dullsteamer

John, I know next to nothing about Irish railways of either gauge, but seeing the atmospheric scenes on your lovely layout has got me wanting to learn more. All the best, Mark.

Cool idea! Cheers, Mark.

Absolutely agree, "Steam in Africa" is a fascinating book. It's what got me interested in the railways of the Belgian Congo. I picked up my copy for $5 in an op-shop without looking at it, thinking it would be a coffee table book. How wrong was I? Cheers, Mark.

Im That's an ex-Nickel Plate caboose which they acquired from the Wheeling & Lake Erie when they leased that company. The A looks good! Cheers, Mark.

That's just superb! Urban grot at its best. All the best, Mark.

It's got history alright. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Company_Marine_Complex Cheers, Mark.

Tramway also released a similar model of a JNR ED14: I have two of these locos, and I'm very happy with them. They run beautifully - quiet, smooth and very controllable. All the best, Mark.

Electric/interurban fans might also find these interesting: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10386089 Cheers, Mark.

Last night I was told by someone involved with ACTARHS its Deloitte. Cheers, Mark.

Paul, I'd like to see some more pictures of your Norwegian layout as well. And your mention of Japanese O scale intrigues me. What have you got for that? Cheers, Mark.

That's arguable, but irrelevant. Numerous well-preserved paint samples were recovered from '30 early on in the restoration and accurately matched. We could then correlate the different greens to different periods of the engine's service, and make a choice of colour based on that knowledge. Cheers, Mark.

The only people unhappy with the shade of green that '30 was painted had unreliable memories or badly faded/colour-shifted photos as their evidence. A lot of effort was put into accurately matching a particular shade of green that the engine had carried shortly before withdrawal, based on paint samples recovered from areas of the cladding that were protected from exposure and damage due to weathering. We used to joke that the colour was called "wrong engine green" once people started making critical comments about it. The only reason '01 was painted black was that the incorrect shade of green was supplied by mistake, and until the correct shade was available the advice from our paint suppliers was that black would be a very suitable undercoat/base coat for the green paint. I liked the black paint because it was so much easier to make the engine look clean and presentable compared to the green. As for repainting '01 in it's original green livery, I reckon the same comments as made above about the 35 apply. The engine has had numerous modifications since it carried that livery, so to be accurate you'd have to undo those modifications. That would include replacing the flat headlight goggle glass with domed glass, putting the superheater damper back on, putting the continuous blow-down back on, altering the location and arrangement of the regulator and superheater drains, removing the driver's side anti-glare window, and a number of other changes. Since these changes were made for practical reasons, I don't think there'd be much support for undoing them. And in any case I would worry too much about how 3526 is painted in the future, as the asset manager at Thirlmere has stated she wants to stuff and mount the engine in the near future - same with 4001. Cheers, Mark.

Maybe he's a fan of drifting? Cheers, Mark.

Good luck with it, Paul, hope it all goes well for you. Cheers, Mark.

That's interesting, I didn't know about that. If we do get more A-sets it won't make any difference to us here on the Illawarra. None of us are qualified on them. All the best, Mark.

This bit is interesting: The new suburban trains are unlikely to be freshly designed sets, unlike the order made several years ago for a new intercity fleet. In that case I wonder what we'll get? More OSCars? Or something off the shelf? The next time I see our CEO I must ask him. Cheers, Mark.

There's artistic weathering, and there's realistic weathering. That's realistic! Cheers, Mark.

Nice looking 49 there Gary. When they came back from Parkes and were allocated to Delec we used them mainly on trip trains around the metropolitan area. An inglenook based on one of the suburban goods yards or private sidings would make an interesting layout. Cheers, Mark

In part 2 the segment on the footplate of 3830 features driver Kite, fireman Webb and travelling fitter Newton - me. Always a thrill to see yourself in a video! Cheers, Mark.

John Cooper-Clarke, eh? Seeing him perform was one of the highlights of my misspent youth. Cheers, Mark.

That's just Scotchlite reflective tape, rather than any form of lighting. Everything that runs here these days is required to have it applied, even preserved steam locos. On the subject of loading gauges, I remember when "Flying Scotsman" arrived here in 1988, how surprised we were by how small it was compared to our 38. Cheers, Mark.

That IRS article is fascinating, not just for the information about the railways and locos, but for the stories of colonial life. Thanks Dava! Cheers, Mark.

I've seen diesel locos with this styling in Morocco. Very flash looking things they were, too. Cheers, Mark.

Lachlan Valley Railway's 5917 heading into Waterfall on the return leg of it's trip to Kiama yesterday. Sorry about the abysmal video quality, all I had was an ipad. Cheers, Mark. https://youtu.be/vdKfFvvD1CQ

I've been following that story with some interest. I think it's the biggest load of BS I've heard of in a long time. Cheers, Mark.