Noel

Interesting however the prices are not attractive, but they have pretty much most of the MM range. $84 for a Craven!

Catching up on some outstanding tasks. Buffer grease day. Got 10 locos done with various types of buffer grease. Some fuel tanks also got diesel spill treatment I even sullied my hands by touching one of those horribly modern 201 thingies. Hope I don't catch anything nasty from it

Have fun

It seemed like that at the beginning but as you have a few goes at it, takes less and less time, and before you know it cleaning up becomes quick and easy. I have it down to 120 seconds. You could do it in your sleep once you get used to it and learn more and more shortcuts. The first time I dismantled my airbrush two years ago I feared I would never manage to put it back together again, and if I did, it would never work properly again. I agree the spray rattle cans like halfords are great for priming (ie once kept warm) and also Humbrol acrylic varnishes (Gloss for decals) and Matt for finishing. But I really do recommend giving an airbrush a try, and get past that first mental block which I refused to pass for a year after 1st getting a brush. Once you get going you'll never look back and learn all kinds of tricks by yourself. First time just spray a bit of white paper or an old piece of rolling stock that is not precious to you. The beauty of acrylics is its forgiving if you make a boo-boo. Make many boo-boos cause that's how your learn the most. I made heaps of all merciful boo boos.

Fabulous would have loved to have the rest of that piece. Thanks for posting.

Yes the LMS horn is so underwhelming, sounds more like a baby elephant breaking wind. I wonder if there are any YouTubes of no4s whistle?

An old friend of ours 'Gordon' passed away last week. He was our church pastor many years ago, and when he retired he gave me this book as a present. I had almost forgotten it until I rediscovered it this week. Delighted to have Irish Railways years of change 1956 - 1996 which documents the railways from the last days of steam through dieselisation and the GM era, from former GSWR & MGWR & UTA to CIE, IE and IR, and covers the entire island. This will make a nice read during these days of confinement. Thank you Gordan. Some fabulous photos. Gordon was an exceptional human being, a gifted teacher and a railway enthusiast, as well as being fluent in French, Spanish and Arabic. He died peacefully this day last week after a long illness. Forever remembered never forgotten. There is a map of the Irish railway network in 1956 and it is incredible how much was still intact then before it was later cannibalised by the growth of road traffic and lack of planning insight in the late 1950s as Ireland started its transition from a 3rd world rural economy to a hi-tech and agri food power house. Please forgive that I don't use the term RIP because I don't think Gordon is resting, instead I sense he is busy in a new life of purpose and joy, beyond our comprehension but perhaps best explained by the recent Easter season. Thank you Gordon I will enjoy reading this over the coming weeks. Gordon on his retirement from Crinken Church 16 years ago

I'm looking forward to it. Only bummer is it doesn't run on Mac so I will have to tolerate Windoze under VMware. I dislike Windoze more than Android and even more than 22k trams

Hopefully next winter might get around to tweaking this Bachmann Fairburn 2-6-4T closer to no 4. The prototypes (ie ex-LMS UTA Jeeps) were quite powerful locos well capable of hauling 8 coaches.

Hi Graham, I just got delivery of an LokProgrmmer on your recommendation but it will probably be the winter months before I get around to playing with it proper and the steep learning curve to do anything useful with it. WheelTappers can do remote decoder re-blows for customers who have one. Going to experiment and try things like doppler effect, distance loco sounds, etc. More rail gadgets to play with. Choo-Choo. Got a great price from ModelBahnShop-Lippe in germany, postage was only €3.90 so its good bye from me to the UK online rip off merchants and their extortionate prices of all things DCC. Most projects have upwards of 20 functions but I tend to use only 8 most of the time. Prime mover - engine noise Horn short + long distant Lights Braking noise Flange squeal Guards whistle Rail clank Buffer clash Rarely use all the other obscure stuff like shovelling coal, or compressor fans, etc. I don't think I could go back to driving a model loco without sound. Planning to experiment with static layout noises using an old tablet hooked up to a PC speaker (eg ambient noises, station bustle, traffic, birds, station announcements) and just play them in a loop (eg from edited mp3 files). Noel

She looks really well and alongside 3173 BCK

Fortunately picked one up a sound one few weeks ago after a tip from DB, for a future conversion to RPSI no 4. Horn sound is dreadful, sounds more like a baby elephant trying to imitate its parent learning to break wind through a silencer from a cat flap. Nice looking kettle though.

I converted most of my GMs to LokSound, but I have a soft spot for the Zimo 'Real Drive' mode. It has genuine coasting. If I get a 141 up to scale 70mph with a 4 coach train but zero the throttle she will coast 3 or 4 laps of the layout (ie 200ft) and need the application of brakes to stop her (ie just like the prototype). The Zimo is my favourite to drive but the LokSound projects sound better. Both can simulate trashing starting off with a heavy train, but the Zimo project sounds a bit tinny compared to the proper guttural EMD. The Zimo was actually recorded off a live Irish 141 but it wasn't a great sample to record and doesn't sound the best. The LokSound is using stock US EMD 567 and EMD 645 engine prime mover recordings which sound more like Irish GMs. The latest LokSound projects I have from WheelTappers have some customised features I like: Cascading coupling snatch at start (ie simulating a trains of loose coupled wagons taking up the slack as 3 link couplings become in tension) Cascading buffer clash when stopping (ie simulating an unbaked train of loose coupled 2 axle wagons buffering up one wagon at a time in compression) Rail joint clank - speed dependant Flange screech/squeal Long distant horn (ie sounds like a GM 1/2 mile away) Short horn used in shunting Coupling and uncoupling sequences armed automatic for stop The coasting on the LokSound V5 chips is much improved over the V4 and actually requires braking to stop the train at the right spot. LokSound v Zimo in terms of hardware is like splitting hairs, but the projects available on LokSound seem to have better recordings for the baby GMs inc 121. I've had the daft walkway foot steps sequence removed when direction is changed. This was a total nuisance when shunting rapidly needing to change direction.

