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In the magazine of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland, FIVE FOOT THREE, No. 42 Winter 1995/96, Peter Rigney has an article, FILMING 1995, describing the activity of the RPSI in filming Michael Collins. Also, in FIVE FOOT THREE, No. 52, Winter 2005/6, there is an article, Cameras, Continuity and Codology by "Best Boy" describing some of the events in 1978 before and during the filming of The First Great Train Robbery.

When Alice retired Mella took charge of the catering. She had a habit of leaning out of the window when the train stopped at a station. I waved to her a few times in Dundalk when she was in an up train heading to Dublin and I was on a train going to Belfast. Andy Crockart made a TV programme on the GNRI Line between Belfast and Dublin and interviewed Mella. She was from Omagh and started work on the Derry Road. She told me she was on the train on 24th November 1950 when 5 men working on the track were run over in Omagh Station. She said she was down on the track under the restaurant car nursing one of the men who died as she was holding him. Being from Omagh, she knew the five families. In the New Year's Honours List, 1991, She received the British Empire Medal for faithful service to the Railway all through the troubles. After she retired she sometimes attended the RPSI winter Meetings where practically everyone attending knew her.

If it is Mella, I first met her and Alice Quinn in the Restaurant Car on the 11.00? am Dublin to Belfast train on 19th January 1966.

Sympathy to the families of the Driver, Conductor and passenger who were killed and also to Scotrail on the loss of two employees. Looking at the aerial photographs, where is the leading locomotive? The news report says that there was a locomotive at the front and back and four carriages. Looking at the wreckage, it seems to illustrate the risk of Pull-push working compounding an accident, when a powerful locomotive continues to push after the front of the train has suddenly stopped. The rear carriages ride up over t he derailed carriages in front in spite of buckeye couplings and anti-climb buffers which are supposed to keep the carriages in line in the event of a derailment. Pull-push working is more economical than double-heading, un-coupling, running round and coupling at the end of each journey. Is it safer? DSERetc

Leslie, sorry to hear of the fall. Get well soon. The discussion has mentioned signal posts: square - wooden and concrete, lattice, round and telegraph poles. Signal arms: red and white stop signals and distant signals. The GSR and CIE distant signals were yellow and white until the end of steam. The steam locomotive head lamps were only indicators to signal men rather than illuminating the way ahead. With the powerful head lamps on the diesel locomotives and railcars, as a further safety feature, the reflective material was put on the signal arms and I read somewhere there was a proposal to do away with the oil lamps on the semaphore signals. One detail which has not been mentioned in the discussion is the colour of the spectacle plates, perhaps because it is obvious. If so I apologise. On the GSR and CIE the spectacle plates are white. On the GNR and NCC they are the same colour as the signal, red or yellow. In Britain on the GWR and BR they are black. Sometimes you may see British signals in use Irish layouts. DSERetc

I have being trying to contact Steve in Railtec to see if it is possible for him to reproduce a sheet or half a sheet of the existing Irish CIE 'Stanier' coach set 4mm transfers in 7mm. DSERetc

Is this story true? When General Motors Corporation EMD representatives accepted the order for 15 Diesel-electric locomotives, they asked ' What livery do you want?' C.I.E. said 'We will get back to you on that!' After some time with committees , consultants, artists, PR People and Board Members, C.I.E. contacted GMC EMD to pass on the decision about the livery, only to be told that the locomotives had already been shipped from the factory.? The following item may be of interest: Journal of the Irish Railway Record Society, No.28, Spring 1961, Vol 6 page 49 Recent Developments on Irish Railways CORAS IOMPAIR EIREANN In January – February General Motors Corporation, U.S.A. delivered fifteen Diesel-electric 950 h.p. locomotives of the conventional Bo-Bo type – the makers’ plates affixed to the engines, however, call them “0-4-4-0”. They are painted in a grey-and-yellow livery, and have a single cab right at one end; this latter feature has already met with criticism , and it has been suggested that, for appearance sake, it would be well to make use of the turntables and (for at least the named and other important trains) run with the cab at the trailing end. These comments, although not of great moment, are recorded here to show how the minds of observers are becoming accustomed to new methods and things, and comparisons drawn in quite the traditional way. The new locomotives are numbered B121 to B135. After some trial runs, they were used on regular services on the Northern section from February 20, and Midland section the following day. The first to reach Belfast was B133 on St. Patrick’s Day. After the tests, none has done any regular work on the Southern section, but a few Bray suburban trains have been taken by them. On page 51: The new No. B126 was tried non-stop to Belfast with 8 bogies on March 21, in 2h. 16m., the return to Dublin being rather better at 2h.7m. DSERetc

For O gauge modellers, on ebay: TMD models Irish J15 0-6-0 7mm kit unbuilt. DSERetc

The other type of CIE headlamp with the piecrust top goes back to GS&WR days...... The RPSI made two 'Genuine Antique' lamps similar to this for No.461 during a previous overhaul. DSERetc

Has anyone ever reviewed or commented on the Bassett Lowke Gauge O Irish Woolwich 2-6-0?

