patrick

On 1/11/2023 at 11:45 AM, BosKonay said:

You never know  At least one of the new tools underway at irm towers is steamy. 

A steam heating van maybe?

Special train of empty wagons bound for Waterford passes a goods train shunting in Glen More.

I don't know if some were built with the heavier buffers or later upgraded but both types were in service together into the seventies. 

The beet campaign is in full swing on the South Waterford Line and A55 leads a train of empty wagons to Glenn More for loading on a cold October morning in 1967.

Just wondering if a 30T brake van is in the pipeline. 

Aren't  these announcements generally made at the Dublon show?

I received my copy this past week and am very pleased with it. I wouldn't normally spend so much on a book but having grown up in Tralee in the sixties and seventies and having explored what remained of the route over the years I felt I needed to own a copy. The book is of very high quality an is the last word on the line.

At 325 pages, that's eight and a half pages per mile which must make it one of the most comprehensive book on any railway in existence!

Ah, the escapism of a model railway. From time to time I hear Maureen's voice at the top of the stairs telling me how late it is and suggesting I get to bed!

Love the sand loading facility. It reminds me of the various gypsum loading facilities that existed at Kingsport over the years. 

Track work on the curve outside Grange. There were two bad rail joints on curves on the main line. Put it down to my inexperienced laying flex track on insulation foam when I started the layout. These areas were prone to occasional derailment especially when trains were propelled around them. Today I finally got around to fixing it. Here East of Grange a section of track was replaced to fix the problem. 

A goods train approaches Glen More in 1972.  

Last weekend Maureen and I traveled to Stratford Ontario for the annual Shakespeare Festival. While there we saw Spamalot, Dark Magic and King Lear, all wonderful productions. I also got to check out the railroad activity.  Stratford is served by the Canadian National RR which runs a daily freight daily in each direction and two Via Rail trains each way between Sarnia and Toronto. It is also the interchanged point for the Goderich Exeter Railway whose main business is hauling salt from a mine at Goderich and grain from online elevators.

On Saturday we caught the Toronto bound Via train and a Goderich Exeter GP15 at Stratford, the Goderich bound train having already left. Monday morning we caught the Goderich power, two GP's in the yard. 

 It was a great weekend getaway which we hope to do again next year. 

1971 on the South Waterford Line.

1974 on the South Waterford Line.

1967 on the South Waterford Line.

Wonderful modeling and photography.  I'm looking forward to seeing more of this layout.

More JM Design wagons waiting for couplers before entering service. All will be weathered when I'm so inclined. These are great models and it's good to see the full range is currently available. The most difficult part of completing these models was applying the tiny tare transfer to the planked vans.

I finally got to apply decals to the JM Designs open wagons. Kadee couplers are on order. 

While on the subject of books I recently found this. During the 1970's the Tralee library's copy spent more time in my hands than on their shelves!

My recreation of the train depicted on the cover of the 1967 book Irish Railways Today. A perfect passenger train for a secondary line like the South Waterford. 

Anyone know when this style of level crossing gates were introduced? The gates in the picture were built from a SSM kit.

Having converted to kadee couplers I have a large number of these tension locks surplus to requirements which nobody needs over here. I will gladly send them to anyone who can use them rather than throw them out.

Thanks John. I'm very pleased with these models and encourage anyone looking for accurate goods stock to run with their A class Crossley diesels to check them out. The solid grey paint scheme makes them a very easy paint job with a spray can. Together with Leslie's Provincial wagon kits it's never been easier to assemble an accurate loose coupled goods train.

Here are a few JM Design wagons straight out of the paint shop. Tomorrow I hope to do three more vans and a grain hopper, also from JM Design and hopefully all will receive decals over the weekend. 

The open wagon with the timber load is a white metal kit from SSM and a different prototype than the JM Design model. Does anyone have any information on these?

Has Rails Through North Kerry sold out?

14 minutes ago, Broithe said:

I think it has its uses, but not, as you say, for large-scale coverage.

For things like small jobs and covering the tops of guard rails, etc., after you've cleaned the track which wouldn't be polished by traffic.

Not all these weathering markers are created equal. All the track on the South Waterford Line has been painted using them and In my experience the Woodland Scenics ones are far better quality. 

A few images from a short running session this morning.