GSR 800

14 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Noel, are you for real? You're the one who is always on here leaving passive aggressive comments saying that people " should" do this, that and the other, and repeatedly criticising anybody who doesn't have time or space to play with their trains.

Before I joined the forum, I lurked for a few years because I thought that a handful of member were bullying you, and I didn't want to join that kind of forum. Eventually I got on board, only to find that you are what is wrong with the forum, constantly provoking a reaction with passive aggressive comments, then playing victim.

The whole point of my advance defence was because I suspected that you and your handful of elitist snob friends would start bitching about playing with trains instead of admiring them, and now you have the cheek to say that it's a broad church, blah blah blah?

Go crawl back under whatever rock you came out from.

Anyhow, back on topic, I folded up a piece of A4 paper and slotted it into the foam, and the display results are much better.

 

 

 

20 minutes ago, Noel said:

I'm retired and so love playing with my toy trains. Choo-Choo!   It's a free country.  

And to the "They are models not toys" brigade, believe that if it gives you comfort. I have no shame whatsoever in admitting I play with toy trains. 

We are a broad church as is the diverse hobby, its what makes the hobby so very interesting. Good evening.

Can disagree with eachother while remaining civil, that applies to all.

No need for this lads, all friends here enjoying various aspects of the hobby.

Stated before and will again, to each their own.

1 hour ago, Noel said:

If we've learned one thing from all manufacturers its that new models will arrive only when they arrive, not when promised, but they invariably are always worth the wait. We have been utterly spoilt for choice these past 10 years between Murphy Models, Irish Railway Models, Silverfox models, Irish Freight Models, MIR, SSM, Provincial Wagons, OO Works, D&M, etc. 30 years ago there was not one single scale model of an Irish loco nor one piece of rolling stock. The world changed when Patrick Murphy teamed up with Bachmann to produce the 141/181 class baby GMs around 2007, and its been nothing but progress since. We have an abundance of quality Irish rolling stock and locos from 1955 to 2021. Thank Goodness nobody has yet contemplated producing toy 22k yo-yo DMUs (ie literally pointless train operations). 

To each their own and all that like...

22 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

…..and I had a conversation once with a fairly well known preservationist, whose technical knowledge and expertise and skills are very rightly widely respected, and he said the 800s were “awkward” looking!!!

I've heard some stuff about their cylinders looking too far forward and the linkage on the right side of the boiler detracting from their lines....my eyes see only perfection 

7 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

They’ve obviously never seen Maedb, nor many MGWR, WLWR & GSWR designs, or Beyer Peacock export locos!

(…….I’ll get me coat…..)

If i put my 800 bias to one side for a minute..

Many of the late victorian and edwardian 4-4-0s generally are some of the most handsome and elegant locomotives ever built, with fantastic lines, and more often than not, stunning liveries to match.  MGWR 4-4-0s have a place in my heart, really beautiful designs. 

A great deal of these locomotives had their looks obliterated by the early superheater carry ons!

Onto 800, a rare blend of both elegance and sheer power is evident, one can clearly see.....

16 minutes ago, leslie10646 said:

Better than Insider-Dealing - 30 plus percent return on Capital in a few months?

The Fed would investigate under suspicion of a ponzi scheme..

Just now, jhb171achill said:

The day that all the exhibits from Belfast Transport Museum were moved to Cultra was an exceptionally dark, dull day with frequent rain showers. Photographic conditions were truly awful.

Senior managed to get one decent shot of the GNR tank loco - a handsome little beast if ever there was one. It shows the GNR loco livery up perfectly, and far better than is possible now.

A significant number of photos from the move, including of Maedb, have recently been posted on the IRRS flickr page

On 20/12/2021 at 7:14 AM, David Holman said:

Not sure which is more challenging, a beast like the 800, or the dainty D17, hiding behind. Either way, both coming on well and great to see some kit building going on.

On 20/12/2021 at 10:21 PM, Mike 84C said:

How difficult/easy did you find both kits to do? I did a Bandon tank a few years back and I thought it was not at all difficult. Like the colour of the 800.

Neither is extremely difficult, but 800 is definitely more work, lot of laminating to do along with the walschearts valve gear soon to come. Reverse curves on the firebox aren't as difficult as one would assume, just have to be careful everything is square. Slot and tab construction is handy.

D17 comes together well, the only real difficulty was fitting the firebox into slots in the cab, pretty sure that was down to imperfect forming of the firebox on my part.

Think I'll price A15 for a few grand and say questions on pricing is disrespectful and slander to my name..

Even the bloody black n tan 141s would blush at over 440 for jaysus sake

32 minutes ago, BosKonay said:

Roll on some Irish Steam!

