Colin R

I am looking for typical road vehicles of the 1950-60 period found in Ireland, as part of the long term exercise in 00n3 modelling I was wondering what road vehicles where in use around that period, I have been told that the good old donkey cart was still much in use, by farmers, but I was looking for cars and trucks used by the local gentry ie the Doctor. Would I be right in thinking there would have been more bicycles in use by the police and local council workers etc plus would the local shops have employed a boy with a bike to take out delivery's?

Thanks for the update Noel most appreciated.

Thank Blaine, to be honest I am looking more for class A, B and C Diesel locos in the green and silver livery period. does anyone know if these are on Murphy's model hit list?

Hi Roxyguy, let see if we can save you the money first, from what you are saying I suspect that you either have a dry solder joint (at either end) or the link wire itself is broken inside the insulation somewhere. Do you have access to a small hand held electronic tester? if you do try making a circuit with the tester touching one tend to the motor and the other end to where the wheel pick up from. if you get a circuit try gently moving the cable and see what is happening if the meter reading goes from 1 down to zero you will need to replace the cable or at this stage check for a dry joint with a small soldering iron. Hopefully this should sort the problem out for you. The other thing to check is the connecting pins between the loco and the tender, pull the pins apart and give them a good spray of electrical contact cleaner, allow to dry and re assemble then try it again. Hopefully either of these will help. Good luck.

Thanks Ciarang, thanks for the heads up I am watching this one, does anyone know what the are like to build? If I do win it, I might have to have it in the early as delivered livery. Colin

Hi David Thanks for the heads up, I guess he must have been ill, since I never got a reply to an email I sent him about a month or so ago. It is sad that he is no longer with us, I have a feeling I would have liked him. I don't want to sound like I am a buzzard circling about his estate, but I do hope that some one will take good care of his models and his collection for the time being and that his paperwork and Irish notes get passed over to the IRRS. Too many people I have meet and since died, have not left instructions as to what to do with their models and archive material after they have died. I don't know what Richards domestic situation was, but I hope he has some good modelling friends which will help guide his family into making the right decision. Colin Rainsbury

I am with you when it comes to 21mm gauge, I have a guy who has a small lathe, so I will ask if he can chop some up for me, both in 1/8" and 2mm sizes, I think I will always need some more at some stage so I might get him to do a couple of length's of rod when I get them. I understand they need to be 28mm in length? As for some one else coming in that would be fine. Hopefully some one will read this and get in contact.

Hi the last time I emailed Allen he told me the same thing, I know he was looking for up to four confirmed orders for the jeeps, I said I wanted two, so it would not be a problem for a couple of others to join in at this stage. I think they are designs for 21mm gauge, but they could be built for 16.5mm gauge as well. I got the impression that if we can get just four people to agree to any loco design that he can get hold of, then there is no reason why it should not happen. There are a number of locos I would love to see get this treatment, but it would still be a case of finding of any castings, wheels, motors, gears etc to finish the loco. LMS NCC would be the easiest to do since most of the Midland and LMS fittings are already done as castings by other companies. The GNRi should also be possible as a number of fittings are also available from the above sources as well. As for GSR loco fittings I am sure something is about, it would just be a case of find out who made what. As an example I have five Backwood's C&L 4-4-0T kits to make up. As they all come with enough bits to build them as they came from the manufactures. But I don't at present have anything with the kits to show what Inchicore done to them over the years on a couple of them. I need to find GSR style chimneys for them to start with.

OK Brian no problem, I have got to get myself up to Birmingham at some point to look at the Metro cam archives to dig out the Clogher Valley rolling stock drawings and some of the same companies records regarding Irish railway company stock. If there are any MetCam drawings of Irish rolling stock anyone would like me to try and take a photo of them for you, please PM the details. I will let the list know when I hope to be going, as I will need to submit a list of drawings I want to see a week in advance of the visit. This gives them a chance to find them and have them ready for my visit. Colin

That's OK Leslie All I want to do is to make sure that I enough of the right type of Irish good stock for the layout. For me I hope to build up at least two good's trains of thirty plus wagons a piece, now while I am not in to tail chasing, it is important to get a balance of goods to passenger trains. Not forgetting a long cattle train as well and then a short local pick up goods as well I should have a fair bit of stock to use. Just working out the above I think I need to acquire at least one hundred wagons and vans.

Hi Brian Should you find drawings for both the bogie coaches and you can obtain clean clear copies, lets us know on here and then send a set to Allan at Worsley works once we know how many he needs to fit on a sheet of brass I am sure he will set up the sheet. I for one would have a set of etchings for both carriages to help the project along. Colin

Hi Guys I get the impression that the IRRS has loads of rolling stock drawings but no one to go and collate them on a regular basis. I think Richard Mclachlan does a lot when he gets over to Dublin, but even he has said that it is more than one life times work to sort out. As modellers it is hard enough to try and get our heads around the amount of information which is out there. Hopefully the IRRS records are basically everything that was due to be dumped by the CIE when they where given it all, that being the case there might be a few gems which even the IRRS are not even aware of at the moment. With my 00n3 hat on for a sec, while I would think that a lot is already known about the Irish 3ft gauge railways, it never surprises me when someone comes up with another bit of lost information about one of the railways. Richard Mclachlan has said to me that the IRRS have had a number of personal collections which have been donated to the IRRS over the years, but which have so far not been co-ordinated with the main collection, people know it is there it is just about having the time to put it all in one place. I am sure if I had the skills and the time to do it there is a market for what I would call scale drawings of Irish railway rolling stock. A GSR Book would have to be split into a number of volumes to cater of all the sub railway companies such as the MGWR, GS&WR, D&SER as examples. But until all the IRRS records have been digitised it is going to remain a problem of just what they have got in total. the downside is the fact that those with the hands on day to day knowledge are getting fewer every year.

