Noel

H is worthy of debate. 20 years ago I'd have bet my shirt on H for personal mobility but it missed the boat and BEV has disrupted the entire auto industry, every home has a power socket so a private filling station outside the front door, whereas there are zero H forecourt fuel pumps in Ireland and 5 in the whole of the UK. H may have a big role for HGVs, etc, but it seems not cars. Dynamic market forces will probably shape the way ahead. H is brutally inefficient well2wheel compared to the existing electricity grids. Rail was already transitioning to electric before climate action took became preeminent. Only time will tell. I flew on one of those yokes many years ago when the Irish passport was welcomed behind the iron curtain.

Ps the nuclear taboo is both hypocritical and illogical given we are about to import 700MWh of French nuclear generated electricity when the Celtic interconnector goes live, and Ireland’s close physical proximity to many French nuclear reactors in NW France. The wind knows no political boundaries as tragically Chernobyl proved.

Yes H is fossil fuel by the back door. That’s why OPEC and their buddies like Toyota are pushing it for cars too. Imho H will probably have a roll in HGVs, construction, rail, and car ferries. Well2wheel H makes no sense for cars. “If” Ireland stays on target with current trajectory our national grid is due to hit 80% non fossil generation within 5-7 years. H May have a role in Grid storage, but today Battery and pumped hydro have a more compelling economic argument and much more efficient. Ireland also has one of the highest adoption rates of domestic solar PV, which in time further takes load off the grid and assists with grid peaking. It seems inevitable that we end up with all electric rail transport (ie 3rd rail or catenary). Interesting some proposed dart extensions planned to run on battery on sections of line lacking catenary. Electric seems the dust2dust CO2 best way to go (nor perfect, just best), diesel with its NoX seems into injury time these days. Only time will tell but thanks to the Atlantic and the blob Ireland is well placed for wind and solar generation (for now).

Darwin awards

Oh my goodness 2.5hrs traveling in that biscuit tin with seats designed to be sat on for only 20-30mins, back braking discomfort.

Fab photos. Tragically when these were used as air corps trainers in the 60s and 70s they were notoriously difficult to recover from a spin as the vertical tail was too small and some students and instructors lost their lives during spin training which was subsequently banned on the type as a result. fond memories watching these operate over co Kildare in the 70s https://www.ulsteraviationsociety.org/fouga-magister-cm-170r when we had actual fighter jets albeit old ones, but at least they were armed with more than spuds. It’s a national embarrassment that a country as wealthy as Ireland doesn’t even have 6 defensive fighter jets to defend our own airspace, instead depending on another nation to defend our skies from potential terrorist hijack attacks (Eg low cost Saab gryphon).

Agree. I've enough of those including damaged ones collected over the years as respray donors and in one case as a chassis donor. Last one I bought retail from Marks just before Covid cost €139 new. €300 is just too much IMHO, and €500 for the NIR blue ones or freight grey ones seems almost obscene waste. Can you believe about 7 years ago when Seamus Graham was still running the excellent model shop portlaoise I sent back a grey 7078 because he accidentally shipped me two 7078's. About to respray 085 as 7071 in freight grey (slightly damaged donor cost €110, paint will cost about €8, plus a few hours, plus some decals from SSM).

Stunning despite the bad fortune. Your Perseverance is admirable and no doubt will pay off.

Result. I can feel the humid heat from here. Excellent

Tangy Freshers perhaps?

Fabulous scratch building

Aviation control is entirely virtual and digital,yet the speeds are greater and the consequences of mishap orders of magnitude higher. Why slow 100 mph trains cannot be controlled and separated digitally seems difficult to understand. The cork train service is excellent love travelling on those CAF PP sets. Is there a mental block in thinking about physical interlocking and physical mechanical default fall back. It’s a national shame we don’t yet have a high speed rail link like TGV between our three principle cities, not to mention the laughing stock of Europe for not having a high speed airport rail link to EIDW and EINN

In the 21st century why are railways not using virtual digital signalling instead of physical signals. It seems Jurassic that wires are still used. Lines could be cost effectively and quickly re-signalled to have more shorter block sections enabling a trebling of pathways.

Yes agree with much of that but some new models are so fiddley with detail parts that easily fall off putting in and out of their packaging is almost more likely to cause damage. Eg the MM 121 packaging was like a puzzle and if you didn’t get it right you could rip one of the horns off and the cab gard rails. The card board packaging used by Hornby Dublo, then TriAng and Wrenn were much more user friendly for reuse. Then these stupid clear plastic sandwiches became vogue some years ago, they can cause more damage than protection, never mind the sheer waste of materials.

Great. Any pics?