/Never heard of Obelisk Hill railway station though. Obelisk Hill railway station was below the Vico road at about mile post 9, from 1855 until 1857. Ballybrack Station was mile post 10.15 from 1854 to 1857 and mile post 10.20 from 1857 until 1882. Killiney station was at mile post 9.50 from 1854 to 1882 The present Killiney and Ballybrack station at mile post 9.74 replaced these in 1882. Ballybrack station house is on upside and is now a private dwelling at the corner on Seafield Road. There does not seem to be any trace of Obelisk station. It may have been near the footbridge on the path from Vico Road to the beach. Information from Dublin & South Eastern Railway by Ernie Shepherd and Gerry Beesley, page 154. DSERetc

I am very saddened by the news of Anthony's tragic death. He was one of the smiling faces greeting us at the IRRS meetings. About two years ago, at a Tuesday night meeting I asked him if he could get me copies of some drawings. I expected him to say that he would have them for me next Tuesday. Instead he said wait there and within twenty minutes he was back with the copies and a big smile. He will be greatly missed. Sincere sympathy to his wife and children. etc

Regarding the S.L.N.C.coaches not leaving their own line, it seems that four of them may have been responsible for a train over-running the buffers in Greenore on 30th June 1904 according to D.S.M.Barrie in The Dundalk, Newry & Greenore Railway, page 32. Perhaps that is why other companies declined to accept them on their lines. DSERetc

On the Bray to Harcourt Steet line: I travelled on Drumm trains, 6 wheeled and bogie non corridor coaches hauled by steam engines and later by A class diesel engines, and AEC railcars. In particular I remember two coaches, a 6 wheeler with a half compartment at one end. It had a seat on one side facing windows in the end wall. The other was a bogie coach also with windows at one end. I learned later it had been a DSER Railmotor. I never saw either coach at the back of a train so the only view you got was the end of next coach. Dundrum Siding: once on the way into Harcourt Street we stopped in Dundrum. When the passengers had boarded, we backed into the siding to drop off a van we had been hauling. I am not absolutely sure but I think we were in an AEC railcar. Harcourt Street to Nelson's Pillar by tram: I remember seeing a derailed tram on the junction at Nassau Street and Dawson Street. Nelson's Pillar to Dun Laoghaire: One summer morning, with cousins from Armagh, we travelled in an open upstairs balcony tram to Dun Laoghaire. The rails through the narrow sections of George's Street in Dun Laoghaire were interlaced in two of three places. I do not know if there were signals. So the Boyne bridge was not the only place in Ireland with interlaced track. We also travelled from Sutton to the Summit on the Hill of Howth tram. Portadown to Armagh: On a journey from Dublin to Armagh. On the return journey, when we boarded the Dublin train at Portadown, there were already many passengers from Belfast so I did not get window seat. There was still food rationing and we had cans of Golden Syrup in a bag. This was put behind my legs under the seat and a rug was put over my legs. I was told 'don't say a word.' We were in a side corridor coach. The customs man came in. 'Anything to dec!are?'. He looked at the bags up on the luggage rack and then went out and into the next compartment. 'He didn't see the Golden Syrup' I shouted at the top of my voice! He had the graciousness not to come back. I was almost thrown off the train! Carlisle Pier to Heuston Station: Shortly before the line to the pier closed I travelled from the pier to Heuston Station. We stopped in the 'Gullet' and an E class shunter came up from the station, coupled up behind us and pulled us into the station. Was that always the practice even in steam days or did the train simply reverse as at Killarney or Limerick Junction? DSERetc

This is O gauge and analogue 12Volt dc. I have 2 Gaugemaster controllers. One for main line running and one for the goods yard. So it is possible, in theory, to shunt a goods train in the yard while a train is on the main line. Last year the main line controller developed a fault and was only producing about 3 volts. I have had it about 20 years and the literature said there was a ' Lifetime' guarantee, so I sent it off and they repaired it free of charge, not even postage! Since these photos were taken, I had to replace the baseboard under the station and took the opportunity convert the loop platform to an island platform. I also got some Leinster Models LMS body shells to make into something like CIE 1950s coaches. Up to now no AEC railcars or A Class, C Class or B Class diesel electric locos have run on the line as it is a little out of the way. Tony Ragg is the CME DSERetc

Jhb171achill Many thanks. Please do not look too closely at the goods wagons. Or else just above the waist. I will post photographs when I get the the running gear repainted. DSERetc Jhb171.

