Colin R

I am glad I am not the only one that missed this website, though my computer had gone wrong when I could not touch base with you guys, was there a reason why it had gone down? Colin

Its times like this you just want to say NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO dont give up on the kits. Take in to consideration the size of the irsh model market and I bet you are doing far better that some of the Smaller British kit manufactures who would have a larger market. In 009 at the moment there is a lot more RTR than there has been for years, yet if Heljan can get it wrong then they are left with models no one wants to buy, but us 00n3 models felt a chill when Backwoods stopped producing his kits due to personal circumstances The upside of this is that some one is now producing the kits again, the downside is they are twice as expensuive due to costs, I did have a budget of £2,000 to buy all the kits I needed from him, now I will be luck to get all the one's I need for about £4,000. Please don't take this the wrong way, But I do understand what is involved in bringing a kit to market, there is a lot more to it than a lot of people know, first you have to make a model to see how it will go together, then you may have to make up a number of prototype just to get one item correct, after that you have the masters to make and you hope that they come out good enough to make the kits in, if it isn;t then you have to start the whole process over again (more time used up). May be after six months or more it may just happen and you get a new kit in production. you then need to price it up so you can recover your cost's, I don't know of one small model railway manufacturer making a living out of this. So what it is worth please make the kits, I might not be the first in the que, but if your kits can run on 21mm gauge track then I will be interested and in line. Regards Colin R

Yes please I do have one from the Railway Modeller of Blarney, but any other drawing is welcome as sometimes different drawings show up details which are not alway shown on other drawings. Colin

Hi Guys I am looking for any drawings or details about the locomotives or Rolling stock from the Cork and Muskerry Railway, I have the Oakwood press book by Stanley Jenkins about the lline, but the details about the rolling stock is a bit vague any help in finding out more detail would be welcome. Colin Rainsbury

Have been waiting for this one to appear would like ten but depends on the cost and if they can be made to fit 21mm gauge might take even more when the time comes. Colin

Well that is a good start Colin Rainsbury

When you see a photo like the above, some folk don't want to believe that it is narrow gauge. Colin R

Just had a look, I don't mind paying a reasonable price for things but these, well this is another matter, the long term damage has been done sadly, if manufactures stop making Irish models or kits because they don't sell , we shall be so much the poorer for it. I suppose if you wanted to upset the apple cart you could set up a bogus eBay account and out bid everyone and then refuse to pay, but as Noel has said all the time you have people willing to pay those prices there is very little you can do. However if you fancy a go with a air brush etc and doing a repaint Bachmann N class locos on eBay are going from £70.00 upwards. Colin

it would be a great advantage to all of Ireland if that line could be reopened, wasn't there a pipe dream to build a new railway from Derry via Letterykenny and on to Sligo a few years ago? Colin

I don't think so, but for me any model of a loco not only has to look good, but it has to be able to do a job on any layout and hauling a realistic load is all part of the package.

Thats great to hear, I like the looks of the meaty motor I hope it will have the grunt to haul scale length trains, nothing worst that getting a great looking model only to find it can't pull the skin of a rice pudding. Colin

The rail looks like shinohara track, but i could be wrong I think we have discussed this already but a may be which could have been I have always fancied is a Sligo extension to the Donegal and another could have once the boarder went up was a new direct route from Stranorlar to Letterkenny, cutting out Strabane. Colin

Hay Wayside it will depend on the weight of the rail, but if it is the right price and size/ weight, then I am sure you could try and sell it to any one of the British narrow gauge railway groups. 40 or 50lb per yard is what most are looking for Colin

Thats great John thanks, I have just taken delivery of a London Road spot solder welder unit it works like a spot welder but acts like a soldering Iron for Brass etc the advantage of this is you don't need to heat up a big brass kit to get a good solder join I hope to start to play with it next week but I have to find a suitable bit of steel / aluminum to use as my base plate. Colin

Hi John They are all 4mm or 00n3 gauge, at one stage i had plans to build an IoMR based layout for them all to run on, but I got somewhat side tracked with the project so it has no progressed for a couple of years. Colin

