Colin R

The old Station building looks interesting any plans of it? Colin

As is the case at most Heritage Railways in the whole of Europe, I would love to see in the long term some replica rolling stock, but yes it all costs money to do.

That is some grand work going on, well done Colin

Can you pay them in to your bank account?

Hi Angus a bit late coming to this thread, but yes I have as yet to visit the part of Ireland I want to model. Being a fan of the 3ft gauge Donegal Railways, I can say that there where at least four extension railways proposed by the board of works to decongest the Donegal area most would have linked to either the County Donegal or the Lough Swilly Railways. As has been discussed elsewhere on here and above, it would be possible to model anywhere and given that you get the feel right most UK visitors at exhibitions can be fooled into thinking it is a real place. Currently I don't have the space I want for a layout, but I have been buying etches kits just in case they are stopped being make such as the the Backwoods Miniatures (I only have a few more to get, but I am just waiting for the owner of a couple of these kits to give me the nod). The next stage is getting all the details of the buildings right, this is the bit which is taking the time to sort out, as all the prototype buildings have been flatten and so far no architectural drawings have come to light, while this may be a problem when you start to look into it, however you may find that many companies have a sort of house style, so it would be possible to use another station from the same company and it would not look to much out of place. Also I forgot to say that another important factor is real history, in the early 1920 to 30's, the Donegal and the Swilly had discussions about a merger, sadly it did not happen, but in my mind it did and a number of proposed extensions also got built, up to the second world war. For what it is worth my big layout will be based on Stranorlar on the Donegal, but it also has an extension with a new direct route to Letterkenny to miss out the boarder crossings at Strabane/Lifford and also at Castlefinn. Another line on the wish list could have been one to Fanad Head and the Lighthouse, from Letterkenny. It could have gone via Rathmelton, Milford, Tawny and Port Salon, before it arrived at Fanad Head and the Port. It would have also skirted around the bottom of the Knockalla Mountains as well, so plenty of scenic work on the layout. I hope I have given you a bit more inspiration rather than perspiration, I do look forward to see some of the results in due course. Regards Colin

Hi Ken, just found this so I will be looking in from time to time to see what you are up to, sadly right now there is a lack of funds in the modelling budget right now, but when things get better I will be after a few of your wagon kits. Colin

Hi all Its been a while since I have been on here (work and life out of balance right now), One think I have been meaning to ask does anyone know who I can contact about finding any old 3ft gauge WCR rolling stock drawings. I have the ones in the published books (the Patrick Taylor Book), but more so the other 6 wheeled brake vans that were used on Passenger trains mainly, I have a feeling that they may not exist, but if anyone has a contact, I would be glad to be put in contact with them, the same also goes for any photos of WCR rolling stock as well. Regards Colin R

Hi Jhb do you still have any of these kits left or have they all gone to a new home? Colin

Thanks Patrick and Galteemore for the heads up, something else to add to the ebay wanted list

Hi Patrick Sorry if you have mentioned this before but on page one you had a green painted signal box. I take it it is still there but you have now repainted it, my question is simply do you scrtach built it or was it from a kit

Hi Guys, I have just had deliver my three kits from John M In New Zealand:- CIE Heating van 3101-3140 CIE Luggage Van 2700-61 CIE Post Office Van 2962-2971 Due to a possible move next year, I am going to put them into storage just in case I lose something from the boxes. but I do have one question did any of these run in the green livery (you can tell I haven't even open the box yet, so the answer may be inside) Colin

Ebay can be a pain in the back**** someone paid £500 for an old Backwoods Donegal class5 kit over the weekend, in total they spend over £1,100 for four kits which according to the new owner of that range (which will be available again early part of next year) for just over half that amount. I just wish they had done some home work on these kits before bidding, as now anyone who saw those prices is going to expect to get that if they put there own old backwoods kits on ebay next year. I think they may well be dissappointed

To be honest I don't know as I don't have one to take apart to look at, but the locos I have recently obtained do have a far better motor in them than the good old Triang XO5 3 pole motor. Motor technology has come on leaps and bounds since I first started modelling railways. Todays modelling is going down the DCC chip route and yet what I think puts a lot of older modeller offs from going to DCC is in fact the issue of having to change in some cases the old motor so it can work with the new DCC controllers. I did have one loco which was converted to DCC but the motor kept running warm, it gave up in the end because it was not designed to accept a high current. The other issue for some is that since DCC is here to stay, there has been no development with the older DC controllers, which to my way of thinking is wrong, I am sure I read somewhere that there is a cut off point which is possible to back date older locos to DCC. From my experiance with 009 modelling, the older Eggarbahn stuff, does not like the 1980's feedback controllers where as the newer models coming out don't like using the older style controllers. If I was starting out again then yes I would go DCC, but since I have more than enough 00n3 locos which will run on DC I am not about to start converting them over at my age, unless I win the euro lottery of course.

