Irishswissernie

The last few days have been tense and traumatic as Madame and one's youngest daughter who still resides with her husband here, have decided that its time the Christmas decorations went up and the house generally tidied/ dusted etc. I thought COVID meant that Christmas was cancelled but no its all systems go and when was I going to do my bit. Well they can't complain I have and here are the photos to prove it. Glengarriff has been spruced up and the piles of plastic bits tools, brushes paint pots etc tidied away. In addition the new layout is coming on. I can't really lay any track until the viaduct is constructed as I am planning on open topped girder spans with the rails supported on longitudinal beams laid on stone piers.

Unidentifiable 121 class on Enterprise arriving at Gt Victoria Street, 9 Feb 1965

I am continuing to add Irish views daily to Flickr. This one added today B133 at Balla 18 July 1969 with badly faded white line on Bonnet door grills

Over the last few days I have constructed the baseboards for the Sligo & Donegal Junction. All that is holding up construction is some wire and tube for the points as this has to be included at the same time as track laying. Sourcing a couple of points took some time as there is a great shortage at the moment due to an upturn in layout construction during lockdown. The original detailed track plan and wiring diagram appears to have been eaten by one of the dogs so I am sketching it out on the boards and working out running/shunting moves etc whilst waiting for the wire & tube which has "allow 28 days for delivery" on the advertising. Well parceling up 5 yards of 2mm tube and wire and then squeezing it into a large envelope and then finding a courier or perhaps Royal Mail with a delivery slot to send it can be quite daunting. I struck it lucky with the pack of 10mm track pins and the 2 rolls of cork underlay from 2 different dealers who both managed to get them to me next day.

Can I join in on the 20 or is it 200 question time? I have 3 IE liveried 121's which may not arrive until post January pre-paid plus 2 A Class pre-paid. Does this mean I will now be liable for import duty to the UK from IRM in Dublin. I think I probably will be but the Mrs has been dropping hints about her Christmas presents and it could well be that she will have to settle for a Mars Bar and even the dogs might end up with a couple of dog chews. I'll be a bit upset if the dogs have to go without!

I've just been going through the photos on the Archive and it looks as if all 3 of the large tanks had wooden front buffer beams certainly in their later lives. There are a few on both the front and bunker ends on the smaller locos as well.

Contact Tommy Brady, Irish Freight Models via Facebook. The Website shown has been hacked so don't use it, send him a personal message. https://www.facebook.com/Irish-Freight-Models-1252098201500518 Found his email ; tommybrady@eircom.net

Work continues on the 'dereliction-ing' of the cattle loading bank. I need to get the shrubbery and small trees planted. As regards the Sligo and Donegal Junction, the wood has been acquired and the building site cleared. The actual size of the base boards established and detailed work on the track plan underway. Here are a few views of the proposed layout with a revised scheme which uses the Glengarriff fiidle yard and with a few alterations to the off scene trackage it should be possible to run Sligo fiddle yard , - S&DJR station - hidden loops - Glengarriff - Glengarriff fiddle yard giving a running route of some 60 feet without any point changing. The actual location is envisaged as being at the crossing of the Drowes River at a place now known as Four Masters bridge south of Bundoran. In the past it appears to have been called Mullanaleek Bridge and the site of a Corn Mill and Kiln. Mullanaleek for Bundoran could well be the layouts eventual title.

I will order one through you next week plus a few wagon kits. The photos should be great but I might be a bit more cautious about any text judging by the Publishers blurb; quite a few geographical boobs. https://lightmoor.co.uk/books/irish-narrow-gauge-album/L8818

Trade Shows and Stalls were the main net income flows in the old days when attendances were much higher and stand fees etc in real terms far lower. Nowadays (Well pre Covid) I worked out with various traders that their actual profit or hourly wage worked out at about £3 per hour taking into account time taken in packing the van, driving there, setting up, possible B& B expenses then packing the van and driving back after the show plus wear and tear on the van etc. There are the hidden benefits of course , meeting people , enjoying the 'craic' OH! and away from the missus for a few days, Yeh come to think of it - definitely worth doing!

Not really a good idea anywhere especially in the current pandemic. I spent over 40 years in Banking and when I retired worked in a Model Shop for approx 7 years covering for the Owners when they were doing Shows or on Holidays. For several years I watched over some 8 accounts for various model shops none of which are trading today. The problems with an actual shop are the fixed costs, Rents, Rates, Insurance , Heating/Lighting and the running costs mainly staffing. You would need to ensure that the Shop maintained its advertised opening hours otherwise customers will soon give it a miss. This really ties up your time. A shop will also need a large varied amount of stock in order to hopefully generate enough sales and profit margin to sustain the above fixed costs and also buy the odd loaf of bread. Just to fill out your evening there will be Vat returns, Accountancy and Income Tax, National Insurance etc to sort out. Finally after you have decided to retire, if against all odds the shop is a success you will then have to find someone to buy it. I would suggest if you want to test the market then start On-line and see what interest there really is "hard cash" wise.

