage is virtually invisible from the viewing side. No 6T is always facing eastbound at the moment, as she does not look to pretty from the other side having lost a cylinder cover which I have been unable to find about 6 months ago. View towards Arigna this shot is almost impossible to take in daylight hours because of sunlight coming in through the window. The open and 62L are on the loading or cattle bank road, the loading bank surface modeled with Woodland Scenic scatter on pva glue on 6mm mdf, the crane is a Wills Scenics kit. I was pleased with the depth of field in the photo with the area between the water tower and end of the goods shed in clear focus. The signal and wagon lettering is by SSM. The goods shed based on Belturbet on the C&L again scratchbuilt from Wills material sheets although its lost its office chimney, background buildings are scratchbuilt in plasticard with Wills windows and doors. The two storey building with small window panes is based on "Gilligans" farmhouse and bar at Ballywillan on the Cavan Branch a survivor of a layout started in the late 80s, the buildings nearer the level crossing are based on photos of buildings in Strokestown and Keadue including an archway through the building typical of vernacular architecture in County Roscommon I enjoy the challenge of building locos, rolling stock, buildings and structures from kits and scratch, I had ambitions to become a railway mechanical engineer before entering a career in construction management and technology which involved similar technical and managerial challenges and sense of achievement in successfully solving a problem or completing a project.

I completed a Gst (local version of VAT) return in connection with one of my businesses (nothing to do with trains) recently and was surprised to find than an Irish registered computer software supplier was registered for Gst in New Zealand. As Murphah noted the big challenge is for the small suppliers many of whom are not registered for VAT in the UK because of low turnover, however the flip size is that a number manufacture and sell unique or bespoke items and their sales are less price sensitive than a small supplier selling more generic items. One of the interesting challenges for me is whether its worth registering JM Design for VAT in Ireland and the UK or using a platform such as e-bay for future sales of rtr models and kits. The business is already registered for GST in New Zealand which allows me to claim back GST charged on locally sourced and imported components and export the models at 0% GST. This allows me to supply kits at a lower cost than possible if the business was not registered and eliminates the issue of double taxation if a model is stopped by Customs upon arrival in Ireland or the UK. While the majority of JM Design kits manage to fly through under the Customs radar, customers are not exactly happy when a package is stopped by customs and they have to pay VAT and clearance costs.