The idea for a garden railway came while watching Mark Found's TV programme, The Garden Railway. My brother said 'We could put one in the back garden.' It started off as just a single line circle. Then as he had an interest in Irish films, he mentioned The Quiet Man. We made a basic model of Ballyglunan station house and got some Slaters Clayton six wheel coaches and painted them like CIE coaches. I also got what was supposed to be a GNR PP 4-4-0 and an A 0-6-0. Please do not look too closly!! At least it is a 4-4-0. I also got a kit for a SE&CR N class which Tony Ragg built as a Woolwich 2-6-0. I got some Lima LMS coaches which I painted in an approximate early CIE livery. I put in a crossing loop and a small goods yard. I pictured the layout to be a crossing station on single track main line with main line trains crossing local trains, with some goods traffic. The time is between 1958 and 1963 after the breakup of the GNRB, when CIE got about half of the GN engines. You may be able to see CIE on the buffer beam of the 0-6-0 in the head shunt. I have made bridges similar to the Boyne and Thomastown Viaducts and the Egyptian Arch also tunnel mouths similar to some at Bray Head. Completely unlike the prototype, the signals are worked automatically by memory or muscle wire by current from the track to which the points are set and the direction of travel. DSERetc

The frustration of winter. Which is better a large garden railway or a small indoor railway?

The joy of Autumn in the garden.

Your photo is of Drum train D being recharged in the 'Tower' siding, beside the Martello tower. An inspection pit was also constructed there. There were at least 2 charging points there. There were also one on the up platform (the near side) under the footbridge, on the down platform (the far side) under the footbridge, and two attached to the down platform roof and one at the siding between the turntable and the up platform. It seems in later years most of the charging and inspection was done in the Tower siding. The transformer was in a house on the down platform beside the foot bridge. I do not know if all the charging points survived until the end of the Drumm trains. The picture is from 'The Story of the Drumm Battery Train by Roddy Ring., Ps. As a child I thought they were called 'DRUM' trains because there was no chu chu sound only dum dum -- dum dum -- dum dum. Later I learned this noise was from the jointed rail. DESEetc

May I suggest a safety feature. I have used it on a bridge on a garden railway which has been opened sometimes while a train was running, by someone coming into the garden. It is a single line but trains run in both directions. Using 2 insulating joiners and 2 phosphor bronze strip contacts. Place one insulating joiner on one rail at the joint before the gap. Remove the feed wire from that rail between the joint and the gap. Place an insulating joiner on the other rail at the joint before the hinge and remove the feed from that section of rail between the joint and the hinge. Solder the phosphor bronze contacts to the copper clad circuit board on the movable bridge section, one to each side of the track, so as to make contact with the other piece of copper clad circuit board when the bridge is closed. W hen the bridge is open, one one rail is insulated from the insulated joiner to the gap and the other from the insulated joiner to the hinge and on to the gap. --------x--------------l l------------------l------------------feed. feed ----------------l l------------------l------------------x---------- X insulated joint l l gap with phosphor bronze contacts. l. Hinge During 20 years, I have had no trains diving through the gap. Some have been stopped by this safety feature.!! DSERetc

Sorry. Drumm train from Harcourt Street to Bray. I sat in what had been the driver's cab. The partition had been removed but so bad the glass in the windows. A semi -circular seat had been put in so you sat facing down the train. I cannot not remember if we were pulled by a steam engine or a new A class diesel. It was the end and the beginning of an era.

One morning in the late 1940s, I was Bray station to go in to Dublin. Drumm train C or D was 'on the other side' as we called the down platform, being recharged at the charging point under the foot bridge. Departure time arrived, but we were told there would be a delay. I cannot remember now how long the delay was, perhaps 15 or 20 minutes. However we reached Dublin without any more trouble. Perhaps the longer charging time was a sign that the batteries were coming to the end of their useful lives. Unlike the AEC railcars, there was a solid partition behind the driver so passengers could not see out ahead. I have no memory of A or B, the flat fronted trains but I thought C & D were very modern and similar to the Southern Railway's electric Brighton Belle. Again unlike the DART and A E C units the layout of the 2 cars were different as there was only 1st class in one. In the early 1950s I remember travelling in a de-batteried to

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