Broithe

I built a kit-car in the 80s. I started doing "just the odd bit" in the back room during the winter - until it escalated to the point where I actually had the entire bodywork assembled, for trial-run purposes. There just a single doorway to the outside world. I had a chap knock the door trying to sell double-glazing. As I evaded buying anything off him, he tried "Do you need any patio doors?" I pointed out that the usual sliding doors and French windows just wouldn't be suitable. "What do you want then?" - "A one-piece, six-foot square, up-and-over." - I showed him the room with the full-size car in it and the small door out into the garden. "I will get you a quote!", he declared, but I never heard anything... I often wonder what happened when he got back to the office with his 'lead'...?

The interesting background soundtrack in this advert - - made me wonder if it would be possible to introduce a 'retro' ambience via IÉ's current on-board sound systems, used for announcements, etc. Subliminal passenger mood-altering possibilities?

Forty Shades of Orange.

My local Boots store has a very large make-up section. I have considered taking a baby GM in and asking for advice. The girls really do understand how to achieve a 'look', although they are generally trying to go in the opposite direction... To be fair to them, I once had to take back some Philishave shaver spares, as the part supplied in the sealed packaging was wrong, although the packaging details were clearly correct for the intended shaver. This involved being sent to the cosmetics counter, as this was where these things were dealt with. I expected a long and arduous argument about it, but the girl was absolutely clued-up and understood straight away - in thirty seconds I came away with the right parts.

You can always dive in the handbag when she's not looking...

I've had a quick search and it looks like that source may have ceased - I have no idea who I bought them off, it would be eight/ten years ago. There are plenty of other sources that seem to be current for much the same sort of thing. We have a large exhibition here next weekend, I'll keep an eye out and see if I spot any good sources. There could well even be people still shifting old stock, I suppose..

I picked up a set of Eazi Weathering Powders at a show some years ago - a handy set. They may still be available from a few sources, if they're what you're after.

If only Lambe's was still there, Julia and Statia would have done a roaring trade...

A possible source of aerial views of railway locations? Warmest of congratulations from all of us here at the#IrishAirCorps to the two newest members of our#Officer #team - 2/Lt Richard Cleary and 2/Lt Stephen Best, who received their Officers' commissions along with their colleagues from the 93#Army #Cadet Class at yesterday's ceremony in the#DefenceForces Training Centre.Richard hails from #Wexford & is 22 years old. He joined the Air Corps in 2014. He is a former student of the Christian Brothers Secondary School in Wexford town and plays #hurling and #football withClonard GAA Club. His other interests include #golf, and Irish dancing, where he was a national champion as a teenager. He will be posted to 503 Squadron in No 5 Support Wing when he returns from his post-commissioning leave. Stephen is from #Dublin and is 24 years old. He is a past pupil of St Declans College in #Cabra. He is a former Air Corps #Apprentice. Having started his military career in 2012, he joined the 33rd Air Corps Cadet Class in 2014. Stephen plays soccer forNewbridge Town FC and has represented both the Air Corps and the Defence Forces. In his spare time he builds model railways and collects postage stamps. Stephen will be posted to 506 Squadron in No 5 Support Wing when he returns from his post-commissioning leave. We wish both young Officers every success as they embark on an exciting, rewarding and fulfilling career as junior #leaders in the Irish Defence Forces. May they carry themselves always with our values: respect, loyalty, selflessness, physical courage, moral courage and integrity. Congratulations guys!! https://www.facebook.com/IrlAirCorps/photos/a.280110362016594.81601.148942718466693/2072965892731023/?type=3&theater Should we start making a list?

Has anybody tried millet seeds as beets? They should be available in health food shops and even pet food outlets. There has been a tendency for the seeds to get bigger as selective breeding heads in that direction. Might be best to inspect before buying, where possible. Maybe worth a look?

The inevitable slight variations in a kit-built rake can often be a great advantage when depicting hard-worked wagons. It's hard to replicate rough usage in a run of factory-produced items.

IÉ announce that the seat-booking system has been extended on lines without OHLE.

I am just off to have a cold shower......

I know nothing, but I suspect there are quantity issues here. Sales of UK models can spread the tooling costs, etc, over much larger production numbers. Try that with an item for the Irish market and you just get left with unsold stock. There will always be a premium for 'our' stuff. As the scale of the whole operation increases, maybe there will be scope for cross-subsidies?

My initial reaction to the question was almost to wonder why you were bothering to ask us and to question the distinction between the two, apparently very similar, markets. The more I've thought about it, however, the more the vast difference has become obvious. I know a few people in front-line retail on the Big Island and they have less idea of what is going to actually happen in mainstream GB modelling than I do about the Irish scene, and I don't even have to make any effort to find out! MIR, Paddy Murphy, @leslie10646's Provincial Wagons, @Weshty's SSM operation, the Chinese factories, etc - they've all played a part in getting us here.

The more I think about this, the weirder it is. If you know anybody on the Big Island and into UK railway modelling, try asking them what they would think if a senior executive from Hornby personally asked them if they would like to be told the truth of what is likely to really happen?

To be fair to them, they may have some security issues and not want specific details to become generally available - the undersides of the nuclear flask carrier models are not true representations of what is really there, presumably to avoid the possibility of prefabricated devices being attached. It's a sad reflection of our times, perhaps?

I started going to exhibitions/fairs simply in order to buy stuff for a housebound chap that I had built a layout for. I had little interest in British railways and believed that Irish railways were far beyond my possibilities, largely because of the loco issues - then I saw and bought a Murphy baby GM - and everything changed at that point. Modelling Irish railways has got steadily easier and better - sometimes we have to stop and think just how good it is for us now.

You need to know where the housekeeping is going... She Who Must Be Obeyed.

Do you have a burglar alarm? This is a simple replacement whilst she's out shopping...

There is much less of a "personal accountability" issue here on the Big Island - organisations are seen much more as just impersonal structures, not as simply frontages for the actual people inside. There is scope for people to start to understand the reality of IRM/Accurascale in the future, but they may need time - and evidence/education. It's a cultural issue, to a large extent.

It is easy for everybody to become 'tarred with the same brush' - maybe run the two markets separately, in a manner appropriate to each, until people on the big island get the hang of how you're doing it? You have the means to do that in place. Most of 'them' will take little interest in what you're doing for 'us', especially if it is an effectively separate operation. Sometimes, I suspect, the issue for the "big players" can have been, perhaps, to preempt announcements by the "other side" and, thus, queer their pitch, so to speak - who knows?

Indeed, maybe just an update whenever a stage is completed? i wouldn't expect a full running commentary, though a webcam in the office would allow us to see that progress was being made..