seagoebox

More from the archive...

From the Archives!!

Drawings for "Locomotives of the Great Southern & Western Railway".... This statement is to clear up misunderstandings that have arisen about drawings published in the book "Locomotives of the GS&WR" by Clements, McMahon & O'Rourke. Research for the "Locomotives of the GSR" by Clements & McMahon (Colourpoint Books 2008) uncovered locomotive and tender drawings for almost all the 5'3" gauge types operated by the Great Southern Railways, a number of which had not been previously published. Size limitations prevented their inclusion in that work but a separate volume was planned to include all those drawings. Work on that project was abandoned following failure to elect publisher support. The main intention behind the recent and the 2008 publication had been to place historic information in the public domain and it was frustrating that many informative drawings seemed destined to remain hidden. Then the up-graded twice-yearly periodical New Irish Lines offered an ideal means of distribution. Data sheets for every locomotive type had already been prepared and Alan O'Rourke as Editor readily agreed to their circulation free of charge with issues of NIL. The main constraint was weight related mailing costs which meant release of the drawings in stages. The collection covers the following railways: GS&WR, MGWR, CB&SCR, WL&WR, GSR (i.e. 1924-1944), CIE. There are also some narrow gauge locomotives but for copyright reasons, a separate data sheet records those publications in which appropriate line drawings may be found. All drawings are from secondary sources. They provide varying levels of detail and the accuracy of some should be treated with caution - particularly GSR diagrams. Nevertheless, those that are little more than outline sketches at least provide a general indication of proportions. Locomotives of the GS&WR has been criticised for the absence of end drawings and plans. Readers are assured that if information had been found during the preceding 16 years of research, it would have certainly been included. Some general arrangement drawings were found but size, age and condition made them unsuitable. One exception was a full set of plans for the GS&WR type A tender but requests of the drawings custodians for permission to reproduce went unanswered. Signed by the authors, Jeremy Clements, Michael McMahon & Alan O'Rourke.

Des Coakham had a nice 12 page article in Backtrack May 2004, I attach a couple of pages...

And here is a picture of number 30 at York Road with fillers before the paint job!, picture dated 27th June 1961

I know it is not in colour, but still has nice detail. From the Dublin Penny Journal.

Kilkenny

CIE converted around 93 steam engines to burn oil, Athlone driver Val Horan wrote a good article in the IRRS Journal, Vol 15, no 96, February 1995, pages 337 to 351 and 383 to 385

Book Depository will not be stocking it, it is only available direct from the publisher

10 page report plus 2 diagrams...

I remember a story about the wooden loo seat with its brass hinges in the Executive bog getting nicked! All joking aside, the first class business on the 08.00 ex Central and the return 18.20 ex Connolly held up remarkably well throughout the "troubles" despite the best efforts of those who regularly phoned in bomb scares. I wonder how many times the executive coach was booked though, It was an "Enterprising" approach by some in NIR who were trying to develop and maintain business through difficult times.

sometime back geraghtyg was looking for a pic of the executive saloon, here goes, taken at Belfast Central on 5th July 1989

Irish railfans News January 1961 Vol 7, no 1, page 13 states.. " Some of the vehicles destined for Belfast Transport Museum have been seen en-route at Portadown. Loco no 2 Blanche replaced loco no 1 Alice, but the list in our October 1960 issue is otherwise unchanged." The IRRS Journal Vol 6, no 28, Spring 1961 page 51/52 was even more vague saying just that "no 2 went to the Belfast Transport Museum"

Yes, 104 had loaded in Poyntzpass earlier that day, discharged ballast at Killeen near the top of the bank, and ran empty wrong road to Dundalk to run round before returning the wagons to the Pass, and loco. LE to Portadown. In those days the only cross-overs were at Poyntzpass and Dundalk. Michael

Cross-Border visits by the NIR MV's were rare, this pic of 104 is from March 1994

NIR 106/ CIE 227 not looking so good at Cahirciveen in June 1998

The older weedspray van and train at Waterford Spraying at New Ross, ready for the return back to Waterford The mixer unit and internal tank

There are three colour plates of MGWR interest in the Railway Magazine... A nice loco portrait of 129 "Celtic" in MGWR blue livery, Vol 11, 1902 129 again, this time in Green, hauling a train of brown coaches on the Limited Mail in Vol 31, 1912 no 6 "Kylemore" locomotive portrait, in very dark blue/black, Vol 41, 1917

A few jottings about New Ross from Irish Railfans News... A new covered shed for the loading of cattle was under construction at New Ross in December 1962 A new siding opened at Stafford's Wharf beside the Albatross fertilizer factory in December 1964, costing £7250 ! New Ross signal cabin closed 18th April 1966, the branch from Waterford being worked on an "one engine in steam" basis. The footbridge from New Ross was re-erected at Rosslare Strand in late 1967 ( the steps on the old footbridge at Rosslare Strand partially collapsed on 23rd July 1967 when being used by mystery train passengers !)

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According to the CDR appendix to the WTT documents dated 1st June 1923 and 1st June 1950, the arrivals platform at Derry accommodated 10 carriages, same as Clady, Killygordon & Ballintra, The longest platform was Rossnowlagh at 12 coaches.

The book "The Irish Narrow Gauge in Colour", by Norman Johnston, published by Colourpoint in 2003 has 13 colour pictures of the L&LSR.