Mayner

To be effective unpainted rust resistant/Corten must be exposed to the weather cycles of wet/dry conditions, its possible that the GSR may have selected rust resistant steel to eliminate the requirement to paint the interior of the hopper with a lead based paint (not exactly suitable for the interior of a container transporting a food stuff. Its possible CIE/Ranks may not have been bothered about the external appearance of its grain hoppers by the late 60s with the growing shift to road transport and the phasing out of wagon load traffic (considered totally un-economic in 1st McKinsey report. By contrast this former D&H Grain Car now in use on a mid-West Regional road, has not seen a repaint since these cars were introduced in 1974 over 50 years ago. Finding these cars in almost their as introduced livery on the Red River Valley and Western in Jan 2024 (complete with initials and shields came as a complete surprise. These cars were originally introduced in a bright red paint scheme not unlike the Ranks scheme of the 50s. The D&H PS-2CD cars had a 4427 Cu Ft capacity approx 60 tons equivalent to 5 Ranks wagons or over 60% of the entire Ranks Irl wagon fleet

I have become a bit of a loan wolf in recent years and not sure if I would inspire Kiwi modellers to take up Irish 21mm gauge modelling. In certain respectsI probabably would have achieved more if I have followed Richard Chown's and David Walker's example and worked in 7mm on 36.5 mm track rather than in 4mm when I started building Irish outline models. At the time everything would have had to be scratchbuilt anyway and working in 7mm would allowed me to hone my scratchbuilding skills and helped to avoid getting distracted collecting and assembling kits and later rtr models that were not strictly relevant to my interest in the MGW and more recently the Burma Rd during the steam era. Richard Chown's Castlerackrent evolved into a single track modular system capable of being exhibited in a number of different configurations, David Walkers Killanney layout (exhibited at the Chatham Show) apparrently was capable of operation with the Castle Rackrent System. Interestingly the One Track Minds group on the South Island exhibited a number of Sn3 layouts with realistically modelled NZ scenery, buildings and structures at exhibitions 15 or so years ago. FREMO-21 would appear to be an excellent option for Irish Outline modellers in Ireland or the UK intending to experiment in 21mm gauge, a series of plain single track modules, fed by cassette, sector plate or traverser storage and could potentially allow modellers using different wheel and track standards to share a modular layout.

Somehow I doubt that 'the MAK" would sell in similar numbers to an A Class let alone to the Class 89 Avocet She certainly caught my imagination when I first saw her during the late 80s, by comparison the Class 90s introduced a year or so later were nicknamed "Skodas' by WCML drivers and maintenance staff.

Photos of Ranks/ex GS Grain Wagons indicate that the paintwork was in quite poor condition by the late 60s/70s apparrently with a lost of rust showing. This was possibly as a result of poor practice/inadequate preparation when the Ranks wagons were repainted from red into grey during the 1960s (post 64? notes on Herbert Richards drawing). A 1930s Railway Magazine artice indicates that the grain wagon superstructure was fabricated in a rust resistant steel. Some railway owned wagons retained their GS paintwork at least into the 1950s solid snail added and GS initials blanked out, which indicates that the existing paintwork was considered adequate from a structural (rust pervention) perspective. Is possible that on a similar basis CIE may not have bothered to repaint the chassis on some wagons when the hopper bodies of the Ranks wagons were painted grey, CIE always focused on keeping the costs down! There is a David Murray colour photo of 654 shunting a train which appears to include two dark brown/red bulk grain wagons at Athlone West in June 1961 in Irish Railways in Colour and Second Glance Tom Ferris (Midland Pub) 1995. Its unclear whether the wagons retained their Ranks Ireland lettering but definitely appear to be dark brown/red, interestingly the leading vehicle in the train appears to be an ex-GN Bread/Parcel van in later CIE livery (Leslie once produced a resin model of these vans) ( unfortunately David Murray's photos don't appear to be included in the IRRS Flickr connection) Its possible CIE may have simply(hopefully)removed grime from the existing red paintwork and treated any rust before re-painting the wagons in (possibly a single coat) of grey, rusty appearance could possibly be as a result of breakdown of grey paintwork or reaction between (rust resistant) steelwork and paintwork as a result of poor paint preparation. Whatever the cause challenging to model!

