Kirley's Workbench

[Hunslet 102]

Great work as usual Kieran, some unique wagons being added to the stock 

[kirley]

AEC Railcar Bogies.

These bogies were of 10’ wheelbase and MJT did a brass etch for that size.

 

 

 

I tried to get close-up photographs of these bogies with no avail so I have made my own interpretation of what they may have looked like mostly from drawings.

 

 

 

 

I think they were originally painted silver.

 

 

Not sure if I want to see a close-up photo as it will only show how wrong I am but I’m not going to change them now.

[John M]

8 hours ago, kirley said:

AEC Railcar Bogies.

These bogies were of 10’ wheelbase and MJT did a brass etch for that size.

 

 

 

I tried to get close-up photographs of these bogies with no avail so I have made my own interpretation of what they may have looked like mostly from drawings.

 

 

 

 

I think they were originally painted silver.

 

 

Not sure if I want to see a close-up photo as it will only show how wrong I am but I’m not going to change them now.

The bogies sideframes look nice and uniform, which can be difficult to achieve.

 

They look like bogies for BUT railcars rather than the earlier AEC cars which had conventional leaf suspension.

 

I got caught out using MJT/NNK sideframes for an AEC railcar set I had bought a set of Black beetle bogies for the power car with the correct 10' wb, when they eventually arrived the MTK sideframes were an invorrect 9'6".

[kirley]

CIE Acrylonitrile Tankers. continued

 

Walkways cut out.

 

Tubing arrived and the remaining tanks assembled.

 

Masking off carried out in the sun which made this task more bearable.

 

Ends and tanks sprayed, the rest of the painting will have to be by hand.

 

 

A reward awaits after final touching up.

 

 

Tanks completed but am waiting on decals.  I'll put up a test run video on my Kirley Junction page.

 

[kirley]

AEC Railcars -CIE Pull-Push

 

I got brass etched AEC Railcar bits from Worsley Works to do the AEC's last working phase as part of the CIE Pull-Push set.

First to build the chassis and attach the bogies I had made for them last month.

 

 

I had a loan of a rolling machine to do brass roofs but it was only when I brought it out onto the workbench to do the tumblehome on the sides did I realise the machine was designed for coaches 57’ long and not the AEC 62’+ length so I had to resort to basic methods.

 

 

 

When I built my first AEC Railcar I got some cast parts from Phoenix Paints who had bought over MTK/NNK.  They had done bogie sides and Cab fronts for these Railcars but I did not know they were scaled down to fit 4 mm RTR stock.

 

 

I have placed one Cab unit on top of the brass Worsley Works Railcar End and you can see how much narrower the Cab is.

 

A friend suggested cutting the Cab in half and widen it so I thought nothing to lose.

 

 

 

 

 

I filled the gap with plasticard to bring the Cab out to the correct width.

 

 

 

I used some Isopon inside the Cab to give it some added strength.

 

 

Rough assembly of the body.

 

 

After removing the plasticard strip from the window area I replaced it with a narrower one and added the headlight and the headlight box above it that CIE added.

 

 

Assembly of the body.

 

I had started on a brass roof assembly but give up. 

 

I don't know how I would get the right profile especially when you see how much of the roof comes down to join the sides.

 

 

I've reverted to my original method of using a Comet roof and widening it as I did on my first AEC build, delivery awaited.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by kirley

[pat141]

Sometimes you can be sorry you started if you knew how much work would be involved.

But you get there in the end.

That was a lot of work on the front, could you have used the brass fronts or would that be

as bad?

[Hunslet 102]

A lot of work, but looking the part already 

[kirley]

12 hours ago, pat141 said:

That was a lot of work on the front, could you have used the brass fronts or would that be

as bad?

 

It probably would have been easier using the brass fronts, although there is a good bit of work trying to get them right.  Anyway I had the whitemetal ones so I wanted to use them.

[kirley]

AEC Railcars -CIE Pull-Push

 

I had no idea just how spartin the insides of these railcars were after been stripped of the original seating and replaced  unbelievably by plastic chairs. 

 

 

Stephen Hirsch kindly put up more detailed pictures of the interiors for me on Facebook, 'Irish Railways past and present' group.

 

 

My attempt to replicate the plastic chairs using acetate printable sheeting.

 

 

Side panels removed and the windows at the front of one carriage sheeted in.

 

 

Reverted back to using the Comet aluminum roofs.

 

 

A good spread on isopon to cover any gaps.

 

 

Rough sanding down

 

 

Then to the wet and dry to finish of the roofs.

 

[pat141]

Very industrious, and labour intensive.

If Punks ruled the world they wouldn't be riding around in those things.

It would be stretch limos.

[kirley]

AEC Railcar CIE Pull-Push.

 

Started on the interiors, modelling a 6100 type (Control Car) and a 6200 type (Connector Car) which had the Cab interior removed and front windows sheeted over.

 

The dreaded plastic chairs.

 

front window on 6200 type sheeted over.

 

A few test runs to sort out shorting and some derailing but got there.  Showing the rake with a CIE Laminate as an Intermediate coach and a C Class at the helm.

 

[Lambeg Man]

Great work Kieran.

[Colin_McLeod]

I loved the AECs in UTA/early NIR days but only once travelled on them in push-pull mode.  After travelling from Belfast to Dublin, I got a plastic seat in a packed unit during the evening rush hour in winter. I was going to Greystones and it was "all stations" in the dark and took over an hour!

 

The DART was luxury when it came.

 

Lovely, unusual model Kirley. Well done.

