Colin R

Besides a clapped out engine and bogies with hairline cracks, what else could possibly be wrong with it? Besides if this is genuine, anyone contacted either Downpatrick or the Irish Diesel loco group as it is more in their league?

Anyone got a few euros spare? http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/victorian-saintfield-railway-station-goes-on-market-for-750k-31128107.html

Good job this is not on Facebook otherwise you would have some one in the UK setting up a preservation society for it:trains:

Hi Andy I agree, I don't think they are going to disappear that quickly, but it would be a good idea to buy some in for stock so you know you have them. Colin

This is like a kid in a sweet shop, there is just to much I would love to model. A great location for a station Colin

Just a quick up date from Worsley works, I have emailed Allen today over another matter and I got this reply which was encouraging. He said that if we wanted a WT kit then he would need to have a minimum of 4 to 6 pre-orders to make it happen, this is to 1) fill the sheet to be etched and 2) to pay for the setting up costs. As for castings I have been advised that the Alan Gibson Midland/LMS white metal locomotive components are a close match and I think Alan Gibson still do wheels as well. As for a motor and gearbox I would contact Branchlines via their blog as they have a good range of motors and gear boxes, they also do a list of motors and gear boxes for you to chose your own if you so wish. at:- http://branchlines.blogspot.co.uk/ their email address is:- sales@branchlines.com Other odds and end could come from Eileens Emporium at:- https://eileensemporium.com/ Usual disclaimer I don't have any commercial ties with any of the above except as a customer. Colin

Just had an email back from Allen at Worsley works about the class2600 Railcar they are for sale at £58.00 or E 66.38 (approx) + P&P Might just have to purchase a set.

Make them into new age garden decorations wind chimes thingie's they scary the living daylight out of the birds as well if you are a gardener.

Some one was saying about loco work and number plates well here is the link to the website https://narrowplanet.myshopify.com/pages/thatcher Here is dart castings as well http://www.dartcastings.co.uk/mjt.php Also here is south eastern finecast white metal body kits some of the kits could provide the basic bits for the odd Irish loco:- http://www.sefinecast.co.uk/Contents.htm Also another white metal loco kit manufacture is Lytchett Manor models the range used to be the old Gem kits http://lytchettmanor.co.uk.websitebuilder.prositehosting.co.uk/lytchett-manor/oo-gauge-loco-kits

Thanks, that good enough for me to go and get a copy. Colin

Hi Guys does the book DIESEL DAWN have any plans in them? Colin

Is the Silver Fox model the only one which is available? as I would like to get a set but I am hoping to model them with 21mm gauge and while it is good to get a RTR model, it seems to me a waste of some money if I am going to ditch the OO gauge motor bogie straight away.

So who make the Railcar set? I wonder if I could get a way with a set going into the old downpatrick station before it closed? Colin

I will go over to RM web and ask on there and try and get a list of suppliers.

Great to hear Tony, just out of interest I understand that the buffers used in Ireland are a bit bigger that those used in the UK, can anyone confirm this please? Colin

You are right Tony the chassis I have a drawing for is the 9ft 6in wheelbase 16ft 11inch chassis. The trick as I see it will be to have the brake gear moulded as a separate bit so it can fit any gauge from 16.5 to 21mm if required. For me it will need to be set up for 21mm gauge, but any thing which is made in kit form needs to be able to accommodate any gauge. Parkside Dundas do this with there T&D van kits so the kit is viable for both 009 and OOn3 (12mm) modellers. Colin

Hi Guys This is an update about 3D printing from Shapeways:- https://www.shapeways.com/forum/t/road-to-major-fud-improvements-starts-with-repricing.80212/ A number of small 009 producers use them and from what I have seen they are pretty good now. That said they are complaining about the price of the prints. One thing that Shapeways has or is about to do and that is to allow the designer to place his model in the best axis, I have not use it for a while but, I am told that if you have a boiler for a steam loco it is best to do it as a separate print and to set it out in the Z axis as the print will not then show up ribbing. One 009 modeller is thinking about his next kit and producing it in a number of fit together parts using superglue to put it all together, the other answer is also that some parts are worth keeping to in brass sheet, such as cab roofs. I admit it is not perfect, but as a new technology it is coming along in leaps and bounds. I have been told that a number of American custom car shops are now printing sections of cars to fit as a replacement section which are already customized and only requiring painting to finish.

Right the details I have on the loco are this:- she was No 850 and she was the only GSR Prairie that they had, there is photo in the GSR Loco book which turned up last week, it is reported that she wore the CIE Green livery up until she was scraped, that said the front cover of the GSR Locomotive book has a painting of her in the grey livery. She was the only one in her class (P1) Tractive Effort 17,700lbs, she was built in 1928 and withdrawn in 1955. The 1948 assessment said of her that she was quite powerful but needed a lot of repairs, but she could not be replaced. She worked manly over the DSER Section, also there was much unconfirmed speculation that she used up all the spare Woolwich components, but it was highly unlikely this was the case, as she would not have been able to run since she would have had an axle loading of over the maximum of 19 tons per axle for the DSER. From the details I have she was a marmite loco some people loved her and others didn't. She was supposed to be the first of three locos, but I guess that teething troubles which where reported from the crews halted the building of other members of the class. you can find more details about her on page 265 in the GSR locomotive book by colourpoint. She makes for a really good model Colin

I would add that if there are official drawings of any Irish rolling stock then it might be possible to get scale parts made. That said I do have two or three GNRi wagon drawings which all use the 16ft 11ins chassis which from what I know appears to be the standard GNRi size chassis for wagons, if I am wrong then please let me know. Using a standard chassis would allow kits to be made since you would only have to mould the top of the wagon, for a different kit. You only have to look at what Parkside Dundus have done with their Tralee and Dingle wagon to see the variations they have done with it:- 1 the standard van 2 the cattle/van combination 3 the butter van 4 the open 5 the chassis by itself 6 and in conjunction with the 009 Society they released a T&D style cattle wagon as well I am sure that if we could find the right model making company to help do the same thing, but in 16.5/21mm gauge, then everyone could be a winner. As for the GNRi drawings I have they include:- two van bodies styles, an 4 plank open and a container flat. there may be more wagon bodies that fit this chassis, but it could be just a start. Colin

Hi one thing I was wondering about and that is buffers, I am planning to used spring buffers where possible but I understand that the Irish version are larger than those on the BR wagons, so whose uses what or does it not matter? Colin

Thanks guys that's the sort of information I was after. COlin

Thanks Glenderg for the drawing that is most interesting, I have come across one how to article in the old Model railway constructor on building chassis, but I am sure there is another one on how to build LMS style cattle wagons, its a good article just need to go back and read it again. I know Leslie does a GNR style cattle wagon, but if MIR where to do the CIE version as well that has to be a good thing. Colin

Do you happen to have a drawing for the standard CIE cattle wagon?

Having had another look at the drawing, I think the plan will be to make up a pattern in say micro strip and then cast some off in resin. Speaking of which, has anyone got any experience of using resin? the reason I ask is that in White metal you are supposed to allow so much for shrinkage but I am not sure when dealing with resin. Colin

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