DSERetc

In the Journal of the Irish Railway Record Society, No 86 October 1981, in his article Sulzer Locomotives of CIE, on page 274 Dan Renehan writes 'Incidentally B107 and B106 were the only two to carry staff-snatchers, to my knowledge.' Also, I think it was in this forum that some one said that because because of the shape of the recesses on the locomotives, the staff-snatchers had to be installed facing in the wrong direction, so that the 'snatcher man' travelled in the rear cab to operate the arm. DSERetc

A NORWEGIAN in Belfast. Overheard in a Belfast pub "I'll just have a NORWEGIAN!" DSERetc

4012. There is no proof that I was there!

The first scheduled train departure from Belfast Grand Central Station was the 08.05 Enterprise service to Dublin. It departed from Platform 5. The consist was driving trailer 9004, first class 9102, catering vehicle 9403, standard class 9215, 9203, 9201, 9206, generating van 9604 and locomotive 206. The driver was Derek Weir. The train Manager, (conductor) (guard) was David Stewart. The first scheduled train to arrive at BGCS was the 08.30 Portadown to Belfast which also arrived at platform 5. CAF 4012. There is no proof that I was there!

Grand Central Station is claimed to be the largest 'Integrated' station in Ireland. It may be for passengers, (Sorry, Customers), living outside Belfast but not for those in Belfast. Passengers arriving into GCS on a Translink Ulsterbus or Gold liner (the blue buses), for example from Ballynahinch and wishing to go to Omagh will only have to walk from one bus stand to another in the same building. However Belfast residents using the Translink Metro bus (the pink city buses) or the Glider will still have to walk about a quarter of a mile to the station. That is hardly 'Integrated'! There are Glider and Metrobus stops just outside Lanyon Place station. Rail passengers will have to change trains if they want to continue their journey as the through Portadown - Bangor service is ended. At present, dropping off or picking up passengers by private car at GCS seems to be discouraged due to the distance that they have to walk to the station. {Note. There are at least two Metrobus services using GCS, one going to the George Best City Airport and another to the Stena Terminal.) DSERetc

In the late 1940s and first half of the 1950s, living in Bray, we had Byrnes, now the Irish Cancer Society on the Quinsborough Road. They were Hornby dealers and sold O gauge sets and accessories, The Locos were the tinplate 0-4-0 clockwork tender and tank engines, and four wheeled wagons and coaches. I was told in later years that Byrnes took instalment payments in the weeks and months before hand so that railway presents would appear on Christmas morning. They must of had Hornby Dublo but I cannot remember. Further down the street was GBH (Hammonds), now Auto and Trailer Parts, For some years they had a 'TRIX-TWIN circle of oo gauge ? track in the window and two engines running on it. Up at the top of the town near the town hall was Owens. If my memory is correct, at first, they sold cameras, model aeroplanes and cars and then later sold oo gauge trains. Going into Dublin on the Harcourt Street line, the first stop was the long narrow bicycle shop at the corner of Grafton Street and St Stephens Green that Mayner mentioned. I think the name of it was GEARYS. Then if it was just before Christmas, Switzers in Grafton Street had a layout on display in a window. There were also displays in Arnotts and Clearys windows. From Grafton Street up Dame Street and two or three shops before Georges Street was Healys. They had a model railway section and I remember drooling over an o gauge scale length bogie passenger coach in a display case. I have no idea who made it but the detail was marvellous compared to the Hornby tinplate four wheeled coaches. In the window of the B&I Shipping company in Westmoreland Street was a scale model about 3 or 4 feet long of MV Leinster or Munster ships. On the way to Amiens Street Station for the train back to Bray, the last stop was McHugh Himself under the bridge in Talbot Street. While not a model shop, there was a opportunity to look, drool and dream for some years at the RDS Spring Show trade exhibition at the CIE stand, but I seem to remember being disappointed that there was no model railway at the RDS Horse Show. I discovered many years later that the CIE display was set up by Cyril Fry. DSERetc

Did they not use something like milk of magnesite? I believe that it was not only the trains that ran regularly in Clogherhead! DSERetc

Will the GLIDER routes be adjusted to connect into the Grand Central Station?

Did Irish rail ever use the gangways in service? Say for example, Galway and Mayo trains combining at Athlone and opening the gangways to have access through the whole train? Fort William and Oban trains join and divide at Crianlarich on the West Highland line Perhaps as a compromise on the recent proposal for the Wexford line, more frequent four coach trains from Wexford or Rosslare with gangways front and back could be combined with similarly equipped new four car Darts at Greystones or Bray. No passenger transfers required.

I just noticed this red ground signal . DSERetc

These photos are from The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) in colour by Norman Johnston Colourpoint Books, Amiens Street Station. it includes rotating ground signals with a horizontal white 'on' or stop signal and a red 'off' angled signal also a back light for the on position. T

Congratulations! These are excellent models of Great Northern Railway signals. The white posts with the black cap and the spectacle plate the same colour as the signal arm. This was the practice of the GNR. On CIE and Irish Rail, the posts were white (or sometimes silver on round steel posts}, with the top of the post painted black down to about level with the bottom of the spectacle plate and the bottom of the post was also black to about three feet above the ground. The spectacle plate was painted white. On the GWR and on parts of British Rail, the spectacle plates were painted black. See the thread: Irish Railway Modeller/Questions and Answers/Irish Railway Signals, June 11, 2019

