Mayner

The JM Design Tin vans were originally intended to combine etched brass sides with a plastic or resin body shell and chassis manufactured using high end 3D printing technology from my own CAD work. But ended up as conventional brass kits as a plastic or resin body shell was uneconomic due to a combination of the limitations of the 3D printing technology and cost/ the low level of demand for Irish coach or wagon kits. Richies £500 excluding CAD work for a 6w coach is in line with the original set up costs for casting a coach body shell. As far as I recall the mould was good for 20-30 castings with a unit cost of around £20 per casting which swung the economics rapidly round in favour of a conventional kit. The other issue is producing an acceptable model from the CAD work is likely to require a number of attempts even for an experienced designer, sometimes issues with the limitations of the process, material and CAD work do not become obvious until you produce the completed model, after-all Rapid Prototyping using 3D printing was developed as a low cost way to check that the prototype is ok before tooling up for production. Bureau like Shapeways and I Materialise are a relatively low cost way of establishing whether a model is ok before committing to buying a 3D printer or commissioning a manufacturer to produce a model from your CAD work in resin or injection moulded plastic.

Eoin's detail is spot on & should prevent any long term problems at floor level.

Driving rain tracking in between the concrete slab and floor seems to be the biggest risk with your shed, the floor slab appears to be high enough off the ground to minimise the risk of rainwater water splash causing problems. The flashing detail to the barges is not great and could be improved, on the plus side corrugated iron and weatherboard are very effective cladding systems and will last indefinitely once they are installed correctly and adequately maintained, our house was built in 1924 most of the weatherboard and timber framing is original, original roofing iron replaced after 70-80 years I would look seriously at adding another strip of weather board (rustic or shiplap) or ripping a strip of treated plywood to provide a min 50mm overlap between the weatherboard and the concrete slab as detailed below. If its to last any length of time pine weatherboard should be painted with a paint system such as Dulux Weathershield or Wattyl Solaguard. (Primer and min 2 coats) Detail are from NZS Standard for Timber Frame Building so the timber sections and concrete slab design is heavier but the basic principals can be applied to a garden shed. A purpose made barge flashing and closing in the end of the ridge will provide better protection to the gables than the current arrangement. The correct metal flashings are fairly inexpensive. Rilco Roofing Products or Tegral should be able to point you in the right direction.

As far as I remember TMD loco kits were supplied with a boiler formed from brass tube, I did not realise the 7mm J15 was supplied with a boiler. The top of the firebox and boiler are flush on locos with the 4'4" boiler, I usually use a strip of scrap brass curved to the inside diameter of the boiler to provide a seating for the firebox/to reinforce the firebox/boiler joint on locos with round topped boilers. I have not noticed the issue of the boiler being higher at the smoke box with my earlier locos, I still have to assemble the smokebox for one of the new locos. I like the idea of a removable boiler for painting, I am planning to fit the firebox as a sliding fit into the spectacle plate at the cab end with the existing bolt fixing at the smokebox end. I forgot what I did with my earlier kits the footplates and boilers have not been separated in over 20 years. The builder of the "white engine" cut the firebox off flush inside the cab and may have soldered firebox to spectacle plate and running board.