Hi John Thanks for the kits they arrived today, nothing extra to pay this time , out of interest what size motor did you design this around, I plan to get them and gear box from Branchlines who sell a lot of motors and boxes. I am hoping to make a start later in the year once the Donegal stock has been built and the Ten (Yes 10) IOMR 2-4-0T's have made some progress, I have got enough kits to build about 20 2-4-0T if I want to. I guess it was being in the right place at the right time when a lot of these kits became available in one batch, this was about 5 or 6 years ago now. The biggest trouble for me is I have more than enough kits to last me for the rest of my life, but If i didn't get the kits now and if I just so happen, to find the time to build them at a later date the likely hood is they won't be in production Colin

Something I would like to try and do and that is to collect all the different types of tickets that where sold on the Donegal and Swilly Railways from all the stations to other stations . This would include both singles and returns for adults, children Animals (Dogs etc) Pushbikes? other goods I think, may have had a different type of ticket, I should also include 1st, 2nd and 3rd class in the above. Colin

I would also add the Donegal Railway Center to the list of places to see stuff relating to local railways.But at the moment I am not sure as to how much of this they have on display. Colin

Hi John I must admit my modelling isn't that good it is down to the other guys whose layouts I have helped operate that have done more modelling than me, they some how manage to get it right most of the time. Colin

I have a mixed feelings about this side of the hobby, personally I would prefer this stuff to stay in the county where it came from, but on the other hand there is a limited supply of Railwayanna here in the UK, which is not already in someones collection. While it is great that it get's saved and pasted on to a Museum, sometimes when it ends up in a private collection it is always that much harder to locate it after a few years. I would like to think that here in the UK most people are now much more educated about such railwayanna and they don't put it in the rubbish bin after someone dies (that said I know it still goes on), I guess what I am saying is while the hardware will get sold, what worries me is if there is any paperwork (which for people like me who do research at a later date) in the collection this tends to end up in the bin when whoever is selling this thinks it is worth more than it really is and they won't part with it at reasonable cost. I have a friend whose passion is collecting transport tickets, his collection is not huge, but to him it is worth every penny, but some of his family think it is a waste of time and money. If we had not told his family about them, I am sure they will not get sold but end up in the bin when he dies. I guess what we need to do is to make sure that someone else knows what we want to happen to all of this after we have gone. Colin

The great thing about a proposal is that if you take buildings of an established line, I always get surprised when someone at an exhibition states they have stood on the end of that very platform. That has happen to me three time now, and each layout is from the imagination of the builder, yet people say they know exactly where the station has been. Colin

Have to admit there is some good stuff in there, only problem for me will be postage cost's on top of any bids, I am taken with some of the later items about Irish History and Culture I would buy the lot if I had the room and the money to do so, just need to win the lottery I guess. Colin

Thanks guys the more I get to know the less I understand, just looking up all the proposed railways around Ireland is a subject all by itself. From my own view on the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway In North Devon, there where at least three may be four creditable alternatives to the final L&BR which got built. I know about the two proposed extensions to the CDR one to Teelin Pier from Killybegs and the other was only a proposal was to extend the line from Glenties to Ardara harbour. The book I have only goes into some detail about the proposed lines to Burtonport, so I am sure there is lots of wiggle room for other fanciful concepts. Sadly the pills don't allow me to drink any Bush mills at the moment. PS I didn't realise there where so many different Irish Whiskeys https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/c/32/irish-whiskey#productlist-filter Regards Colin Rainsbury

While doing some research and starting to read the book that old sinner, I came across some interesting facts about the proposed railways in Donegal. One concept which I have come up with is that a new link was built to run directly from Stranorlar to Letterkenny. One of the stations on the Strabane and Letterkenny Railway which would have been effected was the halt at Cornagillagh and also the station at Glenmaquin. If anyone can point me in the right direction for photos of either or both locations I would be grateful. Regards Colin Rainsbury.

The C&L bus coach is a must for all Irish narrow gauge modellers, if you want to help reduce the costs I wouldn't might having a copy once you get to that stage, in fact I can think of a couple of other guys who model the C&L who might also like a coach body etch as well but as far as I know are not on this forum. Colin Rainsbury