Joe Keegan

The guy in the second photo reminds me of 'Doyle' from The Professionals! CI5 to ESB? 2nd picture taken at ESB office in Enfield which is now closed . 5th picture Vauxhall Viva van was used by meter readers ,Supervisors store men and the most unpopular job doing NPA's . NPA's was Non Payment of Accounts where the customer had defaulted on paying their bill . You were sent out to collect the outstading money and if could not be paid then you disconnected the customer . 6th picture with VW transporter with the " After Sale Service " was the repair sevice section that the ESB provided for customers who bought appliances from the ESB showrooms that required attention .

The Lighthouse that you are referring to is Rathlin West Lighthouse , one of three Lighthouses on Rathlin Island . The other two Lighthouses are Rathlin East and Rue Point , which can be seen on your right as you enter the port from Ballycastle . A temporary pier was built below the base of the Lighthouse . An inclined railway was constructed from the pier to the cliff top to facilitate the transpotation of materials for the construction of the Lighthouse . The are no details of the railway / track gauge . I would sugguest that it was Funicar type railway and it would have been 2' gauge as that was the norm for contractors to use . There would not have been a locomotive used here but a steam driven winch / pulley system or even horse driven. This is Irelands only upside Lighthouse . The quality of concrete used back in 1912 was superb as it has not deteriorated over the years . The are approx 180 steps down from the top down to the Lighthouse itself . Rathlin West Lighthouse is worth a vist if you are in County Antrim just to see the quality of the workmanship from a 100 years ago which you will not see today . The van in the picture was the local telephone exhange from Rathlin to Ballycastle using radio link / micro wave before a cable was laid on the sea bed and the radio link decommissioned . The Fastnet Lighthouse had a 2' gauge track with a truck that would transport the granite from where it is was landed from the boat and transported to base of the Lighthouse . A block & tackle with a truck on wheels with the granite piece secured would be pulled up the side of the lighthouse to where it was reqiured .

Orbit panel mount controller is used on Belturbets broad gauge locos with Mashima motor . Modelex handheld / panel mount is used with Lucan North and the T Trak group .Its output can be changed from 1amp to 5amp by Pat Ryan of Modelex . PICtroller is a replacement ( saying it loosely ) for the Pentroller . Morley controllers have a selection of controllers .

The World's End is worth looking at . I saw it at Glasgow a few weeks back .

I use the 50200 Command Station. Upon startup one or two locos jump suddenly, forward sometimes and backwards on others. Also one or two cobalt motors activate but without moving. It's possible that those that come to life thus are the first in line electrically from the controller. Does anyone know whether this is typical of this controller? I used to have the 50000 and never had this problem . try this : 1)Disconnect the power to the track . 2)Switch on the ECoS . 3)After 90 seconds reconnect power to the track . 4) Does the jumping etc continue ?

Right ye asked for it! The U class: Built by Beyer peacock in 1915' No.196-200' Second batch Built by Beyer peacock in 1947' No.201-205 Third Batch Built by 00 Works in 2016 Sorry Harry , I couldn't resist .

Hi John . i would suggest the NCE Powercab which cam operate up to 3 locos . You can add an additional booster for extra power for additional locos . The instructions are in english and are not translated from another language. Check out the NCE website . Joe

Hi , Tillig make dual gauge track that you are looking for .

Hi Noel , Dez was there yesterday and will be there today .

They are from the Dapol / Mainline wagons . They are push fit to replace the earlier Mainline Phillips head screw tension lock coupling .

Mid to late 80's based on the 071 for the Fry Museum , Lima Cl37 and the Roco track saw / stock that the Mc Gowans started to sell .

PM sent.