A bit of a mix and match with Keadue & my Workbench repair shop topics. I am focusing on finishing a long list of incomplete projects before starting any new builds, the last two weekends (being holiday weekends in NZ)were a good opportunity to put my New Year resolutions to the test completing and upgrading existing models. Having successfully assembled and tested 52 Class/D17 No 98, the next job on the list was to complete the small Midland tank 553, overhaul 2L and repair the loco-tender plug & socket on the MGWR 2-4-0 Arrow. I painted and assembled 533 earlier in the year but had not fitted power pick ups, which are wiper pick ups using phosphor bronze wire soldered to a piece on copper clad board. Not having tested the loco before under power I had to open up the holes in the coupling road with a tapered broach to achieve smooth running. The loco still has to be fitted with couplings which will be the 4mm version of the B&B coupling which were originally designed for 2mm scale, these couplings are similar in principal to the NEM or Rivarossi hook and loop coupling used by a number of European manufacturers and can be set up for magnetic uncoupling with delayed action and are a lot less intrusive than Tension Lock or Kadees. I used an in-line plug and socket connector between loco and tender on the MGWR 2-4-0 as the loco uses the "American" power pick up system picking up on the loco and tender on opposite sides, the loco is DC and I have no plans to fit a decoder to convert to DCC. The in-line connector was the smallest I could get although one of the UK Loco kit/part manufacturers produced a very neat reliable in line connector during the 80s and 90s which I had used as standard on tender locos. I connector as originally fitted was unreliable as I had left insufficient slack in the lead to the tender socket which lead to un-reliable running 2L was a more significant challenge The loco was originally supplied by Backwoods Miniatures in 1993-4 as a complete kit with wheels, 2 stage gearbox and motor. The model is based on a colour photo of 2L taken in the late 50s, the loco seemed to be in better cosmetic condition than the other remaining C&L 4-4-0s possibly because the photo was taken in rainy or overcast conditions or possibly not worked as hard as her surviving sisters 3, 4 & 8 The loco ran reasonably smoothly but had a relatively high top speed and did not like going round sharp curves. While the loco was fitted with a high quality Mashima motor, the modified Graham Farish (N gauge) gears used resulted in a relatively high top speed, while the prototypical bogie pivot design with side control springs limited the loco to relatively large radius curves. I replaced the Backwoods Miniatures gearbox on 8L with a Branchlines slimline gearbox and replaced the bogie pivot with a swing-link arrangement having damaged the Farish worm gear and loco while assembling no 8L during the late 90s and I though it was time to give 2L a similar upgrade in order to have 4 usable narrow gauge locos. 2L with replacement gearbox, motor and flywheel, original gearbox and bogie pivot with side control springs above. The replacement gearbox is second hand originally fitted to a TMD J15 from a job lot of TMD/SSM kits I bought at a UK exhibition about 20 years ago, the J15 is due to be rebuilt with a High Level Load Haulier gearbox as part of another un-finished project. Overhauling 2L turned out to be one of those two steps forward and one backwards situations, although the Slimline gearbox fitted without a problem to 8L, it took at least 3 attempts to successfullly fit the gearbox. It was necessary to dismantle the gearbox and open out the bearing holes for the gears and thin down the bearings to fit between the loco frames, disaster hit during final assembly when I melted one the brush housing on the original motor while wiring up the loco, by some miracle I had a suitable replacement motor in stock (the last of my stock!) Fitting the swing-link was fairly straightforward in contrast, fabricated from a piece of scrap fret The flywheel should give the loco some momentum smoother stopping and starting and improved running on less than clean track. Initially the loco was quite stiff and hesitant when test run, but improved significantly while on trial, I am not sure of the gear reduction but 2L has a lower top speed than 8L Main issue at this stage is that 2Ls training bogie wheels shorts on the back of the crosshead while working an inbound train towards Arigna or Ballinamore hence 6T working the empty coal train. Other issues to be sorted out including fitting HOn3 couplers and findings suitable figures for my fleet of Irish narrow gauge locos.

The Ulster Transport Museum may be able to assist, the museum collection includes BCDR loco and rolling stock drawings including the various 4-4-2T classes Tel: +44 (0) 28 9042 8428 Fax: +44 (0) 28 9042 8728 Email: info@nmni.com

I worked as a construction site manager in Dublin during the early 80s the most striking thing was the heavier loads carried by tipper and ready mixed concrete trucks compared to the UK. It was an institutional thing trucks were fitted with higher capacity bodies and pre-mix bottles compared to similar vehicles in the UK, and it took a lot of adjustment getting used to the lighter loads carried after I moved to the UK in the mid 1980s. In Ireland the vehicle manufacturers GLW was treated as the net load weight! The Hino's were popular because they were simple and stood up to abuse better than the more expensive British & Scandanavian trucks, on haulier overturned his 3 axle Hino tipper on a site checked the engine oil and water levels after we righted the vehicle with an excavator then went off to the quarry for another load! The "hackers" lorries that delivered palletised bagged cement from CIEs Abercorne Road depot direct to construction sites were a motley bunch of second and third hand vehicles always looking for a quick turn round on site to collect another load from the depot.

JHB You almost sound like Elvis Costello (I don't want to go to Chelsea). You were more likely to find Powers, Jameson, than Bush in the "Anchor Bar" "The Horse Shoe Inn", "Lisle House" or "Mooneys" in Crumlin Village during the 60s though I was too young to be allowed in until the mid 70s. One of my most prized possessions is a Derek Farrelly model of a No50 Altantean though I would be very interested in an R or an RA in the original blue and cream which I often took to school or with my parents to town. Moving on from a bus the one thing that's missing is a decent model of a typical Irish "Hyno" truck of the 70s & 80s, Irish tipper bodies were quite different to the UK with higher capacity bodies and different hydraulics as there was little or no enforcement of gross load weights .

