Noel

Busy traffic at the junction today with some play time. The new 20ft skeletal container kits post weathering without loads. Carrying loads below including a refrigerated container. Methinks the containers need a light dusting.

If modelling British outline N gauge has a lot to offer, but very limited IMHO for an Irish layout due to lack of RTR rolling stock, or even stock that's easy to convert.

Some of the great N gauge layouts that have emanated from WMRC in recent years defy that by a few hundred country kilometres. Done well due to the possibility of more prototypical radius curves and train lengths N gauge can look stunning especially by scenic masters. I was blown away by the authentic realism of some of @Irishrailwayman N gauge layouts.

Aside from the lack of any Irish RTR stock, another possible issue for some who wish to shunt and operate prototypical low speed movements is the reliability and smoothness of N gauge locos, and the relative light weight of wagons making coupling unpredictable (e.g. Wagon pushed before couplings engage, or inverse when backing over uncoupler). I know N gauge loco motoring and gearing have come a long way in the past 20 years, but not quiet as shuntable as OO/4mm nor the supreme gauge for prototypical shunting - O gauge with its heavier rolling stock less likely to bounce like a pin ball. If I was interested in stock that suited continuous circuit operations then I would be seriously tempted by N gauge. My ultimate dream might be an O gauge GWR pannier tank and a handful of Dapol wagons on a 10-12ft end to end shunting layout.

Really enjoyed that video. Layout looks great. The speed of the two trains was mesmerising at times.

Part of the problem with prices is the supply chain middlemen (i.e. the big cut the distributors and then the retailers get).

I remember this three 0-4-0s well. It was Rovex plastics later taken over by Tri-ang who halved the price of train sets at their launch. Mind you even Tri-ang prices were such that they tended to be limited to Birthday and Christmas presents from parents. Pocket money savings (months and weeks) were limited to buying small track extensions, and modest bits of scenic buildings or the odd wagon. An wonderful aspect of train sets was the construction and design aspect associated with erecting and disassembling them, and the playability and tactile feel of construction. Meccano and Lego like in terms of learning basic engineering skills!

Personally quite the opposite, assuming you mean 4mm/00 scale/gauge. Have you considered using the entire shed for the baseboards and having a dropdown connecting board right inside the shed door, using the centre area as a work bench space? Just a thought, I'm sure there is a good reason.

What are folks preferred method of bending handrail wire for locos and rolling stock? So far I've used a small needle nose pliers which can be a bit fiddly but has worked. Have folk used better options such as jigs like the one below? https://eileensemporium.com/index.php?option=com_hikashop&ctrl=product&task=show&cid=2562&name=handrail-grabhandle-bending-jig-4mm

David, as Jimmy Magee once famously said about Diego Maradona on TV this modelling is "A different class . . . different class" If you have any video clips of the stock in operation would love to see it.

I guess it depends entirely on the track and scenic design as to wither corners maybe useful or not. Some curved back scenes look really well, wheras some corners can have fab scenic cameos or house useful trackwork, or act as scenic breaks.

Was chatting with a few friends last week and we had been musing the important role train sets once had. It was said in times past nearly every boy in the population got at least one train set for a birthday or Christmas present before the age of 16. These had many varied developmental and social benefits, not to mention the first wrung of the ladder in the hobby. Track work construction now often forgotten was a huge part of it as youngsters experienced geometry, tactile playability and feel, construction and design skills, resource management, logical stock movements, basic electrics, train operations and let imaginations run loose as they built, disassembled and reassembled imaginary worlds in many variations. There was the additional dimension of set track packs and extending train set layouts over the years, interacting with fathers and friends, swapping and exchanging items of stock and track, learning to fix things, remove carpet from gear trains, lub frozen locos, connect wires, later build and paint layout scenery items, and above all else "play". Youngsters subliminally learned so many varied engineering and electrical skills in addition to the social interaction. In the current era of virtual play in front of dancing LCD screens one wonders where the hobby might be in 20 years time demographically?

RPSI train looks great. Great scenes as ever. Do you mind me asking how your fab enterprise coach rake came into being?

Remember when it shot up to 50p per Gallon around 73'ish after the first oil crisis (i.e. 11p/liter in todays money). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis Anyway back on topic, keep up the good work seanrail

Jonathan that sounds a great concept. Really looking forward to following your layout project as it evolves over time.

Done. Went for cement bubbles as a vote management tactic, but both new IRM wagons were supreme.

Cheers Fran. Shhh - don't let the cat out of the bag, there is a version of that plan afoot! But I'll have to save some budget for IRM A(001) and MM 121. Cement bubbles occasionally ran in mixed rake formations which may be a way to achieve running a few bubbles with other fitted stock. The ongoing experimenting and learning how to weather stock has been fun and really enjoyable, yet scary as heck at times. The next big step is opening up one of these beauties to fit working tail lamps - scares the daylights out of me that I may not be able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again afterwards!!!

Thanks. The weathering needs some more work but I'm relatively content with the results so far. The pristine grey colour is spot on with the prototype fresh out of the paint shop (see attached pic below). That is an advantage of getting these superb models in pristine condition rather than factory weathered, folks have the choice to run and weather to their own taste and skill. On the next batch I'm going to try maskol to preserve some of the white numbering better, and some sort of texture material on the tops of the bubbles to represent thick layers of cement while also trying to avoid a hairy stubble effect. I hand painted the wheel sides with frame dirt. The out of the box models look so nice I may keep and run a few of the ivory and orange ones pristine as samples of the originals. Does anybody have side on photos of the prototype orange bubbles in traffic?

Fabulous and by pure co-incidence remarkably like the little shop that used to open at Mountshannon beach swimming area on Lough Derg until just a few years ago.

I've a lot of admiration for folk with the skills, time and perseverance to make a success of resin moulding. Having watched a good number of informative youtube's on it, I think I'll stick to plastic card, 3D prints, and using good quality resin parts made by others who have the skills to do it accurately and neatly. David's excellent wagons in the link above are a good example of success with this medium.

Following on from 'Bubbles the movie' above, here is a pic from a Russian spy satellite of a suspicious looking train formation in Ireland proporting to be carrying cement.

Absolutely exquisite. Well done.

From the D&M models I've seen they seem high quality one off commissions that take a lot of time to do properly. Don't know how up to date their info is. Perhaps Dave or Mark might give an update. Their De Dietrich Enterprise sets seemed popular amongst connoisseur collectors and were of an exceptional standard for one off commissions.

Ultra fine scale GM 141/181 with DCC operated couplings, opening cab doors, DCC exhaust smoke generator, functioning bogie side frames and working springs, DCC windscreen wipers, DCC driver waving arm, see through side grills, double bass reflex speaker chambers under chassis, drivers cup of tea, etc.