MikeO

Hi Lesile

In the photo showing the railcar at Finaghy would the M1 overbridge be near Blacks Road. The M1 overbridge at Finaghy Road North straddles the road and is about half a mile from Finaghy station and railway line. The M1 only crosses the rail line at Blacks Road. That would put is about halfway between Finaghy and Dunmurry stations. Perhaps a better caption might be "between Finaghy and Dunmurry stations"

MikeO

Fascinating video. The rail structure seems to be in very poor condition. The kinks in the rail line just outside the signal box make me wonder how any train gets through. If these were on my layout everything would derail. Unless it was not filmed, there seems to be a lack of people and road traffic in the area.

MikeO

N scale T trak will be at the show this year. We are in the same room as MERG. I believe that the Erne Model Railway Club will also have an N scale modular layout.

MikeO

Hi NGuage

For European outline stock, Hattons, Kernow Modelrailways and A and H Models in England have a selection. From Germany check out ModelbahnKramm. Sean Ryan who attends some  of the larger exhibitions and the Bray train and model fair has a good selection.

MikeO

On page 43 of Colin Boocok's book, under the heading class B4 4-6-0, there is a photo of No 467. Part of the cab side, the lower portions of the water tank and the steps are a dark green. The rest being a grimy blue/black. I can't post a copy of the photo due to copyright provisions in the book. The phot is dated August 1953 taken at the Rocksavage depot. The caption also states that CIE painted it green and kept it clean. The photo is attributed to K Cooper.

Hope this is helpful

MikeO

Thanks airfixfan.  Ian Sinclair in his book "Along UTA Lines" mentioned the Knockmore line running past the airport perimeter and the suggestions some years before the book was published(first print was I think 2000) that the line could serve the airport. He suggested that either a spur would have to be provided or the entire line would need to be diverted. While today there may be potentially more passengers available to use the train the route and timings might be a constraint. By coincidence this afternoon I saw a double deck bus which looked to be full heading to the airport.  Not really enough I thought to warrant a train.

MikeO

Slight aside. I understand that there is a poster at Moira advertising re-ballasting of the Knockmore to Lurgan line with a completion date of April 2019. Does anyone know when it was completed. Seems a long tome for such a poster to be still up.

MikeO

Yes they have been hacked and have suspended international shipping.

This is the latest update on its website

Monday 16 January 2023

ROYAL MAIL INTERNATIONAL EXPORT SERVICES

Royal Mail is experiencing severe service disruption to our international export services following a cyber incident.

We are temporarily unable to despatch items to overseas destinations. To support faster recovery when our service is restored and to prevent a build-up of export items in our network, we’re asking customers not to post international items until further notice. Items that have already been despatched may be subject to delays. We would like to sincerely apologise to impacted customers for any disruption this incident is causing.

Our import operations continue to perform a full service, with some minor delays. Parcelforce Worldwide export services are still operating to all international destinations though customers should expect delays of one to two days.

Our teams are working around the clock to resolve this disruption and we will update you as soon as we have more information. We immediately launched an investigation into the incident and we are working with external experts. We have reported the incident to our regulators and the relevant security authorities.

Two of the photos I took in 2012 show a window high up in each gable as mentioned by Kevin. 

To me the one on the left side seems like it could be original suggesting the other might also be original. The other window is not clearly shown.

 Left side

Right side

MikeO

The light weathering makes the containers believable as working stock.

MikeO 

A great video loads of interesting details. for example a red coverd van labelled Gunpowder. GNR initials on the tanks of the loco and  UT initials stencilled on the back of the bunker. Lots to interest other modellers of Irish stock.

MikeO

A very impressive model and seeing it almost complete brings home the actual size of the station. I visited it in 2012 but really did not pay attention to it's overall size.

When all the other buildings are taken into account, such as the goods shed, engine shed, water tower and some others whose purpose I am not aware of, the immensity of the whole station area does seem out of place for a rural station.

Well done on bringing this model to life.

MikeO

Coming along very well. I was wondering if you would be doing the same roofing style for the 1 and a half storey building (the stations master's house?).

Just noticing you have a black edge to all the roofs does this represent the guttering? If so better than trying to glue half round plastic strips to the roof.

MikeO

As loco chassis always seem to be a big factor for N gauge models have the 071 and 141 locos been designed with a specific chassis in mind? 

Chassis for the coaches would be more easily obtained. I would be interested in N gauge versions of the 071 and 141 locos as well as the pullman and other NCC/GNR(I) coaches.

MikeO

Hi MAL

The short answer is that I do not know at this point in time which issue the extract was taken from.

This link will take you to the full archive if you wish to run through them all.    https://newirishlines.org/archive 

I do not think there was much more useful information beyond that which I quoted.

If it is of any help this is my N gauge version.

MikeO

Thank you an interesting technique and choice of materials. A sub roof may be the way for me to go. The main roof could then be more accurately cut.

MikeO

Very good workmanship. How did you make the facia boards for the roof and gables? It helps the roof and walls line up extremely neatly.

No matter how I cut the roofs and walls they always end up slightly off with the result that the roof edges are not level.

MikeO

Very prodigious work carried and out very well. Cutting out that many windows is a real labour of love. The trusses really look the part. I have some 300gsm card which when cut is very pliable so I have to ask the question did you just paint the card with a heavy wash of paint before cutting. I previously tried using some wood hardener to get the card to stay in shape. Reasonably successfully but pricey for just occasional use.

An excellent thread.

MikeO

The sticky label method of making windows is very good. I particularly like the fact that you can cut through the frames. Other methods I have tried for cutting out the glass area usually end up with the frames cut and having to be replaced. In n gauge an exceptionally fiddly and time consuming job prone to more errors.

MikeO

In my experience small buildings and small openings on those buildings as well as small window openings on coaches are particularly difficult to get right. Adding details to these openings can also be immensely frustrating to do accurately. In some instances I have painted in the necessary additions as making them from card or plastic was not feasible.

As you say they look well at the normal viewing distance. To me that is the most important part. If you are happy with the results just keep going. You will get better at it.

I like the foot bridge very impressive.

MikeO

No the provider is still the same. The only change was changing from Mcafee security to Nortons due to my provider changing to Nortons.

I have not used the link mmie353 provided.

Thanks BosKonay. As you have confirmed the email is genuine that is all I need to know.

MikeO

I will have a T Trak layout about half the size as the one at the MRSI show in October.

MikeO

Thanks BosKonay and mmie353

Did not think of providing a screen shot

This is the top of the email and a screen shot of the body of the email.

Yesterday I got an email from support@irishrailwaymodels.com saying I had logged in on a new device. The information  listed the ne device as  Windows, Chrome and an address in England. I did login yesterday but used the same device as I always do. However the address is completely wrong as I do not live in England.

Just wondering if this is a genuine email.

MikeO

Thanks Nick for taking and posting the video of the show. I was pleased to see that our T Trak layout was considered good enough to get included.

MikeO