Shinkansen

I had to look that one up Des! I'll have to keep that in mind for use in me own vocabulary Thanks for the kind comments lads. Have been wanting to finish these yokes off with a while. The plan is that they will feature as a prominant part of my layout when built. I want to have the layout as 3 dimensional as possible. Rolling hills with farm land broken up by rivers etc... Maybe it's a bit ambitious for my first proper layout but that's the plan. Anything but the 2D 8' x 4' board I have already. Thinking about having the bridges side by side on the layout, new and old lines running parrallel to one another. Only thing I can't make up my mind about is what to paint the Arched girder bridge... Dark grey like the original Kibri/Noch bridges? Pale green like alot of the viaducts on the Lee estuary on the way into Cork city? Or red oxide like the Forth Railway Bridge (all time favourite architectural nerd bridge!!!). The Faux Tara rake will be 8 instead of 5 soon. Picked up 3 more Dapol ballast wagons ready for the chop once the viaducts are complete Tom

Cheer's for that. Yes I did hear that Klear had changed and that the original mix was preferable to use. I have another water based varnish I could use for re-numbering... It's the Microscale industries one. Thanks for the info on the Autoballasters. I reckon I could live with that for a prototypical rake. If you check out Wanderers Photos there's photos of these wagons with the new IE logo. They're in a mixed rake along with the originals. Originals are still the best in my opinion. The bright green lettering on the new logo contrasts badly with the engineers yellow of the Autoballaster. Looks kinda odd! Tom.

I dunno, sounds all a bit 'Sky-net' to me! If the machines ever do rise up against us, we stand a better chance if they're just toasters and hoovers. However if they're F16's and other such military hardware well....maybe not. Just saying! Is it actually flying autonomously or just by remote control? I agree with you about the F4. One of my all time favourite jets, good to know there's a few still flying and they're not all mothballed

Looking forward to seeing the finished Weedsprayer, very nice work. Speaking or re-numbering... as a fellow Waterford man I have to sort out a River Suir 226 for myself sometime. Strangely anytime I'm near a station with a 201, it's nearly always 234 I see... come across her in Waterford West and Kent Station several times. Out of interest, what are you planning to seal the decals with? The Johnsons Klear? Cheers, Tom.

Class work George, Amazing weathering on those 071s along with a fine bunch of An Post vans. Really enjoying the re-paint works. Not quiet brave enough to start taking my own locos apart for a respray just yet. Can't wait to see the finished article. Top stuff Tom.

Hi all, been on a bit of a railway modelling hiatus over the summer. Now with the evenings closing in tis time to get back to some long running projects of mine. Namely a Kibri 'modern concrete viaduct'. Primer coated this over the weekend, top coat to follow. Even though the Kibri stuff comes 'self colour' I do believe a shot of paint will lift the finish and remove the plasticky toy look. Another thing I've been messing around with (and it's been floating around in the background of my workbench thread with a while!) is another Kibri kit of an 'arched girder bridge'. Together with some very simple Noch mini girder bridges and some dowel/plasticard... I'm planning a massive viaduct for the layout. Of course none of these are strictly Irish or prototypical but I am looking forward to having them as part of my layout, whenever that gets built! Cheers, Tom

Excellent photos as always Wanderer. Twas a great show, I was on Sir John Rogersons Quay watching it. So glad the weather came good.... Seeing that A380 banking in around the Poolbeg towers made for an awsome spectacle

Hi Grangecastle, your diecast fleet is getting more and more impressive, good stuff. Where did you source the Mitsubishi FUSO from, ebay??? Is it 1:87 scale? I would very much like to get hold of one of these with the intention of turning it into a hi-rail vehicle for my layout. Came across a hi-rail version of the real thing once over in NZ. It was a FUSO Campervan/track inspection vehicle. Quiet a bizzar thing to watch pass by on the railway track! Cheers, Tom. [ATTACH=CONFIG]8382[/ATTACH]

Hi Tom, you can get foam board in any good stationery shop, I know Eason's stock them. Cheers for the advice Kirley... I didnt think of that. Will scope out my local Easons so

Ha ha, I know you're a fan of the yellow stuff Heirflick so glad you approve:D Im sure I've more photos of Permanent way equipment, nothing as impressive as the Plasser but still interesting. Will see what I can dig out. Tom

Class work on the goods shed Kirley. It really is coming together. The 'cut stone' effect plasticard transformed it. Just wondering where did you source the foam board from? Is it something you source through a sign makers/printers or is it something you can pick up in a model shop? Cheers Tom.

