Dhu Varren

The CIE Gennies were all converted from two types of 64ft Brake 2nd coaches. The vans in the picture are 57ft Full Brakes.

I have to disagree about the van JB. With outside W irons and the roof shape, it has to be an ex NCC van. GNR vans had a much flatter roof.

I believe this location could be the approach to the Belfast end of Limavady Junction station. The sharp curve on the approach, and through the station, is characteristic of that station. The large building in the extreme background is still there.

Interestingly, that registration number is correct for a white Fiat van. Note also that the building in the background is an Irish business. Very strange.

No, it was me. When reading Sean's post on getting 141/181 headlights and marker lights to work independently, I was beginning to think I had missed something obvious, as these lights on 141/181 are both on the same circuit in the loco, unlike the 071s. No amount of function remapping is ever going to get the lights in the Baby GMs to work independently without some surgery inside the locomotive.

It has all the signs of an MIR kit and mounted on an Athearn chassis.

It was a 50/50 mix of Humbrol 195 Satin Dark Green and either Humbrol 3 Brunswick Green or 149 Matt Dark Green. Looking at my collection of paint tins, I would say it is more likely to be the 149.

Looks like an NCC Goods Brake Van

Interesting picture. The cover picture of Tom Ferris's 'Irish Railways in Colour A Second Glance' is repeated in full on P63 of the book. It is identical to this picture, except that the train is different. It is loco 202, and the shadows indicate a different time of day, but the camera position is exactly the same and the trains are only a couple of sleepers different. Amazing, since the pictures are dated a year apart.

There seems to be some confusion over the picture of railcar 16 at Strabane. Airfixfan is adamant it is railcar 18, Andy Cundick says it can’t be 18, as 18 has different front windows. Not being an expert on CDR railcars, I did a bit of research on the subject, and I found the following, but I am open to correction. Ironically, Airfixfan and Andy are both correct, in a roundabout sort of way. No 18, as built, was very similar to 16. However, following the fire in 1949, 18 was completely rebuilt with different front windows. The passenger compartment also received different windows. Both these differences made 18 easily recognizable. 18 ran in this condition until preservation. In 1996, in preservation, 18 was extensively restored to it’s original ‘as built’ condition, which makes it once again look similar to 16. Hence the confusion. Dating of photographs becomes essential for identification of the railcar. In the case of this photograph, since it was taken before closure of the CDR, it has to be No 16.

Some sketches of interior of 547.

When the 80 Class were originally ordered, they were a mix of three car and two car sets. Later, to increase the capacity of the two car sets, a number of Enterprise coaches, both three-pipe, and two-pipe versions were converted to 80 Class intermediate cars. Unlike the original intermediates, they did not have centre doors added.

This vehicle would be ex Enterprise Driving Trailer 811, now converted to 80 Class Driving Trailer 754. At this stage it was only a partial conversion, in that the full Guards accommodation was still in situ, and there was only seating for 31 passengers. There was also no roof headlight fitted. Photo below shows a side view of 754 arriving in Portrush in original condition, complete with Guards compartment. Subsequently, 754 was fully converted with the Guards compartment being removed, and seating being increased to 75. The standard 80 Class roof headlight was also fitted. This vehicle was easily recognisable, in that it did not have a centre door, and it also retained the original roof vent layout for a Mk 2b DBSO, this can be clearly seen in the following photo by Gordon Hawkins.

Picture 3 with the MPD, I believe to be the rebuilding of the arched bridge over the A6 just outside Templepatrick. The screen grab from Google Earth below shows the house in the top right of the photo relative to the rebuilt bridge.

The building marked X and still there, was the Technical College, known as 'The Tech'. The building behind and to the right was Foyle College, still there but the school moved out in the late 1960s. The building next to the X where the photo was taken, was the LPHC engine shed. Noticeably missing from the picture is HMS Stalker (known locally as HMS Neverbudge), a submarine depot ship. permanently moored at the two jetties in the top right of the picture. Can be clearly seen in the picture posted earlier by NIR.