leslie10646

IRRS LONDON - Next talk LIVE + ZOOM : 18.00 – 20.40 Friday 21 November 2025 “Photos of Closed Lines that might Reopen” by Roger Joanes The All Island Strategic Rail Review of 2023 advocated reopening of several long closed lines throughout Ireland. Garnering high quality photos from 12 leading Irish railway photographers, lifelong enthusiast Roger Joanes recalls these lines as they used to be with photos of trains, stations and places long since disappeared. If reopened, the lines may look quite different so take this opportunity to relish their heyday. COME TO OUR LIVE MEETING ….. ….. at The Gallery at Alan Baxter, 100m from Farringdon station. Door opens at 17.30. The Gallery is a smart and spacious community space, ideal for our talks, and with stepfree access available. We hope as many as possible will be able to come along, see the speaker live, contribute directly to the discussion, meet the Committee and other members, and enjoy refreshment in a nearby pub afterwards. ATTENDING BY ZOOM To obtain a Zoom link for the meeting, please register by clicking REGISTER HERE and fill in your email address to be sent a personalised Zoom ink. You can register at any time up to (or during) the meeting, and you can copy this registration link to others. Please note that the link will be sent by Zoom (not IRRS London) and will arrive immediately after registration. Those who have registered should receive a reminder from Zoom nearer the meeting. Alternatively, open Zoom on your device and enter the following : Webinar ID: 820 9160 4904 passcode: 381075 For those participating in the meeting via Zoom, please note that should Zoom fail and there is no transmission, we will try and email everyone on the London Area email list with an update so please watch your Inbox PLEASE ALSO NOTE THIS ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE AREA COMMITTEE: LIVE MEETINGS - PLEASE COME We invite more people to come to our live meetings. Live meetings in the capital are the raison d’etre of the London Area. We are happy to share them by Zoom but f the live meetings themselves are not supported, there will be little purpose in continuing to have a London Area as such. The London Area Committee is concerned that attendance at our live meetings is slipping and may be approaching the point where live meetings cannot be justified – and that would mark the end of the London Area. For those who have a choice, we know how easy and attractive it can be to stay at home and watch on Zoom. But we do encourage you to come to our live meetings. It is an opportunity to engage with the Committee and others who share an interest in Irish railways, or to engage directly with the speaker. Perhaps enjoy a drink afterwards. And it will ensure that London Area meetings continue. (From Leslie) I cannot over-emphasise this "warning". We often have a speaker over from Ireland, at considerable cost and then find him speaking to less than a dozen folk, plus the committee. If you live within 50 miles of London, surely you can support the area in person? At least from time to time? Tonight's speaker, Roger Joanes, has travelled over 200 miles to give his talk. Like most of our speakers, he is a specialist, who will illustrate his talk with superb photography of the period. So, please, come along and enjoy a great talk!

Is this not old enough? late 1800s I thought? 64 of them out there according to my files, but I will have missed a few. Only one in stock at the moment, but I may do another short run.

Nothing "constrained" about THIS layout?

Hi Paul YES, for once the website is telling the truth, with one important exception - the prices will go up by £2-£3 a wagon as soon as I can update it. The latest invoice from my "supplier" nearly caused a heart attack, so great were the price increases (the speed of delivery has got worse). My sales at Blackrock reflected the older lower prices, so we're too profitable! I DO NOT HAVE ANY UTA BROWN VAN KITS, OR SPOIL WAGONS. IF SOMEONE WANTS THEM, SPEAK UP!!!! I saw Enda's Rank wagon at Blackrock but I must admit, I didn't look very critically. It IS printed from John's files, so they should be pretty close? If John did his wagon as convertible to 21mm, then it should still be? My understanding is that it will be RTR, although Enda does not supply couplings - a lot of you chuck my couplings away and replace them with KayDees or whatever You bet that I'll be stocking it - almost as iconic (and hard to model) as my Spoil Wagon! It'll be a winner - every home (sorry, LAYOUT) should have one!!!!

Just a polite reminder. Enda has been selling my kits and wagons at events which he covers - like the monthly Bray event. If there's something you want, let Enda or I know and we'll get it sorted out for you. I eagerly await Enda's Ranks wagon for sale here in the UK. Also, don't forget his super new 30 Ton Brake van!

The "Inst" one was OK, I think - but, of course, the Fees were more and you get what you pay for! When I was learning to swim, it was Templemore Avenue Baths - and that wasn't very warm! For you younger "Southerners", Templemore Avenue's great claim to fame was its FLUTE Band, where the great James Galway first learnt his trade. Aren't you all amazed that I can remember this stuff in my eightieth year!

