Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted December 13, 2019 Author Posted December 13, 2019 A large box arrived yesterday, and an even larger one today! So that's my liners arrived... Do I save them for Christmas, or open them straight away? 1 Quote
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted December 13, 2019 Author Posted December 13, 2019 Ah well after the day we woke up to, I just had to cheer myself up.... These are beautiful models of a great prototype. Not only does the metal construction make them nice and weighty, but it looks better than painted plastic does especially on this kind of open framed wagon. If the boys ever do the beet wagons, I hope they make them of metal too. I'm looking forward to me ferts next... 6 2 Quote
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted December 15, 2019 Author Posted December 15, 2019 (edited) I braved the swamp and made it to the shed for a bit. 080 does the honours on the first Castle Kerry Liner train. Backing the empties into the yard... and then departing with a mix of 20 and 40 foot boxes. They look great, but I was surprised at how much rolling resistance there is. A scrutiny of the twirly bits under a magnifier revealed nothing obviously untoward, I shall have to have a more thorough examination at some point, its not really a problem although the GMs will certainly be doing actual work to pull these. Several of the couplings were jammed out of position so needed a tweak. One of them then disconnected from the centring spring, necessitating a partial dismantling and a lot of anglo-saxon poetry. They'll be replaced with KDs or possible Bachmann 'air pipes' close couplers soon anyway. My only regret leaving behind US outline modelling is the horror of UK buffers and couplers... the American stuff has couplers located correctly on the centre line of the headstock, not wobbling about vaguely in space under the headstock. Consequently, they look and behave just like the real thing, I am already weary of trying to fit KDs and other solutions to the IR stock. Edited December 15, 2019 by Dr Gerbil-Fritters 7 Quote
jhb171achill Posted December 15, 2019 Posted December 15, 2019 1 hour ago, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said: My only regret leaving behind US outline modelling is the horror of UK buffers and couplers... .. Lucky we're not in the UK, then! Superb photos, great layout. Those flats look the business. 2 Quote
Broithe Posted December 15, 2019 Posted December 15, 2019 2 hours ago, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said: They look great, but I was surprised at how much rolling resistance there is. A scrutiny of the twirly bits under a magnifier revealed nothing obviously untoward, I shall have to have a more thorough examination at some point, its not really a problem although the GMs will certainly be doing actual work to pull these. Plain bearings*, rather than the 'traditional' pin-point ones, will always have that bit more drag - what friction there is will be at a somewhat greater radius from the axle centre line. * I presume they are plain bearings, to get the axle through and make the bearing caps rotate? Quote
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted December 15, 2019 Author Posted December 15, 2019 30 minutes ago, jhb171achill said: Lucky we're not in the UK, then! Superb photos, great layout. Those flats look the business. Oops! Thanks for the kind words 4 minutes ago, Broithe said: Plain bearings*, rather than the 'traditional' pin-point ones, will always have that bit more drag - what friction there is will be at a somewhat greater radius from the axle centre line. * I presume they are plain bearings, to get the axle through and make the bearing caps rotate? I suspect that's the case. I've not inspected the bearings yet. Had too much fun watching the end caps rotate. Probably won't share that with the missus... 2 Quote
jhb171achill Posted December 15, 2019 Posted December 15, 2019 (edited) On 5/14/2019 at 7:30 PM, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said: Would the name be printed in Gaelic font? Is there such thing? The web seems to think so, but which one - if the CIE even used such a thing. It's a refreshing adventure, modelling something unfamiliar and yet not completely 'foreign'... The GSR introduced black enamel station name boards* in the late 1920s. By 1945, when CIE took over, they covered much of the system, though a few locations never had them at all, with older monolingual (English) wooden boards lasting into the 1970s CIE era. These were bilingual with the Irish name in gaelic script above, and in block Roman capitals below, the English name is a slightly smaller font. CIE continued with this. From about 1962, new CIE signs started to appear, These had white plastic backgrounds, with black lettering - a reverse of the colour scheme. the Irish name still appeared uppermost, with English below it, but both were now written in a script not unlike "arial narrow", and both written in ROMAN (not gaelic) characters of the same size font. If it's of any nitpicking interest, the posts and wooden surrounds of the old GSR enamels were normally painted GSR station green / CIE green, and usually found looking very faded, so don't use bright shiny green gloss! Some posts were wooden, but by the time most of us are modelling, uprights were usually rail. In post-1962/3 days, the surrounds to the plastic signs were normally varnished wood, with the posts grey of varying shades. (* as opposed to "running in boards". This is a term never ever heard of in Ireland!) Edited December 15, 2019 by jhb171achill 1 Quote
