IRISH CEMENT

The Model Irish Railways resin kit for an Irish Rail cement wagon is now complete, weathered and looking good. This has been a very enjoyable project. However, not having many colour images of the real wagon to hand, I used a DVD from Telerail as an inspiration. Railfreight Today: Ireland is a great programme, which contains lots of fascinating freight workings across the whole of the Irish Republic, including lots on the various cement flows.

I had imagined that these cement wagons would show characteristic pale, dusty streaking from the powder material that they carry. However, having watched the programme, they appear to wear a generic brown 'track dirt' shade, as the cement is transported in palleted, sealed bags; proof that it pays to check these things beforehand.

A full review of the wagon kit will appear in Model Rail soon.

At last, my Bachmann '181' diesel has something to haul!