Lord, I remember THAT swimming pool. COLD did not describe the Arctic waters!

At last I have worked out how you did this. Apart from the fact that you were a Civil Engineer, a few posts ago was posted at 0617 - THERE ARE THREE OF YOU AND YOU'RE WORKING SHIFTS! It's just brilliant, very well done!

Making an offer may work, there is some good stuff still there, but do it soon before the items go back. That's what I did to buy the painting of the Turf Burner (Ross's in Belfast). I had forgotten to bid altogether, it didn't sell, so I made an offer a little below their "From" price and that was accepted. I still had to pay their commission! In fairness to them, when picked up by a friend (who incidentally bought the "Liffey" plate at this auction) they had wrapped it up very well in good 'oul bubble wrap. Incidentally, I'm delighted with my purchase which was a gift to Son No.2, who named after the Blessed Oliver.

Yes, very sad. It looks like a job for the local model railway club? Perhaps a lesson here - don't make your railway so big that it needs a special (large) building. Let's hope that one of the modelling mags gets in and photographs everything. At least that way, it can live on?

Well done @flange lubricator - a good investment!

Congratulations, Dave, that was peanuts. Well done for spotting it! I assume that you bought the name as well? It was even more unbelievably cheap. Obviously a certain gent in the Isle of Man wasn't paying attention and missed it. He paid £25,000 for a S Class nameplate last month. Also congratulations to whoever got a complete run of the IRRS Journal for about £300!

Ah, yes, the first tool to have in the box, the good old steel rule! Do you clamp it down where you're cutting? If I don't the (blank) thing moves!

No, @Galteemore is an influencer of the VERY best kind!

It certainly works, David. The "other" David used these on the two scenaria which I now own and it's equally effective there. I can see the Portadown Jct fluorescent tubes disappearing ......... But first, there's an engine shed to illuminate the "David" way! Sorry not to have put up photos of my latest acquisition, but I'm busy trying to sell the boxes of books which surround it. More on that shortly.

The catalogue makes interesting reading - did someone REALLY walk off with a Class VS nameplate (Lot 154) for a bit over €2,000!!!! I'm surprised at some of the paintings which didn't sell, for example the Swilley 4-8-0 by Sean Bolan - at €400 (Lot 115) plus the ludicrous auctioneers' fees - it was a steal for an original by this brilliant artist. Not for me of course - it'd xxxxxx gauge ..........

Grovelling apologies for not turning up at Tolworth: Reading to Kingston seemed a county too many (or something). It DOES look magnificent and I compliment you on the "housing" and excellent lighting - can we have a photo taken towards the Sun to see how you have illuminated the scene, which is obviously on a very nice day in Summer!

Yes, I did see that. So who didn't built their kit!

This one will have you laughing for weeks ...... Look at the "Irish"-ness of the content! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/306592949288?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m164380.l178264&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=aa502730ae6b4f5e80425aa646290b5a&bu=43025934942&ut=RU&exe=0&ext=0&osub=-1~1&crd=20251110045409&segname=11021&recoId=306592949288&recoPos=1

Hi, Darius May I ask what adhesive you use with the backing board card you appear to be using? I'm impressed by the absence of corner strengtheners.

Are you going to build York Road (as pre WW2) next - you could have ready for Bangor 2026? No shortage of volunteers to run it for you!!!!

Hi @Westcorkrailway I have the GAA book - you can have it for a pile of money (joke). it'll save me listing it on my new AbeBooks Shop. I'll PM you - it's so thin that it might get past the Thought Police (aka An Post and the Customs). Colm was a delight to correspond with, but when we tried to get him to publish his books "properly", he wouldn't budge. I've only speed-read the CBSCR books twenty years ago, but I particularly liked his way of dealing with the history almost day by day. It gave an immediacy to the story. I'm unaware of too many railway histories following quite that approach. Thanks @Flying Snail for bringing the archive to our attention.

Of dear, so my brake van has! I must have words with "The Boys"!

Darius This is a Master Class at card modelling. I have a station building to remodel (wrong windows!) so I'm looking for tips! Great stuff. By the way, @Galteemore will tell you who to go to to get a 4mm scale model of the late Mac Arnold, Whitehead's other famous resident. The first was, of course, Harold Houston, designer of the B&L corridor coaches and the magnificent North Atlantic Express coaches. They'd make a nice pair for the platform!

That seems the most likely situation. Everything looks new and tidy. The directors would have been admiring "their own" handiwork, as the GSWR built the railway themselves, not a contractor. Great set of thought provoking photos, so thanks for sharing them. The Lawrence Collection has ever been a go-to source for early Irish railway photos.