aclass007

They look fine from here!

I suppose this means we can expect another batch of 201's from MM......

IE are becoming very fond of the colour grey for their locos of late.......

I saw ttc, I think, but wasn't talking to him. I expected you to have your daughter with you somehow, but didn't see anyone to fit the bill....

Were you there?

I saw a baldy ginger fella, with one child, standing by the carriage shed as we pulled in on the second last working of the day. Was that you?

Did anyone get there? It turned out to be a day of derailments......

I used to holiday for a week each summer in Waterford. The Ballinacourty branch passed right by the house I stayed in. I wouldn't have minded getting a trip out to the plant in the train I can tell ya! As it is, I didn't even get a photo. Cameras just weren't as commonplace back then... You could be right about the magnesite trains dwindling first. I think they brought it by road towards the end of the factory's life because there was a problem with it getting stuck in the wagons and being hard to unload....

You would be there for the last couple of hours.... http://www.irishtractiongroup.com/events.html

Hoping to get there. But still can't say for sure at this stage!

The dolomite and oil wagons never ran together. The dolomite train ran between Bennettsbridge in Co. Kilkenny and Ballinacourty, and hauled the dolomite ore into the factory. They were worked by a pair of 141's. There were two trains serving the factory. The second train ran between Cork and Ballinacourty. It hauled oil from Cork into the factory, and hauled magnesite in the other direction. These are the two wagons that ran together in the one train. Magnesite hoppers and oil tank cars. An 001 loco worked that train.

Even that much weathering to the model would make a huge difference, I think. Small things like a rusty exhaust and dirty grills would break up the blue a bit.....

I have to agree with that. If ever a loco needed weathering, the NIR 201 does. Just to break up the continuous blue.....

Here's an interesting thread on the subject of 141 couplings.... http://www.irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/527-Improving-the-looks-for-MM-141-181

They are very blue alright. Painting them sounds like a plan! The earlier liveried Cravens that MM produced have a different coloured seating. A kind of brown, I think....

They aren't in stock until Monday, as far as I know........

I don't know the answer, but the reversal of the magnesite/oil train must have been interesting. As you probably know, it brought oil into Ballinacourty along with the unladen magnesite wagons, and the laden magnesite wagons along with the unladen oil tanks in the other direction. The loaded wagons were always positioned at the front of the train, behind the loco of course. So anyway, every reversal on the route between Ballinacourty and Cork, and vice versa, wasn't as simple as just running the loco around. The laden wagons had to be positioned at the front each time too......

No need to run! I think a lot here would share your view.

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I remember it was Marks Models and Modelfair in the UK who jointly commissioned 171. This was shortly after all the 141/181's that MM produced had pretty much sold out as soon as they were released. 171 was commissioned in IE livery, because that was the most desired livery of the 141's. The packaging and logo were basically the same as the other 141/181's, I think. It was MM who produced the second run of 141 in the black and tan livery. This happened after the RPSI acquired 141. The second run of 141 differed from the original one in so far as it was modelled on the loco as it is today. For instance, it has the later LED marker lights, and there are other small differences. EDIT: Both of these locos are detailed on page 21 of the 'LIMA Murphy Models' thread in the 'Photos of models' section of the site...

The runs are limited, but on the other hand, all the hard work in producing those models, such as research, development, castings and so on has been done, which means that further runs of any given model can be produced in the future with little effort if the market demands it. In fact, extra runs of the 141's have already happened. A couple of model shops commissioned a batch of 171 after MM had released all that were planned, and then a further batch of 141 was produced after that loco was preserved...

Good idea! I've edited my PM address on eBay now....

Result!

Does anyone know did anything ever come of the new bodyshell? I see the four variations of the SS are still listed on shapeways site, but would probably opt for the higher quality option, if it's available..... Weshty.... Does your detailing kit only cover the earlier version of the SS?

They want £5.50stg (€7) to post it to the UK, and £60.00stg (€76.40) to post it to Ireland! What a rip off! Parcel Motel would save you a few euro there.....