Mol_PMB

Excellent. Do you have any older photos of 69 prior to its recent rebuild? I was about to ask if it was ever gangwayed but answered that question here - it was: https://www.downrail.co.uk/rollingstock/gswr69/ I'd still be interested to see any pics pre-restoration. However, it wasn't the only gangwayed 6-wheel van (as claimed in the linked blog) as I will show in a future post on this thread. At least seven GSWR 6-wheel vans were gangwayed.

Now, some photos, and I'll focus first on the most numerous diagram 88. This is an excellent view which is reproduced in 'Great Southern Railways' - Murray, credited to W A Camwell and dated 1939. The photo shows two former GSWR full brakes, almost certainly diagram 88. They have full panelling with twin panels flanking the double doors, and a full complement of vents on the doors. The nearer van has skylights but the birdcage lookout on the roof is absent - probably removed by the GSR. However, the rear van retains its birdcage. Adjacent to the skylights are gas lamps to provide illumination after dark, exactly as shown on diagram 88. The nearer van has a small window or hatch in the end, partly hidden by the loco tender, which is not shown on the diagram. A nice view from a lower viewpoint is shown in the same book; this also dates from 1939 and is credited to the SLS. This diagram 88 van is still fully panelled but has lost its birdcage and the vents on the double doors. Two other 1930s Camwell photos from the same book show distant views of similar diagram 88 vans without birdcages, but retaining a full set of door vents: The GSR didn't remove the birdcages from all these vans though; here is an IRRS photo dated 1946 showing one newly repainted in dark green with elaborate lining, retaining its birdcage and skylights. However, its panelling has been much simplified and the door vents removed: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509171000 Not all were so lucky and van 75 was withdrawn in the late 1940s. Here are two IRRS photos of it dumped in late 1948, including a closeup end view with the window/hatch. No.75 retained its skylights, door vents and most of its panelling, but had lost its birdcage and was never repainted into CIE livery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509066509 https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53507858422 One of Ernie's photos shows a diagram 88 van still carrying a birdcage in 1955. It appears to be in 1950s plain green livery and I think it is no.12 (just legible on enlargement). The side panelling on this van has been greatly simplified, it has no door vents and there is no window/hatch in the visible end. Another Ernie photo dated 1956 shows a van with similar panelling but without a birdcage (though skylights are still fitted). I can't quite make out the number but it might be 256. There's another van beyond it of a different type and I'll come back to this later. Ernie has another nice photo here featuring no.76 (second in line), still with birdcage but with simple panelling, in 1956. All these vans with simple panelling seem to be in CIE 1950s plain green livery. This IRRS image shows another van with simplified panelling, no birdcage but retaining its skylights and door vents, freshly painted in plain green livery in the early 1950s: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53508917406 This sequence of photos of a rake of tatty 6-wheelers appears to show an identical vehicle that is no.77, but with a few years weathering applied! https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511597820 https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511332578 https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511332133 https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511484439 One of the later survivors of these vans was no.249, which seems to have been resident at Clonakilty until 1961, though it looks like it hadn't turned a wheel for some time. It retained traces of 1940s CIE dark green with elaborate lining, though that appears to have been patch-painted in plain green in places. Several photos exist including a rare colour view. It had lost its birdcage, skylights and door vents, but retained the original side panelling: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/54253235254 https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511721670 https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53508626163/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53507574982/ Colour view showing lining on the ducket: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511295561/ Part visible on the left of this NLI image: https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000305108 So, it looks like many of the late survivors of diagram 88 ended their lives with simplified panelling in 1950s plain green livery, just a few of them retaining their birdcages. For my model, this scenario would be ideal - I could make some replacement sides and duckets, a few minor roof modifications, and retain the remainder of the SSM all-third kit. In future posts I will go on to look at the other diagrams and variants.