Any hints.....other than that one

The balance will be worse for wear either way.....

Been working on SSMs 800 and JMs D17 recently

Far from perfect, but acceptable in my eyes. Build has been done somewhat arseways, having received the wrong drivers and with the motor supplier being glacial for lack of a better word, body has been done first rather than chassis. Cab roof is loose fitted.

Serving as a side comparison is the body of JM designs D17. Will buy wheels, gearbox etc whenever I get around to buying new drivers for 800

Alright I'll give my two cents.

I think a fair point is raised, multipacks ultimately lower the flexibility of the consumer as to what they can or cannot purchase, what they have to purchase with. Speaking from experience as a younger modeller, multipacks have put the brakes on purchasing sometimes due to cost. However..

Most of what IRM has produced up to now rolling stock wise has been outside of my preferred era

Wagons bought in rakes of three is just common sense in my opinion, ballasts, bubbles etc ran in uniform(ish) trains. If I want to buy wagons, I will generally buy a rake. If Accurascale/IRM release a H van, cattle wagon, palvan etc I'd want to buy them in large numbers, therefore I want value for money, which I will get from multipacks. Also better use of packaging.

Coaches are trickier. I'm not really a fan of 'just buy the packs and sell off what you don't need', but ultimately it comes down to a cost benefit analysis for the manufacturer, what can be produced at a profit and a reasonable price. We're a small market, so that trade off is important, and ultimately thats what has to make sense first to deliver the product. I don't think there should be a pile on of 'don't be ungrateful' but I think the question/criticism has been answered pretty thoroughly by IRM.

Yes, it's not the ideal for everyone, it's a compromise, but a necessary one to get these goods to market, according to the people who are manufacturing it. Better something (which is high quality too) than nothing?

So when are the laminates, the steel sides, Sambo in GSR and CIE guise, Pat the vertical boiler, Dick the mare....

Two things

1. As far as I can see, this isn't in programme for government, generally a tell that something will actually be seriously implemented (generally cuts the stuff they weren't serious about in manifesto) 

2. I see feck all of it costed. This is important for pretty obvious reasons, it means someone has actually figured out the cost and where that can be fitted into the budget, another good sign its not just nice words on a sheet. Someone can correct me on either of these if I'm overlooking something, I may well be.

100 trains is a nonsense, but any decent increase in freight traffic is a good thing in my books.

What comes to mind is what the US navy used to do before ww1. Congress would always shaft them in the budget, cutting down everything wherever possible, so the US navy drew up the biggest plans they possibly could so that after the mincing through Congress they'd still have something left to work with!

Just came across this 

https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/castlerea-train-station

 oil fired loco, with coaches in GSR maroon and CIE dark green.

9 minutes ago, Mike 84C said:

GSR 800, I rather like your comments about poorer nations whose leaders are prepared to sell out their poorer populations who will gain nothing except poverty.  I used to think it was just China that was pillaging Africa but the EU is at it as well. 

It is not necessarily the leaders, often they may have every intention to try curtail illegal mining, corruption and the like, but it is exceptionally difficult if pirate miners can offer several times the wage to anyone the government hires to prevent said illegal mining. Of course there are plenty of corrupt officials, but it is effectively an unfair power dynamic between states and non state actors, and with weak, unstable governments, the vultures begin hovering. (In case it was misinterpreted, I generally mean 8 dollars paid by gov, 50 dollars paid by pirate miners. I'm sure theres cases of corrupt gov officials bribing down the line to shut up people but i digress)

civil wars and conflicts are disastrous not only for nations themselves but those around them, refugees arriving en masse putting significant stress on limited services and capacilities of developing nations.

It is not single nations at fault, nor single groups, it is a historic trend of developed states and non state actors exploiting undeveloped or developing states.Something of note in regards to biofuel is both India and China have put limits on domestic produce for fear of affecting food security, companies being encouraged to look abroad instead.

Now lads, all said and done we must mind the line we're threading towards politics

13 hours ago, DiveController said:

This is just another example of large faceless deep pocketed multinational companies with an in-house legal department exploiting third world nations where environmental and worker protections are far poorer than in (some) developed nations.

These governments are (even more) corrupt than in developed nations, life expectancy is lower, occupational safety, medical access and medical treatments virtually non-existent. The multinational actually could do this well but that choice is dictated by economics and the prevailing regulations (none there).

Then there is the local gombeen ready to exploit their own countrymen (and women and children) to the same end while some in the first world experience some guilt about 'our' treatment of these nations.

Some time spent volunteering in an eastern African country for a few months a couple of decades ago instilled a deeper understanding of all this.