Broithe Posted December 15, 2019 Posted December 15, 2019 16 minutes ago, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said: I suspect that's the case. I've not inspected the bearings yet. Had too much fun watching the end caps rotate. Probably won't share that with the missus... "It's a small price to pay for perfection" Let her think you mean her... 1 Quote
Galteemore Posted December 15, 2019 Posted December 15, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, jhb171achill said: The GSR introduced black enamel station name boards* in the late 1920s. By 1945, when CIE took over, they covered much of the system, though a few locations never had them at all, with older monolingual (English) wooden boards lasting into the 1970s CIE era. These were bilingual with the Irish name in gaelic script above, and in block Roman capitals below, the English name is a slightly smaller font. CIE continued with this. From about 1962, new CIE signs started to appear, These had white plastic backgrounds, with black lettering - a reverse of the colour scheme. the Irish name still appeared uppermost, with English below it, but both were now written in a script not unlike "arial narrow", and both written in ROMAN (not gaelic) characters of the same size font. If it's of any nitpicking interest, the posts and wooden surrounds of the old GSR enamels were normally painted GSR station green / CIE green, and usually found looking very faded, so don't use bright shiny green gloss! Some posts were wooden, but by the time most of us are modelling, uprights were usually rail. In post-1962/3 days, the surrounds to the plastic signs were normally varnished wood, with the posts grey of varying shades. (* as opposed to "running in boards". This is a term never ever heard of in Ireland!) A GSR sign of the type JB mentions is below, mocked up before final installation...sourced from Studio Scale Models with plastic strip frame Edited December 15, 2019 by Galteemore 3 Quote
jhb171achill Posted December 15, 2019 Posted December 15, 2019 (edited) Yes, that's the type of thing. I'd go a bit smaller with the English name, a bit bigger with the Irish, but that's just a detail. Overall, looks amazing. I have a note of what the closest gaelic script on computers is - must delve. if I find it I'll post it. But that sign looks the business. Supports would be rusty-ish light green painted lengths of rail, or wooden posts with faded green that have definitely seen better days! The SLNCR, by the way, used navy blue enamel signs with English-only capital letter names. The WLWR had the same - the Collooney (South) one surviving until after closure. Edited December 15, 2019 by jhb171achill 1 1 2 Quote
Galteemore Posted December 15, 2019 Posted December 15, 2019 (edited) Thanks JB - it’s Weshty who gets the credit for the fonts! I will paint the frame green in due course...and I remember seeing an SLNC sign in the boskage behind Florencecourt station circa 1978... Edited December 15, 2019 by Galteemore Quote
jhb171achill Posted December 15, 2019 Posted December 15, 2019 Found it! After much perusal of Gaelic script fonts, the closest to what the GSR used that I can find is: bunchló ...which can be downloaded from the Interwebnet. On this basis, the forthcoming Dugort harbour will have a sign saying: Ceide Dhubhaigh Gort DUGORT HARBOUR Or something along those lines. Incidentally, my earlier post suggested "arial narrow" as the best font for the English version - I meant, of course, just "arial"! 1 1 Quote
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted December 15, 2019 Author Posted December 15, 2019 Are the little yellow container pads available separately? I need a bunch as I'd like to get more 20' containers... Quote
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted December 21, 2019 Author Posted December 21, 2019 The low winter sun catches 080 at the head of a lightly loaded Kerry Liner. 4 Quote
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted December 22, 2019 Author Posted December 22, 2019 An hour in the shed this afternoon. Made a start in swapping out the KDs for Bachmann 'brake pipe' close coupling mechs on the Cravens set. Managed one set before losing the will to live. Then the push pull set also needed a coupler issue addressing followed by a test run over the various crossovers to make sure things worked as intended. 077 did the honours. That's probably it for 2019. Lots to do in 2020....ferts, kegs, A class, 121, Mk3 set, scenery, signals.... 3 Quote
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted December 22, 2019 Author Posted December 22, 2019 ...ballasting, station buildings and roof, relaying the yard, weathering stock... Quote
David Holman Posted December 22, 2019 Posted December 22, 2019 What's happening in February then???(: 2 Quote
