Glover

The original intention was to build the two coaches in sequential order but then thought that there might be some benefits in building them simultaneously. I think that proved to be the correct decision. Here are both in their UTA green livery, with the post 1959 armorial device (whatever that is but it sure isn't one of the world great brand marks!). One serious error is the use of Bachmann LMS bogies. They should be mounted on Fox bogies. Dart Castings/MJT do one which looks about right but when I added up the cost of buying all the individual bits (plus postage), it was heading for the cost of the actual coaches themselves. Another time perhaps.

I didn't actually use the brass floor/chassis supplied with the kit. Having previously built two other Worsley Works kits, I reckoned that the end result was too heavy. Therefore, I used plastic. This also makes it easier to fit the underside gubbins and the interiors. Is there anything more tedious than making what seems like hundreds of seat backs, seat cushions etc etc? I can never seem to find British coach interiors suitable for Irish coaches. The under floor details are representational only. The trussing (right term?) is formed from paper clips......just like what they used to do in the Railway Modeller in the 1960s!

I have to admit that metal is not my material of choice; give me plastic every time. Therefore, I glue metal kits together. I know that will cause Outrage! in some quarters but it works for me. Essentially I superglue strips of plastic at the metal to metal joints and thus the joints become plastic to plastic. Rolling the tumblehome/turnunder was reasonably straightforward ; just keep offering up the sides to the ends to check progress. While at this stage, I happened to read in an old Model Railway Journal an article wherein the writer noted that etched coach sides were a boon for those modelling more modern flush sided coaches but in reality, the glazing should be set further back on older wooden sides vehicles. That seemed to make sense and therefore I glued plastic strips inside around the windows.

My project for Q3 of this year was to build another brake/passenger coach to represent the through UTA coach from Belfast. Remember that my model of Pettigo assumes that the Bundoran branch of the Great Northern Railway (Ireland), and other lines in that part of west Ulster remained open until 1963. Furthermore, I have assumed that it was operated as a joint enterprise between CIE ( Republic of Ireland) and the Ulster Transport Authority (Northern Ireland). In my imaginary world, the Bundoran Express still runs to and from Dublin on a daily basis, picking up the Belfast coach at Clones. I had a look through the Worsley Works website and decided that a J4 brake/trio (3 classes, at least until 1951) would fit the bill. There are a number of photos of these coaches in service on the 'Derry Road' and other areas relevant to the Bundoran branch. However, on contacting Allan Doherty, he advised me that the J4 was not available and might not be for some time. As a form of compensation, he offer me a L6 brake/third at a reduced price. I looked through my various books and concluded that the L6 wasn't really appropriate: it has a very large guards/luggage section and would thus be unsuitable for a through coach. Then another thought occurred to me: why not move another project up the list? That being the 1.35PM passenger which ran from Pettigo to Enniskillen, following the Up Bundoran Express but stopping at all stations in Northern Ireland. So, back to Allan and a deal was agreed to buy the L6 bk/3rd and a K8 third. Both are based on wooden bodied coaches with panelling and match board ends. So, this is where I started.

There was a discussion on RMweb some years ago. My memory is that a company called No Nonsense Kits (NNK) took over the QKits range. Some time afterwards, the owner of NNK died ; I think the range then moved to Phoenix Paints. I don't think they or NNK ever offered the Irish models. No harm many will say; there's many a man ended up in the home for the bewildered trying to assemble those yokes. I have two CIE Metro-Vick C classes; they started out as A class. 'Nuf said.... Cheers, Glover

Interesting point John. Now that you say it, 16586 is quite similar to the GNR butter vans. Many thanks, Glover

I keep a quarterly record of work done, which shows that Q2 (April-June) this year was very unproductive. A combination of much travelling and the snow is my excuse. However, I did manage to get one score on the board, at the tail end of June. The inspiration came from seeing a photo, taken in the early 1970s I reckon, by a Brian Flannigan on his Flickr website ('Irish Rolling Stock'). The photo shows a wood planked van but what caught my eye was the fact that the side and end planks are laid horizontally ; different to the usual vertical layout, although the door planking is vertical. The van was painted in the then new CIE freight brown livery, which suggests that the van was considered worthy of keeping in service. In my 'never throw anything away' box, I had an old Hornby-Dublo GW insulated meat van ( bought, according to an old notebook, in 1961 by my parents for 5/3; that's five shillings and three pence. Younger readers may need to ask their grandparents!). This has vertical planking on the sides. So, a combination of the Hornby-Dublo sides, spare Parkside doors, scratch built ends and roof and mounting on an Airfix chassis, I have a reasonable reproduction of a somewhat unusual CIE goods van. I have painted it grey, which was the standard colour in my modelling period (1963). You will note that it was painted green; I did this many years ago to reflect the fact that CIE did upgrade and repainted some vans to run with the AEC railcars on some longer distance routes. It is sobering to think that the basic ingredient of this little van is getting on for 60 years old. I like to think I am heeding the plea to re-use, recycle and cut down on the use of single/one time use plastic. That or I'm going nuts! Q3 was a lot more productive.........

