Galteemore

Fair enough Andy….and at least the GW had one decent loco …2927 Saint Patrick!

That’s lovely work. Shows the real character of the original

If it’s so great, why are you modelling the 5’3 and not 7’ Andy ? And yes, I did spend years of my life living in Wilts near Wootton Bassett junction so I do know about the Greasy Wet and Rusty….

They look nice Leslie, agreed. But there’s only one railway where the G stands for Glorious! http://eiretrains.com/steamindex/#GNR171_20100818_003_CC_JA.jpg

Glenfarne is the way to go. Can’t even see the join!

I think Northport Quay would also benefit from an SLNCR 0-6-2T…..

It’s all a mystery, which I have also been giving much thought too. Perhaps a conversion of a Kerr Stuart design rather than actual bits of metal ?

Agreed. Why would the GN go to the trouble of drawing up a non-standard one off design unless they either: a. had a bespoke requirement for short vehicles as per the Courtmacsherry bogies. I am not aware of such a restriction on this line. b. Had a non-standard chassis or underframe in stock which could be used for a cheaper build. This may not even have been an old Railmotor chassis, of course. KS were also, apparently coachbuilders as well as loco builders. So there are a number of possibilities as to what it might have originally been intended for.

It’s an interesting one. Let us know how you get on. The GN had dealings with BP, of course, North British, and even Manning Wardle, but the Kerr Stuart reference is intriguing…..

This 1929 view - Britain from the Air - seems to confirm that. My own memories of Magheramorne are too dominated by its dereliction to imagine what it once was! No one imagined in 1952 that No 52 and her sisters would nolonger run through that loop at speed but spend their final years hauling spoil from there to Belfast…..

Got to be north of Ballymena or Whitehead if single track in 52. Signalling looks like a branch rather than just sidings running in from the left. Angle of approach doesn’t look quite right for Limavady Jct. I’m guessing Macfin but probably wrong !

Kerr Stuart built a considerable number of railmotors, before being wound up in the early 30s. Could it be that the coach was built using significant KS components acquired in the liquidation sale? Might explain the unusual length. Just before the firm collapsed, the GN did actually cross paths with KS. As engineering advisers, G T Glover and Dundalk had been loosely involved with KS in 1930 through the unsuccessful trials of a KS loco on the Castlederg and Victoria Bridge Rlwy….intriguingly, that loco still survives, the only Castlederg loco still with us. And, more notably, it’s the first Irish diesel locomotive…. The KS works were purchased by George Cohen and sons, and the goodwill acquired by Hunslet. Perhaps the chassis of a Railmotor went to Dundalk via either of them…Tom Rolt’s book ‘Landscape with Machines’ provides some background on the details of what happened to some KS assets.

The advent of 12mm gauge track freely available from Peco does make a 4mm scale 3’ system that bit more viable…..

As someone whose modelling is entirely scratch or kit based, that’s absolutely true - it’s not like purchasing off some of the big suppliers. Many of these operations are run on a shoestring in someone’s spare time. Not easy when you’re in Ireland, I know, but often the best way of acquiring stuff from smaller traders is going to a big show like Warley or Scaleforum once a year with a shopping list, and seeing the traders in person. I normally do Kettering Gauge O Guild show in March as my annual stocking up, with the Guildford O gauge group trade show in December as a top up!

Might they be the first multiple unit fleet in these islands ? I think the US had multiple unit railcar fleets from the mid 30s.

You’ve woven a lovely scene together Patrick - definitely not run of the mill.

From a toy to a model. Well done!

Those old 1960s FFTs are real gems, and Drew Donaldson is always worth reading. That issue even has a letter from @leslie10646! What always intrigued me for a preservation journal is the ‘Vaporaria’ section in the early issues, which showed how active working steam still was right up until 1970.

It was the European Passenger Services livery, which was derived from the BR Trainload freight standard triple-grey livery as the locos involved were, IIRC, part of the trainload freight sector, to identify UK locos involved with international operations and the tunnel in one way or another. The three metal segments are intended to represent the cross section of a tunnel receding into the distance. A quote discovered here: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/92009.46162/

SER Kits offer very nice 7mm versions of English prototypes which may also have been typically seen in Ireland in the mid Victorian era…..

I know these don’t count but they are fun….

Very capable locos, the Glover tanks, with bogie brakes unusual for Ireland - must have helped snappy stopping for suburban working. Regular runners on Antrim branch until its closure. Thankfully, after a 20 year gap, rails returned to that spot…… You can see the same building in both shots…..http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/2014/10/05/ni-railways-belfast/

Will IRM be releasing a wooden range in the next few years ? 21mm gauge of course…

Full brake

Lovely Ernie. Think it’s a vented van - you have a pic in your SLNC album of a similar one at Manorhamilton c1950