Having re-built the chassis from the white engine as a replacement chassis for 193, I thought that it was better to crack on with erecting the frames for the other locos using a combination of SSM frames 101 Class frames and the heavier frames fitted to some superheated locos including 196 by the GSR in the 1930s. I am planning to fit CBS (continuous beam suspension) to the loco with the replacement frames and fit beam compensation to the other two locos. Although http://www.clag.org.uk/pannier-csb.html CLAG have published instruction for fitting CSB to the GWR dean Goods and Pannier Tanks which had the same coupled wheel base as the 101 Class fitting CBS to the SSM chassis was likely to be challenging, I was unable to locate the forward fulcrum points for the beam as the chassis was fore-shortened and the turned brass frame spacers would obstruct the movement of the suspension beams. Cutting out the hornblock openings is a significant task on a loco with a suspension system. The Monteiths (well worth visiting their brewery when visiting Greymouth on the West Coast South island) was to steady the nerves. I made a new saw table from a piece of hardwood moulding. I bought the Eclipse saw as a teenager many moons ago, blades I buy in bulk from Micro-Mark in the USA. The cutouts are partly etched through to aid cutting out. I clamp in vice then snap off the remaining section once I have cut through the sides, then dress the edge with a flat file. Chassis for superheated loco (designed 2012) has reinforced section over rear axle and conventional fold up frame spacers. I drilled out the frames for CBS fulcrum points using High Level Jig in conjunction with CLAG High Level Pannier instructions. I had to reduce the distance between leading axle and fulcrum point from 13.5 to 11mm due to foreshortened chassis to suit SSM cosmetic leading frames. Line up of frames. Turned spacers fitted to SSM Chassis, I will fit reinforcing strips above trailing axle hornblock cut outs similar to those fitted to my other locos, I will test fit motor and gearbox before fitting additional frame spacers. Superheated loco chassis set up with home made chassis alignment jig. Chassis from above the ashpan sides fits inside the frame cut outs at the rear, there don't appear to be frame cut outs or lightening holes in the area between the leading and driving axles. I will probably half etch the ashpan detail with the frames in a production etch Based on photos I took of 186 at Whitehead about 25 years ago. Line up of frames for 4 locos, the "white engine" or or possibly 193 may be rebuilt as superheated locos. I am planning to build the superheated loco as 101 which retained its original light frames. I don't remember if I allocated a number to the "white engine", it would be a good candidate for a re-build as the original builder cut off the firebox inside the cab and I am planning to replace the direct reversing lever with the linkage type surplus from the 229 build.

I built a pair of 121s using the MIR whitemetal kits and Athearan chassis about 20 years ago, the Rails 3D printed body builds i to a better model despite the limitations of the 3D printing process. The 3D printing process seems to be a good way to go for layout stock that fits the 2' rule where the viewer is looking at the entire train than an individual model. Kirley recently built some convincing 4w IE timber wagons using the Rails 3D printed body in conjunction with old Triang-Hornby Presflo wagon underframes. The correct bogie sideframes makes a huge difference to the 121 compared with the stock Athearn sideframes. Whitemetal MIR 121 c-2000 Athearn SW1500 chassis. My standard of painting an d lining still has a long way to go

Definitely seems appears to be a sequel to "Narrow Gauge Album", the original is definitely worth while seeking out in second hand bookstores or Amazon for its account of the early days of the preservation movement and stories of railway operation. Following on on Noel's suggestion a series of pictorials of lines in the Midlands would be nice, perhaps combining colour and black and white photos with condensed versions of J P O'Dea's John O'Meara's, and N J McAdams IRRS papers would really bring the operation of these lines in the 1950s & 60s to life. The IRRS papers are very useful from a modelling perspective usually including details of motive power and traffic patterns and station track layouts. John O'meara published papers on the Meath Line and Tuam Branch, NJ McAdams The Mayo Line and J P O'Dea just about everywhere else including the Banagher & Ballaghdereen Branches The more recent Ian Allen/Midland Publishing Irish Railway Pictorial series contain high quality photos through from the steam age to the present including albums on the Great Southern Railways, Great Northern Railways, a number of regional and narrow gauge albums.

During the 1950s the GNR introduced the "Derry Vacuum" Dublin-Strabane-Foyle Road express goods service for urgent overnight traffic to Donegal. The Vacuum appears to have been initially an AEC railcar set hauling a couple of fitted vans and container wagons, before morphing into the Derry Goods of the UTA/NIR era. This seems to have been the first fully fitted express freight train in Ireland the precursor of the modern Liner Train running close to passenger train speeds with power braking on all wagons. JHB may be able to correct me but Dundalk appears to have been what the Americans call a division point for Dublin-Belfast operation with NIR crews operating cross border freight services. This would have been tied up with pre-1993 Customs examination and working arrangements with the CIE & NIR Unions. This lead to trip working from Dundalk to Adelaide with quite varied wagon consists (keg, container, bulk cement, fertiliser in the one train) compared to the more uniform wagons consists south of the Border. One of the more interesting workings were loose coupled trains carrying Harp Larger traffic between Dundalk and Adelaide operated into the early 80s. These trains included the unusual combination of modern 4w keg wagons and 30t brake vans. Loose coupled operation ceased when the keg traffic was transferred from the station to Barrack St Yard. The early 90s was probably the busiest time for cross border freight operation when Freightliners Ltd ceased their Holyhead-Dublin sailings and attempted to serve Dublin by a rail connection off its Liverpool-Belfast sailings. This resulted in Freightliners chartering two daily return Belfast-Dublin liner trains to handle traffic to and from the South.

