“BALLYCOMBE”

[KMCE]

Seriously impressive models and modelling - a credit to you Bob.  Let's hope we see more of them soon.

Ken

[Northroader]

Thank you,Ken, really appreciate that, as I’m a big fan of your modelling output. For now everything’s boxed up, with a lot already moved on to my daughters as being less trouble, so all I can do for now is enjoy the websites, and doubtful if we’ll go for another couple of months yet. It’s time, isn’t it? My next models are sure to take a long time to appear, but everyone in contact is very firm about me keeping things going.

[leslie10646]

Today's offering from Bob's amazing output!

This is from the "1900 MGWR Express". You saw the loco earlier ("Sylph"). Almost a train in a single coach - a 1/2/3 Compo!

Bob, did these coaches have a loo for the Gentry in First, or was the centre entirely for their luggage?

Thinking about it I should have photographed both sides! A lovely (very heavy) coach!

[Mayner]

29 minutes ago, leslie10646 said:

Today's offering from Bob's amazing output!

This is from the "1900 MGWR Express". You saw the loco earlier ("Sylph"). Almost a train in a single coach - a 1/2/3 Compo!

Bob, did these coaches have a loo for the Gentry in First, or was the centre entirely for their luggage?

Thinking about it I should have photographed both sides! A lovely (very heavy) coach!

Look like a model of one of the four 53'Tri-composites of 1900 the first MGWR bogie coaches introduced as 'through coaches" for trains from Broadstone to the Western Branches, initially would have run with 6w stock. Drawings prepared in 1897 coaches incorporated many Atock design features including window shape and paneling, quite different in design and outline for the 1902 Dublin-Galway Limited Mail 

Very nice models of a distinctive prototype built using traditional scratchbuilding techniques.

[Northroader]

There are toilets provided between the first and second compartments. it’s built with a strip of wood shaped to the roof profile, and a strip of wood for the floor, and blocks to keep ‘em apart. The build is heavy, too heavy, when Sylph is hitched to it and a brake third, there’s a lot of wheel spin getting the thing underway.

don’t go out at night with it in your pocket, if you’re ‘stop and searched’ you’ll get done for carrying an offensive weapon.

[leslie10646]

Thanks, Bob - I hadn't noticed very obvious loos there! My 77 year old eye was distracted by the luggage compartment. But what a coach!

Mr Mayne, six wheeler tomorrow!

[leslie10646]

The final coach of the MGWR 1900 Express Train. As Mayner suggests above, it is indeed a six wheeler! No less than a birdcage Brake Third. A Third Class passenger, given the choice of which coach to travel in would not have had a difficult decision?

 

[leslie10646]

MGWR Cattle Train opened this morning. No sign of cattle - but TWO BIRDS! The bird on the left is sort of sitting on track 4.75mm too narrow, Bob's little bird on right! Both lovely!

 

 

[leslie10646]

There were cattle wagons of course! Two of each of these:

In close-up, as they're super!

And nice interior details - note the cross pieces, I assume to help the cattle to stand during rough shunting?

While this one gives me an idea for the next PW kit?

Any takers? They can't have survived beyond the earlliest Fifties, but what a nice vehicle.

 

[Northroader]

The battens on the floor are fairly common on cattle wagons, and I would think the purpose is as you say.

Not having your commercial knowhow, Leslie, about what sells and what doesn’t, but I would think a “convertible” wagon with the centre open roof section would be popular, as having a distinctively Irish look, although a rarity by the time diesels appeared..

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, Northroader said:

The battens on the floor are fairly common on cattle wagons, and I would think the purpose is as you say.

Not having your commercial knowhow, Leslie, about what sells and what doesn’t, but I would think a “convertible” wagon with the centre open roof section would be popular, as having a distinctively Irish look, although a rarity by the time diesels appeared..

Agreed. The old metal ones obtainable as kits are a bit heavy. These wagons were officially known as "Convertible vans", as in convertible from general goods use (with tarpaulin) to cattle use (without). Examples could indeed be found in traffic until about 1961 at the very latest (in West Cork, perhaps), so while they did indeed survive into the diesel era, we're talking of dirty silver A, C & B101 classes, but not "yanks".