Would this article be of any use to you? DSERetc

Could it be 186 on the Down line passing under Corbawn Lane, Shankill, Co Dublin, with the new Shankill Station {opened 10 June 1977) in the background before the DART upgrade? The date could possibly be 23/9/1978, there were three return trips Dublin - Bray ( Page 40 Steams Silver Lining, Joe Cassells) regards DSERetc

I wonder if it would be possible to get a sound chip, not for the locomotives or rolling stock, but for the yard itself to make it a bit more authentic? In Last train to Barrack Street at about 13.35 there is a view of St Joseph's Church and Monastery which is just across the road from Barrack St Yard. In the years before it closed, the predominant sound coming from the yard was the siren from the gantry as it moved up and down the yard loading and unloading containers on and off the train underneath it. However, in the days of steam engines and loose coupled four wheeled wagons, the sounds were quite different. As trains arrived in from different parts of the country they were 'broken up'. The wagons were uncoupled and loose shunted into the different sidings to wait until they were unloaded. The shunter(s) uncoupled and coupled the wagons with a shunting pole and ran beside the moving wagons, using the hand brake on the wagons to control the speed until they bumped into the wagons already in the siding with a clanging of the buffers. The shunters changed the points and told the drivers where to put the wagons. The engine drivers would always give a short whistle before they would move forwards or backwards. In the evenings, until about 2.00 am, wagons from the different sidings were assembled into trains and departed. Then there was about a two-hour break until about 4.00 am when trains began to arrive, and the shunting would begin again. Another sound coming from the yard then, was the language of the shunters, especially on a cold wet winter's night. For many years the monastery across the road was a Novitiate House and young novices, some fresh in from the country, were living on the top floor of the house, overlooking the goods yard and their tender ears were assailed by this language. According to the Monastery folklore, after one very cold wet night, the priest in charge of the novices went across the road to complain to the yard foreman, who responded "I have to agree with you, Father, the bl***y language is f**king awful!"

A retired UK customs man told me the following story. I have not been able to verify it from independent sources. Before the non-stop Enterprise service began between Belfast and Dublin, all customs examinations were done at the border at Goraghwood and Dundalk, often causing delays. When the non-stop Enterprise service started, two customs men travelled on the train and did an examination of the passengers luggage on the way up to Dublin in the morning and another examination on the way down to Belfast in the evening. They had the afternoon free in Dublin. However very soon the Bosses in the Customs realised that this was not a very economic use of manpower. The decision was made to have the bags examined on tables in the station when the train arrived in Belfast. Not wishing to lose the cushy Enterprise duty, the customs men decided that they would work to rule and thoroughly examine every single bag of every single passenger so that there would be such an outcry of protest from the public that they would get back on the train. After one month they gave up their work to rule. Not one word of protest had been sent in. The customs examination remained on tables in the station. DSERetc

There is a 25 ton brake van in Downpatrick, NCC 33(UT-NIR 2033). Did it or its type ever run south of the border? It is similar to an LMS - BR type of brake van with the chassis longer than the bodywork. DSERetc

C Could someone who is knows about steam locomotive valve gear, identify what is on the Bassett-Lowke CIE Woolwich 2-6-0? Is it Stephenson's, Walschaert's, Caprotti, Bulleid's or Franklin's? The same valve gear is on all the Bassett-Lowke 2-6-0s. The other B-L locomotives seem to have Walschaert's gears as on the originals. It seems to me that it is an in-house Bassett-Lowke gear and that it takes away from an otherwise very good model. What do you think? I was about to buy one that was in Mark's Models window about the year 2000. DSERetc

A by the way! The RPSI had a 40th anniversary dinner in the Railway Gallery of the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum on the 4th October 2004. Instead of being numbered, the tables were designated by the initials of different railway companies in Ireland. There were some very important guests invited, a few of whom did not have a very detailed knowledge of Irish railway history. I was sitting beside one of these guests. We were sitting at the Midland Railway. Northern Counties Committee table. During a pause in the general conversation, he leaned over to me and asked me "Who was Mister NCC? DSERetc

derek, What era are you running in? Is it the mid 1970s? Are you running north over the border? Perhaps you are running too fast through the Goraghwood de-railing loop. I think that there was a 10mph restriction on it. DSERetc

Work is progressing, preparing the site of the new railway and bus station or 'Transportation Hub' to be called Weavers Cross, on the site of the former Grosvenor Road Goods Yard. The sheet piling is being used in the construction of a new culvert for the Blackstaff River which runs through the site. The bus depot has been moved towards the West Link motorway and the two canvas buildings are temporary bus maintenance sheds. The Royal Victoria Hospital can be seen in the distance. The U shaped roof is the Great Victoria Street Railway Station. This part of the project is only preparing the site. Eventually, the present station will be demolished and the 'BOYNE BRIDGE' removed, although this is being opposed in some quarters. There is more information on the Weavers Cross Web Site. DSERetc

80 Class passing the buttress arches and stone arch bridge at Bray Head. DSERetc

North bound (Down) Enterprise entering Dundalk, passing the Enniskillen bay platform in 1970s?. . Locomotive pushing at the 'Dublin ' end of the train. GNRI 1901 Q class 131 with a 1948 U type tender on the plinth DSERetc .

CORRECTIONS: J15 131 adapted from a LIMA 4F AEC Railcar sides from JEREMY CLEMENTS and the fronts and roof from ANDY CROCKART DSREetc