Noel

Classic.

Pleasantly surprised the Hornby Shortie donors (ie only 7 windows) were resprayable as the windows are a single stip of transparent plastic painted black leaving the windows clear (ie the windows are not separate pieces), so it almost unmask able practically, but the Hornby shorties donors I used were BR swallow livery which fortunately have a black band on the window strip, so easy, just pop the whole strip out, paint, and refit.

Happy St Patricks day to all. Celebrating nostalgia. And as its St Patricks day. The ballygowhatsit special.

Love this one to waterdord

More on the way

Are there too many places the 201s are weight restricted so the rebuilt and constantly over hauled 071s may have plenty of life in the old bogies yet? There aren't enough 201s operational to take on their duties anyway (ie the scrape line of 15x201s rotting away at inchicore)

Perhaps a St Patricks day display of some kind, many towns and villages around the country putting up green lighting, etc?

Certainly Right so Ted here's another. Not sure if these models are small or far far away!

Old CIE Era goods traffic

Indeed, but in the old days the transport system was joined up, one could buy a ticket to UK cites, you could get on a train anywhere in Ireland and get off on the quay platform at Dunlaoghaire or Rosslare, walk a few feet board a ferry to a UK port, walk a few feet onto a BR train and get to the destination city same day. Time tables were sync'd. Yes the shinny new ICRs may be warm, but no proper food service, no curtains, bucket seats that seem designed to keep osteopaths and chiropractors in business for decades, progress I suppose accelerated by low cost air travel and the decline of waterborne ferry travel. As a youngster back then you didn't need an iPad to watch netflix on a journey, all one had to do was look out the window in awe at all one saw, enough stimulation to keep a 10yo boy's mind wound by the fascinating scenes and noises experienced from a railway carriage. Yea in the 1980s some of the off beat services were pretty drab and more like the midnight express to bangladesh than the limerick shuttle to LJ. The missing link is good public transport to major rail stations (eg dart to heuston and dart to dublin airport).

https://fb.watch/4eHW_wyQrn/

Hi Rob, Yes in my head I'm still only 34, but my birth cert says otherwise, unless you were a few decades older you'd never have seen those old classics nor travelled on board. And yes the mk3s were introduced to Ireland 37 years ago, and to BR 48 years ago. Age usually dictates nostalgia memory. One day in the distant future even an awful Rotem 22k may end up on a preservation lot on display. You were fortunate to catch the end of the 141/181 era combined with mk3 coaches which were so much more comfortable to travel on than the yoyos. Its all a mater of 'eyes of beholder' and all that stuff. The earlier era not having fixed rake formations of anything seemed rather interesting because there was so much more shunting and marshalling stock compared to today, huge variety of rolling stock, lots of activity at nearly every passing station between Dublin and Cork, or Galway or Sligo, etc, enough to keep a 10yo boy peering out a coach window entertained combined with an assault on the senses as stock was buffered up under brakes, the whine and notching of locos running around and coupling up, coach windows, head stuck out coach door windows peering at the train as it rounds an inside bend, etc, seeing a train beside yours out the window begin to slowly move and then realise its the train you are on that is actually doing the moving. No particular time is right, only ones own memory paints the picture. TV and video can also colour shade memories, we've all seen so many GWR, LMS, LNER, SR and BR trains in period movies and TV dramas that they almost seem a real part of ones own memory creating a fondness for a steam era one never actually experienced first hand. Must be why Hornby still sell so many steam era train sets and steam locos today to people under 85 and half.

CIE era model trains. Extract from running session earlier. Enjoy. Thank for watching.

The canals handled that sort traffic. Crew Bonus earned by tapping wooden barrels behind the metal straps, and replugging after the level adjusted (for ballast don't you know).

Wow look at the glorious Bulleid open beet wagons behind it. The most numerous and important wagon in Irish railway history. The Acrylonitrile looks a little fisher price.

1m32s noticed the points are not set. See this before on some video of trains running through 'trailing' points that were not set. Interesting how they must be pushed open by the trains without breaking the spreader bars or other linkages. Not seen this before but heard of it. Presume the mechanism is designed to cope with the point blades being forced over.

Excellent Exactly, great idea. Dapol unpainted wagons are inexpensive and come with NEM pockets. Works with vans too. I've kit bashed three rakes of assorted two axle wagons like these over the past 5 years.

16:50 Ennis-Athenry about to depart as the down pick up goods to limerick has passed in the loop. It's late in the evening Drone shot 17:40 waiting for starter signal All quiet in the yard for the rest of the day, next movement due is tomorrow morning at 11:35 when the Sligo-Limerick goods is due to visit and exchange a few wagons.

