Andy Cundick

The wheel situation is such that for 4mm at the moment the only ranges available are Gibson and Scalelink.Sharman wheels to all intents and purposes went a long time ago other than that there is Ultrascale as long as you have the patience and pocket.For 21mm you are looking at Gibson as Scalelink uses Romford/Markits axles.For 21mm axles i use 1/8" bright mild steel rod and cut them to length usually 1" depending on the boss depth Its eay enough to get the exact size just take the two wheels and a back to back gauge and measure the overall size and no you don't need a lathe just a hacksaw and a file'its the system i've used for all my Irish standard gauge locos. Andy

London Road kits are on the whole well thought out kits though not all of them are designed by them ,the North British R Classes for instance were done originally by Ian Rice (2 Built 1 to go).Its worth bearing in mind that they Nickel Silver rather than brass and to my mind makes them more user friendly. If you want to have go at an etched loco i would suggest you start with an 060T,My own preference for construction is a 40w iron and 180 cored solder and make sure the brass is clean (glass fibre brush time).Its basically down to practise like a simple wagon kit to start with you can use the srcap etch from the kit to practise on first.Bear in mind the great thing with soldered construction is that if you mess it up you can easily undo it and try again.Andy.

Saved again wrong gauge and i already have Tailte built and Macha as a rolling chassis not the best choice for either Valencia or Courtmacsherry.Andy

Theres a drawing for her in The County Donegal Companion by Roger Crumbleholme ( Mr Alphagraphix) Published by Midland Counties.Which should be by every right and proper thinking persons bedside cabinet,and a small but useful diagram drawing in the revised Patterson Donegal book. If you are looking at doing it in 4mm the standard Halling variable 4 whl chassis is just right.Andy

Bear in mind that Alans etches are scratch aids not kits,and if you treat them like theres no issue they certainly make modelling Irish lines a lot simpler Andy

Simple answer is yes pretty straight forward the trick is to treat it as an 0 6 2 . Main almost gets round Arigna just like the real thing .Though mines in its Passage condition to go with the coaches.Andy

Then you'll have to be patient its a bit of a toss up which 3 footer comes next it depends on which hits critical mass first Andy

Well if it helps i've just started on the boards for the next Broad gauge layout however this one is the proper 7'01/4" stuff however there is distinct possibility that next years layout will Newmarket Andy.

I'm there as well with Llanfair Caereinion one my Welsh 009 essays.Andy

AS far as my Irish narrow gauge layouts are concerned so far i have done Donegal Town,Castlefinn,Letterkenny,Strabane, and Brucklees for the County Donegal as well as Castlederg and Arigna.For the standard gauge the list at the moment is only Valencia and Courtmacsherry. However there are plans ahead for Newmarket,Ballybehob and a yet to be decided Clogher,it depends which one reaches critical mass regarding stock etc,the problem is mainly getting side tracked.My Devils Bridge layout is just about finished and out on the circuit and the boards for a Broad gauge layout (GW 7')have just been built.with the added possibility of a Snailbeach layout as well as i seem to have most of the stock for one.The West Clare may be a possibility in the future as theres a certain amount of stock built so who knows. Andy

Can certainly recommend the track both my EM layouts use it Andy

After a six years break Arigna is off on its wanderings again ,having located it at the back off the loft.Not once but twice this Saturday at Ilton Somerset and at Weston Super Mare on the 15th and 16th of February. Now all i need is to find the stock.Andy

Simple answer no most likely they would have used the dropsides rebuilt from the Pauling contractors rebuilds.Though saying the the original wagon livery for the Donegal was red anyway.Andy.

As far as i'm aware they usually turned the locos at Killybegs the third turntable would certainly be up to it being a Class 5 set of frames the Letterkenny line ran bunker first to Strabane in latter years as Letterkennys turntable was getting a bit frail.The Londonderry line as ran bunker first after 1937 as the the turntable from there was transferred to Rossnowlagh for the railcars.Andy.

The best for Donegal layouts was the Chippenham show back in the 90s when they went all out for Irish layouts and had about 9 including three Donegal layouts and Adavoyle with Donegal stock .its the only time i've had someone say to me " theres an awful lot of Donegal layouts"ah happy days Andy

I've just disinterred Bruckless from the loft ready for Mansfield,should be an entertaining show with two Donegal layouts what larks! Andy

Frogmore do a GW Dia AA13 Road van as a 4mm etched kit. They are listed with Dart Castings and MJT. To be honest the road vans are a pretty simple scratchbuild basically a box with some Evergreen strips.Andy.

Mike Chinery used to do a motor bogie complete with all the bits to convert the kit into a proper artic and very nice they were to having built 3 of them 19 and 20 plus one of the West Clare cars.The best motor bogie now would be one the Halling units which come various shapes and sizes as well as being to 12mm.The main detail differences between the two cars were the quarterlights on the trailers 19 having alternate ones whereas 20 had everyone as per the kit.The front cab windows both had the dividing strip on the righthand side when delivered however 19 had what you could call a meeting of minds with buffers at Ballyshannon caused by faulty brakes on a Swilly wagon it was towing hence the ban on Swilly wagons operating over the Donegal.It must of been quite a crunch as the buffers are merely the rails curved up vertically and later photos show them as being somewhat lessfollowing repairs she lost the window divider.Andy .

I'll be up for one as well Andy

It is HO Pete used the drawing out of the Railway Modeller which is HO Andy

Congratulations you're the first to notice in 14 years still on the to do list.Andy

My thoughts exactly no Kerry bogie yet but plenty of J15's(can you have too many discuss)Though would be hard pressed to justify any of the Bandon stock etc.The idea is to build the turntable and work from there Andy

Useful stuff there as Newmarket may well be the next 5'3" layout Andy

You're welcome to come and have a play Andy

Valencia is out again at the Swindon show at Steam on the 14/15th of September 14 years after i swore i never exhibit it.Andy.