Irishswissernie

Waterford, Platforms 1 & 2 at the east end 14 August 1953, 150 on Macmine train. Platform 1 looks as if it had been converted to another use even at that date.

GNRI Bundoran Junction 50, June 1957. Cavan & Leitrim Ballinamore 12L June 1957. CB&SC Cork Albert Quay 557 June 1957.

Progress! The track is now laid and the electrics now need to be done. The layout is split into 3 sections electrically and the wiring can be surface laid as it is all in the fiddle yard The black hatching indicates the boundary between the fiddle yard and the scenic bit. A layout of this size 48 x 32 inches is not after 50+ years layout building experience going to need point motors etc so everything is being kept simple. What it does need is the 'stock railer' on the left hand corner which was an afterthought but is really handy for me (I have enough trouble trying to put a Murphy 071 on the track at Glengarriff!) The first photo includes 'Princess' standing in the slate quarry exchange sidings, these exit into the fiddle yard so that full and empty wagons can change places. The second photo is 'Princess' on the somewhat lightly built bridge over the stream at the north end of the station In this scale and with my eyesight, operation will be running trains rather than shunting and the layout will accommodate 7 rakes , 5 in the fiddle yard and empty and full rakes in the quarry yard. Next task is to find my soldering iron!

Getting even further off track er topic , Some years ago Yverdon station in Switzerland added a small platform loop inset at the end of island platform numbers 4 and 3 so it was (is) numbered platform 43!

Thanks Jim, Only one County Donegal Railways image in the latest batch but its a slightly different view of Strabane ca 1959. No doubt you would like a scan for the Museum?

I was 'ripped off' some 25 years ago on this kind of scenario when I had the original Fotopic Collection. I had an arrangement with some USA based company called 'Adsense' who were to pay me some commission if they could advertise on my Albums. they were supposed to pay me when it reached $100. When my sum due was being approached they upped it to $200 and then $500 and then Fotopic went bust! so I never received anything. Fotopic also sold prints from my photos and paid me a cut but again when they folded some £70 odd due went. Cest la Vie er 'Hard to Bare' is the Geordie equivalent. Never mind lads! 44 more original slides acquired today, Courtmacsherry, Kilrush, Lismore, Dungarvan feature.

ex GNRI Dundalk Works , withdrawn stock on sidings along the curve leading round to the ex Irish North Western line to Barrack Street. Belfast Docks 24. I'm thinking this might be at the coal sidings on the south east side of the river which were across the 'shaky bridge' I think 24 was permitted to work across the bridge. ca1959 ex D&SER Killiney 462, 22August 1954.

Thanks, Its been my hobby for 60 + years anyway and money or time doesn't really come into it, Being a true Geordie (born just off Scotswood Road of Blaydon Races fame!) I'm just grateful I didn't get the Newcastle Utd fan bug as I certainly couldn't afford the Season Ticket nor have the huge beer belly to wear an XXXXXXLLLLL Utd shirt and little else

Just noticed the Archive has reached over 56 Million hits since I started it on flickr. If I had received a penny a hit that would have been £560,000 and I could have probably funded a Chinese built ready to run SLNCR 00 scale Lough Erne. Unfortunately I would imagine that if you had to pay a penny to look per image the number of hits would more likely be 5,600!

CDRJC Stranorlar station June 1957. Athlone ex M&GW B184 Dublin-Werstport train 3 May 1969. West Clare, Brake Van 17C (I think) ca 1952.

SLNCR Enniskillen Railbus 2A June 1957. Hill of Howth Tramway Sutton station 15March 1959 Car 4. UTA Wagons 629 & 1267 no date. UTA Wagon C21. no date

The black loco could be 23 rather than 21, the number is a bit indistinct on the slide.

21 & 15 at Guinness Brewery March 1959. 15 had been withdrawn in 1957 apparently so freshly painted green for preservation. 21 was withdrawn 1959 so probably still in the usual black + red bits livery.

