DoctorPan

Likewise, Des was quite sound to me too, knocked up some GSR crests and lining transfers for me without any fuss.

As one of those so called over priced consulants, I feel like I must defend certain aspects of my job (especially considering I'm in rail!) Consulants will only report on what the client wants. Sometimes reports will come out and to the lay person or anyone with passing knowledge in the subject will go, "Hang on, you've not mentioned X, Y or Z!" When in reality, X, Y and Z were mentioned in a draft version of the report but their inclusion didn't back up the aim of the report that the client wanted or political reasoning caused them to be cut. Some good examples would be some of the choices for DART + projects, such as no new stations in South West and I'm sure the public will say the same about Coastal when it goes live in the New Year. Reports conflicting with one another. One report might come up with a lovely concept design for Rosslare but another might not even mention it. It again comes down to the purpose of the report and what crititiea meant to be used. I've had logical designs thrown out in the MCA process for simpler in concept designs but ones somewhat unworkable in practice and are going to be mired in derogation and plenty of communication from my friends in Blackrock. More often then not, the purpose of these reports is something to try and draw blood from the stone that is the department of finance for funding for some expansion. As someone who has and is working on Irish Rail civil projects, a massive constraint the company has is lack of funding, which leads to half arsed solutions to a problem that could be solved with a bigger cheque.

Yeah I always imerse my rattlers in a saucepan of warm water before a paint job, makes for a world of difference.

Ooh that's one of my Christmas presents this year sorted.

Tis no different to the time 216 was bright green before going blue while on trials and the same is what's happening to 134. She will need to undergo driver training and such so while she undergoes those, she'll be in temporary grey.

Backwood Depot in different eras tonight as some As are on shed. "You expect me to idle? "No 007, I expect you to thrash!"

And 3 emails today letting me know the rest of my As are in the post. Excellent, can't wait for them. Well done to the warehouse team for the turnaround!

One of my orders arrived this morning. 007 and 017 both look lovely and I'm blown away by how studly packaged away each model is in their box. Can't wait to get them onto Backwood Depot and for the rest to arrive!

Thanks for the update Fran. It certainly points to a good and healthy future for the Irish scene and a learning experience for the next loco release!

No, some of my friends saw it too....

More looking at emails waiting for the orders shipped one!

That's installed while they are dealing with it. Takes about 7-8 years to completely remove the plant and its root system. It's classified as "controlled waste" so it's an absolute pain to get rid of, as if not done properly, just spreads it around the place

Yeah, markers to denote areas of Japanese Knotweed. Here's the Irish Rail equivalent taken on a lineside walk during a site visit this summer.

Eagerly awaiting notice of any of my orders to ship. Looking at the lucky few who've gotten their ones already, it certainly looks to have been worth the wait!

Surely poached egg would be the broken wheel era?

They do if mk2s are in dark green!

Sounds like a job for the 42' flats!

Oh nice to finally see pictures of the real thing after hearing discussions about it 2 years ago. Will be a valuable bit of kit over the next few years with the various infrastructure projects soon to be kicking off

I'm hearing reports of a sample A has appeared in Hawkins Street...

One from a recent operating session saw the clock turn back on Backwood to the era of Flying Snails

The latter certainly point certainly reinforces the first point if one reads into IRM's previous clever combination of wagons allowing utilisation of parts to aid other rolling stock, Ballast and Bubbles sharing a common chassis, Taras wagons having the same bogies as the 42fters. Having Mk2 bodyshells, B4s and B5s in the CAD and tooling libraries certainly is boom to certain possible projects down the road, but that's a story for another day!

I wouldn't be surprised with a Jeep and then a Mogul to coincide with the launch of 105.

Yeah, there's two climbs out of Waterford, between Kilmeaden and Killmacthomas and then from McGraths Cross to Durrow. Afterwards its downhill and once you hit the tunnel, you can pretty much freewheel the entire rest of the way into Dungraven if your bikes are freewheeling.

Another +1 for the ebikes. Did the Waterford greenway to Dungarvon under my own power with my partner this summer, which was easyish given the ruling gradient towards Dungarvon but wisely we opted for electric assistance on the following day's return to Waterford which made all the difference.

I would argue that the 90s weren't the greatest era of Irish Railways. Old worn and flithy trains and stock, running on system that was held together by string, rust and prayer. At least these days, you know your train is going to turn up on time, is clean and delievers a comfortable service from A to B. I've spent a long time trying to convice my parents to travel on train and that the trains of today are far improvement from the old Mk3s and Mk2s they remember from the late 90s and early 00s when they last used the train service.