spudfan

083 chocked and turned off having deposited the DFD's through the level crossing on to the Killala branch DFD's being propelled by 083 218 prior to running round the Acryno's to the far end of the train A busy day at Ballina

kiltimagh in March 1975 and today July 2014

If I can't master the wife's camera she'll have to do the necessary for me. Imagine me shouting "Quick, get a photo of the grey 071" and the Mrs turning to me with a blank stare on her face as the aforementioned 071 trundles by in the background. Looks like it'll be a crash course in loco identification for the Mrs with Mr Murphy's finest. If I end up hitching back to Galway you'll know that the Mr and Mrs trainspotting team came off the rails.

All being well I hope to get to Ballina on Monday 7th July. I intend to spend a few hours there in the afternoon. So whatever is happening I intend to soak it up and just enjoy it.

Thank you very much. I'll definitely do Ballina. Thanks for the offer of the PM. When I get the date I'll be in touch. Much appreciated.

Thanks. Is it best to just sit on the platform and wait? Any idea what day of the week would be most productive? Also would it be worth the drive from Galway to see whats going on at Ballina freight yard?

I will be in Galway city in July. I'd like to see and photograph freight action. Would I get some decent freight flows at Claremorris or would I need to go up to Ballina?

Rolling stock for sale. Note would suit large layout. http://www.hgpauction.com/auctions/54351/comsa-rail-gmf/

Maybe an overseas manufacturer like Heljan might enter the market and produce one of the types not tackled by PM yet. They would be guaranteed sales as no other model would exist and I would hazard a guess that PM's success with his Irish models has not gone unnoticed. The numbers involved would be well within Heljan's remit for limited edition models. I do not think that PM is waiting for every last 201 or 071 to be sold before he commits to a 121. No matter how much you like or want them there is only so many models you can buy. If another model were available i.e. the 121 or "A" class it would be bought to complement existing models. Anyway I'd say we could see another model sooner than people think and not necessarily from the PM stable.

Thanks for that.Would be happy enough to get a close up view.

Fitted at the construction stage by GM. 59001 also had a bell.

That would have been the PHA's from Procor.37 were ordered in 1984 but all were withdrawn in 1988/1989 and broken up.Suffered from structural cracks.

Modeller's Den off Astons Quay used to stock Lima HO, mainly SNCF locos.I remember the layout beneath the bubble too.

Have 14 class 59 locos.Kind of fond of them myself!!

You can et the book from here http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?an=colin+j+marsden&sts=t&tn=foster+yeoman For the princely sum of £4.95 plus postage. Very well produced book and well worth the money.

No. At that time it was beyond me financially. I used to work three hours overtime to pay for a Lima diesel!

Check that there is no ballast getting between the contact wiper and the underside of the rail. Use an opened out paper clip to clean the space under the rail where the contact wiper goes in. Bent the contact wiper up slightly to give better contact with the underside of the rail. Check all fishplates are tight.

Will do.

Yep, forgot to mention the pipesmoke!

Any idea of the times that the Tara formation heads along Alexandra Road. Would like to get there next time I go to Dublin.

When GM were working on the class 59, one of the early external design drawings presented to Foster Yeoman featured a loco that looks very similar to the IR 201 GM class loco. This was rejected by Foster Yeoman. Looks like the design was kept on file and presented IR when they went shopping to GM for the 201 class. Will post a photo if anyone wants to see it. From the book Foster Yeoman, The Rail Story. 75 years of aggregate by rail.By Colin J. Marsden.

They were big Lima stockist.Bought lots from them in the early eighties. Kieran (or Ciaran) was on counter duty a lot. My father used to walk over with the dog from Drimnagh.The dog used to get a bowl of water in the shop before the trek back home.They were big into kit building including Irish locos to order. You could get an 00 121 class on a Bachmann chassis. I remember being shown drawings for some 0 gauge GM diesels that were to be built. They also had a cabinet with Lima n gauge stuff in it.Counter was on the left as you went in and the Lima n gauge was straight on and to the right as you went in the door. Always had second hand 00 and ho stock. Did'nt take much to crowd out the shop! Used to test run your loco on a piece of straight track on a shelf behind the counter. Always enjoyed going there. Used to cycle from Drimnagh to save enough money to buy stuff! Anyway the shop, my father and the dog are now no more but happy memories remain.