Looks great Patrick I have three to do all you need is the transfer saying '60MPH and VAC Brake ' I find it incredible the thought that those wagons were past for 60 mph on the back of a passenger train , one can only imagine what the journey was like for the poor cattle .
Here is another interesting one if you notice the open top black container to the left of the picture with the CIE broken circles on it , I think these were used for carrying scrap metal to Cork for many years used to be a regular to see some of them on the midday liner , they would be easy enough to reproduce using a kit from C rail containers and remove the top.
189 was the first loco to haul them , then over the years 201's, 071's, 121's, 141's, 181's, pairs mixed pairs and even single 121's if that was your thing , but never an A .
The bogie Bulks were never hauled by the A class as they were air braked wagons the A class were never equipped for air braked trains (029 was as a trial ).
Nice job on the wagons
Your layout captures that scene perfectly, The fert you remember the was the Farrnfore fert didn’t run that often only seen it once in 1999 I think with a 141 class .
Fascinating insight exciecoachbuilder , in the mid eighties I worked on some Laminates with the RPSI and they had no insulation just as you describe , the Iroko was cheaper then other hard woods but also very durable to rot , I think the internal partitions were possibly made of oak . The later bulit laminates 1497-1503 built 1964 may have had blue asbestos which led to their withdrawal and eventual disposal in a quarry in Co Antrim in the early 1980's.
1500TL coach built 1964 next to the parcel van
Received by Fert wagon's today and what can I say the word sublime comes to mind.
I am wondering will at some stage in the future IRM make available the sambre et meuse Y25 bogies as an accessory?
Curiouser and curiouser , Des Coackhams book Irish broad guage carriages refers to the twelve coaches built by the GSR as 60'0" long and 9'0" wide which I think maybe incorrect they were not all uniform . Looking at pictures 10'0" seems too wide more likely 9'6" or 9'0"wide ? here is another picture from the O'Dea collection of the 1960 built van next to a four wheeled heating van which is 10'0" at waist . Both coaches would be either 9'0"or9'6" at cantrails the bogies vans always looked very straight or slab sided .
http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000304884
in the IRRS journal no 37 vol 7 Modern CIE coaching stock by D Kennedy he mentions the vans as 61'6" long 9'0" wide and a carrying capacity of 6 tonnes.
The 2549-2558 vans were a complete copy of 2548 which was a Bredin designed Van from 1935 built by the GSR for the Cork mails with the exact same dimensions 60'0 long 10'0 wide the major difference being the latter version used a triangulated underframe and commonwealth 8'0 bogies , as mentioned by Mayner above SSM models already do model 2548 as a brass kit .
http://www.studio-scale-models.com/BredV.shtml
Another picture of the van new with a very well turned out Guard standing beside it .
http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000305119