Noel

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

Yes but LJ seems nigh impossible to model unless one had the space for a 50ft long layout, LJ was just a long piece of string. The operation of the Waterford trains used to be interesting in the days before all the track was ripped up and they used to run behind the station building to the Waterford platform. Visually rather boring with only one very long platform, and that scissors did my head in. At least they have copped on and realised shutting down the Luas green line for two years to upgrade it was total nonsense and was only going to cause economic and commuter chaos. Winston dug his heels in and sense prevailed.

Stunning result. Very sharp crisp looking signals. Love the details.

I ordered a pair of CIE ploughs last year. Looking forward to them. I Don’t expect my salopets to be blown anywhere, but do anticipate these wagons will be top drawer. Being yellow PW stock I don’t anticipate running them so it may be the display case for the foreseeable future. Weathering May help. But really looking forward to them. The detail on the CAD was mouth watering. No comment re Marilyn Monroe’s skirt analogy. But a kilt underneath would be a sensible precaution.

New platform under construction at Limerick Junction. Derelict loco sheds behind. The platform is a good length. Presume there will be some sort of footbridge over or an underpass walkway to connect both platforms.

Just past through LJ and glad to see at long last this main line station will have a platform on each side of the line facilitating up and down trains stopped at the same time. Just like any other proper station. The lack of visual symmetry was doing my head in never mind the operational quirks. Will post photo later

eBay seems almost flooded with 141/181s @ €202 ea, Choice of nearly any running number or livery available. Seems to be the same seller in Belfast. I wouldn't pay those sort of high prices. Wonder if this is the beginning of the forecast off loading of Baby MM GMs by collectors in advance of the imminent MM 121 release? At those prices and volume it doesn't look like folks preparing to fund 121 acquisitions. Baby GMs have always been my favourite MM locos and I loving driving them above all other locos. Can't wait for the new 121s should will be way better value than these eBay prices Market may be temporarily flooded with 141/181s as some folk adjust their stock to facilitate arriving 121s for fleet balance.

Yes on the next 5ft recessed board which would help form the loop to run behind (ie from the Ennis end back around to the Athenry end). Have family ties with Gort and spent time there in the 60s and 70s. On a recent visit it was great to see trains passing through the town again.

Revised track plan. This will operate initially as an end to end shunting layout but may eventually have a loop around the back for continuous running with a 3 lane fiddle yard out of sight. Loads of operating potential for typical 1960s to early 70s pick up goods traffic before the great bogie and container infestation

Very interesting project. Looking forward to watching it evolve. Love the photo of the six wheelers

This is the usual method I have used in the past to make platforms using Peco edging and plastic card sheet cut to shape and size. I'm planning to face them with rough stone sheeting to give that rural west of Ireland granite look.

Platforms under construction. It's easier to lay tracks against existing structures for clearances, etc, than size structures to fit track afterwards.

I've identified the addressing problem. The Roco treats addresses in the range 100-127 as long addresses. My locos had their addresses assigned to decoders by another DCC system which assigned them correctly as short addresses (ie < 128 as per NMRA) so the Roco could not address the locos until the addresses had been re-assigned by the Roco system as long addresses. Once I reprogrammed the addresses on the Roco the locos became addressable and operable again. Just another DCC quirk (USA v European manufacturers different and incompatible specs and interpretation of NMRA specs). DCC is so 1970s technology, built upon 1970s electronics. It's due a refresh IMHO. Anyway thanks to the Multimaus cab the Z21 is now functioning and useable but I'll be avoiding the touch screen phone app for shunting operations.

Hi Bill Thanks for the info. Yes Piko SmartControl looks an attractive option for a top end quality DCC system with the advantage of customised function buttons for sound on touch screen use, but a physical rotary knob for throttle control. Win/Win. It is in effect the same Cab as the ESU Mobile Control II which costs about €350 per cab but being wireless only one should suffice most layouts. The Piko SmartControl is retailing at €352 from German online retail sites or about £301 pre-tarrifs. The UK retail prices are not attractive always seem inflated above eurozone pricing. I switched to using various German model retailers a few years ago and found their pricing better and service exceptional. In the UK Hatton's are one of the few retailers who tend to have competitive pricing for any product ranges they carry. https://www.modellbahnshop-lippe.com/produkt/PIKO/15-7-0-235376-003003-0-0-0-0-0-0-grp-gb-p-0/ein_produkt.html

Fab photos, thanks for posting. 186 looks so different in Grubby black unlined ( or possibly grey with a lot of dirt)

Z21 could not communicate with locos in address range 100-127??? Due some bizarre confusion between what constitutes a long or a short address.