Following our 2007 move to the Waikato I initially focused on getting a garden railway up and running 'quickly' while in the medium term to renovate/convert our garage into a workshop/railway room for a 4mm Irish outline "Burma Road" layout. While we got the garden railway up and running and completed the conversion of the garage into a railway workshop railway room within a reasonable timeframe, I still havent't started work on the 4mm layout, if I ever get around to it, although I set up the baseboard framing over 10 years ago. 4mm Irish outline layout. Its possible that I may start work on the layout at some stage this year, in a way I have already taken the first steps this year in clearing some of the junk that accumulated on the baseboards over the past 10 years and resuming work on a 21mm gauge 52 & 101 Class intended to operate on the layout, Kiltimagh signal cabin was assembled from a set of parts commissioned from Yorkmodel making several years ago and I have sets of custom etched parts and Wills Material sheets in stock for the station buildings, together with rail and sleepers and even Tortoise point motors I had in stock for over 20 years! Garden railway While the garden railway operates in a significantly larger space (26mx18m) the basic track layout and operating pattern is not a lot different to my Irish outline N gauge layout of the early 80s end to end from hidden staging to a terminus with an intermediate depot/station with crossing loop and junction. Although the layout is capable (just about) of handling a 15 Car (bogie) freight train trains generally load to a maximum of 7 Cars (approx 14 4wheelers) not a lot different to my N Gauge Irish outline layout of the early 80s. Main challenge for the forseeable future with the garden railway is maintaining/renewing sections of the track bed after almost 20 years exposure to humid Waikato conditions, though I am beginning to catch up on defferred maintenance and possibly in the long term source a replacement for K27 #464 preferribly before she disintegrates! While I seemed to go through periods of rapidly building successful layouts during the early 80s early & late 2000s my rate of progress tendes to be much more protracted particularly 4mm Irish Outline layout building, possibly because I have not found the classical branch line terminus-fiddle yard layout operationally satisfying. I originally started work on my Cavan & Leitrim inspired layout Keadue (7'6"X1' shelf) 'to get something running quickly" in a spare room shortly after we migrated to New Zealand in 2004, but quickly lost interest concentrating instead on converting our garage into a railway room and starting work on a large American style 'walk-around' layout initially in O-n30 before deciding to focus on American N and incorporating the existing "Irish' modules into the new layout. O-n30 although a compromise scale was too-overwhelming for the style of mountain layout I intended. Keadue was resurrected several years as a 9'X6' L shaped shelf layout in our home office motivated in part by 'layout visits' during Model Railway (Garden & National) Conventions hosted in our region and the layout as an Home Office/Guest Bedroom diorama. We had approx 180 people visited our railways during a 2-3 day period in connection with the 2014 New Zealand National Model Railway Convention. We experienced heavy rain during the convention and Keadue and a variety of models were set up in the garage in case we ware rained off in the garden. I had originally began collecting/assembling suitable locos and rolling stock as they became available during the early-mid 1990s and Bemo HOm track before our move to NZ, I originally intended to build a layout based on Drumshanbo, but settled on a layout set in Keadue on proposed extensions of the C&L from Arigna to Boyle and even Sligo! The Drumshanbo track layout did not fit into the available space and the station building complete with its 1917? two storey extension overwhelmed the scene, the station building is modelled on the drawing in Padraig Flannigan's C&L book, loco shed based on Dromad, Goods Store Belturbet all in Wills coursed stonework, background buildings in Wills 'cement render' sheets based on buildings in Counties Roscommon and Westmeath While Keadue is reasonably presentable I have done little work and seldom operated the layout in recent years, though I hope to tidy up (dust the layout) and carry out further detailing scenic work during the next years or so to maintain interest. The Timesaver. Mainly intended as a replacement for a series of attempted Irish and American outline layouts on the other two walls of our Home Office East Dock/North Wharf was originally conceived in 2021 as a "Timesaver" as minimum space self contained shunting/switching layout and as a showcase for my JM Design range of 3D Printed wagons. Initially set as a 6'X1' footprint switching/shunting puzzle, I later added a 1'10" traverser/staging as I disliked the self contained nature of the puzzle, I needed trains (shortish) to arrive from and depart to somewhere. I would have preferred a longer staging but restricted to 1'10"in the available space, largest usable diesel is a Bo Bo (B121) due to problems with buffer locing with larger locos (001 Class). I have had little time to work on the layout during the past couple of years, though planning to add a short (loco length) extension at one end of the station to allow arriving locos (track 1 ) pull up clear of the traverser so that5 wagon trains (incl Brake) can arrive in the staging and finally complete the buildings and structures, I started the redbrick tower building and malting from Grand Canal Dock 12-14 years ago. I guess the main lesson for me now in my late 60s is to try get on with and finish the projects/layouts I have planned/started because we cannot predict whether we will be around long enough to finish them.