Mallow Shed, 715 June 1957. Cavan & Leitrim, Drumshanbo 3L June 1957. Belturbet, ca 1959 4T on the goods yard headshunt, whilst an ex CB&P 2-4-2T on the lower level line from Ballinamore on the right. Poor neg unfortunately but a bit different!

A couple of number 4's today. U1 No 4 at Larne Town in NCC days . Re-numbered 4A in May 1947 when WT No 4 was delivered and scrapped April 1949 according to William Scott's book. WT No 4 ca 1969 with NIR insignia at York Road.

Enniskillen shed June 1957 . 199 & Railbus 2. Lisburn in NIR days 18 June 1987. No info with this neg but I think its Rosslare shed ca 1960 with 114.

Cork, Glanmire Road shed ca 1959. Strabane CDRJC 'Erne' June 1957.

I have finally started final planning on the Welsh narrow gauge 009 layout first mentioned in the Glengarriff / Four Masters Topic last year or was it earlier?. I'm doing my bit to save the planet, so no drawing the plan out on bits of paper plus its easier to remember it on a photo. I also needed some Sundeala board and co-incidentally a piece of chipboard to block off a fire place in the living room for SWMBO and I therefore ordered a piece of chip board which came as a 'stiffener' for 2 pieces of Sundeala. The baseboard framework is to be constructed from roofing 'lats' which slates are nailed to. The odd thousand feet of spare lats were used by my daughter in the re-roofing of her house. I have reluctantly actually had to purchase two boxes of screws. The baseboard will have a dropped section to accommodate a small underbridge and valley similar to that at Dolgoch - not the ugly viaduct but the nice stone oneat the upper end. Basically the'history' of the line is that it was constructed from Llanwrst in the Conway valley southwards on the hillside above Bettws-y-Coed and then up into the hills to the Penmachno Valley to serve slate and later road-stone quarries terminating at Rhiwbach quarry. In real life this quarry had a long and difficult connection over the hills to the Ffestiniog Railway and they were supporters of my route to Llanwrst. Baseboard construction is scheduled for next Sunday whilst Madame is away at Church and unable to monitor the piles of sawdust etc on the lounge carpet.

Hot off the Scanner tonight! Glass negative G2 655 at Broadstone Dublin. Date sometime between 1926 and 1934 when rebuilt with a Belpaire SH Boiler & firebox. Flyaway Cab removed 1935 according to Locomotives of the GSR.

The sun shone yesterday at Melkridge (just outside Haltwhistle) but back to rain today. Here is 60090 on Gypsum mts from Newbiggin Cumbria to Tees Dock. 25 years ago in 1998 I walked from home to Melkridge to video 56123 loading coal. The siding and loop plus loader were taken out of use later in 1998 when the NIMBY's refused an extension to the Open Cast site with the argument that it was it was ancient moorland that was being destroyed although actually it was a Grouse Moor and would have been woodland if not maintained as open land for Grouse shooting. The link is the track and siding which are still there unused for 25 years and only 6 years old from when they were laid.

Enniskillen GNRI, 203 June 1957.

Looking at the first photo of No 500, the fifth vehicle appears to be some kind of van followed by another set of coaches. Each carriage set also seem to be arranged in a descending order of 'modernity'. I think therefore the train is composed of a couple or more portions for different destinations.

Approaching Inchicore 500 ,14 May 1953. Guinness Brewery No 3 ca 1950.

D S M Barrie's book on the DN&GR says that the LNWR furnished the whole of the original rolling stock and specifically says that they constructed the locomotives and carriages at Crewe and Wolverton. However he doesn't state that the goods stock was built by them although it is extremely likely that it was rather than outside contractors. Original (1872) goods stock provided is listed as 50 cattle trucks, 18 ft long, 10 bolster timber wagons, 40 open and 100 covered goods wagons and 2 goods brake vans.

I have a feeling that the current invective being generated towards the railways existence has been prompted by yesterdays arrival of some Sundeala for the baseboard of the Welsh narrow gauge railway projected to occupy a 4' x 2-6" space in the computer room. C'est la Vie. Meanwhile 071 Class 085 works a Fertiliser special over the Drowes River bridge ar Four Masters.