jhb171achill

I remember that indeed, Galteemore!

Wonder what became of their nameplates. Also - were there three at one time? One of the few which ended up in black, and shown nicely! Gawd knows what colour the tender is, though......

Looks absolutely O U T S T A N D I N G !!!

Having seen this in the flesh for the first time in Bray this morning, I can say that it looks even better in real life - a true masterpiece! Very nice to meet Ken as well! I took these this morning.....

There’s been part un, part deux...... Part trois? Well........let’s wait’n’see!!

When the “supertrain” branding first came in (1972), only a handful of engines had the “supertrain” livery at first, whereas the new air-conditioned stock had it from new. Thus, black’n’tan locos hauling ST carriages was very much a feature for maybe 2 years until most locos were repainted. From recollection, the “A” class seemed to be mostly in the new livery long before the 121, 141 & 181 class were.

As always, superb. I love the sense of a big city commotion, hustle & bustle, and sheer busy-ness that this layout oozes with. Its like an afternoon at Heuston or Connolly in 1972 - there’s something going on in every corner, no matter where you look!

I love the way you're thinking, Sean! You've the black'n'tan 1960s coaches, but you also have three 4-wheeled "old" coaches in the background. A CIE green repaint would have the three looking sufficiently "1950s". The very old British coaches, if sold as they are, might raise funds to buy an actual Irish model, e.g.a "Craven" if you can get one on fleabay.....

Ah! Possibly. Makes modelling easier!

Peacockes Hotel, Maam Cross, Co. Galway. 00353 91 552 306 https://www.peacockes.ie/

What's the big long "bar" at the bottom?

You could almost imagine the UTA having bought a few of them for Belfast shunting and what little goods they had left..... Certainly, a plausible use for them in Ireland would have been instead of the "E" class. You could see them bumbling about North Wall and Heuston, and possibly on the Loughrea, Ballina or Cobh lines. One suspects they would have been a very much better buy than the seven G611 class! Possible model idea I was thinking about over the last few days, but I've 25 Provincial Wagons kits as yet unbuilt!

I saw Ballyconnell Road at Blackrock last year. It was one of the most utterly photo-realistic layouts I have ever seen, if not THE most, down to the last detail of scenery, or a rusty hinge on a wagon. This is very, very high quality three-dimensional art, as much as it is very high-end precision engineering, as much as it is a highly historically accurate layout. Absolutely superb stuff.

The BCDR did tend to often use just “BCDR” without the ampersand - however, it’s still a reproduction! I saw, I think on done deal or fleabay, within the past year or two, one of those cast signs as above, which looked to be quite recently cast. Someone still at it...... wonder could he run me off a pack of €200 notes!

It's a complete and utter fake! Lots of those faux-GSWR things about with all sorts of initials. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news! You might inform the auction, as lots of people have been conned out of good money for so-called "antiques" like this.....

I love your ingenuity, Sean, by making such a variety like this! Well done, keep it up.

That really is the pinnacle of 4mm modelling. I wish I had a quarter of the skills involved in creating that loco. Absolutely superb job, sir; hats off to you!

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Check with JM Design....

I have no experience of 3D print stuff, other than Silverfox models (am I right in believing that their stuff is produced this way?), so having noted the above, I wonder what opinions there might be about its suitability for "0" gauge? A friend is currently putting together an "0" scale shunting layout, and I would pass on to him any relevant opinions.......

Yes, almost certainly too heavy. A 3ft gauge bogie version would be better, but the Walker yokes would probably have gone there, with the four Clare railcars....

Sure is one of them! Looks like a load of three plus possibly a van of some sort? If it’s like a 121, it’s going to be well able for that.

Very many thanks, RichL. In my teens, I devised an idea for an 009 layout, based on what the CDR would have looked like if it had ended up in the 1970s as part of CIE. I had designed a scaled-down "Dutch Van", and a similarly scaled-down 121; THIS thing above, and in particular the solitary example which went to South Africa and thus must have been "Cape" gauge, intrigued me as to what CIE might have ordered in the 1960s to replace most of the old railcars! (Must dig out my old drawing out of sheer curiosity, though I have since become "broad-minded" (5ft3) rather than "narrow-minded (3ft)!!).....

In 1960 the Lebanese Railways took delivery of four six-wheeled diesel locomotives, very much like a cross between an “E” and a B121. A further two were built for industrial use, one going to South Africa, thus probably 3ft 6ins gauge. On a separate forum a picture of one these was posted. They were class GM6 (not GM6c, which seems to figure more in searches). The design is very clearly off the same drawing board as CIE’s locomotives, as of course one might expect. I would be interested in finding out more. There is little apparently obvious on the interweb. Any ideas, anyone, on where more comprehensive info might be available?

What's the small yellow writing on the cab door?