Tony: The different levels make it much more visually interesting compared to a conventional flat baseboard and helps to make sense of the unusual and distinctive split level goods/shed grain store. The track that leads from the y turnout into the goods shed should be long enough for a loco and at least one or two wagons otherwise it will be difficult to run round while shunting the yard. The low relief goods shed looks really effective and there is no doubt that the model is based on Omagh. I would be inclined to to curve the backscene behind the shed rather than leave it at a 90 angle.

For years I thought that I had imagined seeing a big blue steam loco until I saw a colour slide of 171 about 10 years later and borrowed a copy of Colin Boockocks irish Railway Album from the library complete with several photos of 207. Ours was firmly a car and bus family, my first train ride was around 69 or 70 in a compartment coach with wooden paneling behind a black noisy diesel from Killiney to Tara Street.

That's interesting about 207 still working Belfast-Dublin excursions in the summer of 65. My early railway memories possibly earlier than 65 was of a big blue steam loco leading a long train across the viaduct at Gormanstown Strand and dark green trains without an engine at the front.

Both Steam Era Models (Black Beetle Motor Bogies) & Hollywood Foundry (Bull-Ant) in Australia will supply 21mm gauge motor bogies & chassis to order. Hollywood Foundry will produce chassis to any gauge upwards of N including 12mm for Irish 3' and English Broad Gauge for modelers who are in to that sort of thing.

The choice between 21mm and OO is really about whether a person draws the more satisfaction from the technical and physical challenges of building to an odd-ball gauge or building and operating a layout using rtr stock. For someone wanting to build a large layout within a reasonable time frame or a continuous run in a restricted space OO or even EM is probably a better option than 21mm gauge. Mounting the layout near eye level and using Bullhead or Peco Code 75 track will reduce the narrow gauge look of OO gauge track. It should be possible to build an continuous run 21mm layout to OO standards with No 2 or No 3 radius curves and NMRA 110 wheels , but the gauge would have to be reduced below 21mm to provide sufficient splasher and cylinder clearance with steam locos which is probably not worth the effort, though a couple of modelers model Irish broad gauge on EM track. (Templot) Martin Wynne has specifies a track gauge of 20.2mm with a 1mm flangeway gap and a minimum recommended radius of 1000mm for Irish broad gauge track laid to EMGS standards. The gauge was presumably reduced the risk of EMF wheels fouling steam loco splashers and coupling rods/crossheads on outside cylinder steam locos. The flangeway clearances would have to be increased to 1.5mm and wider NMRA wheels and the gauge narrowed further to avoid the problem of the minimum radius is reduced to 600mm. I don't know if any 5'3" gauge modeler has reduced the gauge to 20.2mm , clearances are tight but workable with Gibson & Ultrascale EMF profile wheels wheels. The distance between splashers/coupling rods cross heads on outside cylinders would have to be increased or the gauge reduced if you intend using steam locos with NMRA 110 profile wheels. NMRA 110 profile wheels with b-b set 1t 19.3 fouling splashers on SSM J15.

North Yard in New Zealand supply a 28mm 2.03dia blackened brass pin point axle @ $0.90NZ (app £0.48) Item 471 delivery approx 2 weeks postage app $15-20NZ per order. Northyard.co.nz North Yard wheels and axles are mainly intended for modelling S scale use. I have used these axles successfully with Alan Gibson and Hornby wheels in 21mm gauge and with North Yard wheels in OO. An alternative is to extend a standard 26mm axle by cutting and sleeving with 2mm inside diameter brass tube available from Eileen's Emphorium in the UK. I haven't worked out mimimum track centers for 21mm, distance will vary subject to a number of factors including track alignment, lineside structures, min vehicle width and length. The MGWR loading gauge specified a minimum of 6'2⅝" rail centre-rail centre between tracks, very close to the nominal 6' way or 24mm in 4mm Distance between running roads needs to be increased above a min 24mm on curved trackage and between running lines and yard trackage and between tracks in yards where people were likely to be working. I ran into problems with side swiping between 60'X9'6" coaches on curved track laid at a min radius of 3' and 24mm between tracks.