My mistake ment the Bray-Greystones shuttle rather than Howth-Bray, travelled on an 80 Class on both Greystones shuttle and on a Cobh service during late 8s. There was also an 80 Class worked Sunday only Heuston-Dunlaoire service (intended for Mail Boat passengers) during the same period, possibly tied in with stock transfer between Bray and Inchacore or even Cork for servicing/maintenance, at the time I think IE had 3 80 Class sets on hire from NIR

I would expect that Accurascale/IRM would have a thorough understanding of the 'market' having successfully produced locos and stock for several years. In my experience sales of Irish outline items tends to breakdown 50/40% between the Republic of Ireland and the UK (incl Northern Ireland). In terms of the Hunslet/Enterprise sets, and to a greater degree the 800 Class and BR Class 89 electric Accurascale appears to be following a similar pattern to Hornby Dublo in the 50s and later British Trix in concentrating on the prestigious express passenger locos that may have an emotional appeal to collectors than a more workday loso like a baby Metrovick. Personally a Hunslet and maroon and blue Enterprise set or better still a blue Vs and rake of GN coaches satisfied the emptional appear as a result of childhood & teenage memories and the Class 89 certainly captured my imagination as a 30 something at a Bounds Green Open day during the late 80s. At the end of the day I decided to pass-go on a Hunslet & a 5 Coach Enterprise set as I already have too many rtr models between Irish & American outline models. I think Accurascale are correct in taking a more cautious approach to the development and introduction of new models following the rapid expansion of both the Accurascale and IRM ranges in recent years, particularly in the current level of instabliity (political and economic) on the world stage. While the risk of a retailer being left with unsold stock is lower than 20-30 years ago, the rapid expansion of British Outline rtr in the late 70s (Palitoy and Airfix entering the market) was followed by a long period of stagnation up to the early 90s-oversupply and the economic situation. I remember picking up new Mainline-Airfix-GMR locos and stock at reduced prices into the early 90s. Similarily Murphy Models carried a stick of unsold 071 locos and Craven coaches for several years, with a clearance sale immediately before the 2021? release of the B121s. Personally I think an 80 Class would be a better option for a rtr model than an AEC railcar set, both in terms of design and development costs and potential demand. An 80 Class set still exists allowing more a more accurate model to be produced than an AEC railcar set (I don't know if the sole remaining Push Pull control car survived) and being a MK2 design allows for use/modification of existing tooling. The 80 Class potentially appealing to people modelling NIR and CIE/IE from the 1970s to early 2000?. 80 Class occasionally operated excursions and specials south and west of Dublin and regularly operated Howth-Bray, Maynooth and Cork-Cobh suburban services during late 80s/early 90s era, besides filling in on Enterprise duties. AEC railcar set and intermediate coach (ideally 1953 Buffet or open) would have to be designed from scratch and require completly new tooling. Displaced from main line services and concentrated on Dublin Suburban services during late 60s before being modified into Push-Pull stock during early 70s withdrawn with the exception of a decrepit driving trailer and connector car for use on Bray-Greystones shuttle by 1984. Official information is misleading I have a large scale CIE/Park Royal drawing of an Irish AEC railcar on plate frame bogies similar to the GWR railcars.

Managed to re-open the road this afternoon (& mow the lawn) Motor #6 on test run. Motor #4 on the Mail run. In "Mixed Train Daily" Beebe and Clegg (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10203958-mixed-train-daily)described a ride over the RGS in a Motor (Galloping Goose) passengers included a group of Native American taking a ride for a treat (women in their finest and a baby accompanied by a (very large) male) eating pop corn and lolly pops (there and back), the Native Americans bought two pair of wellington boots, and a lunch box with thermos in Telluride, an 'old timer" with one leg off to town where he had a bottle of 'indifferent" whisky and looked at the world with distain and the two enthusiasts, enlisted to lift the old-timer in and out of the Motor.

