Tobin

Signs for Skeaf and Edermine Ferry are saved together with an assortment of other signs like Waiting Room etc. I'm not sure where but I have seen a photo somewhere.

Incorrect about the North Wexford line: Macmine Junction, Chapel, Rathgarogue, New Ross and Glenmore all received GSR bi-lingual signs. I'm not sure about the Bagnalstown-Palace East line but Palace did only have DSER english only signs. From my knowledge, most of the stations on the South Wexford line including Waterford retained their GSWR english only signs till updated with the white signs. Not Sure about Rosslare Strand, Harbour or Pier. Kilrane retained its GSWR english only sign till closure. Woodenbridge Junction possibly had english only till closure. Tara Street and George's Quay was english only till updated till the white signs. Arklow kept its DSER english only sign above the station exit well into the 80s (albeit painted black letters on white board) Greystones and Delgany had a GSR bi-lingual sign also well into the 80s Other stations to definitely receive GSR bi-lingual signs: Edermine Ferry, Enniscorthy, Ferns, Inch(Possibly, my memory is a blur), Avoca, Rathdrum, Rathnew, Wicklow, Greystones and Delgany, Bray. All stations on the Harcourt Line. Killiney and Ballybrack, Dalkey, Sandycove and Glasthule, Dun Laoghaire, Blackrock, Liffey Junction. Not sure about terminal stations such as Harcourt Street, Amiens Street, Kingsbridge and Westland Row but Amiens Street did gave a GSR bi-lingual sign on the signal cabin.

Thanks again for such a detailed answer! You should really write a book yourself with all this knowledge! That has cleared a lot of my queries but I'm still very puzzled by the colour on "Titanic". I've attached the photo as I'm not sure if you've seen it or not but I just can't see this colour being the blue livery as you say. To me, the blue livery has always shown to be really dark in black+white photos, yet here 'Titanic' is seen freshly painted in this light colour. Thanks once again.

I have some thoughts on the MGWR locomotive liveries based on numerous sources but they may not be correct. I would like to hear what you think. The green livery is often described as Emerald Green with black and white lining by authors Ernie Shepherd, H.C.Casserly and Jeremy Clements/Michael McMahon, where Clements/McMahon describes it as a green similar to the Great Central Railway of England. The Royal Blue livery is mentioned by all three authors with different opinions of the lining being either red+yellow, black+white or black+yellow. Ernie Shepherd mentions his source was also Bob Clements, meaning red+yellow lining being most likely. Shepherd only talks about one class getting the Blue Livery, the 4-4-0 'A' Class, as evidently seen elsewhere in photos and art of 'Celtic'. Shepard also mentions the blue livery in a photo of a train at Clifden, but the engine is an older 2-4-0 'K' Class and I think he was referring to the train of coaches(which are obviously in the blue+white livery) whereas the locomotive may have been in standard green livery. Shepherd also mentions that goods engines at the time were in an unlined blue livery, no exact class mentioned but the 'B' Class goods engines was delivered at the same time the 'A' Class was delivered. So if this is true about this unlined blue for goods, its most likely the 'B' Class. Shepherd and Clements/McMahon then go on to say that in 1905/1906, the Royal Blue livery was reverted to green, albeit a lighter shade of green, described as Grass Green. Again no exact classes are specified but assuming its the 'A' Class and possibly 'B' Class. Not a lot of proof to back this up but there are two pieces of evidence. The first is a photo in Ernie Shepherds book on the MGWR, the caption doesn't describe the livery but the engine is 'Titanic' of the 'A' Class in original condition and shade of livery is a lot lighter than the standard green. The livery is fresh, unlined with no MGWR markings on the tender and the smokebox is also freshly painted in black. I would suggest this could be some sort of underlay coat before the final coat of paint but MGWR normally use white before applying the final coat of paint. The second evidence is from a post card showing a MGWR train in a light green livery: Now theres an issue here since the original black and white photo used for the post card is of 'Celtic' pulling the Royal Train in the Royal Blue Livery, so the artist has coloured in the photo incorrectly. However, maybe the artist was trying to reflect the colours used at the time of the post card production which may have taken place after the Blue livery was disposed of. I mean the Limited Mail was repainted brown afterwards, so the shade of green may be correct. It might also be worth saying that the photo had 'Celtic' very dark, nearly black and yet the artist has put in the effort to lighten the engine instead of going with the dark to create the Emerald green. Anyway, those are my thoughts.

From my reserch, all three members of the C2 Class received a green livery, which as far as I can make out, they retained

Thank you, I wouldn't have known that. Would you know of any photo examples of black engines in b/w photos? just so I know what black paint looks like in b/w photos so I can recognise black engines in future.

Clements and McMahon listed engines that were painted green in their book Locomotives of the GSR. The DSER engines they listed were 458, 459, 433, 439, 436, 455, 456, 457. From looking at photos I can confirm that these engines were painted green as you can see the lining, with the exception of 459, 439 and 457 as they were too difficult to tell due to the quality of the photos. 460 was the only DSER 4-4-2T to not get a green coat but a photo from the IRRS flikr shows a photo of 460 in possibly black, dated 1954. Although it could just be a shiny coat of grey paint, its difficult to tell if black or grey in b/w photos.

Sorry for such a late response. I've a strong interest in the DSER so any DSER engines or engines that ran on the DSE line would be a great help. I too have compiled a list from examining photos of DSER engines and made note of which engines retained cast numbers, received painted numbers and the green livery etc but trying to determine which engines were painted black is difficult with black and white photos. From what I know, the only DSER engine to be painted black was 461 being in a colour photograph in '61 but a b/w photo shows that she might've been in black since '48 but it could also just be the glossiness of a fresh repaint of grey, same goes for 460 in '54 and 462 in '59. As for snails, 462 definitely had a snail in '54 and at some point swapped tenders with 461 between '56 and '60. 448, 444 and 445 never had snails. 443, 446 and 454, no idea.

Any luck in finding a list of the engines painted in black during the '50s/'60s?