Noel

Thanks Richrua. Bogie frames reconstructed with resin C class bogie sides, and reinforced with gussets. Ready for weathering then put humpty dumpty back together again.

Ok, changing the bogies side on both B233 and B121. B233 C Class - Cut GM bogies off the 141 chassis bogies and replaced with SF resin bogies sides (Metrovic C class). The MM/Bachmann bogie frames snap fit onto the bogie truck, act as a seal on the gear box, and host the NEM pocket. B121 with GM bogies fitted - filed the SW1500 bogies flat and glued 3D printed GM 121 bogie sides on top

Really excellent. I can hear the sea gulls and smell the sea looking at that.

Agree. Unfortunately there will always be some merchants who want to make money in the temple. Possibly also a bit of innocent OCD at play for some collectors.

Agree, mods if you feel like splitting this thread from post #5 and moving the relevant camera posts from #5 onwards to a new thread like "Filming layouts" in 'General Discussion' or 'Photos and videos of the Prototype' it would be appreciated. Apologies for thread drift. I have a few more pics of IRM Wagons I'd like to post here afterwards.

Hi Roxyguy. Canon 5D Mk3 has a great track record for professional video, not sure Nikon consumer DSLRs are quite at the same races for video. Cheers. Noel

+1 Absolutely class. Really enjoy your posts David. Noel

Classic. I remember those adverts so well, and how modern and uniform the 'super trains' looked, imagining that they were actually 'super' and capable of 100mph - not!!

Hi Paul. Cheers. I used Acrylic for everything so far including Railmatch, Tamiya and Vallejo Model Air. Noel Thanks JB. Wonder if 'piggin' the first hint of future doom and alien ICRs! Yes I remember similar tidy B&T stock back then. B141 and B165 are next in the queue.

I agree with you totally about phones. Canon 80D is much better at video than all the mid range Nikons. Normally I use the DSLR only for stills. Going to replace current camera with a D7500, but again for still use. The D5200 has been great for stills over the past few years but awkward for indoor video use. Anyway congrats again you guys on the wagons, we had immense fun yesterday with them on the layout. There is so much fine detail on them we were very careful unboxing and handling them. Glad you liked the video.

Finally bit the bullet and very lightly weathered one of my B&T MM 141s. Just enough to get the shine off it as a first step with minimal risks. Boy I was scared I was going to ruin a lovely model. Used a bit of Railmatch sleeper grime, frame dirt and roof dirt. Very light dusting to dull the loco down and get the shine off it. More to do in due course with exhaust and fuel tank. Comparison side by side: Left very lightly dusted B181, Right pristine B165 Side by side: B181 + B121 look more compatible now that both have a light dusting This time I experimented by leaving the walkway rails on, and just roughly masked the windows. If I matt varnish her to seal the weathering I will have to properly mask the windows to stop them going opaque (i.e. tape or maskol might be easier). Next time on B141 I am going to try a wash using a lightish colour on the black body.

Ok, that's clinched it and the visit of a WMRC member yesterday confirms same. I bow to sense.

RESPECT! Kieran the diversity of your modelling skills and throughput never ceases to amaze and inspire. I have nothing but the highest admiration for folks with the perseverance, endurance and skills to successfully tackle brass projects to a high standard. Look forward to seeing your coach progress.

Thanks. Hoping to get it finished this weekend, but the arrival of the IRM wagons caused some degree of distraction and excitement so I'm way behind finishing B121 and B233. Hi Fran, an old Nikon D5200 and a mix of an 18-200mm zoom, 35mm prime, and tried 12-24mm wide angle zoom for close in shots which proved useless. Personally live view on DSLRs just doesn't work for me, I prefer to look through the view finder and lens when videoing. Noel