And several will be needed for Dugort Harbour, of course.......

[Flying Snail]

On 21/6/2023 at 12:47 PM, leslie10646 said:

And nice interior details - note the cross pieces, I assume to help the cattle to stand during rough shunting?

They're lovely wagons, I'd definitely pick up a few.

As Northroader says, the battens would indeed be designed to prevent cattle slipping ... and not just during rough shunting but loading and unloading too. The floors get very wet, very fast once cattle are on them what with pee and scutter (the latter can be almost as liquid-like as the former) 

[David Holman]

19 hours ago, Flying Snail said:

They're lovely wagons, I'd definitely pick up a few.

As Northroader says, the battens would indeed be designed to prevent cattle slipping ... and not just during rough shunting but loading and unloading too. The floors get very wet, very fast once cattle are on them what with pee and scutter (the latter can be almost as liquid-like as the former) 

Reminds me of our first trip to Ireland. It was spring and we were following (at a very prudent distance) a cattle lorry whose inmates had clearly been enjoying the new grass. A steady stream of scutter was dribbling from the back of the lorry, but when we got to a town, a small traffic jam resulted in a large pond of the stuff accumulating behind the lorry, much to the consternation of two ladies who had just finished cleaning their front steps and pavement area outside their house!

[Broithe]

2 hours ago, David Holman said:

Reminds me of our first trip to Ireland. It was spring and we were following (at a very prudent distance) a cattle lorry whose inmates had clearly been enjoying the new grass. A steady stream of scutter was dribbling from the back of the lorry, but when we got to a town, a small traffic jam resulted in a large pond of the stuff accumulating behind the lorry, much to the consternation of two ladies who had just finished cleaning their front steps and pavement area outside their house!

Near me in England was a rendering plant. Years ago, liquid 'stuff' - blood, guts and the sort of bits that didn't even go in sausages - were transported carefully in trucks with open tanks on the back. There was considerable dribbling of matter onto the roads, but people got used to that. Matters came to a head, ultimately, when a truck was approaching a pedestrian crossing and a woman with a pram made as if to cross at the last moment. The driver had no option but to stop sharply and the resultant tidal wave of guts, about a third to half the contents of the load, surged over the cab and onto the road. sweeping the woman and the pram for some distance. As it was midsummer, the shops along the street mostly had their doors open and the wave surged in.

Nobody who saw this would ever forget it.

Subsequently, the use of open tanks ceased.

[DJ Dangerous]

14 hours ago, Broithe said:

Near me in England was a rendering plant. Years ago, liquid 'stuff' - blood, guts and the sort of bits that didn't even go in sausages - were transported carefully in trucks with open tanks on the back. There was considerable dribbling of matter onto the roads, but people got used to that. Matters came to a head, ultimately, when a truck was approaching a pedestrian crossing and a woman with a pram made as if to cross at the last moment. The driver had no option but to stop sharply and the resultant tidal wave of guts, about a third to half the contents of the load, surged over the cab and onto the road. sweeping the woman and the pram for some distance. As it was midsummer, the shops along the street mostly had their doors open and the wave surged in.

Nobody who saw this would ever forget it.

Subsequently, the use of open tanks ceased.

Mmmmmmmmhhhhh, sausages...

[Northroader]

ask, and ye shall receive… (our local butchers, and we’re moving!)

Edited June 25, 2023 by Northroader

[leslie10646]

That's an offal lot of sausages!

[leslie10646]

Apologies to Bob for failing to continue showing off his skill. I did video this next train (GSWR Cattle) but the site wouldn't load it! So you'll get it item by item, starting at the front! Henry Ivatt's little No. 34 would have been found on the Kerry GSWR branches.

 

[David Holman]

Nice comparison of GSWR and MGW green. I guess that in terms of fine detail, these locos don't have as much as we like to see these days: no brake gear, the rather vestigial front splasher on 34 for example...