Hi Geeb check this link out I do have one so I find it works for me https://modelrailwayengineer.com/best-model-railway-controller/ one thing to remember about model railways is that over time there have been a number of different types of motors fitted to model railway locomotives some coreless and others those much older will have had an iron core motor, please be aware that this can make all the difference to the proformance of your model railway. On another group we are at the moment discussing the merits of a DIY controller from New Zealand, the only problem is that you need to be able to solder to make the kit up. more details a bit later about them. Have a look at the following link as well https://www.railwaymodellers.com/morley-and-gaugemaster-model-railway-controllers-compared-how-a-controller-works/ It should be noted that you get what you pay for when it comes to model railway controllers, as others have said look around on the internet and have a look. Modern locos like the class121 should have a coreless motor so a gaugemaster should be suitable for your needs. Finally for now and I don't know if you can get it where you live, but try buying a copy of model rail magazine, it is a good magazine for all sort of ideas. Oh by the way welcome to the group and enjoy you new hobby many people do. Colin

I think the thing is most railway organisations at some point pick a pig in a poke, the other thing is technology also has to play its part. like the days of the steam engine there is only so far a design can go and as 228Riverowneboy has said the A class would not have coped with todays traffic, also I don't see IE buying any new locos at this moment in time either, what with the eco summit having just taken place, there will now be design teams at all the locomotive manufactures working out what the industry and railway companies will require in the future. I would not be surprised to hear of a IE bill to electrify the remaining parts of the rail system and the construction of at least one may be two new electrical power stations or the installation of bigger wind farms around Ireland to power the railways future needs.

In view of hybrid power plants may be we should dig up Mr Bulleid and get him to design and build a new version of the Turf Burner, but with better green credentials on the chassis of a 201

Hi Tony Out of interest as you are not going to lay any cork, how does it sound when you use a loco? My understanding for using it is to stop any drumming/ sound effect from the baseboard. Colin Rainsbury

The only reason they try to get people to go to college and or into university is to see just how much they can learn is the shortest period of time, I am personal disillusioned with the whole education system either side of the stream between our countries. Having worked in it for a few years I feel that anyone going now looses out on so much more. But most importantly, it is more about box ticking and not so much about the education in its own right. If you have the talent for something practical on the whole you are not always encouraged to develop it, but to become someone who is capable of being an officer worker pushing bits of paper from one place to another. Before you say I am off to where ever, just ask your self what sort of life you want afterwards, not every university student ends up with a high flying job. Also don't forget this day and age it is more than likely you will end up with having had two or three different jobs by the time you get to my grumpy old age of 63. If you like using your hands then think about a modern Apprenticeship it will make your life so much more rewarding, I have yet to find a course on self employment or how to set up your own company or stuff of this nature as this is far and few between. If you have ambitions to become the next designer for Irish model rail it would be worth talking to them to find out what sort of qualities they would be looking for in someone to fill that role. You don't have to be mad, but is does help you go a long way Good luck in your educational endeavours, who knows you may one day end up being the President of Ireland, you can but dream Colin Rainsbury

Just got all my 4 out of the boxes to take a look at them fantastic, now sadly however I am having to put them away so they don't get damaged while the work around the house get done, if everything works out how I hope it might, I shall be moving next year to somewhere that I can build a nice size model room, we will be starting the house hunting after Christmas as there is no rush right now.

Hi Robert don't put your self down one of the hardest bits in doing a production run is the prototyping to see how it is going to look in reality, most big manufactures now use 3D printing to make sure they get all the detail right before they make the moulds, for the production run. It used to be a very highly skill job to be a tool maker, My cousin before he retired used to have such a job. Cad Cam productions methods are used a lot more than people realise. your 3D work can in theory be used by a mould maker to produce the finish moulds for the kit. I do realise that to produce such a model may require someone to sit down and think in terms of the best way to go ahead in the production of the moulds, as a rough guess I would think you could be looking at something around 15 to 20 separate moulds before all the bits are glued together at the final end of the production line.

Hi Fran and all This sounds so good for Irish modelling one of the problems for model Irish railways is getting some one to do the design work, If i may be so bold but if we have any more talented modellers out there, then I suggest that Fran and co have a few quiet social meetings with these people to discuss how this can benefit everyone and not just us on this forum. Who knows what might happen, it could be the start of a much larger Irish based resin building series like those from Bachmann, but under the IRM label? Knowing how popular anything Irish is in America I would be interested to know how many requests for these footbridges are from Americans and does selling Irish model railways to America feature in anyway for the future? Good luck with this project, now that IRM are behind this at least I feel more than happy that I will be able purchase more than the two I was thinking about much earlier. ( I can feel the razor saw getting ready to make a few adjustments to one of them) Colin R

So since I have had a very brief read of this tread one question which comes to mind is who is doing what in AEC Railcar kits in 4mm scale? I know about the Silver Fox model, but is there anyone else doing a model of them and if so who? I am not sure if Worsley works do the basic parts and if they are any good has anyone tried them yet?

ARRRRGH. If I had known this was going to happen I would have asked for one of these as well, however sadly the bank won't allow me to have one right now. Like you say railway heritage is so very important to the railway modeller, I suspect these will fly off the shelfs as well. I will have to have another look in January to see if you have any left as that is the earliest that I could buy one. That is of course you don't surprise us again with another green version before then as well.

Thanks Galteemore, that make a lot more sense. Colin Rainsbury

WELL THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, You have done it now, the first of four turned up today it has been waiting for me to pick it up from the post office drooled all over it when I got it home, until construction can start on the 21mm gauge layout, it stays in the box so I don't loose anything a bit of a jig and a bottle of the black stuff are now in order but which comes first I will leave it up to you to decided