Thanks guys. Glad you enjoyed. It was a team effort. I had the help of a WMRC member who operated the trains, sound and planned the sequences. I used a DSLR with long lens on a tripod, and an iPhone 6, but ironically the phone took much better video than the DSLR. DSLRs are pretty useless at video because the depth of field is too narrow, aperture is locked once REC is pressed, and AF during video is awful so I had to use MF. Phones are great in low light, AF, but too wide a field of view. Must get a little digicam for future use. Tripod really does help when recording video - doesn't make viewers seasick from camera movement. We only used about 5% of the footage we shot. The main objective was to get one continuous shot of the entire IRM ballast rake passing at platform eye level. A pal who used to be an RTE cameraman, and then went to work on films gave me some great advice years ago about video - avoid panning at all costs, and never zoom during a sequence. I had hopped to weather the IRM ballast wagons for the video but ran out of time. That's next months project. Anyway we had a fun evening operating trains hauling IRMs truly superb wagons. Two brown plough wagons are now on my future radar. But the main credit is due to team IRM

Yes those were the type of containers I remember CIE transporting by rail and by road in the 1960s. Dapol unpainted 5 plank wagons would make perfect partners for the containers. I have some Bachmann conflat containers which might be suitable for resprays. Interesting in that pic those are BR containers loaded on CIE wagons.

It just takes two irrational or uninformed bidders who are unaware of market prices to gleefully pay miles over the odds. Auctions are great for creating false urgency. One theory I heard expressed recently was perhaps some collectors who bought large 141/181 collections when first launched, possibly on the expectation of a repeat of the Lima 201 high price bubble for baby GMs in the future, are now offloading some before Murphy Models new 121 model arrives with retailers this autumn. Maybe free up funds to buy 121s, or sell 141/181s before market price drops??? Who knows. The markets will find their own levels.

Video of IRM Ballast Wagons being transferred to Kingsbridge. Minister of Transport sanctions capital budget for purchase of IRM Ballast Wagons. Loading gauge trials successfully completed after transfer today. These Wagons are supremely produced. Well done team IRM. French farm unions question Kingsbridge management for reasons to circumvent EU tendering process. Kingsbridge management replied "They are simply the best, we wanted the best, so we got the best." Newly built B121 consisted with B181 to transfer new rake of IRM Ballast wagons [video=youtube;l-eToGhfLMU]

I'm on the same page as you Jason. Its a funny thing, I had a mild fondness for the ST livery when introduced with the actual super train back in 72 (i.e. A class with mk2s). It looked modern with the curves on the A class roof matching the sleek new mk2 roofs. I remember at the time thinking Ireland had finally arrived in the 20th century with a modern looking train, little realising the locos stemmed from the mid 50s. But to my eyes, after a while the livery seemed rather dull and dowdy until the IR era when the addition of white tippex stripes transformed the livery for the better. Noel

Hi Railer, do you have a link? Thanks. Noel

Dilemma - I have prepared replacement bogies sides for recent SF C class project, but I am thinking of leaving the donor loco bogies in place because the SF ones look hideous compared to the quality of Bachmann or Hornby! Dilemma is put very poor looking but prototypically correct MV bogies, or leave the donor bogies because they look great despite being the wrong bogie sides. I just prefer the look of the wrong sides on the model. All the gubbins and stuff!

{ Thud } That was me falling off the back of my chair looking at this stunning layout. Superb scenes. Lucky for me the A class was not in Black'n'Tan livery or I might have fainted.

Great achievement to be a pioneering trail blazer, and go through the ranks from catering to a passenger locomotive driver in 8 years. IE were perhaps little behind change considering Aer Lingus's first female pilot started in back 1978. It took strong, dedicated and talented personalities to 'break through' barriers of a distant past.

Done. Good luck with your Thesis. An important flight safety issue that has probably at one time or another effected many reading this thread without them ever being aware. I won't post any comments on the survey content so as not to distort other respondents answers.

Thanks, that's very interesting stuff guys. One question, did operators using oil not put in place procedures to raise boiler temps more gradually when using oil to bring locos up to operating temperatures, and therefore avoid the problems highlighted above? Only reason I posed question about oil/kero was as an option for preserved steam locos in light of perceived high coal costs.