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Your weathering is very subtle and very realistic. Details like the stains on the roofs of the Cravens really make it. Is it possible to see a close up of one of your Cravens to show this feature off?

F I R S T layout? That is absolutely exceptional, without doubt. Superb construction and scenery and very realistic. The scenery is most impressive, as is the attention to detail in having a real background (Mount Leinster). Very well done indeed, can't wait to see more.

Very often, locos were narrower than passenger stock, but wider than wagons; see dimensions of wagons for guidance in all the above bumph! Carriages had people in them, and room was needed to stuff as many people (and thus fares) in as possible.

Santa will be busy; I want two or three!

Yes, and then perhaps take a picture of it from the same angle and compare with the picture. Next time I'm in the Casino I'll measure the NCC narrow-gauge tank engine there and post pics of it. Actually, if anything, I'd say the loco is fractionally narrower!

Now, I'm going to go through all the above. Pic 1 Loco dimensions from the side. Compare this, and the scale of it, with Pics 8, 9 & 10 and you'll get end dimensions; the 3ft gauge of the track providing a reference point from which to measure. Pic 2 WAGON dimensions; narrower, of course, than locos; and B & L wagons were not huge! Pic 3 This relates to the almost-broad-gauge huge corridor carriages, thus may be taken as the dimensions of the biggest vehicles possible to run on the B & L - for which they were built, rather than the Ballycastle line. Not hugely tall in the grand scheme of things, especially with a later CDRJC comparison, but long and as wide as possible. Height would have been restricted by some B & L bridges. Pic 4 Relates to wagons; will be of interest. Pic 5 This is important, as reference to this height on the drawings shown will assist in calculating scale for measurements. Pics 6 & 7 Yes, it's that van again (I've a thing about passenger vans!). Note the dimensions, with coupling height and gauge known. Likely to be close enough to loco width - slightly narrower perhaps, but roughly the same height. Pics 8, 9 & 10; see (1). Pic 11 Again, clues may be gleaned from this.

The loading gauge dimensions on the Ballycastle Railway were: 8ft / 10ft / 9ft, somewhere midway between the biggest (CDRJC) and the smallest (Schull & Skib). Model dimensions best assumed by loco and rolling stock drawings....

And (for modellers!) there was a LONG time during which a very large proportion of the country's passenger services from West Coark way up into GNR-land in Derry, Belfast and Newcastle (not just CIE!) was run by these railcars. They were the ICRs of the 1950s AND 1960s; thus a RTR model is essential at some time!

That thing looks more 009 than 3ft gauge!

Love the BR blue era. I've long-term plans for a micro-mini layout consisting of a short terminus with an island platform, and several different types of two-car railcar* sets shuttling back and forth.... ( * Or "DMU"s, as Brexitologists call them....)

Excellent news, IRM! Very well done!

Here’s COMPLETE chapter & verse; all a modeller could want!

Just watched a youtube video of this railcar. WHY oh why has it got a deafening, and COMPLETELY inappropriate American-sounding train horn? Do a few sheep need a walking-pace railcar to announce its presence as if it is a 90,000 hp mile long Union Pacific coal train headed by nine of GM's biggest locomotives across the Rockies? Absolutely, totally ridiculous. Disgraceful, like the butchering of the inside of one of the handful of surviving Donegal carriages in Derry into some sort of stupid-idea 1990s "club car"! What's next - a "Thomas" face on it? These people shouldn't be let out. Rant over.

I have to say I'd love a run in it. The only time I was ever on it was months after it first opened 25 or 30 years ago, and it only went a short way then. So two more track miles to cover. I'd better do it quickly before the thing falls to bits. Now to try to find out what days it actually opens; this has always seemed a rare mystery......

This, plus info on appropriate rolling stock. In pic. 3, you can see the carriages and one of those little brake vans (a thing of great beauty in itself!) in early Ballycastle Rly days - long before the NCC went near it. And look what’s poking out of the shed! From roof profile, is that an original Cushendall rigid 8-wheeler?

This is true. Small operators simply have to step up to this mark these days - as well as the RPSI and DCDR, I am aware that behind the scenes the Cavan & Leitrim have been doing a massive amount of work to deal with current legal and operational requirements. Finntown the same; if they do not, and I must stress that I am unaware of what dealings they may have had with the CRR, they will simply be shut down.

Could ŵell be - he was there first about 1937...

Mogul, if you could PM either me or ttc0169 on here, we can pass your info on to Jim Deegan, if you would be in a position to lend any assistance? He will very greatly appreciate it. Right now, he's looking for a large marquee-type thing for Saturday 18th September - as am I; it's for the book launch there.... one of those big things without sides...........

Some more odds and ends.... 1. Authentic GSWR "crimson lake" and lettering; this background colour also being initially used by the GSR before they had their "main line" brown and cream, and post-1933 lighter maroon liveries. This is on a model in Cultra which was made by Inchicore apprentices back in the day. 2. Oughterard water tower; typical MGWR style for modellers! Good to see Mr Holman has an Achill-based example "in use"! 3. Ballycastle beauty. These originated on the Ballymena & Larne section of the NCC, where the five of them were the only corridor narrow-gauge carriages ever to run in Ireland. The NCC removed the gangways before they went to Ballycastle, and those purchased by the CDR remained sans gangways. Modellers may care to note a livery detail on NCC stock. While owned by the British LMS, and "LMS maroon" featuring on locos and carriages, some differences in markings were perpetuated. Many narrow gauge and main line secondary stock, as well as much suburban stock, had neither lining nor an LMS crest, and in some cases (such as this), not even the letters "L M S N C C". This vehicle is plain unlined maroon. 4. Donegal view, I think late 40s, but I haven't a date. 5. "Maedb" slowly inches towards Cultra. 6. Actually, one of my favourite pics, albeit of probably the most uncomfortable rail-borne vehicle ever to run in Ireland - these MED sets were truly awful to travel in, even worse than the 450s of NIR, which had two speeds - stop and go, and two temperature settings - Baltic and microwave. Lisburn, c.1977 / 78. 7. Some sort of yellow thing. With senior being a PW engineer, doubtless he knew what this thing was; to me, it's a rail-borne scorpion, perhaps, or a lobster on wheels. Nice "H" vans, though.

Love those night time scenes!

It is operational, but only on a temporary track of about a quarter mile. It is not yet open to the public as the certification process is still in progress. While funding will dictate what happens and when, and this is currently not exactly plentiful (donations, lads?), the plan is to operate initially as a short narrow-gauge "train ride", but the eventual aim is to have a proper 5'3" line, for which several carriages have already been secured by agreement with their owners. Motive power might be a "G" class initially, or a "C" even. This, of course, is a long way off. There is a small but dedicated band of people involved in this project - a few of whom are regulars on here, as it happens. But there is a LOT to do, and this type of thing even with volunteer workers, does not come cheap. Any takers, for example, for paying a low loader to take track panels from anywhere on the IE network away out into Connemara - or a carriage? Building a loco shed and replica station? We need MUNNY! However, it's under way and that's the main thing. New pairs of hands for work parties, and new open wallets, are always welcome!

Operating over a line that length in reverse is not likely to benefit the railcar!

The late Sullivan Boomer was chairman of the RPSI during the years I was treasurer. When I went to email him - which, given our roles in the society, was at least once a day (no such thing as texting back then) - my ancient computer inevitably tried to change his name to “Sultan Bomber”……

Superb articles, Airfixfan.