Broithe

"Jess Irish Model" turns up this. Fairly cute, but probably a high maintenance device.

Perhaps the original Jess was particularly cute - we need a picture...

This seems as unlikely as RTR Irish model locos did, and still does. And yet, there it is, in 1:1 scale. And no argument about what gauge track to use...

There are some very specific vehicles out there...

If that's a Collins Green Colliery wagon, as it seems to be - it looks newly painted and the mine closed in 1931, I think.

There is limited Street View on there...

When the Mark 4s appear, will these ones be cheaper for not having a speaker fitment?

That is an ecumenical matter, or at least one for the Revenue.

I remember two traders at the boot sale in England talking about another one - during one of the football tournaments, when people started flying flags on sticks held in car windows, he had found some really cheap red/white cross flags and bought a large number, hoping to cash in from the loyal England fans - only to find out that they were Danish flags and they hadn't even qualified. There were Finnish UN troops in Cyprus when I was there, and we often went through their area. You usually saw them on their own, sometimes in pairs, but, even then, they rarely seemed to speak to each other. Very quiet people. Since then, I have believed that, if you can see three Finns at the same time, it means that you are actually in Helsinki.

I think what we're seeing there is that the guide rails prevent the flanges on the slightly narrower Swedish wheelsets from moving sideways far enough for one of the wheels to drop off the wider Finnish rails. There's not a huge difference in the gauges, and by forcing the narrower wheels to run in the centre, they can run on the wider rails, on the outer edges of the narrower gauge wheels. I think it means you can run Swedish wheels on Finnish track, but not Finnish wheels on Swedish track. It reminds me of a real 'sit-com moment' in France in 1990. We were starting a tour of the chateau at Amboise and the guide was the most multilingual person I've ever seen. She was dealing with a barrage of questions in many languages, from all directions and handing out leaflets for the most common ones, English French, Spanish, German, Italian, etc. A chap standing next to me said something totally incomprehensible, on the off-chance that she could speak his language - it was clearly one that she didn't, so he reverted to a heavily accented English question? "Do you have those leaflets in Finnish?" Straining to listen, but not understanding most of it, she realised that the question was in English and guessed what he was asking, based on the word "Finnish" - unfortunately, she actually heard him say "finish" in her head and said - "About forty five minutes." This mystified him, which then mystified her and I started laughing. I nearly had to draw diagrams to explain to them what had actually happened...

Got a few spare containers? Make a model of "Stadium 974" in Qatar.

They are, effectively, reserved for those 'in the loop' - few people are going to be Googling "dicky Tara" with those in mind...

Hochbord wagon is the local term, I believe. They seem to be a common feature all over 'the continent'.

I assume that she's still making the odd post, to cover up what she did to him... It's only the pictures we want, anyway...

You'll have seen the €49 monthly Deutschlandticket coming shortly? Get the camera charged up. We're waiting...

I got stopped at a serious checkpoint in Laois in the 70s and was asked for my name. Simple, you might think... But, I have one of those names that it's easier to mispronounce when living on the Big Island - so, I got it wrong and then quickly corrected myself. This got me a funny look, but a few more questions and it became clear that the Guard knew my uncle - so I escaped... To be fair to your Guard, anybody who might be from Leitrim being found in the outside world is likely to be suspect or lost.

Needs a dog, keeping the seat warm..?

An interesting set-up for those into track-building. "The railway networks of Finland and Sweden are now connected for the first time with through rails thanks to Tornio's new bogie switching device, before only through crossings and gauge switching devices. The counter rails keep the narrower Swedish wheelsets on the wider Finnish track."

A chap posts old Portlaoise/Maryborough news items on Facebook - "November 1893 At a meeting in Stradbally, a resolution is adopted to build a tramway between there and Maryborough." https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid027vAqmQwekkYSNcMNecW9fTvXpnwP72iiMztR5Z1tw8YFgyPoNwitiNz2Ah157WmNl&id=100069232693226 I wonder if any information about the actual proposals exists, if it ever did.