jhb171achill

Looking great so far! Excellent work

I got some serious enough speeds on the metre gauge in India (with steam) in the 1970s!

Saw zebra 231 + 9002 on today; 208 + 9003 yesterday.

I ate the bogie. Sorry. I was hungry.

Absolutely fantastic model, looks great. Pity I couldn't raid the piggy bank when these were available....! Couldn't agree more.

Mighty odd looking track in those pictures..........

Right there…..

If it's a terror dog, I hope there's an 00 scale muzzle for it too.............

Methinks a londonium visit and pints therein is overdue for me…..! Thoroughly enjoyed the last, with Messrs McAllister, McMahon, Stacpoole, Dawson, Guinness of course and other worthies…..

Yes, as far as Killester……

NIR CAF, by the look of it - so no first class, and no standard; only cattle class. Last time I saw a 3K passing by, there were people standing in every carriage…

I’d love to have seen ANY Midland engine preserved, especially one of the two big express 4.4.0s…. we can but dream!

Superb stuff! Looking forward to this!

Awful. A big blow to diesel preservation - but you’ll bounce back! Maybe an appeal to battery manufacturers - or in the enthusiast world for the batteries?

This is going to be quite an operation!

Much better size. Due to brexit issues nowadays though, it would have to either stay in the north or go back there (at the borrowers considerable expense) every ten years. Plus, internally it’s another wreck! Much of what’s in Cultra is held together with Mr Sheen! But what a beauty! Best hope here is someone cough up a couple hundred grand, and send it to the Downs of Patrick (in a boat!). But the three locos they already have are way, way, way more economic to run than even that neat little yoke.

Don't forget my denim jacket with large "Thin Lizzy" logo on the back...............

So, a DNGR layout: a pile of Provincial and other wagons, lots of goods vans and cattle trucks, not so much other types, GNR brake vans, the above coaches and you're just leftr with locos. SSM GNR 2.4.2T kit, and perhaps for passing the three fut rule, some sort of 0.6.0ST painted black. An 00 Works 0.6.0 GN UG - if possible to get - would do well also. DNGR job done!

Back to the Hattons 6-wheelers. Lately, it's been asked / discussed on this forum, who models the DNGR. As possibly expected, despite Greenore's absolutely perfect setting for a medium sixed dockside terminal, the answer is few if any. With those thoughts in the back of my head, while researching something unrelated in the last few days I came across a picture of an older type of DNGR six-wheeler which unlike their normal design, which was pure LNWR, this one was more akin to the "generic" Hattons type, i.e. GSWR-esque in proportion and appearance. This, of course, lays open the possibility that since Hattons already do LNWR liveried models of these, it would barely be necessary to do a new run of them. So, behold, an EXISTING ready-to run rake of DNGR coaches! But take the six-wheelers, not the four wheelers; while the LNWR had these, the DNGR didn't.

Wow - that's thicker than a Kerry accent - or porridge! Excellent story! In a past life, I briefly worked in Carrickfergus, Larne and Ballymena - so I've heard that accent to an extent I can follow a good half of it! I knew this little man from Glarryford (or, as he called it, "Gloorreeford"); he always swore that village was the single best place on the entire planet........ so forget your Iguassu Falls, Rocky mountains, or lakes of Killarney!

Now that would indeed be interesting!

Correct. There were chassis design differences too, though I’m not fully aware of the technical details. The Rosslare stuff was, of course, long pre-GSR.

Is it near Tunnocks Island? (Sorry, DCDR “in joke”!)

The area has traditionally been flood-prone. While the town has hilly parts, as the name suggests, the railway entered the town across the flood-prone River Quoile Estuary, and just west and south of the town skirts this area, which was actually at one time the coastline of a long since flooded inland bay. Thus it is low lying. The station, being on the western side of the town, was also built on low-lying ground and has always been prone to flooding even in BCDR days. The DCDR was estabished just less than 40 years ago. There have been floods at the modern preservatyion site before, but they have caused more inconvenience than actual harm. This time is different. As a member, I sent off a donation today. Every member will agree, please all of us send what we can; this is a unique and highly interesting railway with a fantastic collection of locos and rolling stock which can no longer operate on the main line, and thus will not operate anywhere else.

Yes and no. At Dromod, their locomotive has always been wood-fired - which obviously saves a fortune in fuel. However, speeds are low, distance is very short, and loads are very light, and it's flat. If you're looking at a very small engine over a hundred yards or so, that may be a solution. Turf - apart from the current ecological debate - doesn't work so well in loco fireboxes and to operate succussfully would need massive modification, possibly not soable on a given locomotive. For a loco the size of 186, I can't say for sure but would suspect that it wouldn't be satisfactory. Stradbally use a sort of biomass, but while again suitable for a small narrow gauge loco with a small load and a short journey, this would not be suitable for a bigger loco, as I understand. 186 may well work again, as little would be required to put her back in traffic - but 184 certainly won't. If 186 does, it'll be on the main lines, so she'd get a chance to stretch her legs (wheels!).... Oil burning - major work to convert, the result being still expensive to run and maintain. Also, like the turf, the environmental police mightn't be so keen.......