fletchj1

Kirley (or is it Kieran?), Thank you for the positive comments. I could 'pose' my stuff on my existing 'scratch built rail cars' thread. Of course the MED car is just one of the set of three cars. I sent the diagrams to Alan of Worsley Wks and he made the etches. Am I right in saying that your 6 & 7 are made from etches?. I have to scratch make my stuff as there are no convenient sources of donor coaches etc. in this isolated part of the world. There is no model train shop. Jeremy.

Is it Kirley or Kieran?. Anyway, regardless of the drive your A class look V. good and very nostalgic for me. Those were often nearly black with oily filth. To complement your CIE 2509 - ex SLNCR 'B' I attach a picture of my version in the original green & off white plus my GNR 'A' and a view of the 'other' side of my tin van with the boiler access double doors.

Noel G, I see a tin van behind the C class. That must be scratch built?. Jeremy.

Merlin (RJD), It is actually a 'Q' Kit (resin) which I had to upgrade a lot as it was very wobbly. It must have been made in a very soft rubber mould. I milled out the sides and made new ones from aluminium sheet. I played about with the windows to get them to look more real. I didn't know MTK made a kit of this prototype!. As you say the Silver Fox one just doesn't look quite right. It seems to represent the original Crossley powered A class. I made an under frame from a piece of aluminium channel cut to size. The drive is by a central motor by shafts to Athearn gearboxes with all axles driven. The gearboxes are the EMD Hi-Adhesion type with unequal axle spacing which is correct for the A class. I made the bogie cosmetic side frames from plastic. Jeremy.

Kirley, You certainly make some impressive stuff!. I will send some photo's of some of mine and you can let me know if they came through OK. Your A class drive looks impressive. It looks like you have connected the pick ups of both bogies so both motors benefit from the best pick up. I didn't do that one one loco and I would have one motor stalled while the other was trying unsuccessfully to push it along. I learned the lesson and corrected it. Does each bogie on your A class have all wheels driven, or just the end ones?.

Kirley, I am highly impressed with all those railcars and locomotives you have made (or converted). I have a few questions:- How did you power the railcars?. Obviously you will have used the existing drives for your NIR 3000 & 4000 units but how are your MED, 6&7, AEC cars, NIR DEMU's and your 'A' class powered?. I powered my own MED, 1 and 4, GNR 'A', with small flat can motors under the floor and made a power bogie for my SL&NCR 'B' with the motor inside the guards compartment. My own 'A' class and 121 & 141 are powered with Athearn drives. When I saw 6&7 running they did not have the white roof dome over the cab front, nor the side skirts. I could imagine the white dome would not have fared well in the presence of steam locomotives!. Again, - I am highly impressed with your overall layout and the multitude of unique Irish rolling stock. Keep it up!. I look forward to seeing more!. Regards, Jeremy. Regards, Jeremy.

Kirley, Great 6 & 7. As Hunslet102 says, - great nostalgia. I saw them running in their later years, running as 2-car on the GN line mostly to Lisburn. I made an MED set using WW etch sides.

Hi, As the brown vans have a long wheelbase it is necessary to have some sort of compensation with one or both axles able to rock slightly from side to side to avoid derailments. Not all track is absolutely level. Jeremy.

Leslie, I would be interested in buying one or two Brown Vans, depending on cost. They would be to run with my two railcars ('scratch built railcars' as posted earlier in RMWeb). I don't know which series would be appropriate and I would want that most likely to be pulled by a railcar. My only deviation from standard would be to have 'EM' rather than 'OO' wheels and I would do without any big 'tension lock' coupler as I use Kadees instead. I already have one of your CIE corrugated wagons - excellent!. Regards, Jeremy.

I am very impressed with your Arigna town layout. I have a particular weakness for old rail cars. I have also made my own versions of GNR(I) rail car A and SLNCR rail car B, a CIE heating van (tin van) and a Wickham inspection car. I made an MED using etchings. I certainly would like to make a rail bus like yours. Re driving No4:- It certainly must have been extremely claustrophobic in those turret cabs. I imagine there would have been another individual down on the ground guiding any reverse moves. Another window on the other side of the turret (over the roof) would certainly have helped visibility.

Kirley, Thank you. And to think - My cars wouldn't look completely out of place running on Colm's Bleach Green viaduct layout. I think my next 'project' will be a brown van or two for a railcar to pull as that would be prototypical. I think I would copy your idea of using a Parkside Dundas wagon as an underframe.

NIRCLASS80 Yours look a lot cleaner and shinier than the prototypes I see here each day. There is a VIA train sitting rusting away in a 'park' and I am in a group trying to preserve it and eventually move it to some place under cover.

Glover, Afraid not. They wouldn't know of NIR/UTA. People mostly model the local scene (Canadian Pacific and Canadian National). The loco in the 'thumbnail' picture on left is the most commonly seen here.

This the first time I have tried to post to RMWeb. I hope it has worked OK!. I made these two cars based on available diagrams & photos so I can not be sure of dimensional accuracy. I made the cars from Evergreen plastic, glued and filed to shape with brass under frames and home made bogies. Drive on each car is from a motor located below the guard's compartment driving one axle on each bogie by means of home made gearboxes. Donor coaches and bogies are not readily available over here in Canada.