Irishswissernie

GS&WR Class 47 , 78 built 1886 & withdrawn 1945. It woudn't have been at Wexford before grouping in 1925 as Wexford was Dublin & South Eastern Railway

2 Swilly and a Clogher Valley (only one unfortunately)

There are a few coach photos, I have just scanned 18 Lough Swilly larger size negs , this one is quite interesting a motorised PW trolley with a coach in the background on one of the daily goods trains, Bridgend 27June 1952 Anyone know who the passengers are? Just scanned this JG Dewing negative L&BER 14 at Crolly 16 April 1940

Just acquired today another 470 Irish negatives and slides, some pre-war but the majority from the 1950's. Unfortunately possibly arrived too late for one of our fratermity. Cest la vie as they say in Haltwhistle or more likely "hard to bear" in true geordie parlance!

Trams to the Hill of Howth by James Kilroy published by Colourpoint covers the Clontarf & Hill of Howth line as well with about 19 photos. The trams were basically just the same design as on most Uk/Irish tramways, mainly open top double deckers and later some covered top double deckers ,quite unlike the USA long single decker bogie cars used on the longer interurban routes.

She looked a bit "out of gauge" on this trailer back in a gloomy day 10 October 1964 being moved in Belfast. Photos Mike Shannon/DR Dunn Collection

The E M Patterson books had been up-dated by Colourpoint and the second editions have far more photographs etc than the earlier David & Charles First editions. Further the Ballymena Lines books was retitled as The Mid-Antrim Narrow Gauge. Copy on Amazon UK at £20 today. They are A4 sizesoft backs rather than the smaller size hard backs of the first editions. Ernie

Checked out the Tolka Bridge flood collapse and re-building. This was 8th December 1954 and from 13th December until 1st January , 7 goods train each way were diverted via Navan and ex M&GWR line to Clonsilla Junction. So unfortunately out of the time period I think (Info from Pattersons Great Northern Railway Ireland) It could be Beauparc, I am trying to find photos before the loop was lifted. The hopper wagons at the rear of the train could be gypsum from Kingscourt going to the Drogheda cement factory or Platin if that had been built then.

Could be I will do some more digging! I've narrowed the date down a bit on editing further images in the set. One shows the Belfast-Dublin-Cork Enterprise passing Limerick Junction so thats between Oct 1950 and 1953 and there are also some Greenore shots which finished in Dec 1952 so they are somewhere between 1951-52. There are another 4 to go at: This followed some Mallow shots so possibly on Killarney line loco shedded Dublin probably Loco 585 shedded Broadstone 257 shedded Inchicore and finally No 3 shedded at Waterford

Many thanks for the replies. I am working through a few more negs, they are not up to the standard of the J G Dewing ones but nevertheless quite interesting. The one below is ca 1950-51 and depicts GNRI SG 179 on a long freight. It would appear to be a single line crossing station as the fireman or driver is hanging out of the cab with the staff in his hand to exchange it. There are possibly a long rake of hoppers at the rear of the train. I have a gut feeling its on the Oldcastle line . Ideas anyone?

Here are 3 J G Dewing negs I have acquired but I need the locations. IDEAS anyone? All I think GNRI main line. Best I can come up with for this W Class 91 is between Portadown and Goraghwood but I could be way off target! No idea with this view of 174 The Railcars below look like either Belfast or Dublin , The bridge has a name cast into the girders but it could be the manufacturer (illegible) and there are coats of arms on the pillars. EDIT Found this one 2 minutes after I uploaded it! Howth Road Dublin, that little hut is still there but the bridge has been rebuilt.

Acquired this JG Dewing negative of the signal protecting Nos 8, 9 & 10 Crossings between Belcoo and Glenfarne recently. There is a fault on the right hand side of the negative which is usually truncated on published images. Lough Melvin , Enniskillen to Sligo afternoon goods 16th May 1956.

Missing your holidays! Sick of lockdown? 14 days quarantine if/when or whether you will be able you go overseas. This week 16 years ago I flew from Newcastle to Zurich and spent the next fortnight with a First Class Swiss Pass touring the Swiss railway system taking some 15 hours of video over the 14 days. I am currently converting 206 hours of Swiss video taken between 1998 and 2009 to MP4 and coincidentally the June 2004 Trip is the current project. One trip was from my base the Hotel Terminus Brugg. The owner has a Gauge 0 and Gauge 1 layout over the the entire top floor about 60 feet x 80 feet which was started by his Grandfather about 100 years ago but is now fine scale. Where was I? oh yes the 8 June 2004 trip was to Chur and then over the narrow gauge Rhatische Bahn and Bernina Bahn as far as Campocologno and back. The system in route mileage would be about the size of the 2 narrow gauge Donegal lines but as well as being even more mountainous the Swiss metre gauge lines are today all electrified, carry over a million tons of freight per year and have a heavy passenger traffic (last couple of months excepted). I have added a couple of videos to flickr of the part from Poschiavo back to the over 6000 feet summit at Ospizio Bernina (all reached by adhesion - no rack) https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/49983675176/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/49983165358/in/dateposted-public/ There is more Irish video uploaded as well, Carrick on Suir to Limerick Junction 2001 being the latest (a bit of a contrast) https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/49983406221/in/dateposted-public/

