MikeO

Hi Peter If you mean just repainting there are none. Most need some degree of conversion to look right. The only one that I painted without making any conversion was GF Class 158 which I painted as a class 2700 DMU in Commuter Livery. This did however require painting out the existing doors and some windows. The doors then had to be repainted in a different position. Driver301 in his Connolly Station thread said he did something similar but he also lowered the gangway door. I chose not to. Have a look at my thread on T-Trak http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/4661-N-Gauge-T-Trak Some of the modification are very simple such as adding an extra steam pipe to one side of the boiler and hand rails to the cab An LMS Class 2p 4-4-0 became an NCC U2 class.It was repainted and both the letters NCC and number were added. This year I bought a GF Southern N Class in Green which just need a small modification to the tender and the number and flying snail added to become a K1 Class. The GF Royal Scot rebuilt as mentioned by GSR 800 is another one this does not need much work mostly a long sand box on one side only and an extra boiler pipe again on one side only. Numbers and logo added as usual. In nearly all the steam loco conversions I have also had to add hand rails on the cabs and hand wheels on the smoke box doors. A lot depends on how much you are willing or able to do to get the look right or put another way what can you live without on your locos. All the conversions that I have undertaken look reasonably right but none are fully correct. I have made compromises in what work I did to them and what things I left out. Apart from those mentioned above some of the others I modified are Class 20 to a class 121 - a lot of work Class 4Mt to an LMS NCC Class WT Union Mills Class T9 to GNR S Class Union Mills LMS 2P to a GSR D2 class ( the same 2p type loco became athe NCC U2 class mentioned above) Union Mills class J25 to GSR class J8 If you can be more specific in what you propose to run I will try to give you steer. MikeO

I have been meaning to post some photos of modules and projects I completed over the last 12 months. The 3 modules are 1 Fair Day just as people are beginning to gather for the start of the fair. 2 is a close up of the cattle 3 A typical rural station. Some of the buildings are based on Glenfarne 4 This depicts a small rural post office, the stone building on the right. It is modelled after one near Castleblaney. The next set of photos show some of the Locos, coaches and wagons completed. 1 Two class 2700 DMUs one in Arrows Livery using Electrographic vynl sides and one in Commuter livery- hand painted. The latter was done first. 2 A class 2700 in Arrows livery and a class 121 with Arrows liveried coaches. The coaches have Electrographic vynl sides. 3 A pallet van 4 Irish Cement wagon and Lyons tea wagon. There are a few more wagons and coaches but I do not have any photos to hand. I will post these later. MikeO

Horsetan The modular system allows for a great variety of scenery in a small space ( 3.6m or 12ft in length)and can be arranged differently to change to look of the layout so that it is not exactly the same each time it is exhibited. MikeO

Jason Thanks for the photos that is exactly what I am looking for. Now I can proceed with confidence. MikeO

Kirley It has its compensations as many small details can be omitted unless they are essential for getting the right look. MikeO

Jason Brady and DiveController Thanks for your comments. Perhaps I should have said that this will be an N Gauge model so items as small as the 7 grills are unlikely to be replicated. Jason I have seen some photos of roof details of a Murphy 181 but if you have such a model I would appreciate a photo looking directly down on loco. MikeO

I have recently bought an SNCF G 2000 BB locomotive. It is made by Hobbytrain and is similar to a class 141/181 family as it has a narrow engine body and a cab at each end as well as guard rails running a long each side of the engine. I wish to make this into a class 181 look-a-like. I have looked on the forum and the wider internet for photos of the roof of a class 181 but have not found any that I feel positively shows all of the detail of the 181 roof. By roof detail I mean the tops of the cabs as well as the engine. Can anyone point me to photos or explain how the detail differs from the class 121 and the class 141. Some photos seem to suggest that the may be rectangular grills on the engine roof similar to the class 121 other photos suggest there are none. Any help would be appreciated. MikeO

A few photos of the T-Trak layout at Cultra this weekend. I did not get to take decent photos of some of the other layouts. I have therefore put the T-trak photos in the T-Trak thread instead of the Cultra Thread The first thre show an overview of the layout. The next set feature some of the rolling stock than ran on the day. Class 800 Class 121 S Class U2 Class Ranks wagons my versions. Also included is a fordson tractor on an open wagon. A number of new modules were included in the layout. The modules depicted the start of a fair day in a local village, a rural style station and a village with shops, hotel and castle. MikeO

Leslie Any possibility that Richard might bring some copies of volumes 1, 2 and 3 of Great Northern Railway (Ireland) Carriage Diagrams. I would be interested in a copy of each. I have volume 5. The GSR and MGWR ones might also be of interest. MikeO

