fishplate7

PM sent John 

Hi Leslie

I have already emailed you separately with my order!

Looking forward to meeting up on Saturdqay morning coming!

Eamonn

52 minutes ago, leslie10646 said:

I've started my packing up of kits for selling at Blackrock.

As usual, if there's something which you want, please let me know and I'll set it aside for you.

To save me needlessly bringing "Northern stuff" over, if any of you want "NCC "Brown vans" or "Spoil Wagons", can you let me know, please. I plan to leave them in the UK.

You see, I need the space in the vehicle as I'm also bringing half of Bob Sankey's 7mm Irish trains, en route to clubs in Ireland.

Thanks in advance

and thanks for the interest shown in the new RTR vans. The "Broken Wheel" one was made, on schedule, on Monday and should be with me by Thursday, when I'll post a photo.

Well I will definitely be taking some of those broken wheel ones Leslie! Safe travelling!

Hi Leslie

I will take 2 of the flying snail please and will pick them up at Blackrock.

Thanks

Eamonn

Hi James R.

Try Neil Smith at Wheeltappers in the UK.

His website is http://www.wheeltappersdccsounds.co.uk/ 

His Irish decoder sounds are excellent. But beware, you'll be paying importation duty etc., on them as they come from the UK!

Hope this helps!

Eamonn

Count me in too Leslie for at least 6 of the broken wheel type! 

On 20/1/2022 at 8:20 PM, h gricer said:

Indeed, Jim O'Dea was a traveling salesman and travel the length and breadth of the country in his Morris Minor 850, he travel on the last train from Valentia to Farranfore in January 1960, he gave many slide shows of his travels, photographing the interior of signal cabins and diagrams, his favorite signal cabin I recall was Enfield on the Sligo line, I met him there in 1987, the signalman in Enfield the late Colm Pender??? I think his name was, a real friendly gent and was always welcoming to enthusiasts, he loved O'Dea for his knowledge and sometimes would bring him a surprise photo, it's one thing I do miss on the modern railway, the  mechanical signal cabins and of course the friendly signalmen.

Colum Pender is indeed correct! A lovely, kind man, with a big welcome for anyone who was interested in the railways. I spent many evenings with him in the cabin in the 1980's and 1990's. He passed away a number of years ago.

On 2/11/2022 at 5:48 PM, jhb171achill said:

Strongly recommended!

I have to agree with JBH! As an IRRS member for almost 50 years, it is indeed a treasure trove of information and material! The Journal alone is excellent value for money. The Thursday night in-person or now on-line meetings are excellent, with the highlight of the year being the Annual Film Show. Go for it Darren D!

On 29/6/2022 at 7:18 PM, patrick said:

A Cork to Waterford goods passes Grange in September 1974. Today's train has has a block of empty opens which will be dropped off at Glen More in anticipation of the upcoming beet season.

That is just stunning Patrick!

Thanks a million to you Eoin and to seagoebox for the information!

Hi all

Would anyone have dimensions ( L x B x thickness) for the pouch used to hold the staff during the mechanical staff exchange? See attached photos.

Many thanks in advance.

Eamonn 

On 12/11/2021 at 8:47 PM, bufferstop said:

Did Frank work Maynooth in the late 80's, it must be the same man, because this has always stuck in my head, I was coming into Maynooth on a down Sligo, the driver said to me, "will you change that with Frank, but make sure you don't hit him with it", I was looking at him, thinking was the hell was he on about. Anyway I always liked to drop a staff out of courtesy, near to the signalman as I swapped. I dropped it right on Frank's feet, and he gave me a look that would have made Medusa blush in shame. I turned to the driver and I said apologetically, "I think I tapped his toes"  He sighed "Frank's a briar but he the only one that stands up for himself"

Sorry about that Frank, if you're still alive, you're a mighty age........,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I dont know the answer bufferstop but I'll find out! That's a shot of Frank (Bohan)'s back in Kilcock in the early/mid 1970's if thats any help!

5 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

It's the middle of the dark days of the "troubles", maybe 1976-ish, when bomb scares, as well as REAL bombs were an almost weekly occurrence.

I was returning to Dublin on the "Enterprise". It must have been mid-winter as it was dark at Central Station in Belfast, and there was a line of buses for Dundalk. The line was closed somewhere between Portadown and "the border". No local trains beyond Lisburn. We were to be bussed to DDK where we would get on a scheduled local which would be held for us. Naturally, half a dozen tired-out Laminates and Park Royals, and a spluttery genny van were of much greater interest to me than a Mk 2 set of either NIR or CIE ownership.

