patrick

I personally found it a bit of a challenge but then again it is only the second brass kit I assembled. The first was a similar SSM brake van which got completed last month after being on my work bench for about six years! The buffers are from Dart Castings which are a big improvement on the ones supplied with the Dapol underframe which comes with the kit. Since the model will receive frequent handling in the fiddle yards at the end of its run styrene running boards were cemented to the underframe which are much more durable than the brass ones provided with the kit not to mention far less fiddly to assemble. Some cleaning up still needs to be done on the model before getting a coat of matt varnish and weathering.

Studio Scale Models 30 ton ICE brake van, the latest addition to the layout.

It's a SSM kit on a modified Dapol Prestwin underframe.

A moody shot of my current project.

The transfers came with the kits Leslie. It's additional transfers for the Vac Brake version we are referring to here.

Ah yes, the transfers, or lack of! I wonder if anyone could be persuaded to produce them.

I thought I could get away with using Athearn freight car brake wheels which I had in the scrap box but not only are they the wrong style but also too large and looked totally wrong on the wagon. I think I will cut to the chase and order the correct ones from Des.

None of the 29 Provincial Wagons on the layout have brass bearings. While they are not the most free rolling wagons out there they perform fine on the layout which has no gradients and trains are 15 wagons or shorter.

Progress so far on the Vac Brake version. I need to order some brake wheels from Des at SSM.

Three cattle wagons were put into service tonight. Leslie's kits generally don't gather much dust on the work bench but these have been an exception taking several months to complete. Two more are in the works, both being adapted to the Vac Brake version.

Nice! Hopefully we will see a layout thread soon.

A favourite Irish place name of mine is Ratass Tralee, pronounced Raa, site of a cemetry and the ruins of a medieval church. It is also the name of a level crossing on the line from Mallow.

Personally I appreciated being able to pay in advance when funds are available rather than having to come up with a payment last minute before items are sold out which has a habit of happening immediately after the washing machine has bit the dust. I'm thinking that stocking up on gift cards is the answer.

Check out the other videos on the channel, this is just the 70's stuff.

. Just found this treasure trove of 1970's CIE videos on You Tube. I somehow managed to put in 2 links twice and cant find a way of fixing it. Can a moderator fix it?

The GG class?

Tralee had one operating the level crossing between the passenger station and the North Kerry yard.

I think the first is Tralee.

With fertilizer plants in Cork, New Ross and Arklow fertilizer moves both East and West across the South Waterford Line. Here a Waterford bound fertilizer train meets a Cork bound passenger train at Grange.

My job as a night shift nurse can be stressful, however coming home at 8am putting Horslips Celtic Symphony on the stereo, cracking open a draught Guiness and looking for new photo angles on the layout.make everything just fine.

That's how I remember them, behind an A class in Supertrain livery. The last time I saw an A or ferts for that matter was during a visit back to Ireland in 1992. While visiting friends in Farranfore I wandered down to the station in time to see the arrival of a fertilizer train behind a decrepit A class in IE colours, The A ran around its train and shoved it into the Kerry Co Op siding before continuing light engine to Tralee. The condition of the A saddened me and in my opinion the Tipped stripe did nothing for them.

The IRM ferts finally arrived after seemingly getting lost on the way. We lost no time putting them into service. Once again another incredible model from IRM.

I got to agree with Leslie here Noel. I greatly admire your skill modelling CIE passenger stock, you should have no problem achieving incredible results with Leslie's kits. It is truly amazing what has become available to Irish modelers in the last few years but IRM and Paddy Murphy can't be expected to produce everything for what is after all a very small, but thankfully growing market. Duplicating an already good an easily assembled kit can only drive small manufacturers out of the market which is detrimental to all of us. I for one don't want to see this forum dominated by cookie cutter layouts all populated by the same high quality off the shelf models.

I recall seeing one hauled by a Deutz ( without a brake van) dropping off sleepers on the Fenit line sometime around 1970.

There were also drawings for a GM 141, a 20 ton brake van and an article on a station on the West Cork. Tim Cramer wrote the series. I can't help with the publication dates, my copies have long since went missing.