Some photos of our pre-production sample painted in dark grey similar to GSR & early CIE ownership. I had planned to finish the model as 16407 with stencil numerals and flying snail but ran into problems with the decals. Overall I am reasonably pleased with the model though we have to beef up the hopper discharge gear. The 20T Goods Brake is currently on track for a Mid 21 release, we expect to have decorated samples of the flying snail version for review in the Northern Hemisphere by April/May.

Designing/building a 4-4-0 to run reliably and haul a decent load is a significant challenge to both manufacturers and modelers alike. Mike Sharman developed the "free bogie" weighted tender principal for modelling Victorian single driver locos on his 19th Century mixed gauge layout the basic idea is not unlike the Engerth principal which was developed in Austria during the 19th Century https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engerth_locomotive. Designing the GSR 52 Class to haul a decent load was a significant challenge as there is very little space in the firebox above or below the motor to add weight. 98 weighted and balanced with all 4 driving wheels on the track. Trailing driving wheels not quite in contact with the rails. Underside of loco and tender. Centre and leading tender axles free to float up and down in slots, rear axle running in fixed bearing. Tender drawbar adjusted to transfer weight from tender to loco. The bogie is not load bearing but could be fitted with simple springing. Tender and drawbar. Boiler weight. Cerrobend or Woods Metal weight and modelling clay plug to secure in place. Woods Metal melts at approx. 70° I sometimes pour the molten metal into the boiler to fill the area behind the front tube plate but used an existing cast weight and clay in this case. Loco and tender weights. The weights were originally cast for the MGWR 2-4-0, but sheet lead or self adhesive tyre weights would also do the job. In this case 98 comfortably hauled 12 IRM 4w wagons or 3 MM Cravens. I wasn't able to test 98 with more than 3 coaches, adding 1-2 additional coaches tended to derail the entire rake

No 98 on test. I set up a OO gauge test track in a corner of the garage using Hornby No 3 curved & straight track on some offcuts of ply to test 98s haulage capabilities starting with 12 MIR hoppers. The hesitation at one point of the run seems to be a misaligned rail joiner. High Speed Test Run! Turned out to be a bit too much for one of the wagons!

The oil burning conversions was a short term measure by CIE to keep trains moving during the winter of 1947, when coal supplies from the UK failed as a result of severe weather conditions in the UK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_1946–47_in_the_United_Kingdom. The main issue with oil burning on CIE seems to be that oil firing with its rapid heating and cooling was severe on locomotive boilers and fireboxes and lead to maintenance problems and shortened boiler life on an already run down locomotive fleet. Oil burning tended to be used to achieve higher power outputs than could be achieved with hand firing and in the post WWII era when it became increasingly difficult to recruit staff to carry out menial dirty tasks such as cleaning and disposal work on steam locomotives. Despite ample coal supplies New Zealand Railways built both coal and oil fired versions of its Ka 4-8-4 and Ja 4-8-2 class locomotives for its heaviest main line duties. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NZR_JA_class.

Rail traffic from the Kilberry & Coolnamona (near Portlaoise) Peat Moss plants appear to have ceased in the late 60s early 70s when BNM acquiring its onw fleet of trucks. Its possible Kilberry Siding was disconnected when the Cherryville Junction-Athy section was converted to CTC control around 1975, although Athy was scheduled to close to goods traffic under the Rail Plan 80 scheme Athy the sidings on the down side continued to handle goods traffic until the Dublin-Waterford line went over the Liner operation at some stage in 78. During the final months/year of operation traffic appears to have been handled in CIE side door and half height containers on 20' container flats rather than H Vans and corrugated open wagons. Presumably the down side goods yard sidings were disconnected at some stage after the station closed to goods traffic.

