Colin R

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

What you won the lottery and you haven't told us?

Cheers Tony, I had wondered that to be honest, I have found a drawing of the standard GNRi 16ft 11inch wagon chassis, I am in two mines at the moment about what to do with it. Do I ask Worsley Works if they can do an etch of the chassis or do I try and make some out of resin myself? I could if I have a better computer try doing them in 3D Print and making a master of it to then do more in resin. Either way the drawing I have is OK but is not to a scale I reckonise, all the dimensions are there but it is not in a position to just cut and paste on a computer. Back to the drawing board I guess. Colin

Hi all, I have just come across one of a number of drawings which I had though I had lost, I am sure I have others but can't find them at the moment. The question I have is:- has anyone produced a RTR model of the Guinness vans? I think someone once produced a freelance version based on a UK OO scale van body, but I can't recall the details Help please? Colin

Hi Guys I know it has been sometime since anyone wrote on this thread, but I was wondering does anyone have a copy of the standard 20ft chassis as used by the CIE? I am sure that there must be someone who has a copy and also some one who is up to date with 3D Cad drawing. If it could be done in 3D then all it would require is the person who buys a print is to clean it up, paint it, fit wheels, top hat bearings and coupling and you have a RTR chassis. Colin

It is not often that railways feature on the BBC news unless it is involved in an accident. But tonight it appeared in a section about the up coming UK General Election and boarder controls, not really interested in the politics, but just watching the railways has made my day, I think it was the enterprise (no not the one with Capt James T Kirk) which looked fantasic.

I can understand the direction that the owners of MIR may be going in, but unless you can offer something new, the market for a second or third manufactures of what I would call modern day rail operations 1970 to date rolling stock must be limited. If it was down to me I would look at the period from 1940 to 1970 as that to me has more change than at any other period, lines being closed, a transformation for steam to diesel, the realisation of block container trains, mechanical to electrical powered signalling, all these things where going on and it would be great to see a model of the Irish railway system during that period. While the Irish Railway modelling scene may be small compared to some others, it has the potential to grow. If there was, say two or three van types from the 1940 to 1960's period, a cattle wagon or van, a combination good/cattle van, a mineral/open wagon and a brake van where to become the core models for a new range of models then you might be on to a winner. In an ideal World, they would be plastic injection moulded kits, like those from Parkside Dundas, or Ratio as examples. It certainly won't make you a fortune over night, but knowing that the range was there will lead to an up take of Irish modelling. The 009 world has for many years relied on kits alone, a few years ago it started to get popular to look across the waters at the Irish narrow gauge World and for me I was and still am hooked on those railways, I decided that I would get out of my model narrow gauge coach in Victoria Road, Derry and explore those other railways stations with Blue and black steam locos, only to find that this was an area that was just as fascinating as the narrow gauge scene was. Colin

Hi Tony that Paddy Mallons archive looks interesting, can you recall what else was in there? it state it has some drawings of Locomotives and Carriage's, do you think they would photocopy them for research and modelling use? Colin

Yes some one else told me to be wary about the group, which from what I can find out is nothing but a one man band. I have as yet to buy any of the publications, but there are a few which I would have though deserved to remain in print but are not at present. As for the groups heritage aspirations, I don't think that is going to happen, he is still advertising that they are after two UK standard gauge steam locos, which having spoken to one of the former owners, I understand that they have both been sold to another railway in the UK. Sadly the heritage railway World has more than a few people who want to preserve every nut and bolt, but are not willing to co-operate with an established group to achieve their aims. They prefer to go off and do their own thing. That said he appears to be have a lot of knowledge about the B&CDR for which I am very thankful. Colin