Colin R

Thanks, sadly I can't get over to see it right now and at this rate I don't have a clue as to when that will be, but thanks for the heads up guys. I can see another book for you JHB, the proposed railways of Ireland, I would buy a copy if you included typical designs of building by the proposed railway company it would appeal to modellers I am sure. From the research I have done on the Donegal, I have come to the conclusion that there were four different design periods of the railway line from Donegal to Killysbeg and the Ballyshannon lines have different architecture, the main line as I call it from Strabane to Stranorlar had a more robust design and both the Letterkenny and the Glenties branches also had different but typical Irish narrow gauge designs based on typical department of works designs. I am thinking it would be possible to come up with a generic station building which could be used for Irish Modellers, A brick version for anyone who wants a GNR(I) style building, a stone version for mostly anywhere else and possibly a rendered version for some of the more important stations around Ireland, this could be done on the same basis as the many way Peco station kit, the big difference for Irish station buildings is the use of arched windows, I know this is a very simplistic view of station buildings but if you have the basics you can modify them to your hearts content. Colin R

Hi guys, I know it is a wonderful thing to be able to just sit back and look through the pile of model railway magazines and books if you are looking for that one piece of information, but I am now thinking that it could be on line somewhere. The information I am seeking is the proposed extensions to both the Donegal and Swilly lines to help relive the congestion of the North West part of Ireland, after the potato faming in the 1880’s. I am sure I have seen a map and a drawing of all the proposals for the area somewhere but can I recall it? No. Thanks once again for any help given. Colin Rainsbury

Sounds like a new Donegal book is in the making for both railways, it appears that these railways are finding there feet when it comes to publicity, the modelling charm of both Donegal railways does not fade and any new photo albums that come along with photos about both lines I have not seen before, will alway be welcome. Colin R

Hi Guys to kick this one of we already have The Quiet Man with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, I will follow this up with the First Great Train Robbery with Sean Connery. However I am not sure what locos and rolling stock was used in that film and if any of it still survives? A third film with even less information was the one based on the West Clare Railway, All I know was that one of the steam locos got an unsual livery for its appearance in the film that in fact saved it from the scrap man. Does anyone know the name of the film and what it was all about? A forth film I recalling seeing once had Spencer Tracy in it, I think it was black and white he play the role of a priest I think chasing a villian around Ireland after he had murdered someone, the Sci fi effects for the time where very good, the closing bit of the film had the villian struck down by a thunderbolt or hand of god after Spencer Trancy denounced him as a murderer, all good stuff. I am sure there are other films showing Irish Railways but I don't know the names of them, any help would be appricated with the films and rolling stock that can be seen in them. Colin Rainsbury

I recall there is somewhere on here a thread about this book and as it turned out, it is not as usefull as we had hoped, it is good for the basic dimensions but that is about it. In the new year I will purchase a copy of the IRRS CD of coach drawings, what exactly is on the CD i don't know but I am told there are a lot of drawings which I will find to be useful. Colin R

Hi Yes I have heard about that one and I think it has a number of excellent drawings which are suitable for kits Colin

If anyone has drawings of any rolling stock they want it done as a set of basic brass etch parts then Worsley works can do that for you.

Hi Guys the man whos kits they are has said if we can give him any drawings of the sides and other details he is willing to look at doing some etch sides for us, that is if we want him to? Drawings anyone? Colin

Would add to the fun of the kit bash I think. Colin Hi here is a bit more infomation about them https://caley.com/assets/pdfs/Grampian.pdf I will see if I can find some photos of the kits for you. Colin

Hi Guys Following this up with the new Cale 0-6-0 from Rails of Sheffield, I came across these coach kits:- https://caley.com/grampian.php I was wondering if they could be made in to the GSWR Express coaches? What do you think? Colin Rainsbury

Give it time as I am sure a BR Black version will be along soon, so that won't be so bad. Colin R

Thanks a lot Wrenneire you got a bunch of guys on here about to turn blue and there breathing again

Haltwhistle ain't that served by a 2ft gauge railway now? could explain the delay and you may have to wait for the santa speical to run Colin

Thank you there is a lot more on this site I did not know about. Colin R

Galteemore can you send me the website link please, I did have these photos years ago but I lost them, I had plans to build the Parke building at one stage for the 00n3 layout, if it is the same website there was a fantasic looking creamary on there as well, but can I recall how I found them? no I can't. Colin R

