Noel

An ICE derailed in Dortmund last week. Lucky it happened at low speed. Bizarrely it was the rear of the train that derailed. https://www.thelocal.de/20170502/high-speed-train-derails-in-dortmund-disrupting-travel-for-days http://www1.wdr.de/nachrichten/ruhrgebiet/ice-entgleist-dortmund-hauptbahnhof-100.html

Hi Eoin, by co-incidence I had just finished re-reading this superb thread. Excellent engineering. Really looking forward to seeing this develop. I have a soft spot for the C class. Noel

Not surprised, that black and silver was probably the uglyest livery ever to appear on an Irish diesel loco. I'm seriously considering repainting mine into a black'n'tan livery just for fun. Like this . . .

A bundle of Lima stuff more accurate. The two 'A' classes are also Lima BR class 33s!!!

Looks nice Kieran

An earlier photo not released by IRMs press office

Agree absolutely classic. Had the guys off loaded the ballast load first, they might have been able to hire a smaller crane, and save a few bob towards project no 4 Love the detail of the foreman looking under the wagon

Absolutely stunning Eoin. Had you considered the suitability of Black Beetle 27:1 gear ratio motor bogies for your A or C class projects? They are expensive but seem the biz.

In fairness there is now plenty of quality RTR rolling stock for CIE, IE, IR, whereas there seems to be more kits available for GNR, NIR, GSWR, MGWR, etc. One has the option to commission kit building.

Thanks Richie. Will do.

Has anybody on the forum successfully made their own flush glazed windows for kits or to improve RTR stock? Assuming some folk have, would you mind giving a brief bullet point 'how to' guide on same? I can't remember where, but I vaguely remember seeing posts here some years ago showing stunningly thin flush glazed windows with visual frames. Thanks in anticipation. Ps. I've already googled much and trawled YouTube, but all I can find is manufacturer flush glaze kits, various transparent glues that look awful, sticking clear acetate behind openings, etc, but none using DIY precision cut windows beautifully framed in some manner.

Good to see the superb IRM Ballast Wagons are also available in Marks Models shops for €119.99 http://www.marksmodels.com/?pid=27984 http://www.marksmodels.com/?pid=27985 http://www.marksmodels.com/?pid=27986

Yes especially if it was done in two separate prints, one vertically for the cab end to avoid 3D stepping on the compound curves, and another horizontally for the rest of the body. Just needs somebody to do the cad drawings! (Says just in jest). Another option could be just the cab end designed to marry with a cut short Bachmann/Hornby BR mk4 coach. BR Mk4s different but closest looking RTR stuff to Irish mk4. 3D replacement coach ends could make a lot of difference (i.e. flat profile + corridor connectors).

Thanks for info Tom. Which wagons did you feel were 'ok'? Noel

Has anybody else had success using Shapeways 3D kits for 00 or N gauge loco, wagon or coach bodies? They seem to have quite a bit of N gauge stuff as well as 00 wagons.

Video - Shapeways 3D CIE 121 class no B121 - Chassis trials no 2 - Athearn SW1500 chassis. Decals and gloss varnish or not? [video=youtube;qN-gGLbZ2h4] I won't get time to do any more work on the model until next week. Plan is to hopefully add guard and hand rails, lights, couplings, lamp mounts and lantern, glazing, replacement bogie sides, replacement fuel tank, etc. Decals - I used a custom set of water slide transfers from Studio Scale Models. I was very tempted to apply them to the matt acrylic paint finish using humbrol decalfix and then seal with a matt varnish. But I did some trials applying decals on test pieces of painted plasticard with and without various gloss varnishes. Upon seeing how much better decals blended with gloss surfaces, I decided to go the conventional route and spray the whole model with two thin coats of humbrol acrylic gloss varnish, 24hr later applied the decals using humbro decalfix, and finally 24hr later two thin coats of humbrol acrylic matt varnish to dull it all down and make the weathering more visible again. There is no doubt the decals do blend better on a gloss surface with the edges of the transfers becoming completely invisible. I was concerned I might not get the matt finish back, but the humbrol matt did the trick admirably. Ps: apologies for the poor camera movement. Tripod next time.

Nice work. Looking forward to seeing your layout evolve.

Thanks for the tips Richie. I was using a humbrol acrylic matt varnish rattle can with an air spray booth which had a fan and filter unit, but NOT ducted to the outside (i.e. only through the filter). In addition to that I had a little fan heater running at the back of the room about 10ft away which may have assisted an air current moving the vapour after it passed through the filter. I guess these filters are fine for collecting paint particles but not so good at collecting airborne solvents. I assume had I a duct to the outside there might not have been a problem.

Just a word of caution if spraying varnish either from an air brush or using a rattle can aerosol. Strongly recommend not spraying in the same room as other model rolling stock otherwise there is a risk the glazing on the other stock may go opaque. Using an air spray booth with a fan that ducts the air to the outside may avoid this. This happened to me recently when the glazing on a loco and a coach eight feet away from the area I was spraying varnish both opaque on the side nearest the work bench. This was obviously caused by convectional air currents in the room that carried suspended varnish in the air. You live and learn! Recently when doing the 121 and C class locos I used an outdoor area to prevent a repeat.

As ever Eoin, superb work Maestro.

ROFL - Ah now that might be going a little too far. I do like travelling to Cork on mk4 city gold, but on my iPad I listen to sound tracks with clackety clack noises, whistles and steam chuffs. But not a patch compared to the comfort of travelling in a laminate corridor coach.

Oh I hear you JB, I'm with you. I don't like coaches over 61ft myself, nor goods wagons that have bogies, nor pax trains without an engine pulling up front. A goods train without a brake van seems like a sentence missing a full stop. Container trains seem so dull and rather 'Fischer price' compared to goods trains of old carrying all manner of nostalgia. Don't mention 'yellow' unless it's C201 black livery with the yellow warning panel.

Those two photos are superb. Track maintenance works alongside an operational line must be quiet tricky. The shot of the sweeping Belmont train passing Wicklow is really eye catching.

I am really chuffed to have a 121 on the layout, especially in Black'n'Tan livery. Thanks for kind comments guys but most of the credit is due to 'Rail 3D Prints' (Jack) / Shapeways, I just did the painting and fitted a chassis. The 3D body shell cost €54 when I bought it 18 months ago, but I see the cost has since gone up. It was worth it to have a half decent looking 121. In general I still have some reservations about 3D printing for 00 gauge, but in this case the quality was very good and it turned out better than I had dreamed. I did spend some time rubbing down surfaces post primer to make it even smoother, but it was pretty good as supplied. The structure was also rigid enough and did not warp. I am really impressed with the running quality of the Athearn SW1500 chassis which fitted with minimal bodging. She can run over Peco insulfrog points and crossings at slow speeds without stalling or juddering, a very smooth slow speed runner, yet can easily haul a rake of 8 coaches or 20 wagons due chassis weight. It was worth sacrificing the superb US body shell to have an Irish B121. Spent ages yesterday playing trains on the layout. Now trying to shape wire hand rails and guard rails using lengths of wire from Eileens Emporium.

Your welcome. Looking forward to running the rake of ballasts in the near future, and perhaps even daring to weather them. Great video too by Eamonn showing them off on that wonderful layout.