Or buy new unpainted Dapol wagons (vans) for €8ea and paint them to CIE Livery with decals from SSM

If it runs ok the chassis may be fine, perhaps junk the body or sell bits of the body for spares and use the chassis to drive a Silverfox C class resin kit. Years ago I bought two inexpensive damaged 141 models for €90 & €110 just to get the chassis for A class. I used one of the cab ends to house a gopro for layout cab ride videos. One day for fun might respray the body parts in 201 intercity silver and green. The other one in the photo was a badly damaged 071 donor (other side) as a chassis for a SF Sulzer 110 kit. But fairly drastic surgery and cutting needed on the chassis of that one unlike the easy 141 modification. Basic compared to IMP but passes the duck test and runs like a Swiss watch on DCC. Chassis only needs about 5mm of metal sawed off at both ends for a perfect fit between the resin body and the 141 chassis. Some day I might try and Tweak the resin bogies.

Still there. Not much has happened to it this past year. This winter planning to do scenics similar to Gort. I've spent most my time these past two years on Gort, and rolling stock kits, resprays, weathering, kadee conversions, and running sessions. Next few weeks on working signals for Gort and lighting. Autumn scheduled for Gort extension to fiddle yard loop. https://irishrailwaymodeller.com/topic/8721-kingsbridge-old-new-layout/page/11/

Cheers. We're all here to share and learn from each other. Youtube university was brilliant help to me. Especially Richard's Everard junction channel. Learning to do new stuff is great fun, challenging and rewarding. Have fun!

PS: Marks models sell badger airbrush kits, they are the only source in Ireland I am aware of, otherwise its d'internet Some sell complete kits including airbrush, hose, compressor, cleaning gear:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Airbrush-Fengda-FD-186K-compressor-accessories/dp/B01984G4SU/ref=sr_1_7?crid=1BKR6LFZTPJKL&keywords=airbrush+kit+with+compressor&qid=1684565887&sprefix=airbrush%2Caps%2C62&sr=8-7 I bought my gear from BartSharp before brexit screwed up dealing with GB.

A few visuals better than lots of words. Started with airbrush about 6 years ago thanks to some advice and guidance from Richie and others. I started using Tamiya and Railmatch acrylics cause less noxious and less smelly indoors, also was easy to mix CIE orange tan using Tamiya. I’ve since adopted Valejo acrylic paints. Acrylics are water based so easier to clean equipment after painting. Best bit of advice was not to bother buying expensive airbrushes, this Veda no longer in production cost about €28. I was terrified of taking airbrush apart to clean it after first session test, it took me an hour I was so pedantic, then I got cleaning time down to 10mins, now about 120 seconds. In the beginning it too more time to clean than airbrush. It’s not rocket science once you get used to quickly dismantling and putting back together. This airbrush cleaning pot reduces nasty fumes when cleaning airbrush IPA readily available from pharmacy shops is handy for cleaning. Do not use white spirits. compressor was about £80 from Bartsharp in uk prior to brexit costs. Worth spending the few extra euro for one with an air reservoir bottle, and a moisture trap. The air bottle means the pump only runs every now and then to fill the bottle so you get a smoother constant flow of paint and its quieter as most of the time the motor is not running. Acrylics are more forgiving and easier to clean up as they are water based. MY wife would not tolerate the solvents in enamel paints but they can flow better through an airbrush. If you properly thin acrylic paints and use Vallejo flow improver they will not clog up the airbrush. Lower air pressure also a help (ie 20psi rather than 40). Vallejo 'model air' are pre-thinned but I still add a little more water based thinner. My first resprayed coach. Good quality masking tape is essential. It takes more time to accurately apply masking tape at the various stages than painting time. Patience also required, don’t rush to next step in a job. This was done using the standard ‘reverse masking’ technique. YouTube is your friend and university for learning, and giving it a go, start with some older stock. More than anything have fun and enjoy the learning process. The more you do it the quicker and better you’ll get. My first airbrush stayed in its ca se for nearly a year such was my fear. https://www.bartsharpairbrush.co.uk/?doing_wp_cron=1684564496.7064940929412841796875 WARNING: Do not airbrush varnish indoors or near your other stock. It will turn all windows opaque. When varnishing models you will have to remove all glazing and windows or carefully mask over them with tape or maskol paint. Or they will end up opaque milky white.

take me to your leader. We come in peace

In awe a people who can do precision brass modelling. Engineering excellence.

A pal of mine is planning to build a working 3D beet loader like the one that used to be at Wellingtonbridge station. All those south wexford lines had a standard layout and buildings (eg island platform and prefab signal box).

Personally I’d prefer a proper loco that could haul coaches or rake of two axle wagons. Hence the 141 mention as that could haul resprayed br mk2 O gauge stock or resprayed collets as fake laminates, or any resprayed GWR wagons. Shunters don’t quite fit the bill for that.