I wonder if some of these shops might open a branch in Ireland to get over the boarder controls and still deal with in europe? Colin

Too late I already knew what that meant, just don't ask how I know as I found out from a Nurse I had been working with in A&E the night before, trouble is now I have that vision back in my head again. As this is a family forum I will leave it at that, however it did get me into a fit of giggles which when the subject comes ups starts me off again Colin R

No problem with that, its great to hear the old stories from a lifetime long ago, its these things which make memories and can be passed on. Colin

Thanks guys I had wondered, since as I understand it a lot of produce was used locally so it wouldn't have even got to the railway for transport, thanks for that. Colin

Hi all Here is a question from a friend of mine, he is proposing to build a freelanced Irish narrow gauge line based around the Cavan and Leitrim area, what he would like to know is if any narrow gauge (or any gauge for that matter) railway transport milk in churns or did it all go by road in a tanker to a dairy for processing and distribution to local towns and cities? If anyone has the full story about how milk was transported around Ireland at any time this would be most welcome. Colin R

With out going into detail, I would guess that the Irish model railway market is very much based on the Irish railways of the last 50 years or so. It is after all what most of you guys have been brought up with. In the UK, we have had a much longer period of model railways going back to the 1930's and also a big section of scratching building from the 1940’s to today. I can't see where the demand will be for a genuine RTR Irish steam loco, if anything ( yes we have had a couple of RTR steam locos in small batches, but nothing compared to the Diesel locos from MM, this will remain in my view very much a kit and scratch building arena. By comparison to the huge American market the Irish model railway market is almost like a cottage industry. I would encourage cottage industries within the Irish model market if you want to see more models, I would suggest we could do with someone on the lines of Narrow Planet:- https://www.narrowplanet.co.uk/collections/loco-kits Good 3D printing is coming and the printing machines are getting better, so may be with in 5 years who knows, it may well be that someone will develop the models to a point where a number of prints of different members of each class will be available, it will then be down to the individual to get it painted, but then this too may create another cottage industry by one person buying and custom painting these locos for the individual, as I see it, the market is full of possibilities right now. I think what ever happens in the Irish model railway market; it will come down to a few people who either have the talent or the will power to contribute to the market in someway, what we can’t allow is from either side of the puddle the detail suppler to disappear, while we have a number here in the UK a number of them are getting on in age and I can for see the time when due to old age a number of the small companies pack up and these items are lost to us all. As much as I would love to see more rtr Irish steam locos, I can’t see it happening anytime soon, due to the numbers that would sell could be even smaller than the current market for a new run of class 201’s

Yes I did get them thank you, however the source has asked me to keep them under raps for a while until the model becomes available, copies of the drawings will be available at the model launch next year. The plan is to sell copies in support of Irish Railway Heritage projects. What I have seen is the best drawings of a loco in years, believe me I want to share them with you but I have to honour the agreement I made to get them, if you want to start saving up for a live steam C&L 4-4-0T loco then I would do so, you will not be disappointed. I will start a new thread once all the bits I have ordered turn up to start the build of these 00n3 locos. I have five kits, but I am only planning to build two at this moment in time. I also have a number of other 12mm narrow gauge loco kits that have been half started so I do need to sort these out at the same time. Colin

Hi Guys can you spare a few miniutes to support the Donegal Railway project? They are seeking our help to secure some much needed funding, please follow the link:- https://a.cstmapp.com/voteme/900417/641543168?lc=eng&ep1=mail or https://a.cstmapp.com/voteme/900417/641543168 Thank you all Colin Rainsbury

When Hatton’s spoke about the Genesis project, I did ask them if the liveries where fixed to those they had announced, at the time they could not confirm that but they where interested in the possibilities of further livery suggestions.

Haven’t a clue where that one came from, I must have been thinking of something else I guess, but yes heritage Irish steam loco they could add a bit of varity to anyone’s layout, according to Wikipedia there are 16 Standard Gauge Irish locos that have the possibly of having either kits or RTR model made of them. In my opinion if you are going to do just one Irish steam loco then it has to be the one from the film the quiet man the American market would make sure it sold well, and better still if is also came with a train of carriages. Once you have a working 4-4-0 Chassis it might be possible to develop a number of other Irish 4-4-0 loco types. Colin