Following on from my thread on the GSWR 6-wheel lavatory composites, I thought I'd do another on the equivalent full brakes. I'm thinking of modelling one of these by fitting replacement sides to an SSM third class coach kit, because SSM do not offer a full brake kit. The full brakes were some of the last survivors of the GSWR 6-wheel coaches, with some remaining in use into the mid-1960s and the last withdrawal in 1970. Several received black and tan livery. This was the lav compo thread as a cross-reference: https://irishrailwaymodeller.com/topic/19720-gswr-6-wheel-lavatory-composites/ The book 'GSWR Carriage Diagrams' (Pender & Richards) shows the GSWR fleet as it was in 1924, including 40 diagrams of 6-wheel coaches. The diagrams are numbered and I'll refer to these numbers - it is not clear whether they were the numbers used by GSWR or whether thay have been added by Pender & Richards. There were 3 types of full brake shown in 1924: diagrams 88, 89 and 90. However, the situation is more complicated as many vehicles were modified by the GSR. It is likely that some extra diagrams would have been introduced to cover the modifications. I'm only working off the 1924 diagrams and the photos I have trawled from Flickr and books, so this won't be a definitive essay but hopefully it will suffice to illustrate the different types and their evolution. I'll present these in the order they were built rather than the diagram number order. Diagram 89 was the oldest, comprising just three vans built in 1875; nevertheless two survived well into the CIE period being withdrawn in 1959/60. The diagram shows a design with a central guard's compartment with side duckets and roof birdcage, flanked by a luggage/parcels van portion at each end. The guard's door had a droplight window but there were no other windows in the sides. The deadlights (blank panels) either side of the double doors were in twin panels. Diagram 88 was the most numerous type, with 52 vans passing to the GSR in 1924. They were built from 1882 to 1902, and 29 of them were still in traffic in 1956, though the numbers then dropped rapidly with most withdrawn by 1960 as they were replaced with tin vans. The diagram shows a design almost identical to diagram 89, with a central guard's compartment with side duckets and roof birdcage, flanked by a luggage/parcels van portion at each end. Differences shown on the diagram include a skylight near each end of the roof, and what might be dog box doors/vents at the lower end of each side. Diagram 90 was also producd in large numbers, with 36 vans passing to the GSR in 1924. Most were built from 1905 to 1911, but there are a few older vans in the list. 30 of them were still in traffic in 1956, with several surviving into the 1960s. The diagram has the same basic layout as the others, but the central guard's compartment lacks the roof birdcage, although side duckets are still fitted. There are no skylights, instead the luggage/parcels van portions are illuminated by small windows in the sides adjacent to the double doors. The panels either side of the double doors were in triplets - three narrow deadlights on the inner side of the doors, and a window and two deadlights on the outer side. All three diagrams show a similar high arc roof, but in reality this was not the case as we'll see when we start looking at photos. As-built, the older diagram 88 vehicles had a low arc matching the contemporary 6-wheel coaches, whereas the newer diagram 90 vans had a higher arc matching the GSWR's early bogie coaches. More to follow...

Lots of Irish Mk2s on eBay this week, if Santa brought you more money than you know what to do with: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/147059508743 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/147059466563 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/147058933561 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/147058944058 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/147058951137 And a Hattons full brake: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/366086659179 I am not suggesting that these are sensible prices!

Back to GSWR 6-wheel lav compos, here are a couple more images I've found. Featured in 'Waterford, Limerick & Western Railway' - Shepherd is this view of one of the WLWR lav compos when new. WLWR 79 became GSWR 928 and lasted until 1958 with CIE. This was one of three (928-930) that were allocated to GSWR diagram 69 along with a larger group of similar GSWR-built vehicles. The diagram shows flat ends which was correct for the GSWR vehicles but this photo clearly shows the curved-in ends of a WLWR vehicle. Oil lamps on the roof but no roof vents or water tank, but it has a full set of vents on the doors. Note the curved, apparently wooden headstock ends which is different from the other WLWR lav compo diagrams which had channel steel headstocks. Next up, this photo is reproduced in 'Great Southern Railways' - Murray and credited to W A Camwell although it is undated - I guess 1930s. Looking at the shape of the near corner, I think this has curved-in ends and it would be the same type as that illustrated above - a former WLWR coach allocated to GSWR diagram 69. The lavatory water tank is clearly visible and it has vents on the roof but not on the doors, although there is one above the lavatory compartment. Finally, here's another lav compo featured in 'Railways in Ireland part 4' - Bairstow and credited to the author's collection. The image is dated to 'around 1950' and the lav compo appears to be a genuine GSWR diagram 69 in the CIE dark green livery with elaborate lining. It has a full set of roof and door vents, but no vent over the toilet window. I think there is a water tank on the roof. The last two photos both also feature GSWR full brakes and I'll be doing another thread on them later today.

