thank you red_hamish for taking the time to reply , there is a dearth of steam and engineering sites of interest in southern ireland , in the north of course you have the ship yards and associated suppliers sites , but as in the north of england and scotland these are going or are gone sadly , my problem is i live on the wrong side of the irish sea , to be honest i didn't know about the guinness steam museum and its something i have to look into , i won't have much to contribute initially as i have mainly worked with old british motorcycles as a hobby rather than steam, but the allure of steam is strong and i would love to build an engine but want to do a larger than usual one as i have said my machinery is a little large to do smaller work , and to be honest small "table top " engines don't interest me that much.
i have looked in your download page and there is an engine there that might suit ,
anyway thanks again.