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted March 23, 2020 Author Posted March 23, 2020 It's been a while... the inclement weather and some pretty significant crisis mitigation efforts at work meant I haven't had any inclination to go to the shed this past three months. I went in yesterday and did some tinkering, as I was not happy with the goods yard, or the staging yard. Both will be adjusted but there's no rush. I also got some Taras and Ferts. They are all stiff, and even some ptfe hasn't freed them up. Oh well. Bit disappointing, as that means all my bogie stock is arthritic, only the bubbles and coaching stock re free rolling... 6 Quote
RedRich Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 All my Tara's and Ferts run freely without any drag Rich, Quote
Noel Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 1 hour ago, RedRich said: All my Tara's and Ferts run freely without any drag Rich, Love to see photos of your stock some day. Surprised at Dr G's Tara's the ones I unboxed were fine, free and easy. Quote
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted March 23, 2020 Author Posted March 23, 2020 Just my luck I guess... anyway, it gives my 071s some proper work to do Quote
RedRich Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 Exactly a little bit more realism. Should have added nice work on your layout in my previous post got side tracked. Rich, Quote
RedRich Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 1 hour ago, Noel said: Love to see photos of your stock some day. Surprised at Dr G's Tara's the ones I unboxed were fine, free and easy. Don't think so I won't be sending any pics of my stock to anyone whether you would love to see it or not. Not into kinky stuff.. Rich. Quote
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted March 23, 2020 Author Posted March 23, 2020 Once I'd got some online meetings out of the way, I managed a leisurely couple of hours in the shed rearranging the goods yard. 6 Quote
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted March 24, 2020 Author Posted March 24, 2020 I did a wee bit more, after 4 hours of online meetings and working from home, and a walk up to the pharmacy. It was a lovely day, for the end of the world as we know it! Today's job was to see about another small siding to go in, next to some sort of fertiliser, grain, brewery sort of place that dominates the goods yard I'm getting quite pleased with how this is shaping up now... It's starting to look like a proper little goods yard now 3 Quote
Galteemore Posted March 24, 2020 Posted March 24, 2020 A pleasing knot of trackwork in lower pic. Shaping up nicely 1 Quote
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted March 26, 2020 Author Posted March 26, 2020 (edited) I had a nice little operating session this afternoon, at the end of which if you happened to be on the bridge overlooking the station, this was the view. for the spotters, from the left: bubbles, flats, ferts, MK2 set, 088 on Cravens, and at the buffers is 077 on the MK3 push pull set 6105. Moving along the bridge changes the view to admire 88 and the MK1 GSV better... I'm really pleased with how it's coming together, the atmosphere of a compact busy terminus is beginning to take shape. It all fits into a surprisingly small space... I could have made the station longer, but I wanted to model the approach roads to a reasonable length.... most terminal layouts I see model the station then cram the approaches into a few inches and then abruptly disappear into a tunnel or similar. I wanted a plain length of tracks where you might lean over the fence and watch the trains arrive and depart, and admire the station pilot waiting for its next job. Edited March 26, 2020 by Dr Gerbil-Fritters 11 Quote
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted March 27, 2020 Author Posted March 27, 2020 I think we all know what's going to happen next... 2 Quote
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted April 1, 2020 Author Posted April 1, 2020 (edited) Bit of work on the layout, mostly built a bridge and did some tidying up... I need to reduce the height of that signal, far too tall. Edited April 1, 2020 by Dr Gerbil-Fritters 4 Quote
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted April 8, 2020 Author Posted April 8, 2020 (edited) I managed to solve the problem with 080 in DC mode at least, now need a chip for her and new arrival 078. I spent an hour or so putting kadee #18s on the container flats and then made up and ran a liner train. I have reasonably generous curves (just ask the wife) so I am able to use the #18s with no trouble at all. The working buffers really come into their own, especially when propelling this lot back into the yard. The fleet at rest - I have a 201 as well, but it's too big and ugly for my little railroad. My next loco will be something very closely related to the 071s but also rather different... Edited April 8, 2020 by Dr Gerbil-Fritters 4 Quote
Dr Gerbil-Fritters Posted April 9, 2020 Author Posted April 9, 2020 Today's afternoon Liner departure had a couple of Ferts tacked on... 3 Quote
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