jhb171achill

If you subscribe to the GardenRail magazine they have great info and great tips about scale plants / gardening. Their features on outdoor layouts of all scales (though primarily G scale or 0 gauge) are very good, and a great source of inspiration.

Having had a G scale outfit for some time before a house move, I can confirm that Mother Nature tends to get quite heavily involved even in that much larger scale. Unfortunately, while her efforts at assisting with scenery can be managed in a beneficial way in G scale, she doesn't understand OO! Moss on an OO scale layout will be overscale for one thing, but problematic if allowed anywhere near points! If it's allowed to grow on wooden boards it will encourage damp, but dry weather will kill it all off, cue an unsightly brown mess. I knew someone who at one stage had a very large outdoor circuit for the same reason - full length trains (of 1930s era LMS carriages) - and he actually didn't bother with scenery at all on outdoor sections. He just used a plain circuit on narrow baseboards about waist level. It looked well overall and certainly gave his locomotives good exercise. He never mentioned how he managed track cleaning.

Indeed.... let me know when you're going. I'll open a few doors!

Ah, yes! Thought so..... ! That loco in that green was a rarity - a one-off. I was looking at the C in Downpatrick today in the normal lighter green and it is correct, so it's a good excuse to visit (as 2 RPSI stalwarts did this afternoon...)! Thank you richrua!

One "A" class loco received dark green. I think it was A46, but in the midst of moving house - a convoluted affair with a new one being built - a lot of my researchy type of stuff is in storage, so I can't be sure off the top of my head which one for certain. It didn't stay that colour long, as black was coming down the road. The colour currently carried by the "C" at Downpatrick is the correct green for any diesel post 1955. I am afraid I don't know the code though.

In order to comply with modern health & safety requirements, IE have no choice in matters of access to Inchicore - they have to be very tight indeed. However, it's not beyond the bounds of possibility to have a suitable place cordoned off. But Messrs Deenihan and Varadkar would need to stump up the cash to carry out necessary access / parking / safety alterations.

Any chance of bringing it to Ireland, David? It would go down extremely well, especially at son e sort of exhibition in the likes of Headhunters in a Enniskillen. PM me if you want details of how to get in touch, if you're ever over. The railway museum attached has a GNR western area / SLNCR theme for the most part.

A model of one of those tanks in that scale sounds mouth-watering! If it's of interest I should be able to dig up exact livery details for pre GSR days. Post 1925 is obviously easier - plain grey except for buffer beams, covering wheels and motion as well as can interior, chimney and smokebox - none were ever black - but the pre 1925 livery was green lined red and white. It's worth noting that one or two of these locos retained C & L green, albeit it in a very weathered state, well into the 1930s.

I'm interested in this too.

Good potential there!

I'm sure you met some worthy characters on it, Mr. Wanderer!

Old Blarney, question 1: No. Question 3: Yes. Hunslets generally ran singly in push/pull mode with a set of 5 carriages (typically winter), and topped / tailed six or more usually seven in the summer. Five was the recommended maximum for one locomotive. Hunslets were underpowered for the work they were called upon to do, and nothing like as satisfactory as CIE's 121 / 141 / recently introduced 181 classes. NIR would have preferred a trio of 181s, but political pressure was put on them by the Stormont Government to "buy British". Thus was borne one of Ireland's more unusual diesel classes! Modellers: imagine a maroon and blue 1970 Mk 2 set with a maroon 181!

I've seen a very convincing NCC 4.4.0 made out of an (English) Midland Railway 4.4.0, and a reasonable approximation of a "Jeep" out of an LMS equivalent.... An LNER 0.6.0 can be reasonably made to look like a GSWR J15 or a MGWR J18.

Correct, minister. One class ex WLWR, one Macroom. In the middle of a house move, that's all that memory tells me, and I can't look up where they ended up due to all my "stuff" being in storage!

Excellent! Ideal for a line based on Tralee - Limerick - Collooney, or Limerick - Waterford. Model of Birdhill - Killaloe, anyone? Overall roof an' all..... Rework the cab "window", file off the coal bunker rails, dip it in a pot if grey paint, and away you go. Better still, fully lined WLWR maroon....

Stripes were gold, rebelred, on maroon ones; white (obviously) when orange and black.

Youghal indeed; loco in 2nd livery it carried (after grey and yellow)...

Very neat job indeed, Nelson. The crest looks good - all too often UTA crests on models are too big in scale.

That Sulzer is SERIOUSLY good looking!

The Bandon Tank (460) shown in that photo is, I believe, one of the CIE locos which received black treatment instead of grey.

Late GSWR / all GSR - all grey, except the three 800 class. CIE - same, but passenger / Dublin suburban locos largely lined green after about 1949/50, and a handful (but not that many) repainted in black from the mid 50's to the end of steam. A grey loco very quickly started to look blackish if "cleaned" with oily rags, or rarely cleaned!

.... and liveries. The locomotives would have been either all-over grey, as the GSWR started painting them line this about 1915/8. An unrepainted loco would be (by now work-stained) black lined in red. Carriages were a very dark maroon colour - as seen on Downpatrick's 836. Goods stock was an extremely dark grey, much darker than locomotives, almost black. Some older ones were black, though in 1921 any like this would look very shabby.

The train make up would probably be three six wheel coaches - a first, second and third class; or a first and two thirds. This would be followed by a passenger brand van, with the mails in another similar vehicle, either just behind the locomotive or behind the passenger vehicles. There could even be a couple more. The train would have changed locomotives at Limerick, where further vehicles would have been added; further again (probably) at Ballybrophy and / or Portarlington. There could have also been goods trucks and a guards van bringing up the rear, at least as far as Limerick.

Showed it to Senior this afternoon. He remembered it - he was hovering in the vicinity with his dad, but neither appear in the film. His father designed the carriage-body-work.

Only getting to this now - was working on the train Thursday to Monday, and at the "End of Tour" session in the Crown in Belfast last night. Overall, apart from 85's problem, it went well. 85, incidentally, is cured now and good to go next trip. Thank you to all who supported the tour.