Irishswissernie

Forgot to add the fiddle yard photo, managed to get 6 tracks in. There are isolating sections at the end of each siding so that locos can be uncoupled and isolated and then another loco can take its turn in running the train.

I vaguely remember the Rev Awdry (Well the operator was wearing a dog collar so I'm pretty sure it was him) showing a Thomas the Tank Engine layout at Central Hall Westminster in the original MRC Annual Exhibition CA 1970. The layout plan also figured in Cyril Freezer's Peco 'Plans for Smaller Layouts' booklet.

Work continues on Mullaghmore with the fiddle yard tracks now laid and wired up. I hate soldering! One advantage of the layout now being in a room with a window rather then in the former windowless loft ; is that I can now use natural sunlight when photographing. 192 crosses Four Masters Bridge on the passenger.

IE 2000- ca Gort signal box. GNRI 1956-04-03 Strabane 174 3.50pm Derry - Belfast WACS2253. CIE 1959-03-14 Mullingar J5 627 station pilot.

I am resisting the temptation to buy a Terrier! The Rails write up about the history of the class with regard to the Great Western Railway is a load of 'bullshxt' . The locos were an LBSC design most of which were sold off to industry , small minor railways and in WW1 some were used by the Government. The Southern Railway inherited the residue. Only 2 ended up on Great Western Railway taken over from the Weston Cleveland and Portishead Railway. They would have been hard stretched to have been seen across the Great Western Railway ,network. One was scrapped in 1948 and the other in 1954.

C&L 1959-03-14 Dromod 6T on 12.20 mixed to Ballinamore (3). GNRI 1954-07-11 Clones shed Mck047. GNRI 1963-05-28 Belfast approaching Adelaide, VS UTA58 'Lagan' JGD630617.

CBSC 1953-08-24 Clonakilty Junction 467 Dn Goods (2). CIE 1951-05-17 Dublin, Grand Canal Street 460 JGD510607. CIE 1968-05-04 Wicklow Goods B147 on 186 SPL Westport 078 ca 2000-5 ja048

Way Back in 1982 I organised the Annual Exhibition in St Cuthberts Church Hall , Blyth for the Blyth & District Model Railway Society.We had a gate of about 331 over the 2 days, about 10 layouts and 5 Trade stands. Total income was £201 and expenditure £52, giving us a profit of about 300%. It was a bit nerve wracking at times, ie the pies and mushy peas for the Exhibitors were late on the first day. Those were the days!

These 3 Ektachrome originals were taken by an American photographer whilst on a short visit to Belfast in September 1955. Unfortunately the colours all had a bad red tinge due to aging but I have managed to restore them somewhat. The 2 at Great Victoria Street show UTA WT No 7 which had been lent to the GNRB prior to the splitting of the GNRI and also the MAK Diesel prior to its purchase and numbering 800 by the CIE. Apparently it was being trialled on Goods trains on the Londonderry line etc. The final view is at Belfast Queens Quay.

Having the house to myself and the dogs for the last week as Madame was visiting relatives 'doon South' , and I could therefore use the dining room table for building baseboards on etc, I have at last managed some progress on the migration of the layout etc from the loft to my 'den'. This involved building a large bookcase which forms the support for the new station board plus boards across the window and above the computer. Four Masters Bridge has also successfully made the trip and is now installed. Next stage is tracklaying and I will need to acquire some larger radius points for the station area. Lifted track has been roughly positioned just to check out angles and feasibility. There is the facility to put a temporary fiddle yard board onto the landing which could either be used as the ore shipping point sidings or even to run Mullaghmore as a through station.

x226 B&CDR 1965-08 Belfast Queens Quay cattle bank UG48. NIR 1965-CA Whitehead, MPD powered goods. It took me a while to work out this location, I think its Whitehead with the line to the later RPSI site on the left. Only part of a rather poor slide but interesting. GNRI'CDRJC 1960-05-21 Strabane , nameboard & Railcar 111 JGD 60704.

Thanks, Titles amended. That cleared the un-identified images for a few hours but there are now some more in the post!

