Broithe

SMP have an option for phosphor bronze rail, which should age to a fairly realistic 'rusty' finish.

The 'code' numbers refer to the height of the rail in units of 1/1000th of an inch. Thus, Code 100 rail is a 1/10th of an inch high (100/1000) and Code 75 is 75/1000ths of an inch high.

I often quote this article for its positive 'spin' - the fourth sentence starts with "Aided by his autism..." http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-21208113

There should be cake...

Is there a recording of the episode where some bloke is moaning about the wagon underframes being painted black..?

I remain concerned that the Durrow Scarecrow Festival could so easily transform into a Wicker Man style event.

Very few films or TV programmes even mention Laois, much less are set in it... Even all the CI registered vehicles in Father Ted have failed to raise the profile.

Crikey! Time for a new decoder? Get well soon.

Executive bar carriage - http://www.irrs.ie/Journal186/186RollingStock.htm

The works to improve the junctions at the bridge are underway.

The best I can do at short notice is the back bedroom wallpaper.

Steady, there! Some of us still have that wallpaper - and delicate feelings...

Print your own scenery - - one day....?

Graham Rooke, the man behind the ModelTorque range, died just before Christmas 2012, and, although there was a possibility of things continuing at some point, it looks as though they haven't.

Congratulations! You win the prize of a smug face for the rest of the day. http://www.staffordforum.com/xf/index.php?threads/road-trip.17626/

In the 60s, we lived in a very cute cottage in a tourist hot-spot - people would often take photographs looking in through the windows while I was having my tea - I sometimes check the internet - one may turn up one day..

Yet another.

The thought crossed my mind a few times - this is when the new sleepers went down - you could imagine not making contact on a dry day after a bit more weather exposure.

Nice to see a passenger service on the outside of the island platform at Ballybrophy - is this to 'polish' the rails occasionally?

http://www.president.ie/en/media-library/news-releases/statement-by-president-michael-d.-higgins-on-the-death-of-capt.-dara-fitzpa

There is still, quite bizarrely, a lot of confusion here on the Big Island about what is in the UK and what isn't. It is by no means unusual to see people get off the Dublin ferry with Sterling cash and be quite agitated when it's refused. I have posted stuff to Laois on occasion and have been told, more than once, by Post Office counter clerks, that "it must be in Northern Ireland", I've had to argue to get the right postage on it and avoid the issue at the other end. I have even had that argument with the same clerk twice now. People are also often very perturbed by the lack of a Postcode, even though Eircodes are available now - if you do use an Eircode, you risk being told that it is wrong, because it 'looks different'.

Taking it even further, you may find, and more so as you get older, that you even see slightly different colours with each of your own eyes. This usually manifests itself first with pale white / cream / grey colours.

Even with colour films, there's often a good variation. And even looking at it directly with your own eyes, it depends on the light you're seeing under - and then you need to consider the light that you will see the model under - and there is a strange aspect of "scale" to colours - even using the exact paint can "look wrong" in the end. Looking 'right' may be more important than being correct. It's a minefield.

Two (different, unfortunately) Spitfires - note the yellow outer ring on the fuselage roundel and the red (forward) stripe on the fin flash. Ortho- Pan- Also, the blues have quite a difference, too. The fin flash appears to have the colours reversed between the shots, but RAF is always red at the front, blue at the back. Guessing colours from B&W with no reference points is a dodgy game.

Without a known reference colour in the picture, it can be difficult to be sure - in general, older is ortho- and younger is pan-, but there was a lot of overlap time. Yellow is the most awkward colour - it can be dark or light. As you can see from the two pictures, you have little chance of being sure, unless there's something in the shot that you can be confident of. You could have two B&W pictures of the same yellow stripe and see one as dark and one as light on the final print, yet the engine would look the same grey in each picture.