This is not a new phenomenon. Every empire, Roman, Spanish, British has done this through the millennia. Civilization has merely renamed things, multinational corporations etc.

The funny thing is that these undeveloped nations should be holding the first world nations to ransom for these lithium, cobalt and silver ores (et. al.)

Despite all this , I have ordered a hybrid vehicle to replace our aging 150K+ miles fossil engined vehicle as probably the lesser evil.

If I don't stop now the fireman will never get that head of steam up to pressure again ......

Generally poorer, notably in this case, african nations that have come out of the colonial era had little in the way of education of a proper civil service, democratic tradition and processes etc (likes of the Congo were dropped like a stone by Belgium with no preparation, there were plans for reform, education etc over 20 years along with more gradual handover but came to nought iirc). 

This, combined with foreign interference and the 'conflict trap', essentially increasing instability from every conflict a nation goes through, increased poverty leading to more conflict, more poverty, more instability and so on has made it exceptionally hard for many of these nations to develop. The Washington consensus made things a great deal worse for many nations, while the 'Asian Tigers' seemed to benefit, their starting circumstances were different. https://books.google.ie/books?hl=en&lr=&id=3PLqetBxiOEC&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=the+conflict+trap&ots=PTS3AU9d5C&sig=5JMO-psklAkq8Kr9uZJ1lnjWwBY&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=the conflict trap&f=false

As for corruption, having studied the case of the Congo I will give an example. A soldier is paid 8 dollars (the equivalent anyway) by the government to prevent illegal mining. He's paid 50 dollars to turn a blind eye. Comparitive buying power makes corruption very easy. It's also something many poorer nations struggle with when regarding development, ie they want to hire foreign experts (say an irish engineer or tech expert as an example.) It can be very expensive hiring such expertise, as they will expect a Western wage and western standard of living.

exploitation is a historic factor, one that continues to this day (if you look at the article i linked it relates to how significant landgrabs in nations such as Ghana and Sierra Leone to grow biofuel crops are at the detriment to the people, but especially the poorest people of those nations) but it is not an inevitability, I use the case of Botswana as my example for developing well following independence, and Rwanda in spite of the horrific genocide there has developed quite well, using drones for medical supplies to overcome infrastructure issues.

The question of sustainability is sustainability for who?

Biofuels are no better 

https://grain.org/article/entries/4653-land-grabbing-for-biofuels-must-stop

5 minutes ago, irishthump said:

Never ceases to amaze me. The people who, despite the warnings about limited stock, still turn around and whinge when they miss the boat on these!

The threads name and all..

36 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

I don't even see any pellets there.........

 

(I'll show myself out....)

Some lad with a terrible sense of humour naming it as the turf pellets are no more..Ashtown a stones throw from it too..

22 minutes ago, Garfield said:

The Irish scene is still very much a drop in the ocean compared to British outline, which is the second largest market in Europe (and one of the largest in the world). Indeed, IRM would not be sustainable by itself, hence Accurascale...

Would be quite interesting to know how large the respective markets are (at least considered to be) along with Europe..

17 minutes ago, Robert Shrives said:

Now that loco would make a nice kit or small rtr project ! - Ideal for selling in a three pack - a class  in a box !  With enginless dummies for a bargain option ..

 

I think dummy locos were brought up a long while ago re the 121s, cost compared to a proper model doesn't justify it seems.

19 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Here's hoping!

GSWR bogie second and Midland 6-wheelers on order........

Laminates and Park Royals, then we can talk about 6 wheelers 

I suppose we're getting ahead of ourselves if we start talking about those 6 wheel bogie coaches..

13 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

That's exactly what it is - two separate signs. Pity! Useless in that combination....

Might be good for confusing some tourists..

With limited space, Mullingar needed some form of fiddle yard on a loop behind it. A large terminus station had been in my mind for a long time but the space required put me off. Two things changed this, the excellent Connolly station in N on this site, along with Minories, a design by Cyril Freezer (and we had Fry)  which managed an itneresting terminus design with limited space. While ultimately the design of the station throat is not like minories it is nonetheless and interesting track plan! 

Regardless the idea of Amiens Central is a simple one, the Phoenix Tunnel being regularly used and more Cork bound trains start there. This will allow for a forray into Great Northern and UTA territory while ensuring the heavier locomotives in the fleet have more of an excuse to run. It seems a Schools class will meet the knife to become a VS so there will be a wait before the Rhapsody in Blue.

Excellent stuff, completely silent and went over that crossover with ease. 

Can't wait till they hit home turf!

16 minutes ago, WRENNEIRE said:

WTT/TT's?
Please explain

Cheers

Timetables unless I'm mistaken