Tara Junction.

[Ironroad]

14 minutes ago, ttc0169 said:

Hi Tom,

Thank you, The BELL liners were easy-I cut out a small section of the floor of each of the containers and blu tacked the battery pack to the floor, then threaded the lamps above the bogies and glued them onto the buffer beam,

The two axle barrier oil wagon was done in a similar manner,

The bogie cement wagon is an MIR kit and again as the tank is hollow-it was only a matter of blu tacking the battery pack on to the inside. 

The ammonia barrier-(I’ll take photos over the next few days) was a little more difficult -I had to cut out a section of the tank underneath to accommodate both battery packs-they sit on the wagon chassis and are covered by the tank-it works…!!

The fertiliser wagon would need some holes drilled in the base in order for the lamps to be pushed through-the battery packs can then be covered by a pallet of fertiliser 

I am using the magnetic wand supplied with the Mk2 coaches-but unfortunately in the case of the BELL liners it doesn’t work with the containers covering the battery pack -so they have to be removed each time the lights need to be switched on, bear in mind each battery pack needs two LR41 batteries to work the lamp,

I don’t think they will be suitable for passenger trains-simply because the wand won’t be able to switch the lights on through the roof-however I will attempt to put a set in the EGV of the Mk2 a/bs and see how I get on  

And yes -I was unable to find that support page on the website  

@DJ Dangerous-there isn’t much room on the chassis underneath to fit the battery packs without major surgery which I won’t be doing on that fine model. 
 

 

Thanks for that Noel, very informative.

My immediate thought as regards the problem with the units fitted inside the Bell Containers is that perhaps it's a matter of distance and maybe a stronger magnet (creating your own wand with say a neodymium magnet), may work  or perhaps simply attaching the battery/control units directly under the roof of the container, (access to do this is fairly easy because the floors pop out).  

As for coaches, as an example I currently have a Craven Buffet in a dismantled state, and the units will fit inside the toilet compartments, so I would expect switching with the wand should be possible by passing it over the exterior side of those compartments (albeit you have to swipe both sides).  

Seems like I will be needing quite a few of these tail lights.

 

[David Holman]

See that Tara Junction has just reached another milestone with 900 000 views. Didn't seem that long ago it was 800k and all this in 12 years!

[cudf]

Hi @Ironroad Looking for advice, I recently purchased a pack and I'm wondering am I meant to force two LR41 batteries in on top of each other.  It just seems too tight and I didn't want to force it, so thought better to ask.  I also don't see how to switch the LED on and off without a wand?

[DJ Dangerous]

1 hour ago, cudf said:

Hi @Ironroad Looking for advice, I recently purchased a pack and I'm wondering am I meant to force two LR41 batteries in on top of each other.  It just seems too tight and I didn't want to force it, so thought better to ask.  I also don't see how to switch the LED on and off without a wand?

 

Can't help with the batteries, but you can probably figure it out if it's one battery, or two, required to match the voltage marked.

My understanding is that the lights stay on permanently once wired, and the wand is the only way to switch them off without removing the batteries.

[ttc0169]

1 hour ago, cudf said:

Hi @Ironroad Looking for advice, I recently purchased a pack and I'm wondering am I meant to force two LR41 batteries in on top of each other.  It just seems too tight and I didn't want to force it, so thought better to ask.  I also don't see how to switch the LED on and off without a wand?

Both batteries have to be stacked on top on each other-the magnetic wand is the only way to switch on and off the red lights. 

[ttc0169]

It looks like the unofficial Christmas party is about to take place in the mess van…..

 

[DJ Dangerous]

16 hours ago, ttc0169 said:

It looks like the unofficial Christmas party is about to take place in the mess van…..

 

 

Any "morning after" photos of the resulting fender benders in the yard?

[JasonB]

5 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Any "morning after" photos of the resulting fender benders in the yard?

