Colin R

Hi Eoin. When you start to look around, you can find yourself looking at a number of these bits of kit ranging from £500 up to £4,000 pounds. Thanks for the information about your machine tools, it gives me something to think about. Colin

Hi Eoin (sorry for getting your name wrong in the last post). That is more than welcome, I have been thinking for some time about which mini lathe to get, the link did not help as it has too many goodies in store . That said, there is just so much information out there I had forgotten about. I will see if they do a miller to match the lathe, since I don't owner either at present. Regards Colin R

I think it has only just come out so still a new publication £8.50 sounds about right Colin

Hi Eion I must have missed it, but who makes the lathe you are using, if so what model was it and do you have any other advice beside the fan extension? Colin

Hi Guy, a question or two from a friend in the states Three long-shot questions for the members: 1. Might anyone know of a source for drawings or an illustrated folk culture study of traditional Irish donkey carts? I'm particularly interested in any regional variations between the Cavan & Leitrim Railway region, Kerry, and southern Cork. My Irish folk culture books and Irish agrarian history books are falling short. 2. Do any makers of kits (Anscorton, Langley, others) offer a kit for a cart that matches a specific Irish design? 3. Might anyone be able to recommend a published source of the history of cattle-raising in the Irish Midlands or in Kerry? I'd like to collect some details about the breeds and appearances of cattle that the C&L, the MGWR, and the TDLR hauled, to ensure authentic miniatures. Thank you in advance for any guidance. Martin Tuohy Tinley Park, Illinois, USA

Speaking of rail code sizes for the narrow gauge, I have found a supplier of code 40 which looks right for the 3ft gauge I will try a bit later to put a photo of it on here. As for code 60 that's funny as I also have some of that from years ago some one was going to build a large 009 layout and at the time that was the smallest size rail available, sadly he died and through a good friend of mine I was able to purchase about 30 meters of the stuff about ten years ago from his estate, when I get a change to start track laying again, i will try some of it out for 21mm gauge, I would think that as my concept is based on the Belfast and County Down, I would think the rail profile would be reasonably small code 60 or 70 perhaps.

Speaking to Andrew Burnham today he told me that at the moment RM and CM are working at half speed since so many of the staff are still off with things to do with the Covid Virus so they are way behind with articles on layouts at the moment.

Hi Guys just to give you all a bit of the heads up, I have just emailed a friend of mine at Peco and they were not aware of this forum, so now they have a link so don't be surprised if you get asked about your modelling from them, it would be good to see some of these layouts in the magazine and also some of the how to do it articles as well.

Thanks David, I am thinking around post war 1945 to 1960 period while it is very complex I am thinking in terms of something like the DownPatrick Junction as a starter layout, it should give me a roundy roundy bit and a branch line to a fiddle yard via a triangle for now, So code 60 sounds like the size to go for.

Hi guys I am sure we have discussed this before, but i think I must be forgetting. What code rail would you all consider using on a 21mm gauge Irish layout, I don't really do 21mm modelling (yet) but if I ever do get around to it, I am just thinking out loud. Colin

We do have a few railways in the UK which are not volunteer lead, such as the Launceston Steam Railway http://launcestonsr.co.uk/ I am not sure just how many people are involved with the Fintown Railway project, does anyone know any more about it? Colin

Just as an overnight though and again subject to having the money and at JHB's suggestion, if they could buy a couple of old wagon masters and then convert them to Donegal style looking railcars they could be on a win win situation, may be the guys at Donegal might consider this an option as well. They would be smaller than most of the old railcars, but they look like they have good gearboxes which can go in either direction at a reasonable speed as well which is something the old Donegal Railcars had a problem with, even I would consider swapping out the gearbox on the railcar at Fintown, so it does not get completely knacked with an ex Wagonmaster one. https://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/22/Wagonmaster.htm

The other alternative which is not going to happen any time soon is to find a lottery winner who is willing to move to the area and co-operate with the guys there to bring the whole thing up to a higher standard, I did read in one of the UK railway mags sometime ago they had plans to take the line to the outside of Genties and build a new station in that area. I am just not sure how realistic such a plan could be, but given the current lack of man power they have, I can't see an extension happening there any time soon, the sad fact is if and when those that run it start to give up the situation is only going to get worse. What it needs is a commercial manager with the understanding of how the internet works, I do find that it is hard to find anything about it on the web or if I do it is out of date. If they had a decent online shop, cafe and toilets, it might bring in a few bob to help keep the place open.

