Noel

Best wishes to all on here for the Christmas celebration. Something truly exceptional happened in our cosmos. Take care all.

Superb Patrick. Communion table, pulpit, organ, eagle lectern, baptismal font at the back and yer all set for MP2 or HC2. Love the communion rail and seating. Really captured the atmosphere. Pebble dash was an inspired idea. Bell tower is fab. This is a unique model that brings real character to your layout.

. . . And suffered a famous kick up the */;:)

It depends on wither you want sound or not. If not sound just motor DCC decoders than €20 for a basic Lenz decoder is more than enough. No need for ridiculous €35. If you want sound then your two choices are ESU LokSound5 projects from the likes of (http://www.wheeltappersdccsounds.co.uk/styled-5/index.html) or Zimo from Mr Sound Guy (website currently offline). Both of these have sound projects for nearly all the Irish diesel locos. I've equipped my MM 141/181/121/071/201 fleet with ESU projects designed by WheelTappers. I tried but dislike the generic vanilla projects designed by ESU themselves for Murphy Models and IRM, they were designed by people sitting at desks using library recordings of mainly US locos with now knowledge of how Irish Diesel loco's were operated and how they actually sounded. For me sound is half the equation, how these project drive prototypicaly is just as important. Sadly the generic vanilla ESU projects lack coasting and long distance braking like the real thing, so they cannot be driven as a real loco would have been. Personally I enjoy the challenge of bringing a model loco to notch 0 and applying brakes at the right time to bring a train to a halt a mile or two later correctly at the right place on a platform or in front of a stop signal. Shoving throttle to speed step 0 and the mode train stopping abruptly using only 18 inches of track is toy town and boringly unrealistic. Driving model trains like real trains is the fun.

Ultimately the existing dart line will eventually be quad tracked despite the massive CPO costs, when I suggest eventually probably sometime for sure in the next 100 years. There may the tunnelling for parts of it to reduce land and property CPO costs, but it seems unavoidable despite the uproar from parts of the east coast urban areas. Only then can inter city rail from the north and south get in and out of Dublin faster, and can Dublin area commuter rail get past the existing bottle necks, and interconnect with the city via Heuston and Connolly. Heuston badly needs a direct link with Connolly, as does the airport with both. Heuston line could also do with a large park and ride though station at the intersection with the M50 so road users from the surrounding counties can avail of a metro service in the city. We have to bite the bullet and bet the farm by investing hundreds of billions in transport infrastructure and take a hundred year view instead of short 5 year political piecemeal view of outcomes. London and Paris are what they are because courageous politicians invested for a century. Despite Ireland apparently being one of the wealthiest nations on earth we still have second rate infrastructure. Invest for a century not 5 year plans. It's possible to get anywhere in London via public transport and especially the tube, without needing a car. There's no reason Dubin cannot be the same. The Luas doesn't cut it yet because of limited coverage, overcrowding and it's too slow to get across the city. Dedicated Heavy rail speeds things up because it doesn't have to compete with road traffic and all the safety guff that entails.

OMG - Or as Miley Byrne might say 'well holy God'. Sublime scenic effects and clever use of spatial effects. Torc waterfall eat your heart out. Stunning. It looks so real it could be 1:1 scale.

. . . And let more people from cork migrate into the republic from the PDRC? I think not it’s already a pain having one’s passport inspected at Mallow on the train.

Resourceful engineering artistry. Inspiring result.

https://www.rte.ie/archives/2020/0423/1134333-cobh-train-crash/

My wife had a pleasant trip to Belfast and back yesterday on the Enterprise. She thought it was right up there with the Cork route CAF mk4 coaches for comfort. Up on the 0930 returned on the 1805. Great comfy service. Thankfully Dublin quiet last night on return, as a certain element had crawled back under their rocks.

The other proper intercity train to run in Ireland. Excellent comfy DD coaches that are quiet and super comfortable.

Cheers, that's down to kadee couplings and Keen systems sprung corridor connectors. Yes I wondered that too. Suppose if you lived beside the station, but then there's the hassle of going outdoors at train arrival times. Perhaps it was used more by the station master and local post man.

Night Mail Train.mp4

Order already placed last week. Looking forward go adding a rake of these to my two existing rakes.

Lima produced these BR class 33's in CIE Supertrain livery in the mid 1970s. Still have two of these old electric tractors. Rubbish runners but keeping them as layout decor as they came from day of youth. They don't look remotely like an A class, never did, but they looked Irish from 10 feet away back in the 1970s, when the only other option was the Hornby Hymek horror show.

Iconic, wonderful. Thank you for these wonderful Dugort stories.

Superb models

Well done that's a great job on the bridge. Innovative thinking and execution

@DJ Dangerous David, perhaps you have a lot of spare time on your hands.

I don't want to deter. It just seemed unlikely. The well is only so deep, so many models hitting the market these 24months. I'd love an Irish GSWR 0-6-4T or a GSWR 400 class, or GSWR Class 500 with DCC sound. Would be delighted to be surprised, just not optimistic based on the economics. There's few still living who travelled on steam hauled trains here in Ireland so not much in the way of nostalgia memory. RPSI locos more exposed to the public. Great if it happens. Only time will tell.

Yes, Anything but 4-4-0 as they are generally awful runners. No 4 or x60 tender locos

Took delivery of my blue'n'cream coach set on on Sat 14th October 2017 on board the RPSI diesel double rail tour to kerry and back (071+073 both in retro liveries). They were delivered on board to customers. PS: These were the wobbly wonders when running due a defective bogie mount. Needed correction using a shim.

Doubt there is enough demand for an Irish Steam loco to make a production run of sufficient size to be economic and profitable. Perhaps folks buy a current DCC ready bachmann in one of the BR liveries and respray to GSWR/CIE grey. Its an easy paint job, there is no lining needed just logo transfers.

Flying snail steam era. Murphy Models/Bachmann Mogul N class. DCC'd some time ago. Looking forward to the IRM green Park Royals to run with GSWR Irish steam loco models.