GSR 800

four Howden Meredith wheels and he would have been flying along! Beats the packed Luas anyway..

Excellent! Wonderful to see her brought to life for the first time, she fits the chassis nicely

theres a double sided screen in the doorway, the stanchion pole runs through it.

I think at least 2-3 should have them by now (dunno numbers), it is being fitted throughout the 29k fleet

A riveting process indeed!

is it confirmed the 29000s will be on Enterprise? I imagine they'd only be used as backups if there's nothing else. Above photos were from 2021 (Unit 25 still wearing a very worn-looking older livery!)

Broadstone?

Quite a good illustration of how short the wheelbase of the J26s were!

Very sad news. Ken was a very knowledgeable, talented modeller of the highest standard, very kind and helpful. He will be greatly missed. My condolences to his family and friends. May he rest in peace.

at least being cantilevered, they'll be easier to clean under. I quite like the Dart + overall but the lack of jacks completely boggles the mind. Would call on within 5 years a new order of cars with jacks will be put in.

This is why I worry so much about the silly idea of omitting toilets on the Dart + Maynooth is currently a 45-minute run, if they manage to cut a generous 10 minutes off that its still a fair hike. Drogheda is currently an hour out from Connolly. Even if a good reduction in timing is achieved, that is a long hike indeed. Should they ever stretch their legs further into the country, many will have to cross their legs! Strange, short-sighted planning when the whole idea of the batteries is to give them flexibility. Hopefully, it will work to free up ICRs as the 29ks are sent down to Limerick, but what will come to fruition lies in the darkness of the future...

He wouldn't be the only one...

The Sam's Train's review (quell your booing and hissing!) was, shall we say, far from glowing, and he was thorough enough to get a replacement Black Five from Hornby and re-review it. Gimmicky stuff like removable lamps (one of his was glued on!) and pretty mediocre running. Glue marks and ski slope running boards... Considering Accurascale has come out with a 4-6-0 that's considered one of the best steam locomotive models going, Hornby's new Black Five doesn't seem to justify itself for the price.

John, This is a great help, many thanks. Very informative, looks like rotary switches will be the way to go! Common rail is presumably wired up as effectively a bus with droppers the track, with the other acting as the switch/isolate? Probably quite complicated but should be a useful learning curve.

Hi John, I suppose my main concern is with one controller controlling the up line, and one the down line, how that factors once it reaches the terminus, itself, along with powering double switches and the like. If I have two trains 'out and about' running on the up and down lines, I would presumably require a third control to work the terminus yard. When one of those trains comes to the termini, the route will have to be 'handed' to the controller of the train. I am likely to go with manual control for the points. I have seen the likes of Buckingham Central's intricate method of isolating using signals and points. An ingenious system but I am no automatic Crispin!

Goodmorning all Currently building a terminus as part of a larger layout. Not quite sure about wiring it all up. Analogue DC Track plan is loosely based on Cyril Freezers Hungerford Bridge with some compromise for space. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

The long ugly concrete brick 2 road structure directly adjacent to platform 1

Fleet will be maintained at Drogheda for now iirc. Valeting depot at Connolly is to get demolished/rebuilt to make way for new facilities there. I'd have thought they'd have started building infrastructure for it all by now...

"Without wishing to be pedantic, a Britannia is merely an enlarged Atlantic. For something really terrific, see a Bulleid Pacific!"

To take a more conservative approach, one could perhaps build larger numbers of something akin to the DSER moguls and the GSWR J4 class 0-6-0s as competent, relatively modern designs.

"An absolute tub of an engine" Sounds like it could have been a timing issue, combined with being worn out. Milne described her as 'powerful' but in need of excessive repair. My idea would be that she'd be the prototype, and modifications could be made to the production batch to suit. Would need to get to the bottom of this steaming issue. The drawing office at Inchicore studied the work of Chapelons streamlining of steam passages for the 800s, and the result (combined with the massive boiler) was a very free steaming engine.

typo for GSWR presumably

Any sources for the poor steaming? The issue with running hot was solved by replacing the lightweight motion.

800s were 12k a pop, not a clue for 850, nor the NCC locos. the GNRI V class cost just under 6k a pop sans tender, with the SG3s costing just under 9k a pop with tender. I'm unsure of the axle load on the moguls, but on the Jeeps it was 17.8 tons, which was too heavy for the Warrenpoint branch (though the UTA stopped caring about that toward the end). Secondary routes in the Republic seemed to have a limit around 16-17 tons. Innovation does cost money, but modern 'standard' locos with everything being 'get-at-able' as Maunsell would reduce downtime quite a bit, and building locos in bigger numbers brings down cost and maintenance further. Tenders would almost certainly be second-hand on the moguls. If the GSR move toward a policy of shorter, more regular workings they may also bring in more money as they are better able to compete with road traffic. I'll (shockingly) be keeping the 800s for my own alternate timeline. They are built toward the tail end of the GSR at any rate. The problem with electrification, especially OHLE, would be money. It is extremely expensive to build. However I do wonder, considering the Southern (in Britain) was electrifying with third rail, if it could make its way over here? If the 850 can be refined somewhat to iron out the kinks, I think it has the potential to be the Southern Jeep counterpart. Clements and McMahon consider a 2-6-4 based off the Woolwich design as was done in Britain, but rule it out as a go anywhere due to axle load. 850 has an axle load of 16 tons. Even if modifications bring that up to 16.5 or 17 it'd still be quite good.