If I recall correctly they used to be government funded at one point, may be this has now finished and relying on volunteers in that part of the world may make things difficult. It might be wise in that case to revert to weekend only working. Colin Rainsbury

It has also been suggested that I also look into a circus ring master uniform for him, I just need to find out how tail Austin was

There is a company over here that do 3D figures, if I can get enough information about the man it might be worth a try, I hope they will have a few clear photos of him without the loudhailer and some details such as just how tail he was etc the important bits are his face and hands as to costumes I am sure we can find something suitable on line. Colin

Thanks Broithe, I have just contacted them, lets see what turns up. Colin

Hi Guys believe it or not but this is railway related. For those of you that have seen or read Modelling the Irish Narrow Gauge by the late David Lloyd, you will be aware of his freelanced layout called 'Coolcalaghta'. So far I have yet to get to Ireland for a field trip (Covid stopped me doing that this year). However what I am trying to do is to find out more about a West Cork / Bantry Bay character by the name of Austin Twomey, his clam to fame is that he used to dress up as an admiral or suchlike to welcome dignitaries to Bantry in the late 1950 /1960's. David had on his layout a small cottage based on Austins House, but so far I can not find any photos of this house on the web, so I can copy it for my own layout. If we have anyone living in or near Bantry and knows the house in question, can I ask you to take a few photos of it for me. On a separate note for both 4 and 7mm modellers I have just spoken to Roger from Alphagraphixs and he tells me he is hoping to do a few more Irish buildings and shop fronts. I have said I would let you guys know and if there are any buildings in Ireland that could be made into good models, can I ask you to contact me off list. Ideally I could do with some decent photos of the subject or at least a link to it from the web, sadly my computer does not like to play with Google maps for some reason, at the moment, so I can't send him a direct link at the moment. To give you one of the types I am looking for is a typical Irish Creamery style building. I do realise that there are regional differences in Irish Buildings so, please don't be put off by this, as the more information about these buildings the better the chances a building getting done from Cork along with something else from say Ballymeana. Regards Colin Rainsbury

And if you asked them for money to help, you would not see them again.

Hi JHB yes I totally agree, I guess the biggest problem for Irish Railway Heritage is in fact the lack of boots on the ground. In the UK you have a larger and older pool of volunteers to draw from, where as compared to that the Irish population is that much younger and is more than likely not to have that same sort of passion, forgive me if I have this wrong but I get the impression that you still have a large amount of folk emigrating to other parts of the world which also does not help, I don't blame anyone who moves to make a better life for themselves and their families, I would be doing the same if I was in their position. This is a difficult enough issue to crack and at present I can't see a solution to it. Colin

An old guy from the Festiniog Railway once told me the secret of success for any heritage railway is to get bums on seats the enthusiast will only provide less than 5% of your passengers were as Mum Dad and 2.5kids will make or break you railway. Cater for them and you will be here next year, the three things you need are clean loos for mum a clean tea shop for Mum and Dad and a gift shop not just for the kids but for mum to take stuff back to her folks at home, soft drinks, ice cream and sweets for everyone, Thomas the tank is always popular with just about everyone, Tee shirts, hats, sweatshirts with the railway site details will also sell. Don't forget a steam gala once a year for members and then if you have an important national day make that also a high light of the year with something special.

I am glad I found this rant, yes been there read the book brought the tee shirt and the rest, for years the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Association lost its way in trying to reopen the Railway in Devon. https://www.lynton-rail.co.uk/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwl_SHBhCQARIsAFIFRVWTjglhA4uJCxPYLtsjNK_NTur741mwzSzxYJh6Ln_hj4Ak5Z6sKXEaAsM4EALw_wcB At almost every turn the council at the time said no to the project. Finally we got our act together and set up the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust, following this we then set up a Community Interest Origination (A CIO) based Company, it is basically a charity but run on a commercial basis see the UK charity commission website for more details about the structure. So what we have in North Devon is a Trust which owns all the assets like locos trackbed etc and a separate company that runs the whole thing on behalf of the Trust, sounds simple doesn't it! The membership in turn elects 1/3 of the both the trustee and the company directors every year, but as no one stand up for election the same old faces carry on from one year to another. How this works is very simple we have about five or six people who have this railway at the heart of just about everything they do, what happens is they contact the people who have the skills to keep the group together on a profession basis, IE company secretaries, accountants, civil engineers mechanical engineers etc the list is endless. Most of these people live with in a reasonable distance of the project and so they all meet up say once a month to discuss the progress of the project and make proposals which then go back to the membership to act upon and help raise the money required. So my suggestion would be to seek out a person with the drive to set up such project in Ireland and to allow them to bring in the expertise that would be required to make this happen, there must be a number of people in Ireland who have retired and could give a day or so a month from the retirement to help get such a group off the ground, this could be the way forward to set up a National Railway Museum and Collection point, I know we have the Irish Railway Record Society and number of Irish railway heritage groups, but it would be a start. The biggest problem as I see it is convincing those in politics that you are serious enough to make something happen and to prove you can make it a successful commercial venture as well. The big trouble with railway enthusiast's are we are too big hearted and don't always have that commercial killer feel you need to make a success of a heritage project, for those that know the Donegal Railway we would need a modern day Mr Forbes for such a project I am sure living where I do that it is possible and if we could set up a new group to own 5T then so be it, you would be looking at around £100,00 pounds for a rebuild so you have sponsorship, donations and lottery funding (all specialist fund raising opportunities that need experts involved to get the results you need).

That is a big WOW, Fantastic

Wow I would love to see some photos when it is possible.

If i could go back in time with a load of cash we would have the best Railway/Tram collection going, I am sure I would try and save one of those big 4-8-0 beasties from the Swilly.