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

I will be there with part of my T-Trak layout and hopefully part from another T-Trak contributor to give the layout a different look at the front. MikeO

Thanks richrua. The concept is good and while much of the scenery is permanent like all other layouts, I have chosen to have some parts that are variable . This includes all of the people and road vehicles as well as some buildings or other infrastructure.some of my later posts will show details of such variations. In addition some scenery is variable because I needed to make 3 modules deeper (from front to back) to fit in with the others. After I made my first 3 modules the depth changed from 200mm to 300mm and whilst for home use I could live with the differences, at exhibitions it looked out of place particularly with the backscenes added. MikeO

A few photos of the making of the GNR Grain wagon. The wagon is pictured on my T-Trak layout thread. Here I have posted 3 photos of how it came together. Basically this is a scan of a drawing reduced to N scale and coloured on the computer. The sides and the ends were then printed and glued on to card. The chassis is mounting board and the bogies are 25y bogies from the N gauge society. I think that given the small size of the wagon, a smaller bogies would be better. The roof and the loading hatches are made from card as are the smaller inspection hatches on the sides. The ladder is plastic and was originally part of a Peco tanker. This is the final painted and numbered version. The lettering and the numbers are part of the computer printed sides. The computer coloured sides had a reddish tint so I painted them a lighter shade of grey. The original drawing did not have the name Guinness or numbers on it so I am guessing that if this did have the name Guinness on the sides it would be partly obscured by the ladder. MikeO

A few more photos of the T-Trak layout. The first set relate to my "Bus Stop" module and the second set includes part of a corner module named the "Gorge" which at present is connected to the "Bus Stop" module. The "Gorge" was inspired by a photo of a goods train of mostly covered wagons pulled by a WT Class loco coming to the summit of line line north of Dundalk. This is a general view of the "Bus stop" module. The next 3 photos are details from this module First is the garage Next is the Bus stop, the Bus is made from balsa wood and is very rough. Last is a queue of traffic behind a tractor, this is not a permanent part of the module Next is a GSR K1 class coming out of the "Gorge" module at the head of a number of larger covered vans This photo shows the comparative sizes of my Guinness wagon, which is based on an old NE bogie box wagon, so may not be the right size for this type of wagon. The grain wagon is scratch built and is based on a GNR drawing. The drawing shows the wagon to be 27.6ft long. The third wagon is a GNR 20 Ton parcel van which featured in another thread. Bringing up the rear of this short train are 2 Alphagraphix Kits, an SLNCR 5 Ton van and a CIE 12 Ton van. These have both been reduced to N Gauge size from the original OO gauge Kits that I bought last year at the MRSI Show in Dublin. The last wagon is a GNR Y8 refrigerated van, which featured in another thread.

jhb achill171 and murrayec thank you for you comments. How I am going to achieve the look I have not worked out yet. Moving the doors and redrawing some of the windows are the main issues. Those windows not being moved are rounded in the original model but came out square in my sketch due to the way I applied the colour. This will be a long project. MikeO

I have made an attempt to draw a template for how the Class 158 could be converted. the attached photo shows both the original class 158 and the class 2700 as it would look if I repositioned the doors and some windows. To me it looks fine and if painted well should give near enough the right look. Any comments would be appreciated. MikeO