4mm 21mm gauge Irish branch line terminnus-fiddle yard in 8' not the most successful. During the late 80s decided to build an 8'X18" layout mainly as a test track for my Irish 21mm gauge models while staying in London. I used woodgrain finished melamine faced chipboard from local B&Q for basebards and its supports, wanting a neat finish similar to the furniture in my room and could be assembled quickly with minimal tools. The basebards and its supporting book case looked great but weighed a ton not the most portable! Layout was inspired by the Castlerack terminal, track was laid in Peco Conductor rail (Code60?) on copperclad sleepers, ballasted with woodland scenics fine ballast, buidlings (some of which re-used on Keadue) were mainly assembled with Wills materials sheets and some almost, but not quite complete! Layout supposedly a branch off the Meath LIne from Dunboyne westwards through Summerhill towards Ballivor or Devlin though Castleross may be close enough somewhere in Meath/Westmeath. Did not get far with the foreground scenic works. While locos and stock ran ok on plain track and turnouts, they did not like the double slip that forms part of the crossover from mainline to loop and sidings. Though proved a useful test bed for locos I built before I moved to Scotland in 93 and more of less abandoned the layout! Ironically I ran into the same problem trying to build a pair of double slips on a 21mm gauge layout over 20 years later. Meanwhile I began collecting N Scale American outline locos and stock in the late 80s but did not attempt a layout until I had returned to Ireland almost 10 years later. In the mean time I had collected books on railroads in the North East and regularly subscribed to the Model Railroader and its planning Annuals and visited the North East on a railfanning trip during the late 90s, so I had definitely fallen under the influence. American N Scale looped 8 with almost 'Surround Staging" in a 17'6" x 8' loft 2000-2004. One of my more successful layouts, I had started a 4mm 21mm layout based on Ballymoe in this loft before I moved to the UK in 86 and decided that N Scale would be a better option to get 'something running quickly" while working on my 4mm Irish & UK interests in my workshop(spare bedroom). The combination of a looped 8 track track plan in combination with the staging behind the scenic section was appealing both in terms of a decent length of run (two loops to complete a full circuit of the layout) and a decent train length. Earlier I had established workable train lengths using a temporary test track on boards at purlin height and decided on a maximum train length of 15-40-50' cars hauled by a consist of between 2-4 diesel locos although 50 cars turned out to be the maximum load. I settled on a system of permanent/fixed baseboards and track for the staging/hidden track (blue on diagram) with modular scenic sections based on the N-Trak concept (single main line DCC) as oNe-Trak modules in articles appeared far more realistic than the standard NTRAK modules. The downside was my initial Binghampton modules had more than one track and that I was unable to fit two 4' modules in the workshop so settled on two non-standard 3-6" modules for the initial sections originally built as a self contained layout. Trackwork on the scenic boards were laid in Peco Code 55 and ballasted with Woodlands scenics ballast, hidden trackwork and staging laid in standard Peco Code 80 unballasted some salvaged from an early 80s layout. Although a large section of the layout appeared to be double track it was actually operated as two parallel single lines! The staging tracks were each capable of handling two complete trains, the section with the small Town (Depot/station) and Viaduct was basically purely scenic and to maximise the length of run between the staging and main yard, 5 actual minutes at a reasonable speed. I dismantled the layout before moving to New Zealand in 2004, disposing of the scenic module and retaining the Binghampton modules which I later re-erected in our home in Auckland. Scenic basebards were mainly open frame construction in ply (surplus from work) and were strong, light in contrast to my eralier efforts in chipboard! I paid a lot of attention to avoiding the 'table top' effect achieving Z with scenery extending both above and below the track and trying to achieve a realistic view point Auckland 24'X12' American N Scale 2006-7 I was lucky for a short while to have a 24' X 12' space available for a layout in Auckland before a move to the Waikato with a much smaller garage, but a bigger garden but thats another story. As luck would have it I got a reasonable amount of work started in its new home after converting the garage to a layout room workshop. The main change was the additional space allowed the layout to be re-configured as an "American walk around" style layout with a central peninsula. Work was mainly concentrated on ammending the staging and Binghampton Yard areas, installing the staging at a lower level that the yard, extending the yard with an additional 4' module. The main-line was just roughed in temporarily to get trains running (I had recently bought a pair of Kato Genesis P42 diesels and a set of Superliner Passenger Cars!) and a pair of PA1s. Only permanent track laid was part of a reverse loop at low level using brand new Code 80 track! (intended to be hidden) DCC control had advanced since leaving Ireland, I introduced a CTC Panel and route setting between the staging and the main yard, though the temporary main line was still 'dark territory'

As far as I recall cattle wagon length was increased to 14' over headstocks as a result of a Board of Trade (animal welfare) requirement during the 1890s and later adapted as an Irish Railway Clearing House Standard. While covered wagons appear to have been gradually in creased from 14' to 15'2" to 16'11" the standard for an Irish cattle wagon remained 14' until CIE introduced its longer KN wagons. Its just about possible that some earlier shorter wagons may have survived on the cash strapped SLNCR, the MGW introduced some 13'6" convertibles in the early 1890s shortly before the BOT "changed the rules" and its possible the SLNCR may have found itself in a similar perdicament and may have been allowed to continue using the shorter wagons until they were due for 'renewal/replacement" which may have been a long time with the SLNCR. Cattle wagons are likely to have remained at 14' in order to avoid the wholesale replacement of loading pens spaced for 14' wagons, in practice stations that handed cattle traffic tended to have a long loading bank with a continuous fence on the rear (non-rail side) and sometimes two or three pens close to one end of the bank (Carlow had stoned walled pens, though generally fences and pens formed in old rail on GS/CIE, though sometimes old sleepers.