The GSWR diagram of the 0-4-4BT together with other GSWR Classes was published with New Irish Lines 3-4 years ago. Alan O'Rourke the New Irish Lines editor may be able to help alanorourke@hotmail.com.

I haven't really gotten round to testing her haulage capability, she ran at a few exhibitions in Ireland in the early 20s, but train length was restricted to 5-6 coaches and I haven't had the chance to run her on a large continuous run layout. "Bodmin" 34016 was originally built for use on the Milton Keynes Model Railway Society EM gauge "Milton Quays" layout I was a member of the club when I was living in the UK during the 90s, but built the loco after I returned to Ireland. Due to double reduction gearing and a large can motor her top speed is low for express passenger work on a continuous run layout but ideal in a terminal fiddle yard situation.

I have a sneaking suspicion that WARB is planning to model the Belmond Grand Hibernian rather than an IE MK3 Intercity set. Apart from Pearse-Drogheda Push Pull workings and the odd Push-Pull working down the DSER main line MK3 stock would have been extremely rare at Barrow Street Boston Yard area. The carriage sidings between Pearse Station & Grand Canal Dock were used during the IE era for reversing Pearse-Drogheda and Maynooth services and stabling stock the evening rush hour services. Westland Row (Pearse) was the terminus for Midland Main Line services (Galway, Sligo, Westport) from the late 30s until the services were diverted to run from Heuston or Connolly during the 1970s. The Midland trains apparently were stabled in the bay platforms at the south end of the station before being propelled out onto the main line immediately before departure. I remember watching light engine movements with a black and tan B121 between Grand Canal Shed and the station from Townsend Street as a 7-8 year old on a saturday morning as my father was getting parts in a motor factors.

A Nohab is certainly a possibility NOHAB tendered to supply locos to the GNR (I) during the 1950s possibly its standard European and North African GM powered design. The proposal was for a GM powered A1A A1A which was too long to fit the Dundalk Works traverser.

The other major benefit of building your own locos is that none that I built myself have been effected by problems with mazac rot, plastic rot and split gears that afflicted certain Bachmann, Hornby and Heljan locos introduced during the last 20 years.

The formation is shown but no track on the 1888-1914 historic map. Its possible a connection may have been put in for construction purposes or even to allow WLWR trains to run to Sligo if the MGWR & WLWR were in dispute over the provision and use of Collooney Junction. The MGWR would not have been exactly happy about the WLWR and later GSWR incursion into its territory and may have attempted to block the WLWR accessing the MGWR line at Collooney Junction. In Dublin fighting broke out between rival groups of workers at the "Battle of Newcomen Bridge" when contractor attempted to enter MGWR property to install the junction between the MGWR Liffey Branch and the Loop Line from Amiens Street Station. A triangle would have been extremely useful for turning locos during pre-amalgamation days when the WLWR/GSWR and SLNCR interchanged goods traffic at Collooney and avoided the WLWR/GSWR paying for light engine mileage over the Midland to Sligo. Traffic between the Southern & SLNCR was interchanged at Sligo Quay following the Amalgamation and Collooney Southern down graded in status, but the SLNCR & MGWR stations appear to have remained a major shipping points for cattle traffic until the SLNCR closed and the traffic ceased on CIE.

I went through a phase of modelling large BR steam locos from DJH and Comet kits about 20 years ago. Great sense of achievement building one loco a year despite being followed a year or so later by a Bachmann or Hornby rtr version. Some friends in the UK even thought my West Country Pacific was a Hornby pre-production version.

Most likely in GNR wagons from Dublin, Belfast or possibly Derry Port's as Airfixfan pointed out the CDJR tank wagons were used to transport oil traffic from Derry to Killybegs and other points on the system. Its possible tar traffic for Glenfarne was imported through Dublin Port and routed via Dundalk and Enniskillen rather than via Mullingar. The SLNCR & the GNR competed seriously with the GSR and CIE for traffic from the Dublin and the East Coast to Sligo. Its just about possible that a wagon load of tar or bagged cement might arrive in Rosses Point in a GN wagon having travelled under customs bond through County Fermanagh