Garfield

And if the truck is wrong and we adjusted the container to suit, it then wouldn't fit on the wagon...

Hi Jan, Welcome to the forum! I have been to Flanders and to visit the grave of a family member who died in World War I. Today, it's a beautiful region and the people are very welcoming. Your group's layout looks great. I'm looking forward to seeing more! Patrick

As I said above, we will look at CIE versions of everything in due course. I don’t see the point in turning out blank vans as the reasons I gave above apply to oddities like that also, plus there’s the double whammy that it’s (a) an additional outlay and (b) would ultimately reduce the demand for our CIE versions when they’re produced.

I understand your frustration, but if we were to adjust a business plan to suit a typo we'd be covered in hot sauce fairly quickly.

In fairness, we have never said we would not be releasing ploughs, ballasts, etc. with CIÉ markings and I think it’s a little unfair to say there’s an IR/IÉ slant in what we’ve produced to date when most of what we’ve turned out so far (i.e. ivory and orange cement bubbles) carries a big fat CIÉ logo on the side. However, there are several factors we have to consider when we decide what to produce and ultimately the head has to overrule the heart when making these choices. One factor is the suitable RTR motive power customers have to hand: the majority produced is appropriate for the IR/IÉ eras, so while CIÉ may do well in surveys, if customers want to simply buy rolling stock to run with their locos then it should match what they have. That doesn’t mean we won’t produce the products with CIÉ markings, it just means it won’t be the first lot off the production line. (Similarly, while some customers are shouting out for Midland six-wheelers, it doesn’t make sense for us to produce one when there’s no RTR loco out there to haul it - and the reality is that most people aren’t going to build a suitable steam loco kit). If more locos appear in CIÉ colours, that'll help change our thinking... Another factor concerns ‘product fatigue’ and diversification of what we offer. We could have done all variations of the ballast wagons from the outset, but that would’ve required a greater outlay while also putting all our eggs in one basket. It took a year for the ballasts to sell out – anyone sticking to a single product and waiting that length of time to exhaust supply before moving on will find themselves in a tight spot very quickly. The upshot is that we still have the tooling, so we’re free to revisit these items in alternative liveries once the range is diverse enough to prevent people getting bored of seeing the same one or two items over and over. It makes sense for us to maximise use of all our moulds (which, incidentally is another reason why we chose the current weedsprayer and not the older version, in answer to Iarnrod's comment above). That's just some of the reasoning behind it. There's more, too, but you get the idea...

I don’t know about that, Rich... the IRM passion wagon has a unique charm and class of its own!

Afterwards, I'll drive the van into the nearest pool and throw the TV through the hotel room window. May as well start as I mean to go on...

Nice find, Dave. I have a few old Railway Modellers with the same Model Railway Shop stamp on them.

Nice loco, although I think you mean Branchlines rather than Backwoods? To the best of my knowledge, Backwoods never produced a T&D loco kit...

I think George is referring to the pub the lads stop off in for a pint in the TPO video you quoted above?

I reckon with all his experience, Ernie has taken this into account...

Not a great chance, to be honest, due to the fact there are only two of them and they’re not stand-out items like plough vans, etc.

Of course, this means no excuses for not doing the laundry, mowing the lawn...

Ah Noel, do I have to lay it all out for you!?

Spotted on ‘Prime Time’ on RTÉ 1 just now...

You’re coming out of your shell now...

Scotch?

Ah, you’ve folded.

I was thinking of that line, Fran, but you poached it. Now I can't decide whether all this wordplay is frying my brain or scrambling it. Oh well, better keep the sunny side up.

An offer this keen may trigger an eggsistential crisis in modellers who don't model the right era for the bubbles...

Superb, David, simply superb! The Temperance Hotel sounds like great craic...

Deflecting again... How about directly addressing the guy from the team of engineers and planners you called ‘morons’ who actually gave a very good explanation of the process involved in the Luas Cross City consultation process?

Excellent post, Barl. Looking forward to reading the response...

Our Taras, which art in Navan, Hallowed be thy train. Thy loco comes, thy will be hauled, South to the port of Dublin. Give us this day our daily ore, And forgive the odd rough shunt, Through North Wall yard, And along Alexandra Road. And be led not unto the scrapline, But deliver that zinc again.

As Bosko said above, Shem, there's no added cost to using sprung buffers - contrary to what some other producers say! As for being unnecessary, as Rich pointed out, they do actually come into play with coupling systems that feature delayed action uncoupling (AJ couplings, etc.). Don't know where this odd theory has come from, Noel - buffer length is the same regardless of whether a wagon is sitting in the middle of a train or standing by itself. On fitted freight trains, the only instances where buffers will be constantly compressed is when a train is being propelled as part of a shunting maneuver... or if something has gone wrong! It's slightly different with some coaching stock - buffers can be retracted on stock that uses buckeye couplings, for example, as the buckeye also doubles as a buffer (buckeye is the standard North American coupling, hence their locos and rolling stock don't feature separate buffers at all). The buffers are extended at either end of the rake as the loco is usually attached to the lead coach with a screw-link coupling, and buffers on individual coaches would be extended if the rake is being broken up or reassembled and they're being shunted individually. Older stock, such as Cravens, Park Royals, etc. were fitted with screw-links so didn't feature retractable buffers.