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Agreed Noel Silver Fox have raised their game with these models. Of course they don't have the level of detail of recent RTR Irish models but they are well finished and look the part. My approach to the hobby is as a layout builder concerned about the big picture rather than the detail on individual models. A prototypical consist of well finished models which look the part and pass the two foot rule is far more preferable than a unlikely consist of finely detailed models. I'm sure a touch of weathering would work wonders on the models. I spoke with John at Silver Fox recently and he mentioned that the Sulzer mould was being updated and suggested the front end will receive attention. It would be wonderful to have a use for all those surplus SF A class underframes once the IRM model is here. Regarding the foot Noel. Its good news bad news, the bad, following a surgical procedure on my right great toe an infection set in which spread to the bone and after months of dressing changes and IV antibiotics and keeping the foot elevated it was amputated. I broke the foot in question about 10 years ago in three places and there is a lot of metal implanted in there. Had the infection spread I could have lost the whole foot. The good news is I'm recovering and will be able to return to normal and be back on my feet with appropriate footware Considering I am 61 years old and have been a diabetic since I was 26 I consider myself lucky.

New arrivals from Silver Fox this morning, a CIE open third and corridor composite. They will provide much needed variety in the passenger fleet and it will now be possible to run two passenger trains on the layout with no two vehicles alike which was so typical of CIE in the sixties and early seventies.

Empty beet special on the South Waterford Line. 20210206_110706.mp4

Gulf Oil Refinery Branch Line - YouTube Wonderful two part documentary about the construction of a branch to a South Wales oil refinery in the late sixties.

Does anybody know if the Irish palvans were larger than the BR version? With a bit of work the Parkside kit can be converted into a reasonable representation of the CIE version but to my eyes they look under size when seen alongside the provincial wagons H van. In prototype photos the palvans seem larger.

I presume that's Ivory Peter's Bently in the third clip. Glad to see you got the running sorted out. Reliable running is a great initiative to continue working on a layout.

Beet season is in full swing on the South Waterford Line.

The cork Waterford through goods crosses the local shunting at Glen More.

125 on the Cork Waterford goods. 20201228_122826.mp4

Christmas Eve 1974. As the light is fading the last beet special before the holiday passes Kielys Cross on it's way to Cork. Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all.

I spoke to John on the phone earlier in the year while ordering tin vans and he mentioned that the Sulzer would not be available for a while since the moulds required some work. It would be great if the issues with the front end could be addressed since the rest of the model appears quite good.

World class model. Hard to believe how far Irish models have come in the ten years since construction on the South Waterford Line was started. I was expecting to have to do a lot more scratch building with no way I could reach that standard.

I have not been able to spend time on the layout following foot surgery which unfortunately did not go as planned. Following my new podiatrists orders I am spending my days on the sofa with my foot elevated. A bright spot today was the arrival of a couple of 121's. I couldn't resist posing one on the layout and taking a few photos.

Are staff catchers available as spares? Unfortunately I ordered the wrong one in supertrain livery. I must say I'm disappointed a the 121 was not made available in the correct mid seventies supertrain livery and numbering with staff catchers which they wore for the best part of a decade.

First effort to make a load for the back to backs. The IRM loads are too large for my wagons and in any case it would be expensive to load even a few of them. The load is made from modeling clay around a foam core. Now that I have figured out how to make them this one will be replaced with a neater one. The camera is cruel magnifing every flaw.

The first run for the new back to backs. They were picked up at Glen More by a 16 wagon Cork goods. The 20 wagons plus brake van train fouled the points of the Cork fiddle yard, the limit being 16 wagons and a van. I'm pleased with the new wagons. A unit train of them is a tempting idea. 20201112_102450.mp4 20201112_102450.mp4 20201112_102301.mp4

For four wheel container flats Provincial Wagons have a nice looking kit. Before they were available I used the Dapol Prestwin underframe with some modofications adding styrene rectangular "plates" to the side frames, substituting Dart Castings 8 inch heavy duty buffers (#2350), and omitting the brake shoes to the end side of the wheels. The are really just approximations of the prototype but to my eyes the pass the two foot test. The floor of the kit has a raised moulding which is a pain to remove but the floor of the C line containers is easily removed allowing it to be mounted with a spot of glue. The photo shows one with a scratch built back to back flat.

There appear to have been two variations of the back to back and pictures of them seem to be rare. The photo from Brian Flannigan's excellent Flicker album shows one type. My models represents a more primitive version seen here on this video from which all details and dimensions were estimated from so they are really just representations of the prototype since I have been unable to find a photo of this type. If they pass the two foot rule I'm happy.

The three new back to backs have been painted. On one the flat wagon was painted grey since many of the prototypes were still in this colour into the seventies. While working on this project I watched videos of trains on the Cork city railway and couldn't resist posing them with a bitumen tank to represent a typical transfer run between Kent station and Albert Quay in the late sixties and early seventies.

It's Plastruct #91532 wood planking "painted" with a rail tie brown track weathering marker. The Waterford fiddle yard and Grange loop have a capacity of twelve loose coupled wagons and a van. The Cork Fiddle yard and Glen More loop are considerably longer. Careful traffic management and some "fiddling" in the Waterford fiddle yard allow for running longer trains because its fun to do so!

The three back to backs are finally assembled and will be allowed time for the polystyrene cement to cure before washing and painting. I would love to see more photos of the prototypes but unfortunately they seem extremely camera shy. Does anybody know when they were introduced and finally withdrawn?

The three back to back fertilizer wagons are well along. I seem to remember the prototypes running in blocks and a block of four will look good in a train.

Cork goods crosses the Waterford passenger in Glen More. 20201024_151733.mp4

Waterford Cork Bell liner passes Glen More Ovtober 1974.

Having completed the major scenic work and cleaned up the layout area it's a good time for a video showing how the layout fits into the available space. Our condo is split level, the stairs in the video comes down from the upper floor which is at ground level. This area has no windows, being a partial basement and the temperature remains constant throughout the year making it a perfect environment for a model railway. The area was originally intended as a storage room but the original owner had the builder omit the door and wall, finish the space, installed numerous electrical outlets and cable TV and called it a media room. Maureen agreed to me using the space for the layout "as long as it is tidy and looks good" 20201018_122448.mp4