I got off the bus in Dundalk and just happened to be the first one into the carriage - a 1904-series laminate brake. I sat down and immediately noticed a suitcase-type bag tucked under the table! I don't think I've ever moved so fast..........

I got out and told a man in CIE uniform that there was a "suspicious package" under the table and showed him where it was. He stared suspiciously at it. I expected him to start waving his arms and yelling for everyone to get out of the station RIGHT NOW!

But - he stared harder - poked it with his foot, and then gingerly lifted it and carried it off the train.........!

Had that been what I thought it was, and what it often actually was, both that adventurous railwayman and I plus bits of the train and GNR architecture in the station, would have been splattered in tiny messy bits all over Dundalk........

(The haulage was a 141, and he went like the wind! Great run, once we DID get going!)

Thank God you lived to tell the tale....and write excellent books!

Great thread with some fascinating stories! We had no railway connection in my family. My dad worked in the bar/pub industry and mum was the homemaker. But I grew up facing the railways and that's where my interest started! My uncle lived in Kilcock, and I would spend my Summers on the farm. Kilcock had the railway, and a station, and most importantly, a signal cabin! So in the Summer of 1972 I started off my railway odessey as a young teenager in the cabin, learning about signalling, single line workings, bell codes and mechanical staff exchange!! Frank, Ned and Paddy were the three signalmen at the time. The cabin was open 24/7 and if memory serves me correct, Maynooth was closed at night/weekends with the long section from Clonsilla to Kilcock (open to correction on this one!). Frank was a nice but stern man! I was with him in the cabin one day, and we had a train in the section coming from Enfield heading to Dublin. He was only a few minutes away. I had been practicing many minutes before that, setting the down points for the loop and main road, setting the locking bar etc. The points lever could be a difficult enough lever to pull/push depending on distance. Anyway the road was set correctly for this up train in the section (interlocking would simply not allow you to set the road incorrectly). I noticed that the up starter, which was high up on the bank, was only partially 'off' unlike the previous times. This could have happened due to a problem with the crossover! I brought this to Frank's attention. Well. it was like WW3 had started!! Frank didnt know whether the train has passed the up distant or not, and mechanical snatching was in operation anyway, so he would be coming through at 70 mph, and the staff was set!! Quick as a flash, Frank slammed back the distant, home and starter levers, slammed back the locking bar lever, slammed back the down crossover lever, remade it, not happy, remade it again and then remade the road! Pulled everything off and the up starter dropped nicely!! Panic over! I had a Sony cassette recorder at the time and I have a lovely tape of an evening spent in that cabin with Ned. The phone conversations were great. Signalmen were always trying to 'push' the train down the line to the next station into the loop to cross another train! In those days with so many trains running you were guaranteed a crossing. Around that same period, I recollect Sean Regan, was doing relief in Kilcock, and was badly injured when the snatching arm broke on a down train and it struck him on the body (he had been waiting under the stairs apparently). He was out of work for a long time. Anyone familiar with the concept of having ' a spare staff' in the cabin??

I collected my locos earlier today from the Depot! I have to say the packaging is first class and streets ahead of anything I have seen before! See attached photos. They are solidly protected all round with absolutely no 'wriggle room'! Hats off to Noel & Pat in Parcel Planet for not only checking that my order was correct, but then going in search of my other three orders (which were originally going to be posted to me), which they then found! And hats off also to IRM for investing in the high quality packaging! I have only looked at two so far and they are jaw dropping! Cannot wait to get them out on the road!! Really well done to all in IRM!

11 hours ago, WRENNEIRE said:

Raheny pensioner panicking
Confirmation money invested in IRM
No text yet from An Post
Bray on this Sunday, I will be lynched!
Jasus.......................

Bring a box of Viagra with you just in case you are lynched Dave....you'll then be able to raise yourself up from the dead!!

Congratulations all and very well done!

Wow! Yesterday's IRM announcement has firmly set the bar at its highest ever in terms of quality, finish and innovation! Really well done to everyone involved! NIR is not my era unfortulately, so I'll be stashing my hard earned for the next of the promised announcements, whenever and whatever that may be! 

On 5/7/2021 at 12:48 PM, connollystn said:

We'd be lost without Wrenneire - picked up a few nice (rare) wagons off him recently.

They say he's a Legend! I'd agree!!

Very impressive! Unlike Noel, I'll send a fleet of locomotives - a single 141 won't be able to pull what I'm looking for!! Looking forward to seeing these go into production.