They're probably still in there   

[jhb171achill]

23 hours ago, ttc0169 said:

It looks like the unofficial Christmas party is about to take place in the mess van…..

 

I heard about that. Several of the Dugort Harbour PW gang attended, with a few bottles of holy water from yer man out beyond No. 2 gates…..

[ttc0169]

Happy Christmas

To all fellow modellers-happy Christmas from the management and staff of Tara junction.

The Christmas rush is on…..

007 worked the 12:05 Dublin Heuston-Tralee 10 piece Cravens set

017 worked the 12:30 Dublin Connolly-Sligo Mk2D set

208 worked the 09:00 Belfast-Dublin Connolly Mk2 set

174+127 worked the 08:00 Galway-Dublin Heuston Mk2 a/b set

054 worked the 15:15 Dublin Connolly-Galway mail train  

 

[ttc0169]

The 22:40 Limerick-Cork laden bogie bulk cement train passes through Tara junction.hauled by locomotive 080
The wagons have had their bogies replaced with new IRM bogies and have working tail lamps. 

 

[ttc0169]

Happy new year to all followers of Tara junction,

054 leads the 15:05 Cork-Dublin Heuston passenger/mail through Tara junction composed of a BR GSV, two TPOs,two Park Royal coaches and a Dundalk GSV. 
 

[ttc0169]

It’s a busy scene at the Lakeview freight yard where Guinness empty and laden kegs are loaded unloaded after the Christmas/New year period,

Fastrack parcels traffic is back too after the break-thanks to Geoff J for the truck to complement the scene.  
 

[ttc0169]

After a few years together -it was time to separate the twins…..134 was weathered to give that work stained look effect-with 124 to follow. 
 

[DJ Dangerous]

On 3/1/2025 at 2:44 PM, ttc0169 said:

 

 

Love the DAF in orange again!

i stripped one down but the whole cab, including glazing, was one moulded piece.

How did you manage to protect the windows so well when respraying?

[MOGUL]

On 17/12/2024 at 4:37 PM, cudf said:

Hi @Ironroad Looking for advice, I recently purchased a pack and I'm wondering am I meant to force two LR41 batteries in on top of each other.  It just seems too tight and I didn't want to force it, so thought better to ask.  I also don't see how to switch the LED on and off without a wand?

Sorry, a comprehensive guide to the tail lights has been on our to do list for a while in Irm towers( it’s a long list!)

You will need two batteries, one of top of the other.. It is a tight fit, but once you get a knack for it it’s easily done..

Just a tip for anyone that wants to add some to a 42ft flat, the dapol containers have removable floors, which makes fitting and threading the wires for the lights even easier.. I secured the light fittings to the sidewall of my container with double sided tape(€1.50 a roll in deals when I was buying the batteries) so they weren’t moving around in the container and the wires getting tangled.. 

Edited January 6 by MOGUL

[ttc0169]

4 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Love the DAF in orange again!

i stripped one down but the whole cab, including glazing, was one moulded piece.

How did you manage to protect the windows so well when respraying?

Masking tape done the trick DJ

[ttc0169]

220 works a evening service from Galway to Dublin Heuston

128+174 work the laden ammonia from Marino point to Shelton abbey 

054 works a passenger/mail train from Cork-Dublin Connolly  

 

[DJ Dangerous]

Thank Tara it's Friday-ish...

[ttc0169]

On 11/1/2025 at 4:49 PM, DJ Dangerous said:

Thank Tara it's Friday-ish...

It was ……on a Saturday evening…

[DJ Dangerous]

1 hour ago, ttc0169 said:

It was ……on a Saturday evening…

I'm a bit slow, you see.

[ttc0169]

Stores and ESSO oil trains on Tara junction. 
018 hauls the laden stores oil wagons towards the MPD to discharge their contents-these wagons were recently weathered 

Later on 018 is allocated to the ESSO oil tank liner train forming the 14:50 empty oil from Sligo to Northwall seen here at the station awaiting a crew change.