Hawkerhellfire

Fantastic, I can only imagine! The footplate ride was on the Hudswell Clarkes? I can't see their being much room on the Geoghegans!

The cost I heard for the locos wouldn't be far off what one would expect to pay for Newbuilds of the same designs. The condition of both locos is unknown but most likely poor. Shane is on her original boiler, now 76 years old, it probably requires a heavy repair if not renewal. I don't know how old Tyrones boiler is but if it's the original it's now 120+ years old! I believe the standard of maintenance in Shane's Castle was good. It went to nothing when the Giants Causeway was taken over and so both locos are now out of service. It's a great shame as both locos are utterly ideal for the Narrow Gauge preserved railways here. Light and powerful industrials with a fair turn of speed

Indeed! It is tiny compared to BNM, perhaps they meant it as the biggest railway around a Single site, even then it would be incorrect. Maybe they meant the largest privately owned industrial railway?

Thank you! Aye a trip to the Brewery is on the list, I'll probably make some enquiries there too. Thanks for your reply.

Hi all, I'm looking for recommendations for sources of info on Guinness' internal railway system. I have "Shifting the Stout, the book by the Amberley Museum. And "Irelands Largest Industrial Railway" which is mainly photos. I also have the excellent contemporary article witten in Model Engineer in 1957 on the system. I'll be joining up and diving into the IRRS archives in September but is there anything else I'm missing?

Unusual question, I believe in both the IRRS Journal and the RPSI Journal Five foot three there was a retelling of a story regarding the preserved J-15 184 and her use in the running of an unofficial race between the GSWR and DSER for the contract to run cattle trains to Dublin. I think the DSER engine was 14. Would anyone know what copy of these journals the story appears in as I would quite like to reread it. Thanks very much.

No, it's the original(or at least an Inchicore built one). You may be thinking of 90 as she had a new boiler built by the Severn Valley.

5Ts boiler as I've read has a crack in the throatplate. Giving this combined with the advanced age of the boiler it's probably well passed saving. Any restoration to running of the railway has to factor in a new boiler, and then you're throwing an extra quarter of a million onto the bill. You won't get much change from a million to restore that line.

I've seen matchsticks used to excellent effect in 00 to represent sod turf. Perhaps small lengths of lighting up wood darkened with wood stain? If its milled peat you want you'd best just experiment with some dirt from the garden.

The railway is at such an advanced state of decay it would be better to try and salvage 5T and the Ruston rather than waste resources on anything else. The line requires complete reballasting and resleepering which in materials now would reach conservately a quarter of a million to put halfway right, and that's with 20 plus active and enthusiastic volunteers working hard. Double the cost if you do it commercially. On top of that the window for acquiring a BNM loco suitable for hauling the carriages(which are in a questionable condition) is rapidly closing. Giving council disinterest/ineptitude it'll never work out. If it was in England or Wales yeah it's salvagable(indeed it would have never have gotten to that state) but here, nah.

This Channel on Youtube is excellent, its a chap who used LGB trains to kit bash his way to an extensive Garden railway. Well worth a look.

That's very advanced from the last time I saw a photo of it! Just a pile of bits and a bit of bodywork. Fair play to them. New build steam gets a lot of attention but a fair few diesels got the chop too and had no survivors. I wonder if there are enough madmen out there to attempt a Fell Diesel new build!

Described in "A Decade of Steam on CIE in the 1950s" Excellent book from the enginemans perspective. The same men write with adoration of the comparatively ancient "F2" 2-4-2 No 433 so they weren't anti steam.

850 had a fair bit more wrong with her than a tendency to roll. Poor steaming and and a habit running hot slidebars and bearings from memory. She was a handsome engine though. I was only thinking of 850 yesterday and her accident running into a turntable pit. Does a picture exist of that event?