... and yet they look lovely don't they? Only goes to show the importance of getting the basic proportions right, along with a good paint job. Am assuming they run well too, after which all the finer stuff blurs into insignificance. Keep the pictures coming Leslie!

Edited June 29, 2023 by David Holman

[Northroader]

Hangs my head in shame, yes, I do tend to skate over below the footplate detail, such as brakes and lifeguards. My first kit was a Leinster Models job, and I caught the habit from that, though I expect the McGowans did it to keep costs down. These days when you open a box of etchings with 500 bits to make up the brake work, it gets a bit frightening.

[David Holman]

No shame required - they are fine models and anyone would be proud to have created them. As the late Cyril Freezer once said - you can't count the spokes on a driving wheel when it is turning. When models look right, as here, detail becomes less important.

 Keep sharing - there is so much for us all to enjoy and learn from models like these.

Edited June 29, 2023 by David Holman

[leslie10646]

Again, my apologies to Bob fro not opening his treasure trove more quickly. Holidays have got in the way, but the arrival of 00 Works' No.186 demanded that I open the box called "GSWR Goods 1900". This is what was inside!

When I extracted the brake van, I thought: "That looks familiar". Of course it does, I do a kit of it in 4mm!

Close-ups of No.157.

I'll photograph the individual wagons later. Another lovely model, Bob. Thanks.

By the way, if you double-click in either image you'll get a BIG version of the image and can enjoy Bob's handiwork the more. You probably all knew that anyway?

Edited August 4, 2023 by leslie10646

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

Stunning pieces.

[leslie10646]

Now, the cab of No.157.

We thought that the driver was a dead ringer for "Pearse" played by Sean Connery in the Film - although he didn't appear on the loco, too busy getting himself an ASBO for walking on carriage roofs!

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

Haha he sure is a likeness.

[David Holman]

Another itch to scratch - love the GSWR lined green...

[leslie10646]

Time for more of Bob's modelling genius. I think that this is a 47 Class, built 1879 - 1887.

If you think the engine's nice, wait until you see the TRAIN!

Individual photos of the wagons, which are masterpieces, tomorrow.

Bob, what comes out of these boxes, just gets BETTER and BETTER!!!!

Leslie

[Galteemore]

Lovely! One of my favourite Irish locos.

[Tullygrainey]

What a wonderful machine! And a beautiful model too. 

[Northroader]

I’m afraid I never got round to lining it out, coal in the bunker and so on. It’s built as a double bogie, out of necessity to go round curves.

[Mayner]

1 hour ago, Northroader said:

I’m afraid I never got round to lining it out, coal in the bunker and so on. It’s built as a double bogie, out of necessity to go round curves.

Similar to the LGB G Gauge American Forney loco, curiously the GSWR built at least on of its 0-4-4BT locos as a Fairlie (double bogie) but appears to have been withdrawn/re-built before the "Amalgamation"

[Galteemore]

A very fine example in clockwork was built by Drew Donaldson for shunting on his system. Thankfully immortalised in print - and in a case at Cultra. At least Bob painted his the right colour unlike Drew’s CIE green! Text from Gauge O Guild archive. The article is revealing both as to Drew’s methods and his writing style. 

Edited August 17, 2023 by Galteemore

[David Holman]

21 hours ago, Northroader said:

I’m afraid I never got round to lining it out, coal in the bunker and so on. It’s built as a double bogie, out of necessity to go round curves.

Immediately wondered about that when I saw the pictures and probably the only way when you think about it. Lovely model!

 As for Drew's article, can see I need to investigate the Guild archive. Easy to see why he is held in such high esteem. What some of these guys achieved with spring drive is just amazing.

[leslie10646]

Thank you Mr G More for posting the article about Drew - I knew that he was a clever man, but the thought which he clearly put into every aspect of his modelling just shines through.

I wonder if a modern electric model could manage the loads which his locos took with ease!

Bob, never mind the lining, it's a jaw-droppingly nice model of a most unusual loco - as I said above, the contents of those boxes just get better and better.

[Northroader]

Perhaps, Leslie, if you can do a photo of beneath the loco looking up, folks can get a better idea of how the leading coupled drivers are mounted?