[Mike 84C]

I did'nt realise the push pulls were as basic as, plastic stacking chairs against  the outside wall! Indian comuter trains would have been more "comfortable" or on a par?

  Good modelling definately an unusual prototype. Well done.

 

 

[Colin_McLeod]

The only interior picture I could find.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIÉ_2600_Class

[kirley]

9 hours ago, Colin_McLeod said:

The only interior picture I could find.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIÉ_2600_Class

 

Thanks Colin, I had posted that picture earlier in this thread as it was the only one I could find  as well but Stephen Hearst came up with some excellent interior shots, it's hard to believe a Railway would do such a thing as use plastic chairs but I suppose CIE were in such dire straits. 

[Colin_McLeod]

1 hour ago, kirley said:

Thanks Colin, I had posted that picture earlier in this thread as it was the only one I could find  as well.

 

Oops. Missed that. Yes the interiors were dire.

[jhb171achil]

18 hours ago, Mike 84C said:

I did'nt realise the push pulls were as basic as, plastic stacking chairs against  the outside wall! Indian comuter trains would have been more "comfortable" or on a par?

  Good modelling definately an unusual prototype. Well done.

 

 

They weren't always - they had good and very comfortable seats when new.

 

In the mid-1950s the ones on the Waterford & Tramore line had bus seats fitted, and during the 1960s i think that a few in the Dublin suburban area had these fitted too.

 

By the 1970s they were vandalised internally within an inch of their lives, and instead of incinerating the morons who do this type of thing, CIE took out the seats and installed the plastic chairs. The other necessity was that due to lack of rolling stock, they wanted to increase standing capacity.

 

The last time i travelled in one was to Howth in 1981. It was a very sad fall from a decade earlier, when I had travelled in an even more graffiti-covered one on NIR - but at least it still had its (ripped) seats!

 

The seating in the AEC & BUT railcars was without doubt the best and most comfortable ever, in any Irish railcar. The modern NIR stock isn't too bad either, but you could sleep for ever in those old AEC / BUT cars!

 

[Colin_McLeod]

2 hours ago, jhb171achil said:

The seating in the AEC & BUT railcars was without doubt the best and most comfortable ever, in any Irish railcar. The modern NIR stock isn't too bad either, but you could sleep for ever in those old AEC / BUT cars!

 

Remember the armchair seats in the first class with a view through the driver's cab to the tracks ahead.

[John M]

I regularly traveled in AEC railcar sets on family seaside trips to Bray and occasional trips to Butlins as a teenage in the late 60s early 70s, some cars still had 1st class seating thought the majority had 3+2 bus seating in the standard class saloon.  

 

The majority retained were fitted with 3+2 bus seating when originally converted to push-pull use, the bus seating was removed and replaced with plastic seating to increase standing capacity as CIE was acutely short of passenger stock. The Push Pull stock were less steady than the AEC railcars at speed and swayed noticeably while running at speed through the reverse curves south of Killiney where the railway was diverted inland from the original coastal route between Killiney and Bray

 

The majority of Push Pull sets were marshaled into rakes of 5 coaches usually a 2+3 set made up of a Push Pull Driving car ex 1951  2600 Railcar, 2 Push Pull Intermediates ex 1951 2600 railcars, 1 Push Pull Intermediate ex 2660 series Powered Intermediate car, 1 Push Pull Connector Car ex 1951 2600 Railcar. the majority of the powered intermediates had a higher roof profile than the 2600 series railcars. 

 

Push Pull work took a heavy toll on the AEC cars and many sets had a patch work appearance a mixture of worn and newly painted cars with detail differences as individual coaches were cycled through Inchacore for repair to keep the trains in service. Although freshly painted repaired cars took on an increasingly spartan appearance with plain glass replacing sliding lights as Inchacore used up its stock of suitable spare parts.

 

The most positive legacy of the Push Pull sets despite their limitations was in establishing that there was sufficient demand for a rail commuter service to justify the investment in the DART at a time there was little political support for investment in rail passenger services.

 

[colmflanagan]

Just a memory of travelling on one of the AECs which still had the luxurious seating in first class, in this case at the back of the train.  Coming into the city from Blackrock in the evening and passing through the closed stations at Booterstown, Merrion, Sandymount  and Sydney Parade and watching the crossing  gates close immediately after we passed through, the red lamps glowing in the semi darkness.  Most trains ran from Blackrock to Lansdowne Road non stop. Apart from Merrion, all these re-opened later. Lovely....

 

Colm Flanagan

[kirley]

Airfix Esso Tanker

 

This model dates back to the early 60’s and the solebar was broken off on one side. Also it was in bits with just the axle boxes remaining intact. It nearly went into the bin but I thought I would see if it could be repaired. Getting the axle boxes back on and keeping everything level was the tricky part.

 

I cut some brass scrap to fabricate the reinforcement CIE added to these tankers. Then buffer beams and buffers.

 

 

Cutting plasticard triangles to fit the reinforcing strips was not any easy job. Brake gear, gangways and ladders added. Ready for priming.

 

 

 

Primer coat added.

 

 

 

Model painted and decals added.

 

[Robert Shrives]

That does look very good , an other 15 or so and that is the Sligo fuel sorted ... i gave up after 5 for the CIE fuel trains!    If Revoultion were to set N shrink ray to opposite then this would all be much easier! 

Robert    

[Hunslet 102]

Nice job Kieran 

[kirley]

MIR MkIII EGV

 

Getting hard to find, MIR brass etches using a Lima MkIII as donor.

 

 

 

Edited October 18, 2020 by kirley
removed extra photos