Seems to be a bit of a crossover with Robs post on SLNCR wagons. The buffer beam (and sometimes complete end) being pulled out of a wagon seems to have been common enough in loose coupled days including both GN and CIE wagons and make an interesting scenic effect. During the late 70s I recall an ex-GN Van (Patrickswell) and a CIE Van (Moate) dumped near the end of a siding/layby with one end, bufferbeam and draw gear missing but otherwise appeared ok. I suspect that mainly GN/SLNCR wagons were mainly used in later years with Collooney the main loading point for cattle traffic. In his SLNCR books Neil Spinks wrote about the "Southern Siding" being little used (for interchange traffic) after the formation of the GSR and being used only for wagon storage after 1944. (wagon load traffic being exchanged at Sligo Quay. Its possible cattle from the ex-WLWR line were unloaded in the Southern Yard and either driven to the SLNCR yard for loading or watered and rested before resuming their journey. My father remembered (as a kid) cattle been driven along the road from the fair in Kiltimagh (WLWR line) to Claremorris (Midland) for loading. Its possible Sligo/West of Ireland cattle dealers/ may have negotiated preferential rates for shipping export cattle over the SLNCR and GNR through Collooney rather than through routing via the GS/CIE. Interestingly Collooney (Midland) became the main loading point for the Sligo-North Wall "Shipper" after the SLNCR closed in 1957, its possible dealers arranged road transport to the railhead/lairage from local fairs. The Southern Yard was disconnected at some st6age before the Burma Rd closed in 1975.

I thought it best to write about my experiences with the Irish outline end to end N gauge layout I built/operated during the late 70/early80s because I managed to build and almost complete the layout in a relatively short time frame compared to my more recent efforts. I built the layout during my early 20s in my bedroom in my parents' house while attending college and working as a trainee manager with a construction company, whatever about the income I did not have much spare time. Fitting in an 11'X11' room the layout was my first using 1' wide wall mounted shelves, though the fiddle yard section (fitting behind my wardrobe) was only 6" wide. The main station based on Foynes (before 1960s development of oil and ore traffic!) Had a larger goods shed than the prototype (Kilmessan Shed clad in embossed plasticard) and a GSWR style 2 road engine shed with North Light roof. Main advance over Kilmessan was buildings were now plasticard with glazed windows (glazing bars drawn in ink with a tubular drafting pen). The approach road to the station featured a backdrop of low relief buildings from Sligo from a book of drawings of building from Irish towns possibly by Patrick Shaffery. I managed to find two photos of the main station, but none of the other sections of the layout! Duncormick (Foynes!) General view 5'X1' baseboard. Late 70s scene Dublin passenger about to depart. Withdrawn wagons stored/dumped in loco shed Electrically the layout was wired for cab control and points in both stations controlled by H&M pointmotors using H&M passing contact switches and double throw centre off section switches. Two controllers were used to control the layout a H&M Safety Minor at the passing station/junction with a H&M electronic controller at the main station (powered by the Safety Minor 15V a/c auxilary output at Duncormick (terminus) points powered by Safety Minor 12V D/C output. A variant of "Linked Section Control" (using relays) was used to control tains on the single main line section Trains were always driven towards the controller. A train departing the junction/crossing station towards the terminus was controleld by the controller at the terminus and vice versa. The layouts scenics were reasonably complete including non-working signals, ballasted/weathered track (cheap air brush!), ground contours were formed using hardboard fascia in conjunction with card formers, groundcover was formed using polystyrene film overlaid with dyed medical lint (hairy side up) to minimise mess during construction, lichen and proprietry cast trees with foliage. Looking back the most jarring feature was the use of Peco flexible lineside fencing totally inappropriate for a layout set in Ireland particularly the West! Although the layout was reasonably complete in its final stage I never completed the scenic work on the viaduct section after I extended the viaduct from 3-5 arches a year or so before we moved home and the layout put into storage. Similarly I never completed the scenic work around a pair of bridges (a central feature) on an American outline N Scale layout I built about 20 years later, I wonder what Freud would have to say. I considered re-erecting/configuring the N gauge layout in the loft of our new home, but moved on to considering a new N gauge layout which featured both Athenry and Tuam Stations featuring both Galway and WLWR line operations (effectively a looped 8 ) before deciding on something less ambitious Ballymoe on the Mayo Line in 4mm 21mm gauge. I had checked out both Athenry and Tuam while on holidays in the West in 83-4 and even been stopped by a Tuam-Dundalk/Navan Beet Empties at Coolmine crossing during the final year of beet operations and it was feasible to fit an almost scale length model of Athenry and Tuam on opposite side of our loft and have space for staging for scale length trains. In the end the introduction of the TMD Midland Small Tank, a visit to Ballymoe and reading the works of Rice may have swung the pendelum in favour of 4mm. In the end Ballymoe did not progress far beyond the tracklaying stage, I bascially abandoned the project after moving to London during the mid 80s and rather ironically built an American outline N scale folded 8 layout in its place following my return to Dublin 10 years later . Interestingly I found that modelling one large station/yard kept me busy as an operator and I seldom operated the second station/yard on the folded 8 layout, either Athenry or Tuam would have been enough in their own right, but not really feasible as a mainly solo project especially during the Beet Campaign or major seasonal Fairs.

