jhb171achill

Excellent. Captures perfectly a long forgotten era....

I've often marvelled at the scenic details on many American layouts. Those are absolutely fantastic. Of course, in the Rockies and other places, they're not exactly short of inspiration!

Their website is gradually under revision, Kirley. Their marketing person has recently left due to a career change and I suppose it's the old story of volunteers - who has the time! The rolling stock section badly needed to be updated anyway - it was out of date including one or two items long gone, but no details of some of the newer stock. All in due course, no doubt. If I was computer literate I might volunteer to assist, but I'm not, as my numerous upside-down photo posts here will attest....,!!

The BCDR and the SLNCR had many varieties of brake van. In fact barely two on the SLNCR were the same, thus neither line can be taken to have had a standard! For anyone interested in BCDR wagons, there's an old body in store at the DCDR, which will show the lettering style and shade of grey. Chassis and drawgear - same grey. I am unsure of roof shade. It was probably the same but possibly weathered darker due to loco smoke.

I hereby anoint you, Minister!

Maybe it's just me, but of all the various crimes that we see in cities, there are three that personally I would take a very exceptionally hard line on. Graffiti, joyriding and drugs. All graffiti - a year's jail, no visits. All joyriding - five years ditto. All drugs - ten years to life. Yes, even you with the "recreational" joint........ anyway; maybe just me but there ye go. I live in a newly built area and lately a wall between our estate and a neighbouring one has become defaced with graffiti. I'd happily run over the perpetrator in a jeep.....

Very good model indeed - and the right livery, unlike No. 30 in Cultra!

W O W ! ! ! ! Better than I think anyone ever would have imagined! Great congratulations to all concerned with its production!

Very well done, gents. Truly excellent addition to the Irish railway scene. (It's in the wrong shade or purple, though...)

I dealt with them years ago also, for a "G" scale West Clare "F" class diesel. Excellent kit, very good company to deal with. They offer to consider anything you want, providing that they can sell enough to others to justify the cost. The only thing is you'd need reasonable soldering skills with metal kits. When I contacted them re the "F", it wasn't on their list at all. Now they offer it in several scales. Midland six wheelers? Being the most common six wheeler in the 1955 - 63 period, it would be good to see some available.

Should be.

Pity that doesn't happen to the "artists" who cover stations and trains with graffiti!

I have to say that any model I've personally ever seen looks fine colour wise, so hopefully it won't be an issue. The illustrations above of the pre-production model look quite amazing and like you I eagerly anticipate the real thing! On another note, my late family friend who was in Dundalk was also involved in quite a few other areas within the works, including the selection of a suitable design and manufacturer for the diesels which never came. He confirmed to me that had they arrived, they were all to be the same navy blue as the MAK loco 800. Lining would be red and white. I'm sure that would have gone down well in Portadown, Lisburn and Great Victoria Street..... Re the "apocryphal" stories, I once ran that past him. His response mightn't be suitable to print here in a family website! ;-)

That is an amazing layout! Excellent!

I knew a man who was a "paint chemist" or something like that in Dundalk. In fact, the blue used was very consistent - they took a pride in it, though wear and tear would have dulled it from time to time. The idea that few GNR locos were the same shade of blue is an "urban myth" originating in Whitehead in the early RPSI days to justify the fact that when first restored, the shade 171 received was way, way lighter than it should have been! Thankfully in more recent years, Whitehead has had the shade of blue exactly right on 171 and 85. Pity the green on 461 wasn't as accurate!

Is the one named "Donegal" 3ft gauge, I wonder? ......

Yes, the consists seem to have been somewhat random, but that's actually a very interesting feature of the early 1960s, appropriate given the planned launch of a model 121 in grey and yellow. Elderly six wheel coaches or brakes mingled with laminates of various types, wooden bogies of GSWR* origin, and new Park Royals and "tin vans". Green, black'n'tan and unpainted dirty aluminium mingled as well. Branch lines sometimes did have a tin van at either end of even a short conduct. I would guess that what my dad saw was the two coaches with a tin van at either end, though I recall a picture of a Ballina train with two tin vans at one end; another in the late sixties with a laminate or two followed by a then new BR van, and THAT followed by a tin van! Nowadays, the standard consists of identical stock are just plain boring! * By the 1960s, a "cull" had taken place of older wooden stock. Most surviving DSER stock had gone, and what was left of Midland stuff was mostly the hardy standard six wheelers. Curiously, most GSWR six wheelers had gone, and almost all DSER ones! West Cork retained just two or three ex Bandon coaches, mostly for Courtmacsherry excursions because they were of short length.

Exactly. Even then, they were almost always black.

That's exactly what it is, BSGSV. Regarding the silver tablet catchers, I wonder if several of those are silve at all. I certainly don't remember any being routinely silver - they weren't. It's possible there was the odd unpainted one, like oddball coloured wagon (or locomotive!) bogies you see nowadays. On that train with two silver ones newly painted, yes, both locos silver but most certainly this was not the norm at that time. The one on the B'n'T 121 is, I suspect, faded, unpainted or possibly worn.

They will remain there for examination and assessment for planning what needs to be done to them for long term preservation.

The new thing is a ghastly developer's monstrosity, just like Wood Quay years ago. Nothing's changed.

For authenticity, yes, three is good - you'd only occasionally get more!

Things like the odd-shaped MGWR, or stone pillar GSWR, mileposts might be good to have, though obviously a very limited market...

Interesting, folks, thanks.

A question regarding the longer coach at Stradbally. Apart from the bogies, is any of it actually ex-CVR? Possibly a much-cut-down chassis?