leslie10646

Safely home from the Bangor Show and almost got my equilibrium back - we arrived back at 7am on Tuesday, then had to take a friend to see "Madame Butterfly" at Cinema (don't bother) that night, some recovery then Good Friday given over to The Messiah by the Royal Choral Society at the Albert Hall. At last got the sums done - I might have made a few bob after the not insubstantial costs of just being there when you live in Surrey! Thanks, first, to Richard who took me in his Merc and did ALL the driving; and to NDMRC who put the event on. But most especially to the 70 or so folk who came by and spent money! Second Hand books raised £200 for the "171 Appeal", which might pay for some minor part, but it all helps to move the project forward - so a special thanks to those who added to their libraries (and reduced the load on the return journey). Richard enjoyed taking me to Ballycastle for Fish and Chips at Morton's on the front, Fair Head looked amazing in the Winter sun and the waves last Thursday ...... But best of all was meeting Ivor Hughes, who in the late 1990s built me a lot of rolling stock on the recommendation of our late friend Steve Rafferty (aka "Lambegman"). We had never met - now he's a customer of mine! Great to meet at last, Ivor! Thanks all. Leslie

Darius, I am one of your greatest fans, but ..... At the risk of being booh'ed off the site, I make these, RTR at the same price. You will have to weather it, of course - one of Colm's mate's did a beautiful job of that on my original GNR ones. See my other post re the 2024 ones (there was an earlier pair in 2023). One in brown, one with a two colour wheel at £35 the pair.

I have just taken delivery of two more variants of the ex GNR(I) Bagged Cement Van - as they ran on CIE in the 1960s and another as in 1970s. They'll be on sale at Bangor for £18 each, or £35 the pair. I will also have a small quantity of John Mayne's kits to sell - CIE covered vans and GSR opens, plus some RTR CIE brake vans.

I will have a few copies of this remarkable book on sale at the Bangor Exhibition next weekend. Also the other Lightmoor Press books covering the Irish Narrow Gauge. Proceeds to the RPSI's "171 Appeal".

Yes, Bob, the Third Man is a great favourite in our house as well - we're wearing out the DVD. But being a lover of BIG steam locos, it's the Austrian 2-8-4 drawing into the Westbahnhof (?) that gets the blood coursing through my veins! Your output just amazes me, congratulations on the new layouts.

A mere 352 pages, with exquisitely reproduced photos (almost one on every page) of both the Railway and the area it served. Michael has made use of research done by his late father, the famous PB Whitehouse who produced a slim hiistory with help from John Powell. Others have followed them including David Rowlands and Cork's own Walter McGrath. The photos are by "everybody who was anybody" in the railway photography field up to 1955. At sixty pounds, it is easily the most expensive Irish railway book to date. However, if you want a copy, PM me and I may be able to soften the blow, especially if I can hand you a copy, rather than post it. I'll supply post free to UK only - although I understand that a bookshop in Tralee should have copies. And I could bring some to Blackrock in the Autumn. Needles to say, I haven't read it - I have two other new Irish railway books to finish first!

I can attest to the padre's skills - as you can see! This is Alphagraphix, as built by himself!

Yes, @kirley is not just one of my best customers, but, as you say a very impressive modeller. His freight rolling stock collection has more wagons in it than the whole of the present IR freight fleet! Thanks, Kieran, for the tip re decal softener to get over the ironwork - of course Dundalk just had a guy with a stencil who sloshed it on, then tidied up any missing bits!

Just for your information, Stephen (and others) if you are modelling in 21mm gauge, I'll supply as much of any of my kits as you require, suitably discounted! These kits (a short run only) use a variation of an existing chassis (this one is 9ft6in wheelbase), but you can use your own chassis on some of my kits if you wish. Leslie (Provincial Wagons)

Hi Kieran. Does the QGT's Mum know that it's out and about? Also liked bike and more to the point the wagons - wherever they came from!

At the time when I was occasionally allowed to work The Branch on Drew's railway, I formed a very high opinion of his workmanship. Looking at the work at exhibitions in London a few years later, I thought that Drew's stuff would stand up well to the best of it. One thing I can state is that his coaches had no floors or interiors, so I guess that rules out the notion of "Finescale". The reason was simple enough, it was so that his CLOCKWORK locos could pull scale length trains. Someone nearer to Cultra might be able to comment further?

Hi Darius, that's a super job. Thanks for the very positive feedback on the kits. I don't need to advertise with customers like you! The one-piece CIE container was an attempt to ease the pain of those who want things RTR. It was doubly successful as it provides a nice heavy (scale) container to keep light things like flats on the tracks - especially if your track laying is as bad as mine! Leslie (PW)

JB is being very coy about his super book, so here is the cover front and back The Syndicate - which has been raising funds for Irish railway preservation for the last fifty years - is selling this long-awaited book in the UK (only) for £16.95 post paid. If interested, please e-mail me at lesliemcallister@aol.com and I'll provide bank details. Profits from sales of this book through us will go to the Connemara Railway Project. I look forward to hearing from you. Leslie

