Mol_PMB

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.

Digressing slightly onto the 6-compartment 3rds, John is correct that the vast majority were withdrawn or converted in the 1940s. According to the diagram 86 listing, 73 of these 6-compt thirds passed to the GSR in 1924. However, the listing shows that after the purge in the 1940s a handful survived into the 1950s. Late survivors were: Withdrawn in 1958: 649, 654, 660 Withdrawn in 1960: 558, 614, 624, 655 Photos of these in CIE days are very hard to find and I suspect that these seven carriages may have spent their final years before withdrawal forgotten in a siding. One photo showing a 6-compartment third in CIE livery is this one by Ernie at Harcourt St around 1951, and I do think it's a GSWR coach: Until yesterday, I thought I had another photo of one in Cork in 1955, also by Ernie: But then Ernie posted this photo, which shows a 6-compt 3rd of GSWR style with only 4 wheels rather than 6. Looking at the photo above, I think that is also a 4-wheeler, likely the same one. I haven't yet worked out whether this is a GSWR 6-wheel coach converted to a 4-wheeler, or whether it's a CBSCR / CMDR oddity. Anyway, I have other plans for my kit for a 6-compartment third, involving some replacement sides. It is likely to become a full brake. There are various options which may spawn a separate thread as they seem to have been modified significantly over their lives, but I'm thinking of something like the nearer one here:

It's interesting that there are also 3 diagram 69 coaches numbered in the 900s: 928 to 930. I guess these would also have been WLWR vehicles. Diagram 69 shows flat ends, which would be correct for the majority of that diagram representing GSWR vehicles. Diagrams aren't always 100% accurate of course, and it may be that 928 to 930 had the same arrangement of compartments as the GSWR vehicles but WLWR features like curved-in ends and steel channel headstocks. I haven't found any photos that definitely show any of these three coaches but they survived until 1955-1958.

The photo captioned 105 must be either 905 or 916, there weren't any others like this. Looking closely at what we can read of the number, and comparing the details with the other photos, I believe it is 905. All three images have the half compartment at the first class end (four images if you include the extra one in my last post). The other carriage of this type, 916, was withdrawn in 1953, so I think it's less likely to be the vehicle seen in 1954 or 1961.

Very nice - thank you! The final 3rd is interesting as it is a 4-wheeler, with some extra trussing added to the underframe where the middle wheelset would normally be. Was it built like this or was it converted from a 6-wheeler, I wonder?

Finally, the three images that show a diagram 69 lav compo in later years. All these photos were taken in 1956 at Albert Quay. Ernie's photo below shows a rather tatty no.541 on the right. It had been withdrawn in the previous year. The roof has a lavatory tank and vents above each compartment, whilst the doors also retain their vents (but the one above the toilet window is absent). The livery is CIE plain green with class designations on the first class only. The shade of plain green was the same as the later light green, considerably lighter than the original CIE dark green with elaborate lining as seen on no.500 in the middle of this photo. The IRRS also has a closer view of this rake, focused on 500 in the middle but showing only half of 541: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511793685 Finally, another of Ernie's photos shows a distant view of 542, which was still in traffic at this time. Zooming in we can see some details including roof vents and lavatory water tank. On the sides, it appears that only the vent above the toilet window is fitted - they seem to be absent on the doors. The livery appears to be the same plain green, possibly without any class designations - it may have been declassified? That's all I've found from Flickr. I haven't yet found any photos of the last surviving diagram 69 - number 545 - which would be my preferred coach to model considering its withdrawal date. I have learnt that the diagram 69 did have lavatory water tanks on the roof for most of their lives, and that CIE plain light green is a suitable livery for the last survivors. As for door vents, it's a lottery! However, there are some other online sources yet to search, including the NLI. I'm still hoping to find some more - I've just stumbled across this better view of 905 which clearly shows it in light green livery with waist line in 1961:

If you are an IRRS member and have a flickr account you can gain access by following this process: https://irrs.ie/photographic-archive/ If you have already done that and still can't see them, then I don't know what's wrong but would suggest you might contact Ciaran.