GSWR 90

This is a photo of 800 in grey. Interesting that the GSR logo seems to be on a raised bit (wood?) rather than just a transfer on the body. It also seems that the logo doesn’t fill up the whole of the raised part – was this varnished wood? It doesn’t seem to be the same shade as the grey. And was it raised like this in GSR green?

More 80 class madness – a bubble, an A class, a 141 and G617. And shunting steam engine No. 90 into the shed. It can’t shunt in the rain right now as the rear end is a bit exposed

184 will look great when finished. The paint on it is based on a swatch taken from No. 90, which is in turn based on a swatch taken from a model in the Science Museum in London that has original GSWR paint. Always nice to see some inter-society cooperation! We are almost at the point where every 5'3" Irish steam loco will be in restored condition apart from Lough Erne

Whistle on 90 in the 1990s was a BR one. Stolen while it was stored in Tuam. The RPSI made a replica of 186’s original GSWR one, so 90 will sound like it did 150ish years ago

Following on from another thread about locos that CIÉ painted green, here’s one about locos that UTA painted green. Generally when the UTA repainted locos, they painted them black. There were some exceptions – apparently a Jeep, a W, and a U2 painted in experimental apple green, Brunswick green, and olive green This Jeep, No. 5, is apparently painted in “apple green”. You can clearly see that the lining is very bright and the tanks, cab, wheels, and boiler are much brighter than the black smokebox and chimbley This W, 98, is apparently painted a darker Brunswick green This BCDR loco, No. 21, is apparently pictured after overhaul in 1953 – it seems to be in kind of an olive green, and to me that doesn’t look like BCDR lining as it’s more white/green than yellow, especially compared to the yellow numbers. An experimental livery…?

A back-of-the-napkin count suggests that around 1/3 of our volunteers (and 1/3 of our directors) are under the age of 30. But we'll take anyone as long as they're 16 or older – our oldest volunteer retired relatively recently at the age of 90!

A return trip from Cork to Downpatrick solely for the pleasure of working on 90 – nobody on the island on Ireland can say that they live too far away to volunteer with us!

Not quite tail traffic but not far off. 90 shunting an AEC from the inbound road to the outbound road at Albert Quay, 13/10/1961 – faster turnaround than the railcar driver changing ends three times. Photo from @Irishswissernie’s archive

This is a fantastic resource, well done for putting it together. Since your list mentions the date 146 was moved to Downpatrick (and doesn't mention the other locos being removed from the West Clare Railway/Moyasta), for completeness, it might be worth adding the following: 190 moved by road from Moyasta to Downpatrick 1/6/2025 152 moved by road from Moyasta to Downpatrick 8/6/2025 142 moved light engine from Dublin to Whitehead 28/4/2010

And it says (GNR)I instead of GNR(I)!

Commotion about some little green injin Commotion about some little green injin

A classic – No. 90 (then known as "C") in as-built condition, with attached first-class compartment and guard's/freight van. Some time between the 1870s-1900s approx.

I am always quite tickled when I see a photo/video of a preserved loco/railcar/carriage/etc. when it was in service. Please feel free to post any photos like this below. To get the ball rolling, here are some DCDR locos before preservation CSE Thurles No. 1 in the 1950s. 146 and 190 near Kildare, March 2008. Photo by Dylan Kinsella. GSWR 90 (then Castleisland Railway "C") in as-built condition, probably when it was built in 1875. B124 being unloaded in Dublin, the first GM loco to arrive in Ireland. Photo by Jim O'Dea, 1961.

A few years ago someone showed me some GNR carriage records which showed the numbers of the GNR third class six-wheelers which were sold to the BCDR (like the one at Downpatrick). However the register also showed two of these U3s being converted into “aeroplane trucks”. Anyone have any idea about these? Just an underframe like a carriage truck, but for carrying aeroplanes, perhaps as part of the war effort? How do you fit an aeroplane on a carriage truck? I’d be fascinated to see any photos

The Broad Gauge Society (the 7’ broad gauge, not our one!) recently posted this on their excellent Facebook page, accompanied by the photo attached: “Taken at Cheltenham shed in the late 1840s. On the left, 'Star' class 2-2-2 Polar Star has not yet had its frames and boiler lengthened by 2'0", which happened in 1849. Second is 'Pyracmon' class 0-6-0 Alligator. On the right is 'Sun' class 2-2-2 Javelin. The photo was possibly taken by GWR employee Hugh Owen, a close friend of photography pioneer Henry Fox Talbot, and is among the earliest railway photographs ever taken.” So the earliest British railway photos were likely from the 1840s. Does anyone know of any contenders for the oldest Irish railway photos?