jhb171achill

Yes, that's mine. Note the non-standard CIE logo, different proportions. From some research, it would appear that they started painting them orange about 1970/1. Standard wagon grey all over before that. Any built after that would have been orange when new. The lettering "B U L K C E M E N T" was stencilled. The grey chassis didn't stay grey very long! The chassis was NEVER black with orange bubble; but once they were repainted cream, with both logos, chassis were black - highly unusual for Irish wagons.

Put me down for a CIE one, John.

That is looking VERY nice. Lining was yellow and black. Check just about anything in British LMS livery. Lettering was gold, shaded red and black. I strongly suspect the cylinders were black, but I'm not 100% certain. Cast numberplate backgrounds were red rather than maroon.

In terms of planning, I started with a Hornby oval of track, an 0.4.0 and three goods vans; like many of us, and aged 12. By 18, I'd had a standard 6ft x 4ft layout with Hornby BR stuff (I always had a soft spot for Class 31s). Then came an extended version of that, followed by a venture into 009 which was meant to loosely represent a CIE narrow gauge line somewhere in the West. That didn't survive a house move (my first), where a very large 009 set-up was built in the attic - my pride and joy until a damp problem and burst pipe bent all the baseboards and that was that. It was a substantial set-up, though never had scenery applied - not even platforms. It was meant for operational intrigue, which it had. That's gone now, a victim of two house moves in 20 years. The house in between had a G scale line in the garden for a while. Now, Dugort Harbour takes shape by degrees. It's small - a shunting / fiddle yard thing - but hope springs eternal for planning permission for an extension......! For the first time in my case, it'll have high quality scenery. Currently, baseboards are in the hands of Baseboard Dave in Edenderry, and a superb job so far. Point is - don't be put off if something that you initially plan doesn't live up to what you expected. Like Robert the Bruces' spider, "try, try and try again". As others have said, doodling station plans on random bits of paper passes the time and fires the imagination, and the planning is part of the journey.

I like the realistically rough ground surface. All too often we see perfect layouts with mirror-smooth goods yards and approach roads....!

That weathering is very realistic - excellent as always.

Update on ferts and mesh doors, following a little research - several only were trialled like this but it wasn’t practical, so it is likely all went into traffic with solid doors. IF any saw use with mesh doors, it was very short lived and confined to a very small number of examples.

Yes. There were 2 or 3 into the 1990s. One is at Downpatrick (in a "hybrid" = utterly unauthentic livery!). Body wise it is in more or less original condition. The one shown above is indeed of GSWR parentage, and indeed a "Trigger's Brush"! Wheels, axleguards, buffers and body are of CIE origin, and comparatively modern times at that. The overall chassis and probably the original body framing is original - that's all. There were several built, I think about 1915.

DCDR would eventually find much corrosion on 146, which over the last few years has been remedied.

The September one won’t be running.

Many old lines have ample room for both - often, when a railway was build, the company took enough land to double it, should this be needed in the future.

16 x 18 Inch lengths for sale. Description as above. €55.

This seems to have occasionally been done by the CDRJC, but I’m unaware of it ever being done by any other line. If any others did, I would think the Lough Swilly would be a prime contender! Given the amount of stuff painted grey over the decades, I can’t help feeling that grey paint must have been cheap too!

This just keeps getting supernaturally better! Such an unusual prototype with so much detailed thought going into its planning, never mind its execution. I'm really enjoying seeing this one develop. I take it you live in a 5-storey house to accommodate it!!!

Crimson and white was indeed what was in the back of my mind. But early on the LLSR proper changed, as you suggest, to brown & salmon, as below. No hard information on the very first LLSR carriage livery has survived, but the LSWR livery was indeed brown (lower; probably a dark chocolate shade) and a salmony pinkish colour above that with roofs originally white, but these would have weathered within a single trip to a lightish grey! Below are details, though the lettering and lining might have been different. http://early-lbscr.co.uk/lswr1520/Livery specification for 1520.pdf I can't help feeling that the ends were more likely to be brown, but I have no hard information on this. I suspect that the all-black livery came into being about 1910. Lining on the black paint was in red, which probably looked quite smart, if somewhat funereal, when new. In post-war times, or maybe from the 1930s, everything was plain wagon grey. (Irish railways have always seemed to have a love affair with grey! Today its the De Dietrichs and 071s....)

I'm sending him an outline drawing today, if I can find it; I've been away and am only just back.

The red numbers were on the silver carriages. Silver locos had “eau-de-nil” snails and numerals (not black, as sometimes seen on some models).

You’d be able to get LMS crest transfers and lettering. Little need to worry about coach lining as most ncc narrow gauge stock (and occasionally secondary main line stock) was unlined. It is my understanding, though, that they lined all locos. Standard LMS wagon grey is available to buy. They used the same grey here that they used in England. Depending on the era of your layout, there were several quite different styles of wagon lettering.

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Wrenn, this WILL be of interest. If you’re happy to share please PM me?

DCDR should have details; the 80 class yoke stands out, as apart from it, the sugar puff locos, the pair of E class, and ITG stock (excluding G611), every single thing there is in the wrong livery. Often hopelessly wrong. i just don’t get this; preservation? A similar majority of inaccuracies exists, unfortunately, at every single preservation site in this island. Anyway; try DCDR for proper RAL numbers.

NCC livery was (colour wise) a straightforward copy of British LMS “red” (actually mid-maroon). Lining same colour, but lettering / position of LMS crest etc - different in some cases.

Wow! Seriously impressive!!!

Latest is..... roughly £30 stg per coach. Floor & chassis & footboards included. more anon

Build the layout first, Sam, and get any old pair of Hornby coaches and any medium sized locomotive to test the track and curves. Bear in mind not to have curves to sharp for an 0.6.0. The absolute minimum radius is 2ft, but if space permits it looks better less sharp. For ease of operation use as large radius points as you can get away with. Think about wiring. Will you use DCC, fir example?