All now identified apart from these 2, any ideas. I think the WT is on the Coleraine - Ballymena - Greenisland line. There are other slides of the train on the Lisburn -Antrim branch so possibly returning down the ex NCC main line. . UG49 is on a railtour, it did venture south around Drogheda on one Tour I think.

X244 I reckon is Lurgan. Found an aerial view on Britain from the Air taken in 1928 with the Mill Chimney and footbridge. https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/XPW015535

I don't think x244 (2nd one) is Balmoral the sidings don't look right. The 3rd one could be Hilden, the pole line and trees etc match but compared to this one by J G Dewing taken about 4-5 years earlier the box has gone but a distant signal has appeared on the later view. The building appears to be being rebuilt to on the later view. Just to further muddy the waters I'm not convinced that Dewing's photo is at Hilden. See the snip I have added of the box (which also has advertising board on the front so the name could have been altered)

Thanks, there is some indecipherable scribble on the top slide which might read near Lisburn. This one is is also a recent arrival! Hazelwood at Sligo , 15 May 1956. JG Dewing of course! I have often wondered how Mr Dewing managed to take photos in Ireland during the War and have been given a postcard photo dated 20 April 1940 showing him on a cycle near Sandycove. The text reads. " JGD on his way to Bray from Dublin on the last day of an epic fortnight spent cycling in Ireland with his oldest friend, Frank Jones; away from wartime Britain, before both joined HM Forces "

I have been working through some donated Dia-Dema reversible type film slides this week. They are in a terrible state but some 45 of the 80 have been rescued and 41 of these have been identified as to location etc. They all date from 1964/5. These 4 need locations. Comments welcome! x245 N Ireland 1964'5 where! x244 NCC N Ireland 1964'5 where! x216 N Ireland 1964'5 where! x209 N Ireland 1964'5 where!

Thanks, I will amend the Title accordingly. I think I read somewhere that the DNGR bogie coaches were transferred to the NCC during or before WW11 possibly to replace destroyed NCC stock during the Air Raids and that a third coach DNG no 25 was destroyed by bombing in Belfast.

A few arrivals this week, a friend gave me some 80 Northern Ireland slides from the the mid 1960's and today a mixed bag arrived including some JG Dewing negatives. This one caught my eye. I'm pretty sure that the bogie coach is one of DNGR Tri-Composites 23 or 24 built for the Greenore- Belfast Boat trains in 1899. Please correct me if it isn't! EDITed to The bogie carriage is a GNRI vehicle, number 130, (a one off), originally H2 2nd/3rd class, downgraded in 1941 to all 3rd and allocated K21. Thanks Paul. I thought that if it was the ex D&NGR Tri-Composite it would have retained the 'LNWR' livery. DN&GR 1949-05 CA Newry Bridge Street station, Greenore train JT94 and GNRI bogie + DNG 6 whl stock. JGD490903

https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/XAW027572 The above is a link to an aerial view of Enniskillen in the Britain from the Air site. I always thought that the canopy by the SLNCR Bay extended as far as the station and footbridge but it didn't even reach the terminal end of the bay platform

Yes I noticed that in your Topic; I did a check through the scans that havn't been uploaded to flickr yet, the only other relevant one is a B&W negative of the colour image that is already uploaded.

SLNCR 1957-06-08 Enniskillen, 'Lough Melvin' LN1110. W&T 1960-11-03 Waterford Manor (2). UTA 1967-08-23 Portstewart 'WT54' recorded by photographer but could be 55! JGD67093

CDRJC 1959-05-10 Donegal Town, Notice JGD590727a. CDRJC 1959-08-14 Letterkenny, Mixed for Strabane x169. CIE 1954-07-06 Cork Glanmire Road shed Mck034. CIE 1952-06-10 Ennis, West Clare Bay etc Mck027.

GNRI 1960-05-17 Finaghy Railcar xx JGD600328. GNRI 1961-05-31 Adelaide 62 JGD610703 GNRI 1960's CA Belfast GVS UG 82 later UTA 47 x032

GNRI 1963-05-29 Aghadavoyle WT 57 JGD630706 GNRI 1961-06-01 Aghadavoyle WT 57 on 14.15 Dublin - Belfast JGD610708 GNRI 1963-05-31 Aghadavoyle bank SG3 UTA 35 JGD630815