Dhu Varren

A bit of information that I have just discovered. For those of you who use stock fitted with Lima tension lock couplings, and require replacement hooks, which are like hen's teeth, and can be expensive, Hornby produce identical hooks under part number X9428 for a pack of ten. The price of these hooks works out at less than 1/3rd of the the price being asked for on eBay, and even retailers etc. for Lima hooks. I obtained some from peterspares, but beware, I have found another retailer selling a different type hook under the same part number. Look closely at a picture before buying.

Have just checked out one of my 071s. CV294 controls the brightness of the cab at the radiator end. CV 302 controls the other end. A value between 1 & 31 is all that is required. The default value is 31. If the NCE Pro Cab supports POM, then by switching on a cab light, going to POM and entering a new value for the CV, you will see the difference immediately. Then just enter the same value for the other end. Job done. As irishthump says, it is well worth downloading the V4 manual, and then try to get your head round it.

Thanks for the info. You could be right about 922 & 928. Information I have about them is conflicting. One source says they were converted along with all the others, the other source suggests they were not. However, all records have 914 as being a Brake Generator Van converted from a 1st/Brake corridor coach. There is no mention in any of my records of a pure 1st/Brake corridor coach in NIR stock. Information about 914 now confirmed on the Internet. http://www.cs.vintagecarriagestrust.org/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=4779

Back home again, and have looked up information about corridor coaches. Up till 1988 there was a mixture of corridor and open stock, and in 1988/9 all corridor stock was converted to open seating. Corridor stock was as follows. Generator Vans 911, 912, 913, 914, 915. 1st Class 902. 2nd Class (all ex BR 1st class coaches) 921, 922, 923, 924, 925, 926, 927, 928. It would appear that only the 2nd Class coaches converted from 1st Class were corridor coaches, all other 2nd Class coaches were open plan.

The easy way to recognise the DVTs from any angle is that they do not have any exhaust equipment on the roof above the guards compartment, whereas the Generator vans do. Also the DVTs have four large windows at the passenger end, whereas the Generator vans have only three. The DVTs were converted from Brake Second coaches, and the Generator vans from Brake First coaches with one bay removed. Body wise, the Lima Brake First coach is perfect for conversion to a Generator Van, but not a DVT, unless you can accept the incorrect window spacing. Coaches were a mixture of both corridor and open coaches, but NIR used a number of ex BR 1st class corridor coaches converted to 2nd class open coaches, as did IE. I do not have access to my books on NIR coach details at the moment, but if no one else comes up with answers to your question about corridors, I will look it up when I get home at the weekend. The Lima Mk 2s, the second open, and first corridor, body wise are perfect for NIR coaches. You just need to know what interiors are required. Incidently, just in case you are not aware of it, the basic difference between the 1st class and 2nd class bodyshell is that 1st class bodyshells have 7 large windows, and 2nd class bodyshells have 8 windows. The 2nd class coaches converted from 1st class, will, of course have just 7 windows.

I would agree. If your track is really mucky, then a track rubber is the answer. The only problem is the fine 'dust' shed by the rubber during the cleaning process, as it can get into all sorts of nooks and crannies, especially the working parts of points thus causing poor contact of the point blades. Once you have got the track clean, then the liquid method is best for keeping it clean. Roughly 50% of my track is very difficult to access with a track rubber, so the track cleaning wagons are a must for me.

1. Yes the livery is the same as MM0111, except for the yellow warning panel. The MM0111 has the earlier orange/red panel. 2. The livery without the white stripes was the original blue/silver grey. The white lines were added later, and trains could be seen with mixed liveries during the change. 3. The coach behind the loco is a Brake Generating Van. Like IE, NIR had to provide electric power for lighting and heating. IE chose to have dedicated non-passenger carrying vehicles for the job, while NIR used passenger carrying vehicles, one half of which carried passengers, the other half had a guards compartment and a diesel generator, hence the grilles on one side. The other side was the corridor side, and had no grilles. All NIR Mk2 passenger trains had at least on generator van in the consist. The second coach is not a generator van, but one of the original driving trailers used with the Hunslets on the Enterprise when the loco was pushing. 4. Yes 547 is a Buffet Car, sometimes known as a Griddle Car. Now preserved by the RPSI. 5. The red and yellow lines on the coaches followed BR practice. Red indicated catering accommodation, and yellow indicated 1st class accommodation. The lines only appeared immediately over the appropriate accommodation, so a vehicle with only half used for catering would only have the line over the catering half. Hope this all makes some sense.

You are right about the signal controlling the exit from the loop, but it would be a Starter signal. The signal before this one, which would be before the loop, would be the Home signal, and would probably be a bracket signal, and probably have some form of shunting signals as well. The signal before that, well down the Limerick line, if there was one, would be the Outer Home.

Picture found on the Internet. Seems to be the signal in question, caption reads:- A pre-1925 Great Southern & Western Railway semaphore signal at Limerick Jct, controlling Limerick to Waterford trains.