Yes, Kadee's are an acquired taste. I see Hunt couplings as useful only on fixed rake formations, but not mixed rake formations or on goods trains due to the lack of uncoupling without the big hand from the sky. They seem a useful alternative to Roco or Hornby close couplings. They do not seem to be an alternative to couplings that can uncouple like Kadee's or TLCs over ramps. They seem of NO use on a shunting layout, or a shunting yard on a bigger layout. They seem an alternative to ROCO.

I quite liked the museum and was very impressed with the displays. The new layout is obviously radically different and relatively small due to the space constraints compared to the castle layout even in 4mm scale. But Its a good start and I hope will grow in complexity in time. The new layout is probably more appealing to modellers than the public as it is a higher scenic standard but perhaps lacks the energy and sheer amount action that that vast castle layout facilitated in terms of entertaining the public and especially children. The old castle layout was an assault on the senses in terms of action entertainment and diversity of stock moving every which way along with the background noises. It is great that Ireland once again has a model railway museum with an operating layout.

Did they run on massive banks of lead acid batteries?

Was tidying up the attic and came across a box of my old RM mags. Largely black and white back then except for the front cover and centre spreads. Since the late 1970s this mag's layout articles was inspiring for me, until I ceased buying paper media 10 years ago. I think they were part of the Peco group.

A friend of ours ran an innovative and creative online Easter Day service in case its of interest to any one on here. Best wishes. https://www.facebook.com/fanlobbus/videos/530893247621679/UzpfSTEwMDAwMjY3NjE2NDAyODoyNzA2ODU4NzMyNzQ2NjM5/

Happy Easter to all

Getting around to 42ft containers now. Just a very gentle bit of weathering, just enough to take the pristine look off them. These are growing on me, but I did wash my hands after handling something so modern, and I am booked for confession with Fr Black O'Tan next week. Fearful of what my penance might be, it could be something awful like four trips on a 22k , or if deemed a mortal painting error perhaps 3 trips on a luas. Seriously though the bodies of the 42ft container flats are really superb.

I only visited Monck place a few times when I was working nearby many years ago, a real Aladdin's treasure cave.

The quality and nature of the model I meant Pure Gold, class.

Pure gold

Yes that old line is the way I remember visiting grandparents in Galway, and moate for cousins. Galway trains back then departed either Westland row or Amiens street and went via Mullingar. Athlone original MGWR station was a rail metropolis. On some trains you had to sit in the correct carriage as trains were often split at Mullingar one bound for Galway, the other for Sligo. It would have been great to see those lines used nowadays to bring more commuters into dublin area. It won’t even make a popular greenway as unlike waterford and Westport it’s through flat countryside with little scenic views at bicycle level and vegetation was allowed grow into vast hedgerows blocking any limited views anyway after the end of steam. I have vivid memories of moate, going with my uncle to collect agri supplies from the once busy station. Yes one day 22k trams may be seen through nostalgic eyes, but I suspect they won’t burn themselves into the memory as much as the hi-pitched GMs notching and bucking along the clackety clack rails, through busy midland stations alive with daily goods traffic, powerful horns sounding, buffer clashes, coupling snatches, or the sheer excitement of walking the length of a passenger train jumping over the noisy carriage corridor connectors with the gaps in the floor showing sleepers flying bye, wobbling connectors, and massive rope hand rails, often when the train passed over point work increasing the urgency to quickly pass through making a cacophony of rail clatter, banging and flange screeching. Travelling on trains back then was an adventure and an assault on the senses, with much interesting activity and movements to watch the a train stopped for a while in each on route station. All manner of interesting and varied goods wagons loaded with produce. These noises combined with the visual stimulus is something I’m grateful I experienced growing up. Swishing down to cork in city gold in a quiet air conditioned coach on CWR doesn’t feel quite the same. No open windows, no clackety clack, nowadays toilets that almost need a smartphone app just to flush. RPSI specials with craven coaches is the closest I’ve gotten since then, but alas those modern cravens were relatively boring compared to the older park royals and laminate carriages. Cravens were the beginning of the end as they heralded the dawn of uniform rakes, and mk2 aircon from 1972 was the death knell, albeit more comfy as a passenger.

Yes I know what you mean. For me personally it was about 1974 when Irish railways ceased to be interesting and the destruction started. An infestation of . . . . bla bla bla, you know the drill. Agree about the ferts and also the bubbles. I have no living memory of some of the modern stuff, and certainly never ever saw anything in defaced yellow