I'd well believe it having seen the uptake of O gauge by members of WMRC since they built their massive Little Siddington layout. Many building or buying their on O gauge stock to run on LS, and now building their own compact O gauge layouts for home use (eg shunters yard, diesel depot, etc). I'd be on O gauge myself like a hot rash if I could get my hands on a single fine scale 141 or 181 model. Would only need a 10ft linear shunting layout to have years of operational running fun using RTR wagons from the likes of Dapol resprayed in CIE liveries. No need for coaching stock. A 141 is a beautifully short loco and would suit shunting 2 axle wagons with their 3 link couplings and opening wagon doors. Drool. There'll never be any Irish RTR O gauge stock for obvious economic reasons, but some time I might be able to twist the arm of a master like Eoin to commission a 141 body based on a dapol chassis. Saw a few nice 141s at the last model show I was at in Dublin some years ago. Do you export much to Cork (PDRC)?

Or is it just a question of grey matter sometimes - Darwin?

Or also SDMRC who have their own excellent purpose built club house facility. The knub is this country never really had the scale per capita of either a history of railway modelling nor preservation railways unlike the UK. Hence there is only one single model shop in the entire country, and only three clubs MRSI, SDMRC and WMRC whereas the UK has thousands of clubs. Stephen is quite right in that it is a niche within a niche here of a small market. We are extraordinarily fortunate that Paddy Murphy started the ball rolling acting as the catalyst for the current renaissance in Irish Modelling and even indirectly the inspiration behind the formation of IRM who are now running along side him, and also forging ahead in the UK market making big waves and changing the game. Where next? The vast USA market?

Yea make CIE great again MCGA

Agree it lacks that distinctive bulbulous tumblehome profile, but glad to have it (copy right acknowledged providence un known)

I like many started BM (before Murphy models arrived) so British outline train sets were the only show in town, GWR and LMS steam era being my favourites of the big four. Never really got into BR modern era diesel Blue/Grey. Had collected a few CIE Irish models in the 1970s - Lima & Hornby BR models in CIE livery but nothing prototypical. Started the layout with GWR and LMS in mind, but designed the terminus to be a pseudo Kingsbridge, then a chance visit to Malahide Castle in 2007 changed everything. At the Fry layout visitor centre was a souvenir shop and on sale were some Bachmann/MM 141 locos. I nearly fell over with excitement that there existed a fine scale model of a real CIE loco. I bought 182 on the spot, brought it home, popped it on the layout (which hadn't been run for 15 years) and was staggered by what a precision runner MM 182 was, far superior to the Hornby and Lima junk around at that time. It was like a swiss watch. I'd been out of the hobby for nearly 20 years, but MM 182 flicked a switch in me. My only contact with the outside world had been Railway Modeller magazine even during the dormant years. That single loco awakened me to the possibility of one day having a layout populated by models of the trains I grew up watching and travelling on. Train sets got me started, and the classic train set had an engine and 3 or 4 varied goods wagons and a brake van, or two passenger coaches. Train sets were the ultimate starter in the hobby as they came with everything you needed including an oval of track and a power transformer. Scenery was made up using Beano hardback annuals for platforms, socks, cardboard boxes with holes cut for tunnel mouths, and shoe boxes for buildings with windows drawn in markers or pencils. I wonder if an ICR train set would offer the same playability for kids today who see trains. Most trains are seen on TV rather than in real life and period dramas tend to show the classic 1930-1950s BR steam era locos and rolling stock, maroon BR exLMS coaches and 2 axle goods wagons in mixed formations, hence the typical hornby or Lima train sets of same, later bachmann who were the first to steer up market for modellers rather than the Christmas toy market that was once dominated by transits. Now its iPads, X-Boxes, Playstation and smartphones dancing LCD screens (ie no physical playability, no imagination, no tactile feel, no construction skills). No wonder the world will have a shortage of engineers in 20 years time. Assembling toy train set track and the geometry was very much part of the toy train hobby for youngsters starting off. A train set which was a seriously big ticket Christmas or birthday present was augmented by saved pocket money that enabled extra track to be bought over time and added. All the is gone. The toy market seemed a sunset market until thomas came along and extended its life for an extra while, but that seems to have worn off. Most of todays modellers were probably yesterdays kids connecting track on a bedroom carpet running a hornby mixed goods transit. Looking at the average age profile attending exhibitions one wonders what size the market will be in 20 years time, or how new younger modeller get attracted into the hobby. Model shops or toy shops that carried model railways was in the general publics face, but there are no retail model shops on high streets anymore. So where is the exposure coming from for new blood? I dunno

No Problems so far with orders that arrived from Hattons, Gaugemaster, Element Games, Silverfox, etc. Nothing extra to have been paid. Just normal post so far. Same with an electric car charger that arrived a few weeks ago, no extra vat or duty.