Westcorkrailway

Yknow, with something as obscure as a D class. I don’t think most would mint a simple repaint with some tooling changes. Can’t have been to many of them around and all gone by the mid 1970s

3 Beutiful EX-CIE PAL Vans. The frame is actually in decent nick in these so somone could have had a go at restoring them into sheds. Unfortunately as far as I know, they’ve since been lost to history

I was just looking at that first photo you sent about to send it in. the other side of the wagon is in much better nick. Unfortunately it’s completely inaccessible. Though for the fun of it I might try again some evening it would be unusual to me to buy a cattle wagon body as a pose to a covered wagon body. What could possibly be the use? Yes maybe animal storage but at that stage it’s a bit ineffective. in the last days of the west cork. These wagons were parked in Albert quay. I wonder if one of these wagons is the one that ended up in crossbarry. The other again itself is only about 200 meters from a LC https://flic.kr/p/2pwjsTY

Yknow, I was thinking exactly that looking at it….but then I thought “nah couldn’t be”. Now that is an interesting find! the key to identifying is the fittings, and matching that to something in the IRRS or something

It’s hard enough to come across colour photos of CIE green in actual use. A rare livery but I do think it’s a shame it was not adopted wider due to its impracticality. Fry’s model of 670 I think show how it looked ex works. 2 types of locos got this livery. Tank engines on the DSER doing the commuter work. Or Cork-Dublin Express locos. And even then not all of these were repainted green. Express locos 406 in weathered green (credit unclear) This unidentified mogul shows the extent of identifying being a problem. The loco is black but the tender shows it must be green beneath the grime! DSE area locos 455 at bray head 467 was moved to Albert quay after Dublin and retained its green under layers and layers of muck. after all these years of course. 800 was never repainted when it was received from CIE in 1964.While the paint has no doubt faded a little over the years. It’s a nice example none the less

The Cork and Macroom railway is one Irelands most underlooked railway companies. So much so that I used to joke at every announcement “I hope it’s a CMDR inspection van”. It’s been over 60 years now since the last publication about the railway. I’d love to tackle it someday if no one wants to get there before me. most photos of CMDR stock that’s findable on the IRRS archive is of passenger coaches in use for other stuff (per way, peat wagons, one even ended up as an ambulance). The policy at the time being to keep the MGWR and GSWR ones going to make the 6 wheel range a bit more standard. Even so the CMDR’s coaches were on average already ancient at the time of amalgamation. But they did seem to travel. I beleive the two Macroom coaches in Dungarvan had been transferred to tramore at some stage

Went to check it out and it’s barley recognisable as anything!

There is an S&S van in Drimoleague village there is a H van near Skibbereen there was 2 H vans near kilrush, I bet there both gone now though I have seen There is a grounded van near crossbarry. I’ve never investigated it but maybe I will soon

Looks very nice. I’m not a van expert but I’d this perhaps narrow gauge One coach I notice missing here is the pair of C&MDR coaches in Dungarvan. Fairly well fecked (I tried to walk in them and came out cut and bruised) remnents of GSR maroon and a GSR coat of arms & Number are present It’s deffo a CMDR, looking at some of the photos of CMDR Coaches on Flickr. But the exact coaches have not been identified. But here are a few close matches https://flic.kr/p/2pwq7Y8 220A https://flic.kr/p/2pwinK8 14RA https://flic.kr/p/2pwpysF 204A https://flic.kr/p/2pwoMwY 4R https://flic.kr/p/2pwnW6M 13RA https://flic.kr/p/2pwnW6B 11RA It’s likely that this coach may not be photographed. Seems to me as it was withdrawn pre war and never made it to being used as a turf wagon as many CMDR coaches did. Fascinating as there very old style with there straight sides

I used a rattle can recently for Leslie’s van and found the colour to be spot on for GSR grey to my eye, if a little glossy! Cork loco 299 was supposed to work the branch. What a site that would have been

The picture of 193 freshly repainted in 1962 shows it best imo.

It’s been in a farmyard ever since those photos have been taken. It hasn’t moved an inch and is impossible to get close to. I have asked to no avail! im starting to doubt that it will ever actually make it to its new home… The white mark 3 EGV is just the undercoat used on them now. It’s very jarring to see in reality.

I will always paint 464 Satin Black as that’s how it looked, and Infairness it fooled pretty much everybody into believing it was black that day. So eyewitness accounts and photos would say so However Upton closer inspection, it probobly was Grey underneath all that. Problem is though. Is it more accurate to paint it the colour it was underneath the dirt or the livery it actually presented itself in. Usually I’m not a weathering guy but in the case of Late CIE steam is it just as inaccurate to turn these locos out in Grey as is black? some IRRS views. The 17/03/1961. Under the spring sun from some angles, you can see grey https://flic.kr/p/2psQWnf https://flic.kr/p/2psSoCg https://flic.kr/p/2psSoBK 464 was also involved in another IRRS special later that year. Again the extreme sun reveals an interesting shade https://flic.kr/p/2psSoBp It’s seen here about 1962. Boiler looks more grey! It sat around in inchicore for about 3 years post withdrawal. By which stage the dirt seems to have been removed by the elements . 463 which was grey and has weathered to the same colour proved the theory. However. Im still looking for the holy grail. As at least 1, possibly 2 Bandon tanks were painted Green in Dublin. I’ve yet to see a photo that shows this livery aside from this very weathered look at 467 at Albert quay in the 1950s

I heard there was a driver down that way who stayed away from this loco where possible. Very superstitious man, The loco was involved in a fatal acccident earlier in its career.