I attended via Zoom as well although my Webcam has gone the journey and enjoyed an excellent set of films. There were some fascinating scenes of the demolition Contractors working on the Clonmel-Thurles branch using what looked like one of the ex GNRI railcars D E F or G ( can anyone confirm ) with a makeshift wooden board Driving end. I have another Webcam on the way and look forward to the next Show

Cattle bank developments

The larger Puffers (89 ft long as opposed to the earlier 66 ft long) certainly traded to Northern Ireland and probably down the east coast to Dublin but probably not round Malin Head and down the west coast. They traded to the Western Isles in Scotland but went via the Crinan Canal to avoid the rougher seas around the Mull of Kintyre. The Langley kit is the smaller 66 ft version which were built to fit the locks of the Forth & Clyde Canal and around the Firth of Clyde If there was a chance of making a few bob on the side Para Handy and the Vital Spark would have taken it though!

My download speed is 71 MBps so uploading will be correspondingly a bit faster than yours , the last video I uploaded to Glengarriff was 322mb for 4 mins 28 secs so my file frame (or whatever you call it) size is a bit smaller. Its still only copper wire to the house though.

Does it happen every 25 years or so? here's a Graham Roose slide from 25 October 1995

I had my Flu jab this morning bright and early 8am and also as a result of a BOGOF managed to have a needle in both arms (free Pneumonia offer) So I gave up work on the cattle bank fencing and cleaned the track so I could try out one or two trains. A couple of Sligo & Donegal layout locos make their appearance, not many people remember that the S&DJR acquired several ex GNRI & SLNCR locos in the 1957 closures. From the SLNC in debt settlement and from CIE , ex GNRI locos not required on the dismemberment of the company. This was to cover the expected increase in traffic to Co Donegal via Sligo on closure of the Irish North Western etc. 2020-10-20_Glengarriff.mp4

I just upload Glengarriff video direct from the PC to IRM, its only slightly longer than uploading a photo. I combine the clips on the 'Photos' thing on Windows 10 but don't upgrade the 'export' to high. Its 4K video to start with so massive files so you need to keep the final film length to only 3 or 4 minutes

Yeh I was charged a quid, it took 10 days to arrive but I think that was because Robin Fell hadn't quite completed adding it to the Web site. There's some cracking photos in it plus fairly extensive captions. Ernie

Glengarriff is looking a bit cluttered whilst I finish off the last bits of scenic work, however I felt the need to escape to the 'man cave' or should it be eyrie as its int loft so I did a bit of videoing. Didn't bother cleaning the track and there's been a bit of movement track wise over the usual Haltwhistle summer heat wave so a bit shaky. A few more photos as well. Glengarriff_18Oct2020.mp4

19mm x 16mm single pallet or 19mm x 32mm 4 pallets

Not about my photos etc for a change! I was talking to Robin Fell of Trotskee Travel, the source of a fair number of my negative and slide acquisitions a couple of weeks ago and he asked if I bought Irish railway books. I replied that I probably already had them all but he said that they were publishing an Irish railway book by the legendary British railway photographer Dick Riley. Apparently Dick had made a weeks trip in May 1950 in the company of noted Irish railway photographers Henry Casserley, Tom Middlemass and HS Brighty. Its a Print on Demand book and a new venture by Robin under the Transport Treasury umbrella. Compiled by Michael McMahon. It arrived today and is a superb good quality hardback volume of some 80 photos . coverage is roughly Belfast (3 main termini) Greenore Dundalk Connolly, WEstland Row Bray Mullingar C&L Clones SLNCR Sligo CDRJC Strabane Stranorlar, Derry, L&LSR Waterside Colerain Ballycastle. https://totempublishing.co.uk/product/riley-in-ireland-by-michael-mcmahon/ Price £12-50 postage in the UK free. Looks like £5-99 to Eire (Europe) unfortunately

A couple more interesting station views, Athlone M&GW station 1967 and an enlargment of Ballysodare with an its sturdily built Goods shed 1969.

Today I've started on the last area to be developed, the Guinness Compound.

Markle Video, Irish Rail Archive Volume 8 , Tara to Clara covers the unloading including inside the unloading shed at Dublin Port..