Noel

Some more pics. So glad I chose the CIE Era versions. Love the working tail lamps. They are redder in real life than this photo.

Hi @PJR. I scanned the SF A class kit instructions which includes how to fit a Hornby class 55 chassis. The process should be the same for other suitable plastic chassis donors. (ie cut out 73mm section of the chassis and glue the two half's back together again). I was about to use a Bachmann Class 25 chassis as a donor a few years ago until Richie pointed out to me it too that The BR Class 25 was bo-bo, but I was tempted to simply glue the co-co bogies sides over the bo-bo bogies as the 16.5 gauge wheelsest are so narrow and so far in you hardly notice the wheels. Sacrilage I know but practical for the 2ft rule as the Bachmann Class 25 chassis otherwise fits quite snuggly length wise without having to cut the metal centre drive chassis shorter. Anyway enjoy building the kit. Noel. IRM A classes due in Q4 have saved an MM 071 class donor from the cutting discs surgery bench (or will I use that for the B101 Sulzer??? )

Thanks Fran. Very impressed, possibly the best yet. Its almost a shame the roof is not clear so you can see all the inside details. Another stunning model, and I am saying that because it is genuinely, not because I'm some sort of IRM fan boy sycophant. Like the way the tail lights and internal light work out of the box on DCC without the need for any decoders. Fran, Patrick, Richie, Stephen, take a bow (alphabetic order to avoid office slagging). Holy Moly for detail. Here's a future pub quiz question, will the rail gaps in the actual plough suit 21mm gauge track (ie for the 4-10 people who have any 21mm track)? Yummie. Simply Exquisite. Love the working red tail lamps. and the warm tone of the internal light. The hidden detail inside is impressive. These are very special wagons. Hats off to team IRM/AS. PS: You were spotted today very near Carrickmines

Hi PJR. Silver fox recommend chassis (Hornby Class 50 / 52 / 55 donors) and they include instructions. Usually it involves shortening the plastic chassis by means of cut and join, tomorrow I’ll try and dig out the instructions, scan and post them here noel

Holy Moly indeed. Oh there was a nice Fiat Agri tractor right in front of the excavator. That could have been very nasty. Wonder much much damage was done to the rear actor of the JCB. Expensive loading error.

Hattons have published their train formation guide for iconic 1950s to 1960s passenger trains https://www.hattons.co.uk/newsdetail.aspx?id=500&utm_campaign=Formations - Hornby Titled Trains 050419 (L6bcuW)&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Era 05 (1957-1966) - OO&_ke=eyJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJub2VsQGRlcmcuaWUiLCAia2xfY29tcGFueV9pZCI6ICJKR1FlWGgifQ%3D%3D

More baby GMs have gone up on eBay for €202. Can't see them selling too fast at those prices considering you can get them at Stillorgan or Bray for a lot less. Plus nearly €25 postage from Belfast to Ireland seems a little sharp. One wonders if we might see a flood of baby GMs being off loaded onto the market as soon as the MM 121 becomes available soon. https://www.ebay.ie/sch/i.html?_sop=10&_nkw=murphy+models+181&ul_noapp=true

The bullied corrugated open wagons commonly referred to as 'beet' wagons were originally just general purpose open goods wagons built by the thousands but late in their careers used for the transport of sugar beet in what was referred to as single beet wagons, later the bodies assembled one on top of the other to form the double beet wagons on a different chassis. The open bullied wagons were used for transporting all manner of other goods and general merchandise including sacked agri products, bags, barrels, loose bulk materials, small containers, boxes, timber, tyres, cable drums, builders materials, etc. Along with H-Vans they dominated Irish goods train traffic from the 1950s until the early 1970s before the freight modernisation program kicked in heralding the arrival of container traffic, folk lift trucks, pallet wagons of various types, bogie wagons and uniform block trains that were fitted with brakes doing away with the iconic brake vans which used to be seen at the end of all goods trains formations. In the 1960s these open wagons were seen everywhere on the rail network and filled sidings in virtually every station they were the corner stone of what we now call freight traffic.

Yes come on Munster Rugby @ 7:35pm Looking forward to weathering my pair in due course (sleeper grime in stock). Kadee's of course too. Happy days

Or WMRC autumn open day? But probably SDMRC show! Hells Kitchen sounds a fabulous place for a visit.

Superb Jonathan( @jhb171achill) really interesting and very useful information especially for my preferred era. Kieran Lagan ( @Kirley ) formerly of this parish posted an interesting thread on the CIE to IE timeline link below. Reading all this superb Irish railway history one now feels that the A class model due to ship during Q4.2019 along with the anticipated Murphy Models 121, and OO works J15 models are not final models to complete the loop of important Irish railway traction for modellers. It now seems the remaining gap is the important AEC 2600 class DMU which may have ended its life on the pre-dart run especially Bray, but at one time was the backbone of many main line services too as well as off the beaten track local branch services too.