Yup, Weshty said it best... I'd echo his comments. Excellent work Kirley. Plan to have a crack at some of the above mentioned projects in the near future. Thanks for the inspiration Tom

Thanks Richie, much appreciated dude. I do have better quality photos if more clarity is required. But at 12 Megapixel/4.5 Megabytes each, I thought they were a little on the big side to be posting up here. All taken with a Panasonic Lumix TZ10 compact set to full resolution and automode (cos the camera knows best). Ha, I wish... If only I had the time to build up one of these beasties... it would be pretty cool alright. Hopefully the detail shots might be some use to someone planning on having a go. Only got one side close up. The series of photos down one length of the Plasser would make an awesome full length shot.... all photoshoped together. Tom.

If there is, it would take a shed load of brass!

More pics of same...

Hi, I didn't know IE had one of these beasts! A Plasser & Theurer RM90 Ballast cleaning machine. As a stand-alone rail vehicle it is quiet an impressive bit of kit it must be said. Would make for an awesome model These pictures were taken on Friday August 2nd at Limerick Juction. Seams to be a few other permanent way/maintenance vehicles hanging around Limerick Junction on that day. Regards, Tom

Pretty amazing work Joachim. You should be proud of your efforts A real 70's/80's scene in Kilkenny. I love the look of the goods shed. Could you tell me what make of foot bridge did you use? Love those old wrought Iron bridges... Cheers, Tom.

Ha, those 'no smoking signs' on the Mk3s nearly made me go do-lally too. That's probably why ya hardly ever see anyone doing them. That said, great result and well worth the effort. Also, the step ladders are a really nice touch I do like the look of those Auto ballasters, out of interest are they a good match up coulour-wise with the specially commisioned Bachmann twin packs? Not sure if you have these? I was thinking about getting a few 'non generator' ones to complete a rake. Cheers, Tom.

Very nice work on these. They dont really look too dismilar at all. Good stuff

Don't know where to start!!!! The Viaduct looks stunning, as do the scrathbuilt container flats and Conatiner crane... wow! Looking forward hearing more about the finished products as the roll off the 'Glenderg' production line. Wall to wall quality

Im open to be corrected on this but I think the railway over-bridge on the Lower Glanmire road in Cork city may have a ballast deck. Even tough it has a steel truss structure supporting it as well. The Ballyvoyle viaduct is similar, albiet with a different supporting structure i.e. Concrete Pier + Steel truss + ballast deck (probably a way of taking account of the curve and super elevation of the track). It does make the Prototype very very heavy, requiring a massive supporting structure underneath. But for a model, simplifies things big time

Great video John, thanks for sharing Didn't know the electrics on the NIMT hauled freight, thought it was Diesels only like in the south. I must say the new 'North Island Explorer' carriages are looking very smart. I had a friend send on photos from a trip they took on the TranzAlpine last week showing the new carriges. They are most definitley a step up from the antiques they had previously! All built 'in-house' by Kiwi Rail in Dunedin. I wonder what we would have on the rails in Ireland if IE did similar? Cheers Tom.

Lovely work on the Tara's. Well impressed with your work to date:tumbsup: Looking forward to seeing what you come up with on the scratch-building thread. Good idea about doing the ballast rake & plough van. Has a bit of variety in it, and a builder can make it as big or as small as they like and still have a convincing looking train. Keep up the good work. Tom.

The scenic water/grass/weeds/algae/Retaining walls etc... look the business Plus some very impressive work on the viaduct it must be said. Rail bridges are of particular interest to me so it's great to see them included on someones layout. More of that sort of thing please. Where did you source the viaduct? Scratch built or bought? Top stuff Anthony. Regards Tom.

Yeah those newer units aint the prettiest. You see some of the newer Japanese high speed trains with a similar design. Something to do with air flow over the train as it enters tunnels / noise reduction etc.... But I digress, here's some better looking AVE's seen in Madrids main train staion. Took the pics while enroute to Saville a few years back. Similar looking Alstrom units like the french TGV. Tom