Thanks John that brings me on to another question tank cars where these for Milk or what did they carry, I am trying to get a picture in my head as to what type of tank car was used, there must have a been a difference between diary products and oils/chemicals. The period I am interested in is up to the mid 1960's or just up to the introduction of the bulk carrier fleets of container wagons. This is because I happen to like the Model A, B and C diesel locos that where introduced around that period and so I could just about run Green/Silver locos.

You know what Leslie, I cant think who that is:confused:, I think he trades under the name of Provincial Wagons:), I have visited the website on a number of occasions and when the financial drought is over I will be placing an order or two. The upside of having no money in the modelling budget at present means I can get around to building some of my 009 or 00n3 kits.

So as to not confuse the issue I wonder if anyone can answer this question for me. Besides the bog standard Cattle special of say 20 wagons plus a brake van. can anyone come up with a typical good train formation for the above period I understand that it might not be possible but I was wondering what a typical good train would have looked like, I appreciate that the the various lines and different gradients would have played a part in how long a certain train would have been. But I was wondering if you could get away with say two or three covered vans, a couple of opens/flats, may be a container flat wagon with some bread bins on it, may be a well wagon and finally a brake van. Colin

Hi all on Quest channel 37 on free view tomorrow 6th July 2017 at 12.00 am there is a railway programme called trainspotting, it is a bit old dated 2008 I think, but tomorrows programme is all about Irish Railways and the heritage scene in Ireland just in case you can get to watch it. Colin

Seeing that the K1's had a riveted smoke box, it makes me wonder just what was in the kits of parts the GSR got. I read somewhere that the Southern version all had welded smoke boxes so why where they not included in the GSR kits, was it down to the lack of Steel and a cheaper deal was done just to take the parts off the Hands of the UK government at the time? or more cynically on my part was it just a stitch up by the British Government at the time to get rid of a number of part build locos? Either way I think the GSR had the last laugh. Getting back into this thread has made me realise I have two white metal kits to build, so I will have to build one of each type now.

Hi Nelson, just came across this thread and I reckon that the L&YR 2-4-2 tank would make a great stand in for a couple of BCDR 2-4-2T in Green, might buy one when I have some spare cash.

Could it be an ex SL&NCR Coach?

Hi David I was considering the same route but in 4mm scale I think they would look pretty good Colin

So do I have this right then that very little Dublin & South Eastern Railway rolling stock survived after the formation of the GSR? Colin

I would be up for anything from the 1950 to 1960's. I did speak to Allen about the NCC Jeep and he reckoned he needs to have at least four confirmed orders for it to happen. That said CIE cattle wagons would be a good start, the only problem with a brass cattle wagon would be getting the right depth to the framing, I would prefer to see them made from a laser etched ply or a Resin body. Talking of other coaches may be the SL&NCR coaches 9,10 & 11 would also be great, I know Alphagraphix do them in card, but to have a brass chassis for them would be a great bonus. Speaking to Allan some time ago he said he would produce any loco or item of rolling stock if he had 1 the drawing and two a minimum of orders to fill one sheet full of etchings. Obviously a steam loco will take up much more space on a sheet of brass compared to say a coach, that said Jon, you know the ratio and the make up of MGWR coach rakes if such a thing existed. I do hope they also have a Martin Atock's 6-wheeled 3rd class brake, a 6-wheeled Lavatory Composite coach plus of course the 5-compartment 6-wheeled 3rd class coach in the mix. I would also love to see both B&CDR State coach and a B&CDR 6-wheel Passenger Brake van appear as well, as I am not sure if they have been produced at the moment. Colin PS I forgot could also do with some D&SER coaches to go with a J15

you have got to stick to your principles on this, it may be a small market but it is just as important to those who need your products

Well done to them for raising the money they needed, I just hope they can keep the momentum going. the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust has been going in one form or another for well over 35 years, but we have only been running for the last ten and that was with an industrial diesel loco and a couple of tourist coaches and very few active members on the ground. Ten years later and we have a huge Planning application in that will extend the line to just under 5 miles and we have one replica steam loco almost finished, which should be in use later this year we hope. 5 rebuilt original coaches and at least enough bits to build two more, and we also have plans to build four more replica steam locos as well. So giving the time, money and effort to do something, anything is possible, its just about getting the right people in the right place at the right time. Colin

Sound great Tony would it be possible to have the supplier details, I am sure there will be others who are willing to support the guys who make these items. Colin