Very little activity on the Jackson County since the last post, battery charger playing up & the deteriotating state of the roadbed on one section of the line. 7 Jan roadbed inspection with Motor #6 The railroad originally operated on DCC track power originally as one power district with bonded rail joints (single strand copper wire), at some stage I divided the railroad into two power districts (fed by separate 5amp boosters) and simply cut through the railjoiners with a cutting disc to form the breaks. The trackbases were formed of 6"X2" boards on 4"x2" bearers on 4X4" posts (all pressure treated external grade timber) on concrete pads when I started work on the railway approx 18 years ago. Originally in partial shade the trackbase in this area became almost fully shaded in recent years as a sapling planted in this area grew into a mature tree in recent years. Although the 6"x2" boards had become quite badly rotted the support beams and piles were still in quite good condition. I replaced the boards with rimu (native hardwood) boards I had in stock that just about filled the gap. Although considered a durable hardwood (boards were salvaged from a pergola likely to have been exposed to the weather for up to 100 years), I decided to protect the upper face with Butynol a waterproof membrane commonly used in this part of the World (roofing felt is seldom used. The membrane is fixed in place with a contact adhesive. Job was one of a number I had to complete in the garden today, basically heavy rain (and flooding in some areas) forecast for the remainder of the week, so possibly some time next week before I can resume running trains on the r-built section of the line. I am planning to carry out similar repairs/waterproofing to the track supports in the background which should be good to keep the railway going for another 10 years or so when I potentially taking me into my late 70s. (I am holding on to the N gauge if we have to downsize to a retirement village (ugg).

Hi Alan I originally (app 30 years ago!) used to short out plastic centred wheels using soft brass wire, I used to cut a shallow notch in the wheel centre using a piercing saw with a fine blade effectively a force fit between wheel centre and axle, only soldering the wire to the innerface of the wheel rim after wheelset pressed on to the axle. The loctite retainer used to prevent wheel moving on axle does not appear to effect electrical continuity. The holes in the 'spiders" were etched undersized and gradually opened up with a reamer to an interference/push fit on a std 1/8" axle, The spider effectively acts as a spacing washer! If I was doing them again i'd etch the legs of the spider 1/2 thickness The bogie is set up to a design in John Ahearn's "Miniature Locomotive Construction" basically a glorified pony-truck, haven't tried springing or side control in 4mm

Great example of latheral thinking, finished track with laser cut sleepers looks great. Now the challenge of designing jigs suitable for curving track, points etc.

Some practical examples of layouts that did not (quite) work. My first attempt at an end-to end layout in the Box Bedroom of my parents house started 76/7 after I had started work and bought a Lima HO Class 33 to bash into a B201 and Deltic for bogies for an A Class with plasticard body. The Class 33 was similar in length/width to a B201 but too low so in increased the height of the loco by adding strips of plasticard below the body. Chassis was eventually used in my first attempt at a B121! Fitting an end to end layout with a through station and terminal and reliable operaton with the Lima diesels turned out to be an insurmentable challenge and abandoned after about a year. On the plus side researching and scratchbuilding Dunboyne Station building out of balsa was an enjoyable project, took the bus to Dunboyne and drew sketches of the buildings hadn't a camera at the time, the Peco curved points worked well on the terminal approach but not sure if I had space for a run round loop. Dunboyne was unsuccessful from an operating perspective not enough space to include the goods sidings or a functioning crossing loop, 3 way point in the fiddle yard not too successful. Kilmessan nearly worked 8'x2' N gauge c/78/9 Inspired by Brain McCann's Bagnalstown Layout and magazine articles on Chiltern Green, I tried an 8'X2' N gauge layout continous layout based on Kilmessan Junction as my first N gauge project. Herbert Richards an IRRS member supplied a collection of photos of the station before signals were removed and track lifted though a cut down former GNR Railcar A appeared in some of the photos. Buildings scratchbuilt in mounting board and some basic sccenic work completed. Although I intended to run unmodified British Outline RTR, I tried to bash a Lima Brush Type 2 into an A Class and repainted a Lima Centre cab diesel shunter into blue as MAK 800 (probabably the best of my collection of Lima N gauge locos. The Bush Type 2 were quite oversized almost TT, I also bashed Lima Freightliner wagons into an approximation of CIE bogie flats by cutting out the centre section and gluing the ends together. It was an enjoyabe layout but let down when one of the wooden blocks that supported the hinges that allowed the two sections of the layout split and disliked the 9" radius curves at either end of the layout. Still a model of Kilmessan probabably just about fit within a length of 16' or preferribly 20' + in 4mm scale. A change of location and direction "Inch" North Kerry in N on a 4' literally plank . I visited Dunboyne and drew some sketched on a 1976 day trip by bus and spent a very interesting day exploring Fenit Branch and North Kerry by bike from Tralee on my summer holidays in 1978 and later decided to build an end to end layout as an alternate to a continuous run. This time I had an Instamatic camera and recorded several photos rather than drawing sketches. This time buildings were in plasticard, scribed to represent stonework, though I used 2 rather than 3 ply construction and they eventually warped! Although I eventually incorporated Inch into a larger layout, I seem to have used the 'plank' as a diorama for displaying models and even took it to one of the Wexford Clubs exhibitions with some Graham Farish 4w GER coaches masquerading as CIE 6wheelers coupled to a green A Class (plasticard scratchbuild body