Yes. It’s something not yet utilised yet, but things like vac pips and buffers can be purchased in. The other thing mr 3d printer does not like is handrails. Which are a much more eccumenical matter as making those from scratch is a good bit more difficult although Infairness. Marks Dunleas prints does an ok job with both printed At the end of the day, if your looking for a GB chassis your already making accepting your going to have to make compromises. However stuff like the GSWR J11, i wouldn’t think there would need to be too much given how much space there would be for motor within it. A J26 for example, would be much harder, Infact I don’t think you could ever make one that looks right unless it was the SSM kit or a RTR model

I was thinking recently with the developments of 3D printing even in the last 6 months, I might perhaps return to the ideo of Irish loco shells to fit hornby/Bachmann ect. Chassis. I made GSR no.479 years ago and I think I’d like to return to it, but remove the original Adam’s radial and start from scratch with a holy 3D printed shell. Pros - Garunteed decent running -takes the hassle out of a custom built chassis -takes the cost out if a custom built chassis (wheels ect are expensive and add up) -Allows for lower skill entry point for creation -Allows for much more niche models to be made Cons -the loco body might have to be manipulated to fit the motor or look right on the running board -chassis will never be perfect…wether it be wheeel size, shape, distance, colour… width (lol) -Some chassis are also not cheap! As an experiment. I set myself a challenge to see what I could make in roughly 5 minutes. This crude GSWR J11 is the result of that. But if I had access to an 0-6-0 chassis and the dimensions of said chassis, something like this could be made practical with a couple of hours work. Generally it’s better to work backwards from the chassis to the shell and not the other way around there would also have to be a loading gauge established for making stuff like this such as rail to centre point of buffer Acceptable width (considering 5’3) acceptable height (don’t want the cabs towering over coaches) and so on

There is another photo somewhere on the New IRRS website of 450 class in a similar position

Chetwynd Viaduct just outside Cork over 100 years ago. Aside from the pierless armoured car, not much has changed about this view.

Works stalled for the time being. But here is how it looks so far. Really What I needs now is a bit more work around the safety valves, adding a proper coupling hook. I’ll probably buy buffers and vacuumed pipes rather than printing them. Handrails never print right in 00 gauge, even with this superb printer I have access too so I’ll have to see about getting those in too in terms of a doner chassis, it looks rough, a bit like the Bandon tank, there is issues with motor height and wheel scale. 478 had very 2 differently designed driving wheels. The leading driver being very distinct indeed!. They were 5 foot while the leading bogey had 2’6 wheels. Thanks to Locomotives of the GSR I know it had 4' 11" + 6' 6" (or 6' 2" + 6'7¾) wheelbase. The M7 as suggested has too big Drivers, the SECR H class also has far too big drivers. the Bachman 1p likely wouldn’t fit but it is closer.overall ids say I’ll be looking at simply 3D printing a rolling chassis and no more. what I would love though, is too apply something close to this livery on it. Bandon livery is somewhat forgotten to time. Very few alive today could even claim to having seen it. although recently it came to my attention that a coat of arms cut from the side of a coach has survived in the NRM collection. Those who I contacted at the NRM agreed with my hypothesis. I’ve already had one trip to to canned by a missed flight to get a good idea for the green itself. but to be fair, i suspect it won’t be accurate after years of fade and weathering, but it’s the best I have and besides, nobody is going to prove me wrong! Anyhow this dark green -olive colour was complimented with yellow on black lining Only certain locos got the coat of arms in the side tanks. The 4-4-2Ts and No.7 are the only examples I found to carry a similar layout. Bandon tanks, J24s, American yolks all wore a simpler livery.

Yes this would be a CMDR Van, which means this taken during the very slim time that the Macroom line connected to Albert quay or its early GSR Times and that’s a midland van (unlikely!)

It’s really my fault regarding the sandboxes and chimney. As I was following a GSR spec photo for many of the front details. It seems the smokebox (or maybe the whole boiler) was changed at one point, at another stage later on the chimney was changed. Litterally every single photo has different sandboxes. I was hours messing with the height of the cab. Perhaps it’s the side tanks that should be lower. I’m not looking for kind of perfect model here. Just something roughly right!

Look closely at the first picture. You can see the very intricate lining on the side tanks, coal bunker and cab. the other photo is a much simpler livery. One which I presume it wore for most of its life. I’m tempted to give the Lined livery a go though the matter of chassis is looking like a UK 0-4-4 type or making my own static chassis.

Going to take my first stab at 3D printing a loco shell. The loco is Cork, Bandon and south coast railway no.7, later Great Southern Railways No. 478. The history of this locomotive is messy, not unique for the CBSCR with shared numbers, weird rebuilds and so fourth. this was the only steam locomotive built in Cork city. Done at Rocksavage works for the CB&SCR. Some parts were salvaged from the original No.7 (an 0-4-0ST). The boiler likely came a spare Londonderry and Lough swilly railway the CBSCR had purchased at auction. However it’s entirely clear how much of the locomotive was built from spares. The locomotives main duties appear to have been Cork City Railway working (for which it had a bell attached) and the Kinsale Branchline. The locomotive was withdrawn in 1935. during its life, the loco wore 3 Liveries Lined CBSCR green Unlined CBSCR livery of some description GSR Grey no.7 in a very attractive CBSCR lined Green No.7 in an unlined livery. Note the bell and CBSC spec boxes towards the front.

Who remembers tracking the ship the IRM A class container was on around Covid time