Mol_PMB

1965. 28hp Deutz KS28B Allocated to Boora.

For those who think that one Queen is enough, I just stumbled across this photo at Limerick Junction in 1954, featuring two: https://www.rail-online.co.uk/p488187786 A nice selection of coaching stock too, from an ancient 6-wheeler to a couple of 1950s CIE coaches.

I love the buffer art!

Excellent - many thanks. I thought that was the case. There are some aspects of the livery that are non-standard compared to what Inchicore was doing at the time (e.g. number 3 on the doors) which made me think they had arrived fully painted. At the time they were ordered, Inchicore wasn't even painting a waist line on their carriages. I was also wondering whether AEC/Park Royal used the same paint as Inchicore did - photos suggest that the railcars seem to have a slightly brownish tint in their green (like brunswick green) whereas the original CIE dark green can look more bluish. Having said that, lighting conditions have a huge influence on shades of green. The original Wedgehead livery looks more consistent with how Inchicore were painting carriages in 1951 (dark green, no waist line) which is odd considering they were built in 1957! They did have both class indications 1 and 2 on the doors though. Also of note on your photos (which I hadn't seen before) is the original headlight configuration, which I think was used on the first 20 cars? There were at least 3 different arrangements, 4 if you include their later life as push-pull cabs.

Hi John, Just wondering with regard to the bogie coach etches, my impression from this thread is that there isn’t enough interest to do the bogie coach ‘kits’ you propose. Is that correct or have you had a flurry of interest behind the scenes? Presumably there might be a lower bar to resurrecting the 60’ etched sides on their own? Is that a possibility and if so, which types of coach would be feasible? Many thanks, Paul

Sad to hear, thanks for sharing the news. I travelled on a couple of his railtours and thoroughly enjoyed them. Edit: I think the 'Chunkrail Challenger' was the most memorable, I think I still have my ticket somewhere. Waterford to Sligo, out via Kildare and back via Rosslare. Various combinations of baby GMs through the (long) day.

On these links are are two similar photos from the frontage which do appear to show an overall roof: https://www.craigavonhistoricalsociety.org.uk/rev/sleatorportadownstation.php https://www.craigavonhistoricalsociety.org.uk/rev/mcintyreoldrailway.php This photo from Jonathan Allen is from the same angle and the roof is missing:

Many thanks, that’s most interesting and gives some more variety and a late-dated example - there are several options for vac-fitted container flats by 1969. Incidentally I’ve even found one or two examples of tail traffic on the AEC’s in their final push-pull mode. I understand that the IRRS are working to digitise all their old journals and papers, and put them online on a new members’ website. i have a few dozen IRRS journals but nothing like a full set, so this will be a very welcome development. It will mean that we can read articles like the one you mention without having to seek out and purchase originals.

Nice work - definitely looks the part.

I have! And the advantage of the ferry is that I can take a big case full of paint, which wouldn't be possible on Ryanair...

Maybe next time it ends up for maintenance in Belfast, a bit of guerilla painting by the York Road staff could put NIR on the side?

Indeed! Thank you!

Just paint a big white NIR logo on the side! (photo from Darren Hall on Flickr)

I'm presently working from a list of coaches wired as AEC trailers, which is given in 'Diesel Dawn' (Flanagan) and is credited to Colin Holliday. I suspect the list may have been based on the CIE carriage register - flange lubricator has a copy of the 1969 register (with annotations to update it to the mid-70s) which I hope to cross-reference with the list in 'Diesel Dawn'. I think the lists are accurate for 1969 but may not be complete for the 1950s - for example 1907 is not included (it appears to have lost its control equipment in the 1960s) and diner 343 is not included (because it would have been scrapped before 1969). Anyway, at present the list in 'Diesel Dawn' and photos are the best information available to me. The list includes only three GSWR normal passenger vehicles wired to work with railcars. All are corridor seconds (which would have been corridor thirds before 1956), numbers 1300, 1301, 1308. There was also a variety of old GSWR catering cars, plus one DSER. GSR normal passenger vehicles through-wired are the batch of suburban non-gangwayed open seconds (ex-thirds) 1331-1334, and suburban non-corridor compartment composites 2111-2113. Again there were a couple of GSR catering cars through-wired too. Of course it's possible that there were more old vehicles through-wired which haven't made the list, perhaps including corridor composites. Most of the photos that show GSWR corridor stock in railcar sets seem to be of the corridor side, which was very similar on both the seconds (ex-thirds) and composites.

I have another thread in preparation on the intermediates. There were a few GSWR corridor thirds (as shown in your pic above) as well as the old catering cars. Even a couple of non-corridor suburban compartment stock.