A good simple and cheap way to clean track is to use one or more of the old fashioned Triang Hornby track cleaning box cars. These have a felt pad mounted underneath which can be soaked with Methylated Spirit or Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA), and run round the layout a few times. Methylated Spirit is readily available from various outlets such as chemists and DIY stores, IPA is a little more controlled, but if you know your local chemist you should be alright. It is also available online, and over the counter from stores like Maplin Electronics. My track cleaning train consists of two of the old track cleaning cars with a little extra weight in each, with two locos, one pulling and one pushing. This ensures that should the loco which is pulling, stall on uncleaned track, the pusher is there, on cleaned track, to give a little nudge to get going again. A useful tactic for cleaning hard to get at trackwork such as in tunnels etc.. The Triang Hornby track cleaning box cars are readily available on eBay, often at reasonable prices, or can be picked up secondhand at exhibitions.

You are, of course, right. Got my ups and downs mixed. But then life is full of them.

Fascinating subject, Railway Signalling. Looking closely at 17 & 18, in all the pictures, 17's arm appears to be shorter than 18, which would suggest that 17 is a subsidiary signal. According to my book on signalling, "for shunting movements on running lines in the same direction as the normal flow of through traffic, the subsidiary signal often takes the form of a miniature arm mounted below the main running stop signal". Shunt ahead, calling-on and warning signals come into this category. To fit in with snapper's reading, I would have thought 17 & 18 would have been on a bracket, like 8 & 10.

Noel, using chip harnesses is a very good way of fitting decoders into non DCC locomotives, provided there is room to fit the harness and a decoder. Experience has shown that space is a limiting factor in many locomotives, particularly steam outline locomotives, and even with many diesel outline locomotives, it can be difficult to fit both.

Noel, I have been using the Lenz system with LH100 Hand helds for some years now, and a year ago set up an NCE system for a friend. I have to say that apart from the feel of the hand held controller, which feels better in the hand than the Lenz, I felt that the NCE system was not a patch on the Lenz system. All systems have advantages, and disadvantages, over other systems, so it is best to try to experience other systems before committing to what is, after all, a large financial investment whatever system you settle for. As regards DCC decoders, over the years I have tried various makes and models of decoders. The decoder that I found best for my requirements was the Bachmann 3 Function decoder. The price is not excessive and my locos all performed better with it. I would recommend staying away from Hornby decoders, unless you are really stuck for space, as the current rating is quite low compared to other makes. Also, if you are 'hard wiring' decoders into non DCC locos, the wiring on the Hornby decoders has a nasty habit of coming adrift from the decoder. While you are soldering the wire back on, very often another wire will come off, and so on. I have installed many decoders for people, both plug in, and hard wired, but I am reluctant to fit Hornby plug ins, and certainly will not hard wire them any more.

Thanks for the explanation. I look forward to seeing the finished vehicles.

Noel, it depends on the setting for CV29. Find out what the current value is, make a note of it, add 4 to it and enter the new value. It should then run on DC. If not, you can always put the original value back in. If you have any problems, let me know what the original value was, and take it from there.

Very nice work, but I have just one question regarding livery. Why do so many excellent models of NIR vehicles in Bumble Bee and Translink liveries, not have the black band along the bottom of the coach side up to the top of the step recess. Every real vehicle in those liveries I have looked at, has this band, yet most models I have seen, don't.

Forgot to mention. With using Peco Code 75, for the awkward location where an 'off the shelf' point will not fit, Peco do the 'Individulay' range of track components such as plain sleepers, point sleepers (you cut them to length as required), and rail fasteners, all in polystyrene. You can then construct your own special track which will match the RTR Code 75. Picture shows a special slip/scissors combination, the main part being built using two Code 75 points and individulay components.

I see no need to build something else before investing. The whole Peco Code 75 range is excellent, and looks so much better than Code 100. The only down side is availability. Most model shops on this side of the pond will stock the Code 100 range, but not necessarily the Code 75 range. This is not a problem when purchasing points etc, as they can be obtained online or by mail order easily, but small quantities of track incur high shipping charges. Likewise, when you run out of Code 75 rail joiners, you can't just pop down to your local Model Shop to pick up some more unless they stock Code 75, you have to wait a few days for a delivery by mail, which can be frustrating when you want to complete what you were doing. However, I personally would never use anything else now for a new build.

We are in communication by PM, just working on details of the physical swap.

No modification is required if you fit a standard 20mm X 40mm speaker. The 141/181 comes with a speaker mounting already fitted, so all that is needed is to fit the speaker, solder the speaker wires to the circuit board where indicated, plug in the 21 pin decoder, and off you go. I have 2 141s, and 2 181s, two of which are fitted with DCC Supplies sound, and two are fitted with the sound from Olivias Trains. that Irishthump mentioned.

DCC Supplies can reblow Loksound V3.5 decoders with 141/181 and 201 sounds. These sounds were originally compiled by Mr Sound Guy, who currently does the sounds for MSB. Unfortunately the V3.5 decoder is no longer available new, and DCC supplies cannot blow V4.0 decoders with the sounds, but if you can obtain a used V3.5, or have a spare one then they can reblow it for you. I had a couple reblown earlier this year for £12.00 each plus postage.

If you are still looking, I have a MM NIR 112 that I would be willing to swap the bodyshell for a NIR 8113 bodyshell.