Noel

Congrats Richrua for being the first to post pictures of the wagons operating on a layout. Glad to see the buffers appear perfectly straight on the production models. Your plough van really looks the part on the rake. Looking forward to delivery of the ballasts. Great photos btw, and layout looking fab. The ballast wagons looking excellent.

Thanks for the info. Your success has inspired me to have a go with the SSM brake van. Btw, the finished article looks really great so the 'duck test' is not needed one bit.

Nice job. Thanks, did the primer go straight onto the brass or did you have to wash/rub it down?

Thanks Obi-Wan (Richie). Is there a brand you recommend? So far I've been using Tamiya and Model Craft masking tapes (2mm, 3mm, 6mm, 10mm, etc). The Tamiya white 'curved' tape (i.e. for cab fascia) seems awkward to use, it just won't stick to anything. Richie do you mind me asking what backing material you use to pre-cut tape into difficult shapes? I've tried grease proof paper, but it almost sticks too well to the tape, so getting the tape shapes back off it for transfer to model can be tricky. Noel

Nice one Richrua. Looking good. I have never used brass before, but I am due to attempt one of Des's brake vans, so do you mind me asking a few questions? What primer did you use and did you have to prepare the brass to receive it (i.e. sand, etc)? Did you use solder or super glue to build it, and if solder which kind? Is the Dapol chassis a 10, 11 or 12ft?

That's a good sized room. Best of luck with the project. Look forward to watching it evolve. Model Rail Baseboards may be closer to you. http://www.modelrailbaseboards.com

Confession time - major boo-boo All ready to go - or at least that's what I thought - after using grease proof paper as a backing to cut masking tape templates for cab fascia's Disaster - major mistake 9" white stripe! I used the 3mm masking tape instead of the 2mm. Will have to start again, not happy. Back to square one - redo white stripe properly this time Not entirely happy but its an improvement - White stripe corrected to 6" scale height. She's nearly ready for the tan band. Ah well, I hope I learn from my mistakes!!! Will try and finish this over the next week or so. Btw, this was done using 'Vallejo Model Air' acrylic paints. Pre-thinned straight out of the bottle into the air brush cup. The paint goes on easier and nicer than the Tamiya I've used so far.

Oh lordy lordy yes. The voice of truth. Interesting to hear from more experienced folk. As a newbie to airbrushing it took me ages to clean up the first few times, and I found it quite frustrating, but now I get the airbrush cleaned in about 2mins (i.e. after acrylics). Anyway Kieran those wagons look super and your creative use of the aerosols clearly worked very well. Love the tractor load.

Impressive model engineering. Precise and very neat work.

I'd guess they may be similar prices to John's Irish GSVs which are GBP £79 (€95). Have you seen them close up Dave? Difficult to tell the width from the camera angle in those photos. The deep tumblehome of the prototype HLV was a very distinct characteristic. The paint job looks nice and crisp, but I hope the large hand rail is fitted, and not painted on the production models as per the photo above. Also the glazing needs to be pushed tight against the windows and not have the air gaps seen in the photos.

Thanks for posting those Dave. As pre-production models they look very nice, especially the 3 axle HLV. Agree about NEM pockets and hope he puts hand rails by at the guards door on the HLV and the double doors on the TPO. Google produced two comparison photos. Great for the 60s/70s golden era. There is nothing on his web site yet http://silverfoxmodels.co.uk/category/irish-railways-iarnrod-eireann/ Any idea on pricing?

Unfortunately missed the legendary WMRC layout exhibition due to a last minute hitch that took me 250 miles in the wrong direction. Had planned to come down by train on Easter Monday. I've heard nothing but superlatives for this show, it's spacious venue and the vast number of excellent layouts it hosts. Will definitely make it next year. Looking forward to seeing a few pics and videos in due course.

Hi Kieran. Nice photos as ever. Are the interiors of the mk4 sets getting an overhaul? Noel

The locos look really well on the layout. Glad you've enjoyed the switch to DCC and sound. It adds a whole new dimension to driving model trains. Layout looks really well. I love the walls and green foliage.

SF recommends these Hornby chassis for a plastic "cut and shut" job: Class 25 or 29 or 73, and the C class kit comes with instructions for cutting any of these three. However these are old style basic chassis (i.e. railroad specs) with only four wheel diagonal pickup and one powered bogie.

Yea, if I cut the resin I'd want to ensure the grills ended up flush with the body sides rather than protruding, same for the window frames, well almost flush.

Hi Kieran. Thanks for suggestions. I have considered same, but I've decided to walk before I run on the first loco project. I have the SSM detailing kit, but the grills don't match for C class (i.e. the SF body grill seems incorrectly much wider), I've already filed off the headlamp as the loco will be pre-rebuilt era, and I quite like the existing resin grill on top, which leaves brass for just the front window surrounds, wipers, etc. I will save the SSM detail kit for an A class project where I can use all of the brass. For this C class I have a modified centre drive chassis which fills the internal space, so little point having a see through grill (i.e. on the prototype you could see right through the loco from one side to the other). The three areas I wan't to concentrate on for this first loco 'training exercise', is the quality and precision of the paint job, chassis running performance as per the prototype (i.e. due weight, all wheel drive and all wheel pickup), and DCC sound. Noel

John, thank you very much. You are truly the 'jbikipedia' of this forum all matters Irish railways.

Next project is this. Now what livery to go for? I am torn between Black'n'Tan 1960s, but really like the black livery with the yellow front panel, and then there is the flying snail green livery which would be great for hauling some of my green flying snail coaches. Decisions decisions. First one was to file away the head light boxes. Does anybody have any colour photos of those liveries, very few on the internet?

Wishing our model railway friends a very happy and special Easter. Noel "God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again." John 3:17 (Msg)

Excellent research and photos. Did the line cross the Shannon at Portumna or terminate on the east bank? Doesn't look like it from Sat images, but if yes, did it cross the Shannon using the current iconic road bridge which looks more like railway engineering than a road structure? There is an old disused commercial harbour on the east bank just 350m north of the current road bridge (i.e. Munster Harbour) which may have connected the railway with commercial Shannon traffic. Waterways Ireland now use it as a storage depot for hardware, buoys, pontoons, etc.

Nice job so far. Are you using solder or superglue? Is the Dapol chassis 9ft, 10ft or 11ft? I will probably run the imminent delivery of IRMs as 'dolomite' wagons instead of ballasts, so won't need plough vans. Yellow didn't seem to be around in the B&T 60s and early 70s era.

Superb. They look really impressive especially considering they are N gauge. Well done Eoin.

Steam trains at speed

Seems a bit like reinventing the wheel! It probably cost him more in time than buying one retail, but I suppose fun for folks into that sort of thing. China is the new economic super power, and as Fr Ted would say, "they are a great bunch of lads", sure they even make toy choo-choos