2 & 6 withdrawn at Dundalk ca 1952. Only No 2 was in service at the closure of the DN&G on 31 Dec 1951 According to D.S.M. Barrie 1.4 & 6 were lent to the NCC during WWll as most traffic was being handled by GNRI locos or railbuses. 1 & 6 soon returned due to traffic increasing but 4 stayed on the NCC until 24 Feb 1946. 5 was withdrawn as early as 1928 and returned to Crewe for breaking up. If 1 was at Newry at the end of services i.e. in the North then that could have been the reason it stayed there rather than transfering it to the South EDIT I just found this JW Armstrong view of No 2 taken from the opposite side at Dundalk which confirms its number.

Looks like this one behind the coach maybe a gas tank for coach lighting or water carrier? I ' ve done a bit more searching through my files and can't find a view of all of a wagon but they pop up everywhere. Westport, Mallow, Sligo probably most termini with Dining Car or through trains from Dublin etc had one knocking around. The one at Mallow is in a rake of PW Dept Sleeping Cars.

That concrete loading platform looks pretty new in comparison to the rest of the photo. Here's a blow up of a print I have from June 1956 you can see the same style of a loading bank in front of the box. The box is hidden by the locos in the rare print. There are also coaches stored on the siding in the blow up in the same position as the van on the RH siding in the photo. Rails around Dublin by Donal Murray page 37 , bottom photo confirms footbridge was covered.

I think its part of the sidings to the Hill of Howth tramway, there was also a Power station there for the tramway which wasn't used in the later days and became the site of Hammonds scrapyard. I read this somewhere but can't recall where. Sxxt the dogs eating me cheese on toast!!

The footbridge looks longer but it isn't there are only 2 tracks as you can see by the black panels. The steps however do not both go off on the same side so it looks longer but its because the steps on the rh side go off the other side

Thats a GNRI footbridge in the background and 4 of the DN&GR locos were broken up by Hammonds at Sutton on the Howth branch which I think had a covered footbridge in that style

I have worked out a rough sketch for the planned Sligo & Donegal Junction which is more than what I did for Glengarriff and also worked out the er usual complicated and extremely sophisticated electricals. When I actually have the boards up and see what the track looks like 'on the ground' I will have a better idea of what I want and whether it 'gels'. Even borrowed some of the grandbairns coloured pencils but not to impressed with them be

Cheapest one on ABEBOOKS

I have been continuing to upload videos from 2001. 2 added today from 13 June 2001 at Rosslare, the first is mainly the ferries plus the Seacat whilst the second features the departure of the Dublin train and the local trains to and from the Waterford line. I spent a few hours sun bathing between the trains and ferry activity up on the hillside, undisturbed except by a Japanese suit clad business man with luggage who enquired if I knew where he could get a bus to Belfast as the taxi fare quoted to him appeared exorbitant! Somewhere on his travels he had confused Rosslare and Larne when booking his ferry. https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/49972207708/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/49972221178/in/dateposted-public/ As usual click away on the icons

I received the Sir Henry Drawings file from Richard (IRRS) last night so Alan (Brack) can now start again. I've also sold a number of original Working Timetables (Not Irish!) which will fund the purchase of a decent resin printer so apart from his job, wife and our grandchildren plus rebuilding his house if I keep prodding and persuading matters should move on. The re-born Sligo & Donegal Junction is under development, now I'm retired all that's holding me up is taking the dogs out, converting 200 hours plus of Swiss Train video to MP4, uploading scans to Flickr etc (there is a chip with 10,000 scans on its way to me apparently - no Irish though) but mainly fending off questions from Mrs B who can't work out what I do all day! I think this Casserley neg is at Collooney, does anyone recognise the fence posts/trees - not much else to go on!

Its been rather too hot of late to do much modelling on Glengarriff, but work is now in hand to complete the Guinness compound and a warehouse next to the Goods shed. The next project is a re-incarnation of the Sligo & Donegal Junction but as a 5'3" gauge 4mm scale model rather than narrow gauge depicting either the 1960's with grey/yellow 121's etc and the last dregs of steam or just post WWll. The railways didn't really change that much infrastructure wise until the end of steam, loose coupled goods etc. The plan is to locate it above the Glengarriff fiddle yards at about 55 inches height and will be end to end with minimum 2ft radius curves.