119 may have been fitted with a large tender to increase coal and water capacity for working Limerick-Sligo goods trains, there is a photo of 229 with a large tender on a southbound goods at Ballycar. Before closure the Limerick Sligo goods only called at the principal stations south of Claremorris before calling at all intermediate stations Claremorris to Sligo. There was a similar arrangement with the North Wall-Ballina goods which basically operated as a limited stop service Northwall-Claremorris before calling at all stations on the branch. West of Athlone a Midland Standard goods worked the train due to weight restrictions on the Ballina Branch.

It just occurred to me that the J15s were originally a Beyer Peacock design supplied to both the GSWR and Dublin and Drogheda Railway in the 1860s. These is a photo of one crossing the Boyne Bridge on the cover of an IRRS Journal, its possible that they may have worked into Portadown in GNR days. A J15 in GNR livery would be a good talking point, not sure when the ex DDR locos were withdrawn but some Ulster Railway and Irish North Western 0-6-0s survived into the late 1940s

Leslie could always work on the basis that the Midland reached Armagh and obtained running powers over the GNR to Belfast and Antrim. The Carrickmacross Branch was built with the intention of blocking the Midland extending from Kingscourt to Castleblaney and Armagh. A J15 worked a weedkiller train from Mullingar to Dundalk via Cavan and Clones in CIE days. Apparently the arrival of a "foreign" loco unexpectedly in Dundalk lead to some calls to train control, possibly more an issue of maintaining custom and practice in rostering arrangements than anything else. A Dundalk crew may have felt that they should have worked the train through from the junction with the "Southern" at Cavan, a light engine run from Dundalk to Cavan to pick up the train would have been a nice little earner to a Northern Crew especially with traffic drying up on the Irish North with the closure of the lines west of Clones and the ending of the coal specials from Belturbet to the Drogheda Cement factory.

Has an interesting experience today: I managed to break two 1.2mm drill bits while boring out some frame spacers in the lathe for tapping last night. Went to one of the local machine tool suppliers, two of the assistants were playing in the stock room the other sulking behind the counter. Didn't have the sized I needed in stock, said "I only work here" when I asked him if there was an engineering supplier in town. He eventually muttered that there was another supplier in town but "they are terrible people". The "terrible people" turned out to be very helpful and friendly and had the bits in stock, I guess I wont be going back to the 1st supplier.

The kit was designed by the late Eamonn Kearney an active modeler who worked to S4 standards, he designed the majority of the TMD and SSM loco and coach kits. From memory Terry McDermott was mainly interested in pre-group Midland Railway in 7mm scale, I had a look at the test build of the J15 in Terry's house before buying the kit. The J15 was one of the first TMD kits to incorporate elements of slot and tab and modular construction, quite advanced by the standards of kit design in the early-mid 1980s. We seem to have taken opposite directions in assembling the running-board, I retained the temporary splashers and removed the central section with my two locos. O gauge is expensive in comparison with OO but no where near as expensive as Gauge 1 or Large scale narrow gauge where ready to run plastic and brass locos cost upwards of $1000, but you get a lot more metal or plastic for your money than in N or OO

Ian McNally has re-introduced some of the wagons in his MIR range and they are available on e-bay. https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/sylvimcnall-0/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from= Kieran has recently covered the assembly of a rake of the bagged cement wagons in his RM Kirley Thread. The bagged cement wagons are in resin with some very nice whitemetal castings

Bit too close to home! Horsemeat seems to have been a standard ingredient in hamburgers supplied by Irish processors to the British market for several years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_horse_meat_scandal#ABP_Food_Group.

There are several different methods each have have their own merits. On Keadue I used expanded polystyrene covered with plaster bandage and Woodland Scenics scatter for cuttings and embankments. The main advantage of of using polystyrene is that you have good control over the final contours and its reasonably solid for planting trees and post and wire fences. Main disadvantage is that its very messy if you cut carve it indoors. s http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/94655-hillsideembankment-best-way-to-make/ I have also formed embankments on open frame baseboards (ply or mdf baseboard surface only under track or roadways) using card/paper strip technique again with plaster bandage and Woodlands Scenic scatter material. Main advantage, light very little mess in construction, good access underneath for wiring, installing point motors . bankments formed from cardboard