''most transformers, have the 0vDC lines referenced/connected to earth '' Junction mad If you live in Ireland / UK you would trip/operate the RCD/ELCB on your socket circuit using what you described. UK / European standards are double insulation transformers where there is no risk of electric shock on the low voltage output. The mains winding and the low voltage winding does not touch . The power is generated by electro magnetic field of the mains winding to the low voltage winding . Check a H&M , Gaugemaster & Morley twin controllers where you will find that 1) the DC supply for the track is not connect to earth , 2) each supply for each controller is fed from a separate winding from the the transformer . Dhu Varren is corrected '' as long as both controllers are fed from separate tranformers '' and this has always the work practice of common return wiring . If memory serves me correct the Rev Peter Denny used this method along with John Ahearn back in the 40's /50's .

What do you think ? Welcome to the world of NCE & Power Cab .

Hi Alan , you need the Murphy Models DCC decoder M0005 , which is programmed just for the 071/111 only and not any other loco 141 / 201 . Its pre programmed functions does not follow the NMRA standard F0 - F8 functions but they do all work. The decoder if memory serves correct is a ESU decoder . Marks Model sells them for €37 . Irishthump is correct that the 071/111 requires a 6 function decoder if you want to use all the lights.

I met Bob at Cultra in 2004 . Adavoyle Junction and Belturbet was also on show at Cultra . We had a great discussion on building a garden live steam tram engine using a osmotor and Mamod boiler. We spent a good 20 minutes talking and he was in no rush to go . He was on Mark Founds Garden Railway series which son number 1 enjoyed and watched every day like every young child would watch their favorite video / dvd . He was delighted to meet Bob in person and had his photo taken with him . The 4 year old back then still remembers meeting Bob 10 years later . I still have the model railway video's recorded from the TV series in the 80's . Tomorrows World was where I first saw Bob on the TV .

Corrected #230

Hi Lads , I was talking to Paddy Murphy this evening and the pallet of 201's have arrived in Dublin . Custom and the VAT to be sorted before the 201's are released into the Murphy Models warehouse where they will prepared for the launch at the MRSI show . There are 200 models of NIR 208 River Lagan and 200 models of NIR 209 River Foyle . There are 250 models of Enterprise 230 River Bandon in original livery and 250 models of 233 River Clare same as 203 but with full yellow face . The prices are remaining the same as the current 201 until November and will increase . Paddy is aware of finances and advises to buy early before the price increase. Paddy will not have a definite price until later in the month . Paddy will have a few 141 / 181 spare loco chassis for sale at the show for €80 if anyone needs a replacement / spare . It is hoped to have samples of the up and coming MK11's Supertrain livery coaches at the show .

Care to tell us more ? Joe

And by the way, here is the AB Box and phone Does the Phone work ? Sorry , could not resist. It will look good on Lucan South. Joe

Any word on the next 071 batch guys. Next batch will consist of seven models , expected departure from China just before the Chinese New Year which I believe is early February. There will be the orginal and Supertrain livery plus other liverys. Start saving,put in for the overtime or bank overdraft or cancel the summer holidays ! None of the locos will be numbered 071,a completely different set of numbers will be available. Regards Joe

Bangor , this year ?

Off topic I know, but there was a tale told about a kit maker in the UK some years ago who's kits were notoriously bad for fitting together, which required substantial sanding and grinding to fit, all to the point that when the chap passed away, the craic was that when they put him into the coffin, nobody could get the lid to fit. Same bloke who made MTK and El Crappo. True story, he was not a small man. Regards Joe

Hi Luc I have a set of track gauges and a back to back suitable for 21mm unused and surplus to requirements. You have them for the price I paid for plus postage.If you are interested you pm me. There are a couple of 21mm layouts in Dublin to be seen. As I don't know your location or where in the world you are , this may be of no use to you to see these layouts in person. If you want to go the P4 route join the Scalefour Society. If want finescale only , join EMGS. Both societies have shops and send goods to Ireland. Richie's post is very informative and has given you a lot of good advice. John Mayne is another excellent Guru of 21mm. I converted a 141 to P4 21mm recently in under an hour using John Mayne's method of using spacers inside the bogie. Best in your new adventure. Regards Joe

Go to the for sale section and 2 are for sale post free from Holland I do believe or talk to Dave. Joe