Ordered decoders from YouChoos about two weeks ago. Value c. £170. Arrived 4 days later. Perfect condition. Delivered by An Post. Nothing additional to pay! And the cost was excluding UK VAT in anticipation I would have to pay VAT here. It seems to be for the moment that if its delivered by An Post you could be lucky; if you use a courier however, you are almost certainly going to pay handling charges etc. 

I would be interested also Robert.

Here is another example of the same wagon. Scroll to 8.05 on the video. 

On 18/1/2021 at 1:42 PM, Vlak said:

Something which seems to, perhaps, have been overlooked in terms of freight are the Jumbo Tar Wagons. These were 2-Axle wagons which were used for the conveyance of Bitumen to both Sligo (and possibly Galway?) for Cold Chon. They were loaded in Alexander Road at their Tar Terminal and usually added to liner trains for the run west. Based on what little information I can gather the traffic didn’t really amount to much more than 3-6 wagons per train at a time. The traffic flow seems to have ended around 2001/2, although the bogie wagons (which contained ISO Bitumen containers which were used to Mallow for Council use) seems to have lasted into until 2003/4. 

It has been challenging to find photographs of these wagons in detail, other than a few photos with them in the background, but they appear to have been constructed / modified by CIE using Bitumen tanks mounted on short wheelbase 20ft flats (same as the Cement Bubbles it would seem) with the same tank anchors as was the case for most fuel oil & latterly Esso Oil wagons. Two tank designs appear to have been in use, one with a flat end and another with a more rounded end with ribs.

I attach two screen shots taken from the video linked below which provides a little more detail (hope the author of the video doesn’t mind!); it would seem that unique to tank wagons here the ladders were positioned at the end of the tank rather than in the middle. I would also hazard a guess the reason they gained the name ‘Jumbo’ was due to their larger more bulky tank design in comparison to the oil tanks to account for the lagging. 
 

Video of a typical formation for Jumbo Tar Tanks: 

 

Further discussion / information or even photos & drawings welcomed. 

On 18/1/2021 at 1:42 PM, Vlak said:

Something which seems to, perhaps, have been overlooked in terms of freight are the Jumbo Tar Wagons. These were 2-Axle wagons which were used for the conveyance of Bitumen to both Sligo (and possibly Galway?) for Cold Chon. They were loaded in Alexander Road at their Tar Terminal and usually added to liner trains for the run west. Based on what little information I can gather the traffic didn’t really amount to much more than 3-6 wagons per train at a time. The traffic flow seems to have ended around 2001/2, although the bogie wagons (which contained ISO Bitumen containers which were used to Mallow for Council use) seems to have lasted into until 2003/4. 

It has been challenging to find photographs of these wagons in detail, other than a few photos with them in the background, but they appear to have been constructed / modified by CIE using Bitumen tanks mounted on short wheelbase 20ft flats (same as the Cement Bubbles it would seem) with the same tank anchors as was the case for most fuel oil & latterly Esso Oil wagons. Two tank designs appear to have been in use, one with a flat end and another with a more rounded end with ribs.

I attach two screen shots taken from the video linked below which provides a little more detail (hope the author of the video doesn’t mind!); it would seem that unique to tank wagons here the ladders were positioned at the end of the tank rather than in the middle. I would also hazard a guess the reason they gained the name ‘Jumbo’ was due to their larger more bulky tank design in comparison to the oil tanks to account for the lagging. 
 

Video of a typical formation for Jumbo Tar Tanks: 

 

Further discussion / information or even photos & drawings welcomed. 

Hi Vlak. My video! Yep, no problem at all using it. That's what they are there for! Interesting topic too! Cheers. Eamonn

This question comes at the right time for me! I hope to start building my layout in l2021. It will be based on a single line MGWR station with passing loop, and some other stuff as well. So it is opportune for me to consider this question whether the simplicity of layout and quantity of trackwork I require makes 21mm a better prospect. I joined the EM and P4 societies to be better informed of what would be involved. Over the years I have a amassed a healthy collection of MM locos, Irish coach and wagon stock etc. Having weighed up all of the pros and cons, I am of the view currently that the tasks of (a) converting all of my rolling stock, and (b) scratchbuilding all of the 21mm trackwork is a bridge too far for me and the nearest I will get to it will be to run current stock on Peco Code 75 bullhead trackwork and points (or similar) with some clever track weathering to give the illusion of a wider track gauge. 

I should have added that yes I would love to model in 21mm if the trackwork was available off the shelf, and the rolling stock conversion could be managed without too much difficulty!