Weshty

What really gets me is the lack of thought in covering Heuston with a massive car park no natural light on the plaftorms no effective loco ventilation one curved access road to the carpark, can you imagine the congestion no rain cover in moving to the front of the building completely car-centric access and focus of the design. It is fair to say that the late 60's and 70's were a dreadful period for architecture, cheap and nasty with a near total rejection of the installed base. Truly God-awful.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz after 3 sentences. Smell of woodbine, coal smoke and grease?

"One solution ...is increasing the platform length on currently unused ‘LP’ type wagons to allow carriage of 45’ long containers rather than their current 40’ limitation. A prototype is likely to be constructed during the next few months to prove the design." Great. Just when I'm ready to launch the 42' bogie flat, they change the goalposts....

They will be €30 each, which includes wheels, transfers, wiring, brass kit, white metal detailing and 10BA nuts and bolts. Essentially everything bar paint and labour!

Very smoothly Shem, and as I posted earlier, she'll handle even 1st Radius curves I've even included a specially designed washer to ensure effective bogie pitching if your layout has inclines.

Gents, Mucho mucho thanks to Richie for assembling and painting this model pre release, and the quality photos. He literally got it hot off the press. And yes, he's been a much needed and brill sounding board over the last few months! I am waiting on the whitemetal mouldings to be available. Once these are ready I will release the kit immediately. Superglue should be more than adequate and maintain it's strength for all standard use. I specifically designed the kit to be both solder and glue friendly. Another feature is that the under frame spine has been designed so that the bogies can handle even 1st radius curves without the wheel flanges catching the chassis.

Fab job with those NI coaches Richie. A lot of TLC in motion there! Funny thing is I love those donor coaches with the big chrome painted frames, I remember manys the time pouring over the Hornby catalogues in '82, and could only dream of owning them! How far we've all come.

I wouldn't have believed it was built from scratch only the video proved it. Wow, wow, wow. Clip of the week.

Noel, Welcome to the site. It's a quality layout, and BIG! You've done all the heavy lifting in terms of layout so the detailing should be fun over the winter at this stage.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Quality job there, and the 20' container is pure class.

Superb stuff, it really captures the essence of all points south of Glanmire Station. And full scale too in what could have been a limited attic space. I take it there's going to be a CDC GIN advert on the bridge? Dowtcha boy!

Contact mick Morris at clamm05@eircom.net. I list his main irish stuff at http://www.studio-scale-models.com/Alpha.html

3months???? I is humbled, and inspired. Nice one Eamon.

Thanks for the feedback lads! Glad to add this one into the stable. I'll be adding my building experience into the Kit Instructions. Particularly around the shaping and construction of the plough assembly.

Here are the first photos of the new Ploughvan Kit. More detail to be added. Original version Later version with mesh windows

I can heartily recommend "The professional approach to model railways" by John Wylie. He was a model maker for several of the Bond Movies. I really liked his design philosophy for depth and structure. It's worth it for Chapter 1 (undersstanding contours) alone.

Hi all, I'm taking a break for a fortnight and will be back in action on the 19th August. By then I should have a new etch on release for you. The Permanent Way Ploughvan kit, in etched brass, with Dapol donor and wheels for €30. I also have new transfers, the new IE coach logo Mk4 pack, for coaches and DVT. Happy Holidays!

I've sent off the finalised Barrier Tank Container etch this morning. The original test etch and its construction revealed some minor errors for correction and a few items that could be improved. I've added extra detail and mounting holes for all the outlet valve points and control gear, more accurate corner fittings (left hand side and right handside versions) and added suitable etch points for easier bending and construction.

Thanks lads. I'm glad they pass muster. I can tell you that an hour in the man-shed lathing away is an hour of utter zen-contentment. Most enjoyable! Another major issue I have resolved is the weight of the Ammonia wagons. The MIR ones looked amazing, but weighed in at a hefty 240g. So a full rake with barriers would be over 1.7kg. The initial solution I designed was using a brass cylinder with resin ends, however these were nearly as heavy as the all resin MIR ones. I considered using plastic pipe, but the difficulty was finding one of the right diameter. There was also the difficulty of ensuring a clean true edge to fit on the resin ends. Frankly, this was one of the main reasons for the project stalling back a few months ago. I have resolved it by replacing the brass cylinder with a prerolled etched brass tube. This has the benefit of ensuring exact dimensions, with pre-etched joint lines just as on the prototype and near halving the weight of the overall wagon. This brings a full 6+2 rake weight to just over 900g. Result! The test etch highlighted a few glitches and the minor corrections required. I also had the benefit of getting some photos from Richie and Dave that provided much needed detail of the buffer ends and the brake gear arrangement (Take a bow lads). As you know detailed high resolution photos on the net are rarer than hen's teeth. These addendums will all be addressed in the next few weeks and the finalised design can then go to the manufacturers.

Lovely weathering, and yes, the coal remnants is the cherry on the cake!

Gents, I completed these patterns last night, and with that, the last big obstacle to getting the ammonia rake out is now completed as the whitemetal mould for the bogie flat, tanker and barrier wagon can now be manufactured. More news to follow. Bogie flat vacuum chamber-reservoir Barrier wagon tank end and valve gear

Richie, That is just stunning. From every aspect, torpedo vents, rivetting, panel lines. I'd love to get one....oh sorry, I already will be!

Watch this space...not too far now.

Short intake of breath there. Lovely. Just lovely.

Definitely deserving of the "these are small, those are far away" award. So real it's scary. Great work Richie, I just love the raised window detailing!