Yes, it's amazing what could turn up in a passenger train in the 1950s. This is another favourite of mine (off-topic for this thread, there are no 6-wheelers here):

Whilst it would be well out of period for my modelling interests, I couldn’t resist one in model form. I suspect fitting the power bogie wheels into those splashers with enough space for bogie rotation and 21mm gauge would be a real challenge though, and there’s no space for over-size flanges! The FR Fairlies have a maximum bogie rotation angle of 4.25 degrees in yaw, so the doubles are prohibited from sharply-curved sidings. In pitch they are even more fussy, and so they do not go on low-loaders. They are impossible to lift in one piece by crane too. So they don’t leave home. Merddin has travelled over a million miles in nearly 150 years without ever going more than 25 miles from where it was built! There are still a few original bits - the nameplates have been polished so many times that their thickness is half what it once was.

At one stage it was thought the handbrake column was an original part, but it turned out to be from Moel Tryfan rather than Taliesin. The original chimney also survives but wasn’t used as it looked out of proportion- the replica is actually slightly over-scale. The FR Fairlies no longer use the flexible elbow joints (Merddin was the last to have them in the 1990s) and instead use flexible straight hoses with rigid elbows. Now there is another team working on a Gowrie replica. https://www.gowrielocomotivetrust.com/

Well, there has already been one successful project to build a replica single Fairlie, and there's another one in progress. There's not really much more work in a broad gauge one than narrow gauge - all the same parts just a bit bigger. In my experience, a single Fairlie is a very pleasant loco to work, smooth riding, free running, great ergonomics. An ideal branch passenger loco. The boiler on 33 isn't too big or hungry, and it would go round the DCDR's corners* better than a rigid wheelbase. *with apologies to the DCDR track gang, they're laid smoothly but the DCDR trainset does seem to have more radius 1 curves than straights.

I hope you have a great time in Spain - hopefully it won't be as dark as your garden!

Beautiful! Super modelling and photography - the attention to detail is amazing.

A bit more progress on the bitumen tank. There's only so much of this I can do at one sitting. It's even got working springs! I've not got too far to go now with the chassis. The tank is well on the way but needs a bit more filling and sanding before I start work on the ladders and catwalks.

Very interesting! Late 1940s and looks like an anchor-mount tank. Crude Benzol is a Class A product (low flash point) so would be a silver tank. Are you thinking of bidding on it?

My recent trawl through the photo archives has identified some more photos of tar bitumen tanks that can be referenced in this thread. Most are in the IRRS Flick archive so you will need to be an IRRS member to see them. Firstly, a couple more detail photos of the GNR 6-wheeled tanks, the second one is in colour: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511317628 https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/54255284544/ Then an interesting group of shots showing how a rail tank could be discharged by gravity into a road tanker at Mullingar. https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511613510 https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511499779 https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511347303 One wonders whether the traction engine might be a source of steam for melting the contents of the rail tank if it had solidified? The road vehicle appears to have propane/butane tanks for that purpose. A very characterful tar tanker/sprayer which appears to have been converted from a GSR bus, if I am interpreting the caption correctly: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/54419691774 A couple of photos of Mallow showing tar bitumen tanks on a siding near the Fermoy/Waterford line. Noting the hoses by the wall and the lower ground level beyond the wall, I wonder if Mallow had a similar arrangement to Mullingar for discharging the tanks? That would have later been superseded by the use of the Quartertown Mill branch. https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511646893 https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53508522006 And finally a miscellany of images showing tar bitumen tanks in trains, yards and sidings: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511455538 https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53510434982 (on the right) https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53527761675 https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53527329681 https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/54253254179 (3 in this photo, including an older, smaller one. Note steam heat connection on the nearest one) https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000305566 https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/54252089752/ (2 here, the right-hand one is older and smaller capacity) https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000304717 (this shows the steam piping rather well, as well as the catwalk details) I'd better get back to the soldering iron and finish off my model of one of these!

A super photo of a GNR fitted IRCH van has just come up for sale on ebay, lots of nice details here. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/358059308009 This looks like N4168 in the UTA fleet, close to the 4166N I modelled.