Finally managed to clear the bench (& return a lot of my tools to the toolbox!) to complete work on some small-scale models after completing repairs to some large-scale locos. I decided to re-assemble 52 Class No1 after I dis-assembled the loco for the paintshops almost 4 years ago, I guess the paint (from JHBs sample) should be cured enough by now. No1s components had been stored in a number of clear plastic containers and some parts mislaid along the way including coupling rods, cab interior and one of the tender wheelsets, so wheels and crankpin brush sets ordered from Wizard models in the UK to complete No1 and assemble a 60 Class 4-4-0 from an etch I designed 2 years ago. Hopefully I should have enough 21mm gauge ex-GSWR locos for a Burma Rd layout once I complete my present incomplete loco projects. I use 'live axle' pick up on my 4mm tender locos and one of the remaining major jobs on No1 is to short out the wheel sets on one side wsing there 'spiders" I had etched several years ago. Back in the day (last 40 years) I successfully used soft 0.3-0.35 dia brass wire fitted between wheel centre and axle at one end and outer end soldered to inside of wheel rim on nylon centred wheels. No 1 will be assembled with compensated chassis leading axle floating training axle fixed and "Sharman tender" with leading and centre tender axles lightly sprung and fixed rear axle

MGWR Horseboxes: The late P O'Cuimin provided details of the Horseboxes in his paper 'Carriage Stock of the MGWR-2" IRRS Journal 56 Vol 10 Oct 71. Padriag produced a large scale detailed drawing of an 1889 Horsebox in his "Broadstone Series" drawings published during the 1970s The IRRS Compendium of MGWR NPCS and Goods Vehicle Drawings (©IRRS 2016) includes GA drawings of K14 (1889) 15' underframe 9' wb and K21 (1899) 16'6" underframe 9'6" wb horseboxes, the 1908 Type 'Harness Room" is drawn in outline on the K21 diagram The main visual difference between the 1889 and 1899 versions appears to have been the larger grooms compartment fitted with a fixed window, torpedo roof vent and oil lamp Its believed that pre-1889 horseboxes may have been to a similar outine with protruding dog box, a strong tradition of fox hunting among the landed gentry. John O'Meara published an IRRS paper on the Meath Line during the early 50s which included an account of complaints of a hunt trespassing (hunting with horses and hounds) on the railway line. 1889 Type-46.48,50,55 built 1889: 13,18,23,51-built 1890, 57-60-built 1892" 17 built 1894: 21,33 built 1895 1899 Type total 6 ---Nos 6.8.14,10,44,37 Built 1899-1901 1908 Type 21: 11,12,27,28 Built 1906!: 9,20,30-32,56 Built 1907: 45 Built 1908: 25,26,36 Built 1909: 35,37,41 Built 1910: 43 Built 1912 38,42 Built 1916: 29,54 Built 1919: 1,46 built 1921

I fitted various brands of decoders for over 20 years, 1st time I experienced this problem when testing or running on DC using the same controller. The loco does appear to start on DC at a lower controller setting than other DCC fitted locos, so may be worth increasing the start voltage (CV2) above the default o setting to see if it makes any difference.

