GSWR 90

No guesses as to what loco I want it to be

A few bits of news: DCDR will have a stand at the Dublin Model Show at Blackrock College this weekend and Monday selling books, memorabilia, memberships, a few models, etc – all going well we'll also hopefully have a little surprise on sale to raise funds for 90's restoration if it arrives in time (and no, it's not related to IRM's new model!) Dome cover finally came off (very old – could be from 1875), so we can start staking off the cladding We found the Westrail works plate. Someone in Westrail scrawled an image onto the back – can't be shown as I think it goes against the registration terms of this site!

Plenty of progress on the auld doll recently, especially now that O&K No 3 is ready for her annual dry boiler inspection. We had a contingent of volunteers all the way from Carrickgergus to Cork coming down to help out, which meant we made quite a bit of progress over the last weekend. I’m hoping to organise a working party of volunteers from Dublin (or further afield) over the next few weeks or so, so if any of you are interested in helping out please send me a private message. As you can see from the photos, most of us are relatively young – everyone learns as they go along, so no experience necessary, just a passion for steam locos! Off of the top of my head, work since the last updates has included: Removing both safety valves Removing both clack valves Removing both injector feed pipes Removing a few other injector-y bits Removing both injector overflow pipes Removing parts of the front of the cab, which has allowed the blower and vacuum ejector pipe to be removed completely Finding the Westrail works plate that used to be on the back of the cab! Next jobs will be getting the cab front and boiler cladding out, as well as working away on the bolts at the front of the smokebox, the steam pipes inside of the smokebox, and the cement at the bottom of the smokebox. Watch this space!

Gentle reminder that the Downpatrick & County Down Railway will have a stand as well!

90 ran with the new boiler with Westrail from 1992-1993, then at Downpatrick 2007-2010 – so hopefully there won’t be (too many) nasty surprises with the boiler as it’s only seen around five years of service since it was built.

A bit of hoking around in the smokebox tonight. After rigorous testing, the cement at the bottom was found to have very little in common with Aero chocolate in terms of either taste or texture.

I wish! Not that sort of surprise, unless IRM know something I don’t

Hard to tell, but I’d like it out by 2027 at the latest.

As some of you are probably aware, a few months ago the Downpatrick & County Down Railway started work on restoring GSWR 90 to operational condition. As the only rural branch line steam loco left in Ireland, and one of only four Irish-built steam locos remaining, 90 is a unique link to how industrialisation changed Ireland economically and culturally (eg move away from subsistence farming, depopulation of rural areas, and changes in use of the Irish language) in the 19th century. You can learn more about her history here. The loco was assessed in April-May and moved into the engine shed at the end of June. Put very simply, 90 is to be taken apart, then the boiler will be removed and sent to a contractor for overhaul while we work on other parts of the loco at Downpatrick, and then when that’s done it’ll all be put back together. Of course, this is going to take a lot of time, money, and manpower – we plan to launch a fundraiser over the next few weeks, which will hopefully include a surprise or two. We haven’t done a huge amount of work since it was brought into the shed – our loco dept consists of a pretty small team of people, and everyone has been busy with our summer steam trains. Work has included disconnecting fittings in the cab, vacuum ejector, injectors etc. Major job at the moment is chiselling out the concrete at the bottom of the smokebox, which is somehow even more unpleasant than it sounds. Excuse the lack of photos, I don’t want to bore you with pictures of random bolts and disconnected pipes just yet. Watch this space for more updates!