Andy Cundick

Personally i wouldn't bother too much about what colour the roof was painted as it would soon of ended up a grotty grey/black colour.Andy

A point to note is that 552 which appears to have been the regular Courtmacsherry engine has got an enlarged bunker.Andy.

I must say that its one of those reviews that say more about the reviewer than the reviewed.Andy.

Well so far i've built 552,90,100,Argadeen and St Molaga for Courtmacsherry and the pile of bits for Slaney is growing.The only loco which can properly run on both layouts is the C Class even though its miles too modern.i must admit 802 does look a bit odd there when shes being run in.Andy.

Valencia harbour is 1935 and Courtmacsherry is early 30s,will they do, all steam apart from the odd appearance of a C Class,Andy.

Quite agree all this modern image is all very well,but for me the interesting time is  pre CIE,though not to extent of one mate of mine who avers that the romance of the railways went out with the horse(Fintona excluded).Andy.

On 2/2/2021 at 11:50 PM, jhb171achill said:

Ah! A breath of steam air! Me too.......

Some of the young'uns here will be appalled at the likes of you and I seeing an 071 or an 80 class as "too modern to be of interest"!

I use my Xuron track cuttersthey do a good job and cut rail as well.The Chopper you refer to iassume is the NWSL Chopper which really good for cutting plastic not sure how it would cope with PCB,Andy

The main point is joint needs to be clean,a glassfibre brush is ideal for this.I've never bothered with flux when using cored solder for the last forty odd years,its quick simple and you don't have the issue of cleaning up corrosive flux after Andy.

I just use 188 cored solder,works a treat with a 40w iron in and out quick,works even with whitemetal.Andy

Hudswell Clarke 1311 and 1313 of 1918 both sent to India after closure,Andy.

The other point is i built it so i can repair it,not something you can say about most ready to run today.Andy.

Can i start a list of what i don't want coming out as ready to run as i've already built it,Andy.

It'll be GSW No100 as i've just finished scratchbuilding it,Andy

It might be worth finding a prototype station or track plan which interests you and start with that,it needn't be complex you just need to something running.You can't get much simpler than Valencia but it was up and running quickly and taught me a lot,you don't have to stick rigidly to the prototype after all Valencia sees all sorts from Queens to Harland and Wolff diesels.Andy.  

Any rewheeling exercise is daunting it depends on the end result and just getting on with it,one of my current projects is rewheeling the majority of of my Donegal stock from 9 mm wheels to 10.5mm using 8mm spoked lowac wheels and shortening the axles,with about 20 coaches and 70 wagons its taking a bit of time but visually well worth it.Andy.

Bound to happen ,i've been modelling 21mm for years so someones bound to bring out ready to run.Proof i've just finished a couple of old Centre Models industrials(EM gauge),a Hunslet 16"saddle tank and a Kerr Stuart Victory,and surprise surprise both have just been announced in 4mm by a couple of manufacturers,Andy.

Snap dirty deed done,Andy

Its available as a kit  in 4mm from Noneminstre .Andy.

Mike more than up for it,my main issue these days is suitable coaching stock after all you can only have so many GSWR 6 wheelers(apparently)and my rake of Bredins are less than likely vistors west of Cork or the depths of Kerry.Andy.

Now that would be useful as the next 5'3" layout is Ballinacarthy junction,something to give the various Bandon engines something to play on,not sure about the Queens though,Andy

Funnily enough Fenit is on the todo list.Andy

Having built one i can honestly say its a well thought out kit which went together well only problem is coming up with a likely scenario to it appearing on either Valencia or Courtmacsherry.ANdy.

Just compared my No90 with a terrier . wheelbase for the terrier is bigger as is the overall length however the the cab and tanks are roughly the same size and obviously 90 is much wider so perhaps a Hornby chassis would fit(My terrier is a Ks /Branchlines hybrid).Still to be honest 90s chassis is an easy one to scratchbuild.Which reminds me i need to finish 100 where would Courtmachserry be without them.Andy.

We had a funny incident with the Police involving a Foden steam wagon.We were steaming it back from the Model Engineer Exhibition(when it was at Wembley)basically a trundle down the North Circular to Kew Bridge.Anyway we stopped by Hanger Lane to have a quick blow up when a motorcycle policeman came over to have a chat.Now at this point it has to be explained that one thing that steam waggons on pneumatics have is an earthing chain usually down by the back axle.The reason for this if you are using the blower it creates a static charge(a very good one)hence the earthing chain.However its a known thing that to prevent engines being messed about when on display you hook the chain up and leave the blower cracked open,a marvellous deterant.Thats why you often see a fire iron on the deck by the engine an earthing device for the driver.Anyway  the Policeman comes up to the waggon and in mid sentence inquiring about the age of her,he grasps the cabside,followed by a large crack and said Policeman propelled back several feet.He was very nice about it Andy.

The waggon is a 1925 Foden C type,they're good for 30 mph tops,the Greenaways who own her have quite a collection,i bought a an Aveling roller of them back in the 80's.but thats another story.Andy