jhb171achill

Today's 1st November offering: And another few, for good luck: Closer:

According to Shane Roberts of IRRS (seen left), it had been dropping ballast north of Howth Junction over the recent possession, and was on its way back to North Wall.

Spotted this at Howth Junction just now.

Those eggs are the wrong gauge, and they don't have struts down the whole way.

Well, I've eaten all mine. Dunne's finest. AND I've got more McAllister-provincial cattle wagons......

One for luck, seeing it's Raheny weekend, and I got more cattle trucks yesterday.............. This is a railcar rather than a cattle truck; though those who commuted in them regularly might take a slightly different view..........

On a point you make, the pva drying with a shiny effect - is this suitable for making the gravelly area look wet?

I've posted this before but including here now for completeness. Any idea why there's that kink in the track in the distance?

Prices for new ones not finalised yet, it seems.

B147 for me!

Great to see so many familiar faces today at Raheny, and some of the regulars on here who I had not previously met in person.... congratulations to the organisers, and by the number of IRM, Mark's Models, and other carrier bags walking out the door, it looks as if sales were busy............ as if it's any wonder, given all the new stuff!

This is an interesting one - a bit over-exposed but I think it makes a nice shot. Where? When?

Will the jax be smelly in coach B?

Ouch! Me wallet is sore today!

I think the loco is the one which went to Maam Cross; I could be wrong, but if so, it’s about as MGWR as the starship “enterprise’

Possible, at a pinch; but there weren’t many LCs on the W & T, and there has been a glut of duds in the last 20 years…..

Looking over the scenic base with a critical eye through black & white; I find that this tends to show up things needing more attention.

That’s the plan, David. I want to borrow one of those static grass things soon - hardly worth buying one as I’ll never use it again. A question for you, though, as I’ve always found your scenic detail hugely inspiring: that gravelly stuff (from a roadside beside a turf bog on Achill Island) is lying loose just now. I need to secure it, but I don’t want it to look shiny, e.g. with varnish. I want it to look natural. I am aware that a light spray of diluted pva should do this. So, should I do this and then add grass or put the grass on first and then spray?

Wow! Wasn’t aware of that. I’ve no idea what he was doing in Ballater - he kept no notes whatsoever, and said little if anything at all about such jaunts! Pity…..

Scenic, or wha'! Mixed maroon and blue/grey Mk 1s. Scotland? And a "Woolwich" by another name, and narrower gauge.......

Yes. Like the all-grey of earlier years, until well into the 1990s at least, wagons were all brown, including couplings, buffers and bogies.

Indeed, OB, I've seen that vehicle (in picture form!) and you're quite right! Good thinking...........

The “tin vans” of Dugort Harbour, two each of JM Design and Silverfox. These cover the 1963-78 period between them (the six-wheeler ftom 1965, of course). I will soon take delivery of a green one and a silver one, having taken care to specify a correct black roof on the former, and all-silver on the latter. Both will be weathered before entering service.

A good deal of work done today. I made some progress on scenery, while my Learned Friend continued with the electronics. The scenery starts with the base painted a dark turf-like colour, which will have various bits lightened when dry. Real sieved soil (from the turfy west, of course) was added in places to create a gravelly background; this will be fixed once track ballast is down, with diluted PVA glue. Then vegetation. Right now it looks a bit of a mess, but it’s heading the way it ought to be. Meanwhile, points are being wired to a temporary control board at Castletown West, with loco and rolling stock trials taking place. Onwards and upwards…… Castletown West station is tonight under an engineers possession. Bus transfers are in place between there and Killarney.

Is that an old Gresley coach away over to the left? If so, it's well away from home..... And, indeed, what's the vehicle beyond it? Steam, of course, must appear...........