Galteemore

As indeed they are referred to in official documents in the War of Independence period - and after, when RAF aircraft painted in tricolours were prepared to drop some ‘good sized eggs’ on the Four Courts to aid Collins. Although the aircraft were armed and ready at RAF Sealand on Merseyside, thankfully this scheme never came off.

If you insist….

Yes, I have used the HMRS service recently and they are very efficient- esp with digital copies.

Lovely story! Boyle was the first ever person to follow Trenchard’s career road map from Cranwell cadet to Chief of the Air Staff. There have been some incredible Irish airmen. One of my favourites is this bloke, who amazingly survived both Dunkirk and Nagasaki.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aidan_MacCarthy

The ‘Emergency’ of course Leslie ! One of my favourite wartime stories involves 2 Irishmen who signed up for Bomber Command and found themselves on the same crew. One was FF the other FG and they fought the bit out over the intercom. Until one night over the Ruhr or similar, with the Flak coming in, the FF man was so carried away by his oratory that he forgot himself and remarked ‘say what you like about DeV, but at least he’s kept us out of the war’…..

Now that was a wireless programme. I still remember driving down the M4 listening to it. His shell by shell description of a cannon burst’s effect on a Lancaster was absolutely spellbinding

Yes please for location - my dad wants to see it too!

V nice Ernie. Middle photo is almost certainly Kilroot. It looks very different nowadays !

Wonderful model. Special place in my family / c 1948 my dad was set on the footplate of a loco here. Although about 4, that assault on the senses of fire and steam and hot oil remained a firm impression. And that was that - a lifetime of obsession passed on to me!

Agreed. Brake vans are one of the most difficult pieces of stock to scratch build, so to have these available is a gift !

That’s incredible work. Such neat plasticard work - no pencil marks or filler in sight!

Very nice work indeed !

I think we’d all like that

This has sent me down a nice byway. UG 48 was sent to York Road in 1967 to assist 27 in pilot duties. On steaming, however, it was too far gone to be of any use. History repeating itself perhaps, Ernie!

Hardly ignorance Tony! One of my lecturers used to say that the more you learn about a subject, the more you realise that you don’t know!

I’m sure it’s all quite innocent. But we should spare a thought for poor Walter Simon…..An extraordinary event occurred at Dingle station on Thursday 13 June 1940, after the line’s closure to passengers. A German spy named Walter Simon arrived at the station and asked when the next train would depart (not realising that only freight services were still operating). Simon had been landed by a German submarine, U-38, during the previous night. He then made his way by bus to Tralee and thence by train to Dublin. Following his enquiry at Dingle station, the Garda Síochána were informed and he was trailed by detectives. He was arrested on arrival in Dublin and interned for the duration of the War (known in neutral Ireland as “The Emergency”).

Can’t see you in a Mk 4, WCR. Think you’re a bit more retro….

Indeed, Jb. One reason they had 5’1 rather than 4’7 driving wheels as with previous GN goods locos was to make them suitable to haul excursion trains when required.

The evidence does seem fairly light in terms of actual trains spotted in that case. Sounds more like low level, and not very competent, espionage….

178 was an SG class 0-6-0. The 4-4-0 number series stopped at 174 and restarted at 190. 178 was delivered in 1913, new boiler 1949, went to CIE in 1958 and withdrawn Mar 61. Here’s a sister loco courtesy of Ernie. Very easy to see how these are a goods version of the more famous S class - crop off the wheels and the likeness is clear!

Enterprise rail link between Belfast and Dublin marks 75 years https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-62498330

Now that’s nice. I built the Alphagraphix kit but had real problems in balancing, and took me a while to fine tune. It uses a brass spring on the rear axle to essentially drive the big wheel down. I think others have tried driving both small wheels and letting the big wheel run free. Beautiful model you’ve made.

Yep, give it a go and make up a small panel to start with. Once you have that magic 5’3” staring you in the face you won’t look back….still got the trial panel I made up years ago with card sleepers and some scrap code 100

Excellent stuff Mike - wish I’d timed our visit a week later! Downpatrick is a must for any Irish enthusiast - most friendly and helpful.

Excellent. 49 was a real pet loco in the last days of steam and very smartly turned out on occasions, complete with white buffers. The two UGs were the last tender locos to be in steam in NI in company service. Photo link from Flickr