CAD looks stunning and indicative of a fabulous model loco for the year end. Looking forward to running these locos (and perhaps a DELTIC for my BR Outline coaching stock)

LokPilot Fx function only decoders seem to be available for between €24 and €30 on eBay, or UK retailers, or from €20-25 from german retail web sites. eg: https://kieskemper-shop.de/NEU-eingetroffen-ESU-54620-LokPilot-Fx-V4-0--Funktionsdecoder-MM-DCC-SX--8-pol--Stecker-NEM652/a46549681_u1160_z607896e4-9500-488f-8c5b-d5b6fe51033c/

DCC dropper wire confetti mania! Is still have only two wires connected to 300m of track with no problems. This dropper wire every 18” mania seems a little OTT. Buses, etc, these are model railways. I do like the weathering on this 1:1 scale plough, tones the playmobil yellow down nicely as does Richie’s effort.

Looks sublime, great result. Love the colouring.

Yummie. Thank you Patrick, that floats my boat.

Few years ago travelled on a short stretch of the preserved line running out of the quirky Museum at Dromod that's located right beside the mainline rail station.

Watching one of the old 1970s YouTube clips of loose coupled goods train operations I noticed this staining effect on some of the H-Vans. Question: What caused this distinctive staining/weathering effect? Splash back of buffer grease from buffer impacts, or water splash from the wheels of an adjacent wagon during wet weather (ie rain water from the rails thrown centrifugally from wheels like a bicycle without a mud guard)? The staining seems offset from the RHS buffer.

Did the long rail strike back then have any impact on cement traffic moving from rail to road?

Thanks does it now go by road?

Enjoyed travelling to Kerry this week by train. Down on a real train with an GM engine and CAF Mk4s, return by Rotem. 11:00 Dublin-Cork 4006 DVT the sharp end. You could catch a big fish with that hook. Jaws be afraid, we've got a bigger train. DVD connection to Mk4 CAF City Gold coach Connection gubbins between Mk4 DVD and coach. Look mom, no-buffers. You couldn't get a sheet of paper between those corridor connectors, most unlike the 1960s daylight. Waiting for return 07:44 Killarney-Heuston direct on Rotem roller skate to arrive Was pleasantly surprised to discover a menu on the 07:44 and then this breakfast arrived. Well done Irish Rail, haven't been able to get this on an Irish train since the Mk3s went off the Cork city gold service years ago. Never had breakfast like this on the Cork train, well done Kerry!

All by road presume. What killed off the cement traffic?

Thanks for posting. Fascinating. Having just travelled from Killarney yesterday on a Rotem Roller-skate seeing 148 running around the Tralee train of Cravens and a GSV seems so much more interesting. The shots of container crane in operation were excellent, and revealed quite a bit of skill needed to drop containers matching the pins with the holes on the containers, which was not as automated as one might have guessed requiring skill, trial and error. Fascinating. One wonders how they manage to load large Maersk container ships so fast at ports. Does mallow still handle container traffic?

Glory days of Irish CIE Goods traffic, loose coupled stock, loose shunting, H-Vans and Bulleid opens, operationally fascinating times before 1975 when such iconic traffic ceased. Sadly there are no quality RTR models for these vans and open wagons available that dominated our railways for decades before modernisation heralded rather operationally and visually boring block fitted trains. Last night I watched 'irish Rail Archive DVD Vols 1 & 2' and was in awe at watching drivers and shunters skill marshalling, collecting and dropping off two axle goods wagons at intermediate stations on their routes. One push of a loco and skilled shunters were able to loose shunt wagons into multiple sidings and sheds with one loco operation, perfect timing allowing for points to be thrown between free rolling wagons. A sight to behold, which fascinated me as a child when the railways were interesting operationally. The noises in particular reminded me of the hours I spent as a child watching wagons being shunted in places like Galway goods yard and even smaller stations like Moate, Athlone, Wexford, Newbridge, Ballinasloe, etc. Ideal operations for a model layout rather than endless round and round of uniform stock. The higgledy piggledy mix of wagons on goods trains in the 60s and early 70s carrying all manner of produce was magnificent. Even the sight of a local passenger service comprised of a 141, GSV, and a single Park Royal coach, but with three H-Vans, plus two open wagons and a 30ton brake van tagged on at the end of the formation was epic and tells a story of an Ireland long gone. Hopefully in time IRM may grace this epic period with stunning products from their stable (eg green laminate coaches, H-Vans, Open wagons, brake vans, etc). Enjoy the video clip below. One for @jhb171achill