jhb171achill

Non authentic or not, it looks amazing! I think the grey suits this class.... Didn't someone paint a model 141 in black & silver? I thought that looked well too....

They were certainly lime green when new. I personally never saw or heard of a grey one; might have been a one off, or faded / dirtied in so e way?

Sinn Fein are in the difficult position that they are in government on one side if the border, and therefore must assist in the administration of necessary / imposed spending cuts there, but in the south they can afford to blame Fine Gael for cuts, while advocating their reversal!

Superb job, very realistic!

That eejit deserves to be knocked off his bike, Eoin.... Congrats on your ongoing work on the loco. Mad, as you say!

Oh yes, I remember that now. The wagons had standard NIR maroon painted over the original number, and a strip along where "U T" had been. New NIR lettering was put on them in white. Other than that, the wagons were not repainted at all, and the original "duck-egg blue" is still to be seen under a layer of filth, rust, brake dust and ballast dust.

I'm not sure, Hunslet, I wasn't aware of that. I suspect they were leftovers which had not been altered, providing spoil transport rather than ballast was the main use. Had they been repainted, and if so, what colour? Hardly the light duck-egg blue? NIR tended to paint things light grey at that time. Did they have an NIR logo, or lettering for NIR, and if so in what colour? Must add that one to my ongoing livery database!

It was not substantially rebuilt; in fact, its alterations may all have been internal. I will take a run to Downpatrick some time soon and see what can be discerned. It would be good to lay this one definitively to rest. As fas as the Brown Van frame is concerned, it could not be less like what ran with it. For a start, the chassis would have been all wooden, and secondly, it is not known for certain whether (or when) it was four or six wheeled. That said, a brown van frame in this day and age is probably good enough for the time being. It changes a potentially seriously expensive restoration job, to a moderately affordable one. Using an NCC frame now does not preclude getting a proper frame made in the future.

Those are stunning - very true to life!

Mayner, that's interesting re ownership. You are right in that the N I Government technically owned them, yet they were lettered "U T"!

Correct, Boskonay.... The Hamburg thing looks amazing. And while we all have our opinions on this (above) actual layout, and the concept of "cheque book modelling", I would be the greatest believer in "each to their own". Anyone here who knows me would be aware that I find accuracy in the appearance of model locos and rolling stock to be the most important thing, but others would differ. I know of at least two modellers for whom accuracy of track layout in a model of a specific location is paramount. Others go for an overall "look", or none at all. At the end if the day, it's our layout, and if we want to run a set of hopelessly inaccurately painted De Dietrichs round a model of a German station, hauled by an out-of-scale Donegal 2.6.4T painted in GNR blue, and with a NCC "brown van" attached to the back along with a fertiliser bogie in lined LMS livery, nobody can tell us not to! So, again, hats off to the creator of this huge behemoth of a layout. He has put his heart and soul into something he enjoys, and wants to share it. All of that is good - very good - and if it attracts just one five year old to the hobby, he's done us all a service. It's just not MY thing at all...!

I have to say I commend him for time and effort, but the result doesn't justify it. Even "chequebook" modelling can sometimes look fine, if perhaps occasionally soulless, but I say each to their own; like others though, I just don't like it at all. There are "28 trains" - few if any are visible in the pics, though given the overall effect, they would add little to it. And "28 trains" are a very small number for a layout this size, anyway. It's like a huge Lego toy. However... good luck to him.... If he ever logs into IRM, he will have his eyes well opened.... The standards of modelling on so much seen here, made by members here, both layouts and stock, have to be seen to be believed. The only thing that must have to be seen to be believed on yer man's layout is the hole in his bank account.....

Correct, Hunslet. The most I ever saw together after the spoil contract was 2 or 3 max.

There ye go! Were you on it, Blaine? It's one I unfortunately missed.....

Love it! Here's my party manifesto: "Free Guinness for EVERYONE!" Can I count on your vote?

I just did. And he had my 5c in his pocket......

Well, that's another issue too, Blu. Closure of loss making railways will certainly not eliminate the cost of repairing and maintaining (equally loss making!) roads.... Verdict: keep railways open and put Leo in charge of tree conservation.

I'm not sure, UP, I didn't hear of it. There was an ITG spin which had 102 just from GVS to Central - that might have been it. I think, but am not certain, that it used RPSI coaches and was part of a bigger tour with other locos round the NIR system.

I can almost see that 5c coin I lost in that mud somewhere....

Correct, some of the NIR "C"'s had them occasionally. I'm not sure which locos it was, though.

Answer to first: yes, there was even a double headed Hunslet working of a fert out of Derry one time. It wasn't common, though, for them to do fert at all, but it did happen at the time they were in blue, not maroon afaik. Regarding the reinstatement of 102; confined to Adelaide yard shunting.

Never CIE, Heirflick. I've an idea they werent allowed past Dundalk. They very rarely strayed onto the GNR at all, though it have seen at least one photo of one in a ballast train at Portadown.

I suspect it was only a very few, Hunslet, as such conversions were deemed unsatisfactory due to the inherent instability of those wagons. They were only ever intended as a stop gap measure anyway.

Railways do not make money, nor have they for decades, nor will they. They must be seen as a social service, not a corner shop business. That type of reasoning went out of the window ninety years ago. Governments throughout the western world would do well to bear in mind that while a railway will always COST money, not make it, the alternatives will often cost as much, and in a few cases more, both for environmental and other social reasons. So, we play Leo's game and shut the lot. We do indeed have good motorways. They could indeed cope. But Leo isn't taking into account the redundancy and dole payments for several thousand workers, the greater cost of motorway maintenance, the possible greater environmental charges from Europe, and so on etc. Privatise Bus Eireann - same scenario. If all that politicians can see is the stark yes or no: does it make money or not; can you imagine how they might view the gardai, Coastguards, health service, courts, prisons, social services? None of them "make money", Leo. So here's a way to get us all out of the recession and rid us of costs. Let's abolish the defence forces and gardai to start with. Then, we close all the schools and hospitals. Surely we could save if we abolished courts and prisons - think of all the fat legal fees we would save. And then - paradise! All tax intake can be spent on roads and politician's expenses! (I should be elected. I really should.)

Of course, Garfield! I was referring to Irish stock (not narrow gauge LNER). ;-)