Noel

Some DCC systems have a setup menu that will easily set up a consist for you without having to manually setup CV19 in each loco. USA layouts can have consists with many locos (3-8). In this part of the world double heading (ie a pair) is the most, except for the early days in cork, when 3 steam locos used to be used to pull the cork-dublin express up the hill out of cork through the tunnel. Once up the hill one of the locos uncoupled and returned to cork yard. The GSWR 800 class were built to handle this by themselves and were amongst the most powerful steam locos in Ireland or GB, rivalling even the GWR castles for tractive effort if not the speed of the LMS princesses, nor LNER A4s. PS: An alternative to using DCC consisting is to simply give two locos the same DCC address (ie but make sure they both travelling the the same direction for 'forward' CV21).

Enjoyed a running session earlier with a pair of Murphy Models CIE 181 class locos double header both running sound as an advanced DCC consist. Setting up an advanced consist is really easy on NCE, no CVs need to be manually managed. Baby GMs double heading was common in the 1960s and early 1970s until the 071 class arrived. Enjoy.

My tuppence, Advantages of DCC over DC for me were: Sound Prototypical driving simulation. Acceleration, coasting, braking, driving trains properly Less wiring - (ie no block sections needed), literally just two wires needed for track power (I have no droppers on our layout) Ability to double head (consist) Ability to run locos right up to each other without isolation rails DCC can act as a bus for all accessories such as coach lighting, point motors, signals, no extra wiring needed Much simpler to wire than a DC layout, quicker to get trains running - two wires Our layout was built 28 years ago as a DC layout with extensive wiring for block sections and isolation rails (eg loco she's, sidings, terminus platforms, etc. To convert to DCC all I had to do was connect two wires from DCC controller to my DC switch box and flick every single switch on and leave them on. It took me 20 minutes. No droppers anywhere, and no tales of woe encountered it just works, and come of the track sections are quite long. The fishplates have made excellent conductors. DCC = Simpler

2 axle goods traffic being overtaken on the loop by 16:43 arrival from Kingsbridge with double headed 182+B181 on Platform 1. B165 waits on the down loop as pilot for the expected 16:58 goods working. J15 steaming up on P4 in preparation for 17:30 departure to Dungarvan. Local branch train from Dungarvan arrives at Platform 4. Mixed passenger + goods. Provincial wagons coupled to coach with exGSWR brake van.

B135 arrives from Dungarvan with a local branch working, passenger and goods mixed.

Agree. MDF can be unstable over a long period (ie even Everrard junction's baseboards had to be ripped up and redone in plywood) I've used these locals in Dublin. They cut Birch ply to order. http://www.woodworkers.ie/prices/p_sheet_plywood.shtml

This might help. It was a very easy fit with no 18s. I’m a bit pedantic about all my stock having kadee’s at correct magnet height and so Different stock can inter operate and couple up together.

That's a fabulous run around sequence

Very very nice. I like the detail, and micro scenes

Thanks Fran. These should prove very popular especially with folks who missed out on the first production run. Good to see re-runs of these wagons. You mentioned above these are original tooling, so just double checking, are the NEM pockets still positioned a little high as per the original run? (ie not at kadee height). Like the look of the CIE variants.

Fab-U-Lous

I still have My Zero one in a box in the attic.

Yes grey 071 is 7078. The only modern yellow stuff I have is a pair of superb IRM ballast ploughs. I bit modern for my era, but they looked so good I just had to collect a pair last year. But sadly the weed spray support wagons and spoils were not on my menu. Anthony Smyth nearly turned me after seeing his incredible weathering of his spoil wagons. Transformative. I'm already at risk of rotting in the bogie of eternal stench for having some mk3 resprays. Don't worry never will a modern boring yo-yo toy 22k set wheels upon my rails. Was getting the train to cork last year, when I saw it was a 22k set on the platform instead of the proposed CAF Mk4s I walked away and waited an hour for the next cork train which was CAF Mk4s pulled by a proper engine with a smiley face, buffers and lights.

This clock work Thomas gave me and my then young son more fun that all the scale stuff back then. We used to bet how many laps it could do before the spring ran out, each loop there was a slight hump and it would nearly stop, but if it got over that it would whirl off for another lap of the oval. The Thomas behind it is electric.

@WRENNEIRE take 3

Yes a fascinating time when ancient 1950s A class loco's hauled modern air-con coaches and CWR was progressively growing out from Houston through kildare on the Cork line. Ironic that the A classes looked all modern and aerodynamic yet mechanically they were old tech, whereas the boxey looking GMs were much more up to date. A time when you could pass through Limerick junction and see a uniform rake of modern containers in an adjacent line or siding to a mixed rake of loose coupled 2 axles goods wagons and/or bulleid corrugated beet wagons, with 1950s coaching running through the station at the same time as the swish of mk2d's behind a pair of baby GMs. Pure magic for diversity and variety of operations, the goods shed siding in each small station had its days numbered as the sun started to set on manually handled pick up goods traffic. At least the non-supertrain passenger formations still had fabulous variety in their make up. As JHB often commented often were there were rarely more than two coaches of the same type in a rake. Glad I lived through those days and traveled by train a lot. Watching the tracks fly by underneath large gaps in gangway floors was exciting and the noise an assault on the senses as they rattled and clanked.

That's a fabulous photo to have. B&T livery locos hauled the original super train livery mk2d sets for some years before all the locos got repainted in super train livery to match the A class locos which match the roof profile of the mk2d's as well as the livery. I remember the 1972 CIE TV adverts vividly, looked like the height of modernity coming to an Ireland of Peat, Turf and Bogs, still getting used to the idea of colour traffic lights instead of black and white ones. When the Riordans were peak time TV viewing and if even the word 'toilet' was mentioned on the late late show, croziers were beating down with Bishops letters of condemnation the following Sunday at services. A time when the riordans had tractors and mini skirts

Both companies up for sale again apparently.

Did they not rationalise product lines with Roco who took over HO?

Velly enterusting. Benny Hill? I think I saw a kit of one of those in Marks Models once

Glud to know. Best vishes fo fast recover. Sorry kant chalk, just black from major dental slurgury. Brilliant dental sturgeon, but klant kalk. Like the look of those 20ft container flats.

Fabulous. Love it. Reeks of atmosphere and realism

1962 meets 1974. Time travel is possible on a model railway. The golden Black'n'Tan era meets 1961 B134 (2020 livery) and 1973 182 in Supertrain livery. B181 has the same new sound project as the 121s from WheelTappers so it will be able to consist and double head with Murphy Models B125 B&T livery with matched motor speeds when the Murphy Model Black'n'Tan 121s ships (a week or two over due perhaps but no news from the eastern front). Had an enjoyable running session earlier IMG_8179.mov

Understandable. Risky to plan any major event this side of Sept 2021. Hopefully there'll be a number of vaccines that get type approval this side of Christmas with a graduated rollout during 2021, starting with >80s and medically vulnerable followed by the wider population. Never in the course of pharma history have so many competing companies shared resources and shared IP to help produce a safe vaccine. I sense the cavalry is just over the hill, its coming, sit sight and minimise risks while waiting.

Stunning on every level. This is a master piece