Hi Northman Sent you a PM today. MikeO

Railway Lyons Thanks for posting this update. Very good work. I am particularly interested in the DART conversion. I work in N gauge and bought a class 350 for conversion to a class 8500 series DART but was unsure about how the end should look. This is a good reference. I am not inclined to cut out the doors as in N gauge the amount of recess is not so significant but I will make them abit more central. MikeO

TDR Thanks very useful information. This will in due course allow me to build one or two. the information about the use of a Dapol 21 ton hopper chassis may also allow me to build a proper sized Lyons Tea wagon. The one I have made is a little too long as i used a 15ft wheel base chassis. MikeO

TDR Really good workmanship. Are they on 20ft chassis and would the body height be about 6.5ft(excluding chassis). Something similar in N gauge would look well, hence my question about the length and height. MikeO

Marc Glad to see Kilnevan has been enlarged and improved. having trains coming and going will be a great bonus and a good reward for all your hard work. The ruined house looks fantastic. I have seen one or two with as much ivy and/or other shrubbery growing out of them. I am intrigued that your are staring an A Class. Can I ask what you will be using as a donor? I could not see any locomotives that are a close match in terms of length. MikeO

Thanks DiveController. A 20ft container on a 22ft 6in flat wagon might be the answer. Irish Freight Models told me that they used a 20ft container on a Dapol chassis as there were no dimensions available. Their container and flat wagon are the same length. On the link you provided Mayner headed the thread as "22'6" container flat photos and drawings" and the same photographs in his thread are in the resources section. A 15" gap at each end would fit in with the photographs. I will run with a 20ft container on a 22ft 6ins flat wagon unless someone comes along with a more definitive answer. Many thanks to all who replied. MikeO

Irishrailywayman Thanks I will ask politely. MikeO

jhb171achill and DiveController, thanks for the input. Looks like it is a container not a specially commissioned wagon. The photographs on page 7 of the resources section of this forum maybe the ones you are thinking of DiveController. If so either the container is 20ft and the flat wagon is slightly more possibly 22ft or 23ft or the flat wagon is 20ft and the container 16ft or 17ft. If it does turn out to be a normal sized container, it will look a less impressive in N scale than it does in the photographs. MikeO

I would like to make an N gauge version of a Lyons Tea Wagon but I am having difficulty getting information on some of the dimensions. In the resources section of this forum there is some in information and two photographs but no size is given for the length and height. The width is stated as 8ft 6ins and the wagon seems to be on a 20ft flat wagon. In one of the photographs, showing a broadside view, the body of the wagon, or should that be container, does not seem to the same length as the wagon. It may be about 12ins to 18ins shorter at each end than the flat wagon. If that is the case it would be about 16ft or 17ft long. At the North Down Show at the weekend I was told that in terms of length it would be similar to a normal sized container and would fit on to a normal sized open wagon. Again suggesting a 16ft to 17ft length. Would anyone know if the Lyons Tea Wagon was a wagon specifically built for Lyons or was it a standard container? In either case what is the height and length? If anyone has an 00 scale versions could they measure it and let me know the size? I can then convert that to N scale dimensions. I did come across a British version which is a standard sized container but is a totally different design to the one shown in this forum. was there a distinct Irish version? Any help would be much appreciated. Mike0

Kirley It was nice to see your models on Killagan, the pictures do not do them justice MikeO

Thanks for the comment burnthebox. For me photographs of rolling stock are an important aide to scratch building/converting which I have to resort too in N scale and some of my road vehicle have been inspired by other people's models. Attached are the other photos I mentioned which I have cropped to reduce the file size.

I thought the show went very well over the 3 days. There seemed to be good crowds for much of each of the days. I have attached a few photos that I took which give a flavour of the mix on display. I did miss some of the layouts. Due to the 2Mb file size limit I have not been able to included a few other photos. I will upload these later when I have reduced the respective file sizes.

I will be at the South Dublin Show helping out with the T-Trak layout at stand 44. I hope to be able to get round to stand 22 at some time during the weekend. All welcome to visit stand 44. MikeO

Very well done. An inspiration to all modellers but especially N scale modellers. Something we can all aspire to. I hope you can take the layout to at least one exhibition. Would love to see it as well as all the rolling stock. MikeO

Following the UMRC Show in Carrickfergus last weekend, I am posting some photos of the T-Trak layout. The front and left corner modules belong to Craig Smart of the Midland Model Railway Club while the right corner and rear modules are mine. Craig's modules follow a rural theme with the mountains on the left and in the middle an extended farm scene while on the right is a single module depicting golf scene. on the fiddleyard can be seen some of the various stock that ran at different times over the two days. Some German stock was also run. MikeO

I really admire your skill. MikeO