jhb171achill

And then there were the dreadful plastic seats on the old AEC railcars in their end-days as dilapidated push-pull trailers.....

Looks stunning!

It is indeed, Heirflick. I have an actual sample in my possession. The model shows the dirt associated with use very convincingly too - important to note the unusual feature (for Britain and Ireland anyway) of grey (ie body colour) on motion, wheels, smokebox and chimney too. My elderly relative also confirms accuracy. In use, the grey tended to darken slightly with "cleaning" with oily rags, thus a very slightly darker shade would leo be acceptable, but that model is extremely well done.

Nice enough looking models, if they weren't painted like ducks eggs!

That's 73.4% of the entire staff, right?

Cg, many congratulations. That's superb stuff all round.

I'd go for that too, Warbonnet. I knew a rugby player who some fifty years ago got an injury on the pitch as a result of what some euphemistically call "handbags", which left him in a wheelchair for life. The perpetrator got off scot free. Not good, not right.

A biter should be permanently banned.

Excellent! Alan, Pat, gimme a shout....

Probably depends what parts you want to re-use....?

The level of activity there simply reminds me of the past. Properly run, there's no reason why similar scenes shouldn't be seen today in Derry, Belfast, Sligo, Galway Limerick, Tralee, Cork, possibly Wexford, and Dublin......

I think they might have done, Kirley. On the GVS to Dundalk section, the UTA used both AEC and BUT sets.

In the mid sixties the UTA used three or four car AEC sets of GNR origin, just before the 70 class sets made an appearance. By that time the CIE sets were all diesel loco hauled.

CIE diesels to Dundalk normally, with UTA steam north of there - this was normal set that stage. However, "international" would then (and now) be a very controversial way of describing them! ;-)

There are a couple of people in the IRRS who might know.....I must ask... If I find anything out I'll post it here.

That shed colour is very much like "Catherwood blue" indeed... And the UTA green on the railcars looks spot on....

That is seriously excellent!!!

Not sure of the details - someone can doubtless help here - but I think I read that these are directly derived from the 071 / GM class, same engine. Check out YouTube vids of them - identical engine noise....

Well captured, Wrenn; unlike the Cravens, in the "later livery" the BR vans only had the original white line above window level, not the orange line addition as on Cravens. In other words the only change in the '90's was the addition of a single white line below window level.

An A071 class.....?

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.