Just received delivery of 21mm wheel sets ordered in February. Main issue a bit like CIE ordering the second batch of Deutz is that the rationale the wheel sets has changed during the past 10 months. The intention was to order enough wheels for 1970s passenger train (Cravens, 1953 Buffet, BR van) and re-gauge a rake of IRM wagons which no longer fit in with the overall scheme of things. The 3'1" disc and 3 hole wheels will end up under GSR era wagons which is much the same as when I was planning to re-gauge a rake of Airfix MK2D coaches nearly 20 years ago. Wheels are certainly to a high standard , unlikeley to work loose on their axle or loose a tyre unlike some wheels at the scale end of the market. I will probably go back to Ultrascale when I use up my stock of Sharman steam loco wheels.

The MJT hornblox under 193 are very old stock, 101, 229 are due to be built with High Level Hornblocks and CBS suspension system, I bought the High Level CBS jig from Chris at Warley or Glasgow round 2001 or 2002. The combination of beam compensation with MJT hornblocks, Mashima motors with Branch Lines slimline gears boxes should make an interesting comparison with the locos with the 3 new chassis. 193 frames compensation beam and brake hanger mounting pin fitted. I ran into a sang with the brake gear supplied with the kit and decided to replace the brake hangers and pull rods with those of my own design. The original gear supplied with the kit was very fine and forming the brake hangers to shape is more difficult as the etched components are now in more rigid nickel sliver rather than the original brass. 229 part assembled with running board overlays, cab and splashers sides and buffer beam fitted. Parts for superheated engine laid out with spectacle plate and firebox of my own design (2012). I made the mistake of assembling the running boards without reading the instructions and forgot that the "temporary splashers" incorporated with the engine base plate should be removed before the permanent splashers are fitted. 229 with permanent splashers tacked to the temporary splashers. This results in the loco being 0.8mm (2.5")wider across the splashers than and the splasher sitting 0.2m higher than originally intended. Running board overlays these were installed by sweating in place working from the front of the engine using brass bar to curve to the profile of the valences and pressing down with small blocks of wood. I trimmed off the small tabs which are too high to fit beneath the "temporary splashers". I used 193 solder and an 18 watt Iron with a fine tip to attach the valences to the running plate of 229 and a 25watt soldering iron with a wide tip and 145 solder to sweat the overlays in place. I used a piece of hardwood cut to fit between the buffer beams and valences as a base for supporting the running board during assembly. Superheated and saturated J15s. The kit is basically designed to break down into boiler/firebox/smoke box and cab and running board sub assemblies. I first tack soldered the cabsides in place on the running board and offered the spectacle plate/cab front up to the sides before soldering in place, the firebox is located by tongues on either side of the spectacle plate. I decided to follow the instructions for installing the splashers on the superheathed loco which lead to some re-work, not sure in the end whether it was worth it! Splasher soldering jig ceramic soldering board using brass pins to hold everything in place, I used 193 solder to attach the splasher top and 143 solder to attach the sub assembly to the running board. Completed splasher sub-assembly. Starting to look like locos going through Inchacore or Limerick shops!. Splashers fitted and cleaned up, next stage detailing cab running board assemblies. Coupling rod assembly one of the most critical stages of the build. I 1st opened up the crank pin holes up to 1.2mm with a tepered broach while holding the rod with a pin chuck. Assembly jig. Drill bit used as a mandrel in a block of hardwood for laminating the rods together. I used a vertical drill to locate the drill bits. Drills are jointed on the middle axle for sprung/compensated chassis, so location of the central pin is less critical than a rigid chassis. Belpair firebox showing formers. Mock up superheated loco, smokebox is from a test etch I made up about 5-6 years ago, boiler wrapper from SSM kit. I will probably follow Martin Finney approach to forming belpair boilers with additional formers to for the rounded corners at the front of the box, with a bolted connection between boiler and smokebox similar to my Midland 2-4-0 kits.

Ken Your castings are on their way to Ireland!!! There is a 2-3 week lead time between placing an order for the etched parts and delivery. The kits are designed to be assembled to run on OO or 21mm gauge track with a rigid or compensated chassis. Buffers are very close to a GWR pattern, axleboxes, springs and syphon roof vents were produced in collaboration with Dart Castings from my patterns.