Thanks Philip-Griffiths; I suspect some form of 'fog in channel' has cut us off. Most disappointing. Many thanks for checking and advising. Glover

That might explain it i.e. that it's a distribution problem rather than Easons dropping it. If you think of it, you might advise if Easons ( on Royal Avenue?) have it. Many thanks, Glover

I think I might be in the same boat: I normally get it from Easons (largest chain of newsagents in Ireland) but they only stock it in two branches in Dublin. The latest issue hasn't appeared, which makes me think it might have been delisted. I'll try the publisher but given MRJ's (delightfully) old fashioned ways, I wonder if being outside the Sterling area will be an issue. Glover

Do you know, Horsetan, if Allan plans to include any castings ( chimney, dome etc) in the kit? Cheers, Glover

That is a superb piece of work. Hard work, I'm sure but well worth it. The painting is also great ; that's my ( somewhat dim) memory of how they looked. Cheers, Glover

Available in Easons, O'Connell Street Dublin yesterday (at €6.80!). Article on making boxes,crates, barrels etc looks interesting. I wonder if the methodology will scale down from 7mm to 4mm. Cheers, Glover

I hope the originator of this discussion won't mind if I ask a question, which arises from this. The Great Northern Railway ( Ireland) used what I have seen described as Fox bogies, in the broad period from the early 1900s to the early 1920s. Does anyone make, in 4mm, a bogie similar to this (photo below). Many thanks and again apologies. Glover Sorry, photo is sideways but I trust you will see the essential detail.

This is superb. The amount of architectural modelling required is just mind boggling! No overhead wiring.......... Cheers, Glover

Many thanks Kirley. One point I forgot to mention is that I constructed window frame surrounds from Evergreen strip, again using the serrated screwdriver handle method ( photo of screwdriver attached!). This also adds to the somewhat 'industrial' look of these coaches. Cheers, Glover

And finally..... The corridor connectors were built again following Geoff Kents method. The photos below should explain. They are a bit fiddly to make but actually easier than the usual interlocked concertina method. Buffers are actually BR heavy duty wagon buffers (from MJT) but with slightly larger buffer heads which were produced using a paper punch; real 1960s modelling! Glover

I used South East Finecast flush glazing which together with a coat of brown paint around the window reveals makes a very substantial improvement. These are supplied with the sliding vents embossed but without thinking, I painted these black, using a permanent marker. They should be the same colour as the body side. The roof (only the second I've ever scratch built ) is made following the method described by Geoff Kent in Model Railway Journal issue 228. I can't claim that I have been successful as it doesn't in truth capture the profile of the prototype which was a very shallow curve across the body with a sharp curve where it met the body sides. I haven't glued it in place so I might,might have another go. Glover

A characteristic feature of these coaches was the lines of rivets on the outside, joining the various sheets of metal. I represented these using tiny strips of thin corrugated plastic which I bought years ago; I've no idea where. The roof strapping was also quite prominent. These were made from thin, narrow strips of Evergreen plastic (#110), over which I rolled a small screwdriver with a serrated handle. I think it works.....sort off!

The coaches built by CIE in the early to mid 1950s had an almost verticle body side profile with just a turn under at the bottom. As such, the Hornby Staniers make a good base. The sides are a mixture of the Hornby composites and brake/thirds. The photo below should indicate the main cuts required. Handily, the two coaches I used were in two different liveries ! One fairly major change was to file off the representation of the gutter on the Hornby coaches and thus increase the height of the sides, above the windows. I also cut windows into the luggage van doors. Cheers, Glover

The third of the five or six brake/passenger coaches for service through Pettigo on my model of the Bundoran branch is now finished. It's based on the series numbered 1904-1908 built by CIE in Inchicore in 1953. Base model is the old Hornby LMS Stanier coaches but lengthened to the correct 61'6", with new widened ends and roof. Doyle & Hirsch's Locomotives & Rolling Stock book of 1979 says they were running in that period on a mix of Great Southern Railway (GSR) bogies and Commonwealth's. I imagine that they originally ran on GSR bogies but I have used the Bachmann Commonwealth bogies. I'll start with this photo and then follow up with some notes that may be of interest to others. Cheers, Glover

And the frustrating thing is that most people will ask, 'how did you make the wagons?', not how the logs were made! Nice job Kirley. Cheers, Glover

Thanks Kirley, Current project is an early 1950s CIE brake/standard. I thought it would be fairly straightforward after the J11's but....... It's making progress but don't wait up; another 2/3 weeks, I'd say. Next up after that should be another UTA (ex GNR) brake/standard. I'm thinking I might scratch build that; I'm beginning to get a little tired of endlessly cutting up old coaches! And then, the branch trains. For the UTA train, I have two possibilities in stock: the Bachmann/Mainline LMS coach and an old Graham Farish repaint which I bought some time ago from Colum Flannigan, although this is possibly more suited to an ex-NCC environment . Either way, enough to keep me going for a while. I can't work at your speed! Cheers, Glover

Here are the two sisters together, now owned by two different companies in two different countries but I imagine it was possible to see them together anywhere between Belfast and Dublin.

This coach was slightly easier to build as I had learned some lessons from the previous work. And no bloodshed this time! I have painted it in CIE green on one side, with the 'Flying Snail' logo and CIE black 'n tan on the other. My payout, Pettigo on the Bundoran branch, is set in 1963 and thus coincides with the livery change over period. I have also given it different numbers on each side. CIE, unlike the UTA, did not renumber the Great Northern stock which it inherited but, initially, added a small 'c' before the number and 'n' after it. The green side of the coach seeks to replicate this. In the black 'n tan livery era, they simply added an 'n'.