jhb171achill

I think it's due to several things, Noel. 1 The Cravens are much more widely travelled, and are now associated with Railtours Ireland's "Emerald Isle Express" - with many modellers now having at least one 071, whether grey or "heritage" orange and black. 2 The largest market in Ireland is Dublin, which has four times the population of Belfast, or something like 75% of the population of the North. 3 The Cravens were sold by the RPSI to raise funds for the restoration of 134 - a project dear to the hearts of many, modellers included. I know several people who bought them to support the cause who don't even have layouts! 4 What do you haul them with.... there is no RTR steam loco to simulate RPSI specials. This will put off some modellers who either haven't the skills or budget to make or acquire a suitable kit. If you're modelling / running any RPSI stock, be it Mk 2 or Cravens, you need a steam loco. A RTR 461* has been talked about - this would boost sales of all RPSI coach models. Also, on these pages a RTR J15* has been proposed, same again. For those with Cravens, an 071 can represent an RPSI Santa train, various RPSI charts, or the Emerald Isle Express. ( * please.... no yellow flying snails!)

I understand they're selling well, and it's a limited edition which is highly unlikely to be repeated, so for anybody planning to buy them, I wouldn't hang about! I saw them up close at Blackrock the other day - very impressive.

Superb work so far. I would agree with Mayner, however, regarding the full van. With your skills at adapting old plastic carriages as above, I'd say a new-build would be well within your skills and a much better outcome. On the subject of finish, and you'll get a clue from the photo above, bogie passenger vans such as this tended to almost inevitably be very, very weathered, compared to the generally very clean finish of passenger-carrying vehicles.

I remember seeing no more than 4 or 6 within the consist of an ordinary loose-coupled goods train around 1969-71.... of course, they were standard wagon grey then, with orange (with GREY chassis, not black!) just beginning to appear.

Superb job! Excellent fine work...

It's Rosslare Strand's beach. They're planning a RTR DSER 0.6.0 goods engine.

AMEN to that!!!

I spotted this error in a post of mine several YEARS ago; and I was wondering how can anyone edit a post they've done ages ago. recent posts can be edited, but not old ones. My "howler" above says that no tender engines ever had snails; abject nonsense! I mean that no TANK engines ever had snails. I am sure that the eagle-eyed will have spotted this, but I'd like to correct it on the original post if at all possible. It is correct, though, that yellow or white snails on tenders are totally wrong in all circumstances. Numerals were painted light yellow but tender snails were "eau-de-nil" light green, lined gold.

Yes - it's that one....

We need a dedicated IRM tartan pattern..... Hopefully ready for Sunday at Blackrock! Hoping to go....

As long as it's painted the right shade of tartan.....

Tis indeed the Proclaimers! They're making a model of Scotrail!

Looks fantastic! Until 1974 or so, a few old wooden relics could still be seen rattling around on summer excursion days on the DSER / GN section round Dublin, and in Cork. As an aside, I think that the very last stock in service still in green would have been about 1966/7 at the latest. There was one GNR coach still brown in 1966; it became black'n'tan straight away, never having been green. This was former brake second open No. 114, now at Whitehead. It was the last coach in GNR livery in traffic. I love this layout - it's so full of atmosphere.

That's a great conversion job! Excellent work.

Excellent idea - but beware! The bauxite liveries on both are entirely inaccurate at all levels! First, the H van. Neither these, nor almost any other Irish wagons had black chassis. The shade of bauxite on both is far too reddish, though some of this is due to the fading qualities of modern paint - not to be confused with the fading of older paints. It should have a brown chassis and drawgear, as well as body, and roof. 1 out of 10: the lettering and logo are as correct as you'll get. Now, the plough. In GSWR days, as per markings, these were either all black or later, all a very dark grey like loco grey. (Indeed, logo grey might have been derived from this; "normal" wagon grey, which is lighter, came roughly post-1915. If grey, then grey chassis too. The GSR and CIE painted them ALL wagon grey - again no black chassis, and most certainly not a white roof! After 1970 or so, CIE and then IE painted them all brown - yet again, chassis and all. Never were they anything remotely like the above. The more reddish shade of brown seen nowadays is a post-1995 or thereabouts invention. One or possibly two of these were heavily rebuilt and survived into the post-1990 yellow era. Yes, roofs and the lot were yellow. Black chassis are a Hornby train set invention, and are only appropriate for BR modelling, where wagon chassis WERE often black. Unfortunately, this incorrect livery detail has been widely copied in Irish preservation, where - unfortunately - between Cultra, Whitehead and Downpatrick, correct liveries on locos, coaches and goods stock alike are (at last count) outnumbered about three to one by incorrect liveries. For modellers seeking accuracy, this is indeed a great shame.

Have you modelled the empty mars bar wrapper I threw into an empty ballast wagon once? :-)

Aha!!!! The new heading has a bubble, a ballast, and space to the right of it for - more new stock????? Answers on a postcard.....

Scandalous vandalism on the part of the then Stormont Government.

An absolutely superb job! Even the numerals on the buffer beam set it off perfectly .

Aaarrrrggghhh!!!!! I'm having a fit of the Multiple Conniptions, Screaming Fits, and Heeby-Geebies!

There's talk of a tender to commission new stock as traffic increases. On the one hand, one might construe this as a new generation of railcars, however, "purchase" is not mentioned, as far as I can see. Thus, the statement might just as easily translate into re-commissioning the 27s (as seems to be the plan already) and possibly - IF new stock is acquired - perhaps 2nd hand British carriages to run push-pull with the 201s they already have! Should such an idea come to pass, that would mean more loc0-gauled stuff, not less. I should add that the above is supposition regarding rolling stock. I have heard that refurb of the 27s is happening anyway, and apparently some 201s were being looked over with a view to return to traffic.

I love the three old six-wheelers in CIE livery!

Much appreciated, David. I will pass on to Barry, as I will see him towards the end of the week.

An ICR and three timber bogies have just flown over my roof........ (this tea tastes funny. Did anyone put stuff in it?)

I have to say that after seeing those body kits, I too am tempted to change tack completely. Up to now, since moving into this house a few years ago, it's a "town house" not geared towards layouts. I could have taken Tony McGartland's model and built a shed, and I have room for one, but we have two very nice olive trees which - despite Irish climate - are doing very well. As I type this, Ophelia is trying her best to bend them sideways, but they're resisting! My attic is not conducive to layouts at all, although I'm going to have another look at it. Some sort of portable thing is another possibility - this might allow me to exhibit it too. My past interests were Austrian 009 and of course Irish 00. I still have a very nice collection of OBB (and German) narrow gauge stuff which I am loth to part with, though in order to fund anything new I would need to. I have 800 (currently undergoing an extremely lengthy necessary alteration), a very nice SSM J15, and a Murphy 141. 800 is goig nowhere, but a display cawe and occasional outing on a friend's layout. So, do I try to pursue what would be a very small fiddle yard thing in 00, or maybe something slightly more ambitious in N? Recent posts have got me thinking. I'm spending this stormy day actually sketching out possibilities - I hadn't realised that things like Park Royal and Craven bodies were available, as well as A, C & 141's, which would be my area of interest. It would be interesting to know if any member has a decent set of these Shapeways things and what they look like complete.