Galteemore

They regularly had a stall at Widdecombe Fair. A unique feature of their branding was listing every member of staff on the product packaging.

Phil Aspinwall made a JS. I have a J part built - rolling chassis. Even compared to a PP it’s tiny!!

Need one of these from DCC concepts

Closest thing Omagh’s ever had to a night life.

What made the 2-day tour especially attractive for English visitors in the 70s and 80s was that Ireland offered something virtually unique. Wooden bodied stock operating on what was still a largely steam age railway system - semaphore signals etc etc. It really was worth travelling to. But what the RPSI can offer now, good as it is, no longer stands out so much against what is available to English enthusiasts closer to home.

Fabulous work David - really high standard of work and lots of scope for operation. Don’t take this the wrong way - I’m glad it didn’t prove an enduring project or we’d never have had Arigna/Belmullet/Northport/Fintonagh/Swillybegs. The Eastern Region’s loss is our gain!!

Wow what a treat! Love Shannon - live about half an hour from her old stamping ground.

Fab. Love the RHDR. Although in this context of resourcing, I suppose the point is that it was built by two millionaire playboys and nearly shut down completely when they disappeared from the scene! It’s a fabulous set up. Main line in miniature

Yes, TFL manage it as effectively a store for big items. Museum money, if money there is, comes from the main show in Covent Garden. I did have a look at visitor figures from Bord Failte. A fair comparison of how much interest there is in railways might be to take two sites which are geographically contiguous. One railway related, one not. So here goes: two attractions a 4 minutes walk apart. Donegal Castle 63072 Donegal Railway Heritage Centre 7000 Now we can cavil over stats but that’s got to be interesting….the Donegal museum is a very slick and attractive operation but even that struggles. Most attractive thing in the country is apparently Phoenix Park visitor centre with 1.9m recorded. I also had a look at the UK. Biggest heritage railway is NYMR which pulls in about 350,000 punters a year. Even so, that makes it rank about 150th on list of top UK attractions.

TFL manage it - the Acton collection of the TFL Museum is housed within a working depot. Access is managed by only opening certain days every year, which obviously allows fairly intensive security to be in place

They didn’t haul freight. MPD and 70 class did. All the same, would be popular.

The RPSI’s original aim was simply to save a railbus……although I suspect the glory days of main line steam have passed their zenith, for about 2 decades they operated wooden bodied excursion trains which offered some of the most interesting and exciting operation in these islands. At a time when all English enthusiasts could hope for was a 25mph trundle, the RPSI could still showcase some impressive performances.

Excuse my ignorance but why does the 5’3” have to be laid? The 3’ offered experience that most visitors will be more than happy with, that’s perfectly maintainable by an agricultural engineer, and that can accommodate visiting steam relatively easily.

The railways were not really controlled by the big house Anglo-Irish, who were scarcely interested in anything resembling ‘trade’. Railways tended to be promoted by the local merchants and farmers. And arguably acted as an accelerant for Ireland’s burgeoning Catholic middle class. The founder of the GSWR, Peter Purcell, was a friend of O’Connell and a significant backer of Catholic emancipation.

As a rough heuristic, the more industrialised a country is, the more interest in railways there tends to be. Eg Germany has a more active preservation scene than France. Quite what the law (if law there be) of cause and effect is I cannot say. In terms of grants, that only really kicked in c1980s.

It’s not at all controversial. The biggest thing which will affect UK preservation is the demographic timebomb. I am 54 years old - at this age a lot of my parents generation had been able to retire and devote time to other things - such as preserved railways. My generation and those below, the economists tell us, will have to work for longer, depriving the preservation - and other - sectors of the supply of voluntary labour on which they have rested. Only the lines which can operate as commercially self-funding, or have significant private financial backing, will be able to thrive.

The RPSI operations sell out because they offer an experience within easy reach of the capital. You don’t spend half a day getting there, and the experience is long enough to offer substance without boring the kids. The relative scarcity of the trains ensures that they are filled. Having spent some thirty years of my life in very close contact to RPSI finances, I have a lot of sympathy with the branch line concept, but know how much it would soak up in resource.

Simple answer is ‘none’ I’m afraid. RPSI have found the model, by accident or design, to keep steam going: run a few trains out of Dublin every year filled to the gunwales with passengers. Far more commercially viable than keeping a branch line going 365 days. Not enough Dublin families would drag down to any of the old closed lines (Baltinglass, Shillelagh, Athboy etc) to keep them running. Downpatrick, which is a relatively small operation by UK standards, represents a truly extraordinary commitment of money and time by those involved. Not sure there is enough capacity in the Irish market to support another operation.

Quite right @GSR 800. I can recall the old Connolly pre-Dart. What a place it was compared to the basic tramway NIR was at that stage. Still recall seeing mailbags on the platform with a set of 121s ready to head off on the Sligo Mail.

Interesting shot at Clones - love the crew grabbing a quick fag before heading off! Hadn’t realised that bread vans made it south.

Looks like ex DSER K2 class. 461 probably as it has no ash chutes on smokebox

Yes, John, they have a very distinguished history with the UN - and a sad roll call of losses. This is a strategic step change towards war fighting - green vehicles being deployed and not white…..

Very very interesting. IDF deployed on continent in force…..changed days!! Extract from Defence Forces website.., Mobility A significant component of Ireland’s involvement in MilEx 2025 was the successful deployment of Defence Forces equipment and vehicles from Pfungstadt, Germany, to Pápa Airbase, Hungary, using European rail transport. This marked a key milestone in strategic military mobility for Ireland and demonstrated the Defence Forces’ ability to operate as part of a multinational logistical chain.

Lovely pic of Ballintogher Ernie, but I think it’s printed back to front….

Fascinating scene. Looks relatively modern until you see what the same photographer took a few yards away that day . I think those two engines could do with swapping tenders!