There a black & white photo of a train of 15 'Pacos" horseboxes topped and tailed by Tin Vans on a 14:20 Cabra-Listowel special at Newcastle West on 22 Sep 1969 in "Rails through North Kerry" (JHB + Barry Carse) Colourpoint 2016, van all pppear to be GSR/late GSW origin. The Listowel Races was an important week on the North Kerry with passenger specials until the line over Branagh Gap was condemned and through passenger and goods working between Newcastle West and Abbey Feal ceased duringvthe early 70s.

The post was intended to advise the group of potential problems running NCE decoders on DC track power. The really startling thing was the NCE help desk advising: " you might be better off removing the decoder and making it DC only' If I wanted to run the loco on 5V DC or less! NCE advised that: A DCC decoder circuit board requires 5V DC in both modes to function correctly. DC performance below 5V can be sketchy due to the decoder's instability. While catering primary to the American outline market NCE also produce decoders with Europen NEM interface and have a reputation of producing a quality project. I originally purchased the decoder (only suitable decoder available locally) to convert a LGB (G gauge) loco to DCC. Although the decoder instructions recommends first testing the loco on regular DC, the instructions table of Factory default values CV values indicate that the decoder was supplied with analogue mode disabled. At this stage the decoder could be a moot point to potential buyers, the majority of local G gauge tends to run on DC or on-board battery power. The loco is more likely to considered in the good-fair rather than the mint boxed condition by potential buyers.

Had an intereresting response from the NCE helpdesk about a problem I was experiencing operating a loco with a NCE decoder in analogue mode. One of my locos is fitted with a NCE decoder (supplied with analogue mode disabled.) The loco would only run in one direction (forward) on DC once I enabled analogue mode. NCEs response was: 1. Their decoders required a min 5v DC in both modes in order to function correctly, and 2. NCE recommended removing the decoder if I intended running the loco on 5v or less.

Visited the Mariazellerbahn on a day trip from Krems in 2004, while visiting Austria while en-route (very indirect) from Ireland to New Zealand, via Austria, the UK and the USA. We only had time to ride the lower section of the line to Grenrendorf to check out the steam loco in its shed, the shed staff were friendly but we struggled to understand each others English/German but had a good time. I guess its unlikely at this stage whether we will get to travel the length of the line to Marizaell. Bottom section of the Mariazellerbahn reminded me of the Welshpool and LLanfair a wlesh 2'6" gauge line built with minimal earthworks, following the contours with sharp curves. I think we rode to Grenrendorf behind one of the original C-C electrics and returned to St Polten in a diesel railcar We travelled by Ryanair to Graz and rode over the Semmeringbahn to Vienna. At the time the majority of Obb services were loco hauled with recently introduced electric locos hauling older coaches sometimes working push-pull with a 4w covered van attached at the rear for bicycles! Graz was interesting a kind of Austrian Clones a junction between secondary lines complete with a roundhouse, though the station building was a modern structure with raised car park above a goods/marshalling (fiddle yard?) Shunting was scary with loose/gravity shunting of freights arriving from a harbour branch (Danube)/local industries. Shunters (human) used to place a "sprag/s" on the rail infront of in-coming wagons and casually enter the 4' to stand between the buffers of a stationary wagon to couple up, wheels of arriving wagon would skid when it hit the sprag and nosiily buffer up to the stationary wwagon/rest of the train, shunter would then couple up (screw link) attach brake hoses and then get ready for the next arrival, no room for errors. Commuter train to & from Vienna were made up of loco hauled modern double decked push-pull sets, with diesel railcars and occasional loco hauled sets complete with 4w van.

I tend to agree a Dutch or BR Van would be more appropriate/useful than a 4w Van for those modelling the 1972-early 2000s era. While Dutch and BR Vans were used on trains made up of Park Royal and or Craven Stock, a modified air-braked version of the Dutch Van was used with the MK2 a/b coaches introduced during the 1990s long after the Tin Vans were withdrawn from service. Modelling the 50-70s era in RTR form is bound to be more challenging because of the sheer variety of locos and stock in use and small size of the market/level of demand. Ignoring the GSR and pre-amalgamation coaching stock, Inchacore went through three distinct phases of coach design (some with multiple coach types) during the 50s and early 60s while BR built the majority of its coaches to the MK1 design

A few points: Accurascale only announce an new model when its reached the tooling stage, potentially 12-18 months (for a coach) after making the decision to produce the model. So potentially a 12-18 month wait for Accurascale to announce a Tin Van even if they make the decision today. While the idea of a pack which includes a Heating Van and a Luggage Van appears attractive to the potential buyer, a pack requiring two separate sets of toolings and production lines is likely to be less attractive (profitable), than a oack of 2-3 models produced using the same tooling and production line. While Accurascale are producing 3 distinctive versions of the CIE Pallet Van they are only available in packs containing a single variation (of end or door detail)