No, NOT about Riley cars, but DICK RILEY a famous English photographer whose photographs have adorned many books in the past. In this new volume, Michael has selected about 80 photographs (published one per page) taken by Dick Riley during a single, busy, week-long visit to Ireland in May 1950. It was the only visit Riley made to Ireland and he made very good use of his time. The photographs are from the Transport Library collection and are well reproduced in this small hardback landscape book. Riley journied from Belfast (BCDR, NCC and GNR) through Dundalk, touching the DN&GR, the three main sheds in Dublin, Bray, the Cavan and Leitrim, Clones, Enniskillen, Sligo, Strabane, Co Donegal, the Swilly, the NCC lines from Derry and finished in Ballycastle with a couple of nice photos taken six months before the end of that narrow gauge line. Michael has provided an informative, readable caption for every photograph, full of technical, historical detail with a fair sprinkling of anecdotes. Only available directly from the publisher - https://totempublishing.co.uk/product/riley-in-ireland-by-michael-mcmahon/ Highly recommended. Leslie

Thanks for posting this, Kieran - my fault, I'd forgotten that Aidan had a Thread running here too! To give you the full post - It is with great regret that I have to pass on the news of our friend Glover passing “to his reward”. Behind the pseudonym was a quiet, much-loved family man – Aidan Dunne. I received a letter from his wife Barbara yesterday, telling me that he had passed away in early August. I had been in touch with her, after Aidan expressed a desire to see his work retained in some way. I made some progress with that back on August. I last met Aidan exactly a year ago, at Blackrock, when he bought the CIE Cattle kits which you can see, superbly built and finished, in an earlier post on the Glover’s Workbench thread. Take a look at that thread and the Pettigo Co Donegal thread to see some very fine scratch-building – what we modellers of an earlier era have to do. He showed great ingenuity and skill to produce just the coaches and other rolling stock which he wanted. Please join me in passing on condolences to Aidan’s wife Barbara, daughter Paula and the rest of the family circle. May he Rest In Peace. Leslie

Ah, Kieran, your layout is a working advert for my wagons. Glad to see the first Provincial Wagons Fairs Special, complete with the nice antique GSWR brake van. Exactly my reason for doing the CIE cattle wagons and from the number of five packs (should that be six-packs?) I've sold, others have got the message. You win the prize for the first completed train. By a coincidence, I included coverage of the last Fairs Special on the Tullow Branch in a talk I gave here in London last week - 22 of those modern CIE cattle wagons, but a 20 ton brake, two Laminates for IRRS members and a six wheel sleeping car for the staff. Well done - as ever a delight to see "Your Line". Leslie

Kieran Wow, great work in two weeks - I admire your dedication to the job! Thanks for sharing this, which will help the other 10/20 people who have 5/10 each to build! Leslie PS Loved the S Class - I have one in action upstairs and another two getting the specialist treatment to get twenty year old engines to run well. That said, God bless Daniel Wu of Hong Kong who did a super job building them in the first place. And Eamonn / Terry for the brilliant kit in the first place!

Not quite, Spud, there were a few Rivers among them! A story was that as it was necessary to inform The Palace that the NCC wished to name a loco after a Royal Personage and that Malcolm Spier was after an Honour! Trivial Pursuit Question - the name of No.97 gets a mention in which US TV series? Useless fact of the day - PORTRUSH got mentioned in Die Welt yesterday. Interesting member of the class to model, Alan - was Thomas a relative? See you at Scaleforum. Leslie

Not quite, Spud, there were a few Rivers among them! A story was that as it was necessary to inform The Palace that the NCC wished to name a loco after a Royal Personage and that Malcolm Spier was after an Honour! Trivial Pursuit Question - the name of No.97 gets a mention in which US TV series? Useless fact of the day - PORTRUSH got mentioned in Die Welt yesterday. Interesting member of the class to model, Alan - was Thomas a relative? See you at Scaleforum. Leslie

I received the prototype today and took it outside to photograph it. This shot clearly shows the PLANKED roof on these wagons. Pity the poor cattle if it rained!

Stephen (and other friends) We took a decision to go with the unfitted version as it was the more common one. Likewise, we opted for the 1950 one, as it can be very easily adopted to look like the earlier versions (less diagonal strapping and a few little pieces of Plasticard would do the trick!). Three variants should be easy to do from our basic kit. We'll make some suggestions with the instructions when the kit is released. Thanks for the interest Leslie

Hot out of the mould! First photo of a built prototype. I think it looks great, but then i'm biased? Now, where can I find extra small Flying Snails? Rhetorical question! I think I can find some. Interestingly, I have more photos of them with "Broken Wheels" - which shows just how long they lasted.

Great stuff, Colm (and team). I was squinting inside the Coleraine cabin to see if Russell was helping out? If there's room for gents with golf clubs, there must be room for the historian of the NCC?

Great stuff, Steve. You're certainly progressing quickly. I'm still at the "cover the board with track" stage - it's time I laid the sidings at Portadown Goods so that I could take my goods wagons out of boxes! I agree that Mr Lima's railcars are very fine. I can never thank you enough for putting me in touch, even if you denounced this "steam man" to his mates! My BUT has been digitised and roars round rather well, despite being deposited on the loft floor in a moment of carelessness. You know where to come to for GNR goods stock - I haven't sold my two hundredth GN brake van yet! Leslie

Well, that's a relief. I thought that the Iranians had hijacked Ireland and the BBC weren't telling us!