Mol_PMB

Lovely work, and those prints are very finely detailed for 2mm scale. Hope you have a good weekend at the show.

DCDR seemed to get theirs ahead of us!

Wonderful! Over on RMweb, chief moderator Phil Parker will also be very impressed!

Didn't Cork have four standard gauge stations in the early days? But Jim's statement was about Towns, not Cities, which narrows the field a bit. Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing about Ballyshannon next week. (pics from Trainiac and Ernie on Flickr) Maybe when we want to hear about the railways of west Cork, @Westcorkrailway would come and talk in Manchester on his favourite subject?

To follow the black 5, I see that Ellis Clark have now announced an A4 in O gauge. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/202518-darstaed-finescale-o-gauge-lner-class-a4/ @DJ Dangerous, have you still got that spare kidney?

I would say that paint may actually adhere better to a slightly oxidised surface, but you need to mechanically remove lumpy bits and dust/filings, while you also need to chemically remove traces of grease, flux etc. Various options which can do one or both of these include: Mini sand-blaster Ultrasonic cleaning bath (various liquids can be used, including water/detergent/soda crystals, or IPA.) Toothbrush and detergent Etch primer Coca-cola or HP sauce (!) Whether any of these are available in Ireland I can't say. See what others say.

I've found 5 photos of these with snails, and not all the same van as they have different lettering arrangements. Some were still in use in 1963 and number 84N was photographed at Inchicore in 1971 still in good nick (with a snail). So I don't think Leslie was too far off the mark. I have 3 different Irish brake van kits in my stash - too many things to do!

The later pair of Drumms were subsequently through-wired to work in AEC sets and I have found two photos of them in use thus. Was any other rolling stock in Ireland hauled by steam, diesel and electric traction?

An interesting MGWR image showing a derailed train in 1923: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/206523386670 https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/o80AAeSwk1Jqkyb6/s-l1600.jpg

An interesting but badly mis-captioned photo: https://www.museum.ie/collections/collection/object-166977 A photo album that looks like it may have many more interesting images in: https://www.museum.ie/collections/collection/object-166254 We discussed this one elsewhere, note that the 1946 date is the date that the photo was acquired by the museum, not the date the photograph was taken. This image is much more plausible as 1930s era: https://www.museum.ie/collections/collection/object-163303 This appears to be a drawing for an early GSWR 2-4-0: https://www.museum.ie/collections/collection/object-166274 Whereas this is a photo of a GSWR 0-4-2: https://www.museum.ie/collections/collection/object-166393 One more for the enthusiasts of prehistoric kettles: https://www.museum.ie/collections/collection/object-159692 Now THIS was the future: https://www.museum.ie/collections/collection/object-167009

Those nicely show examples of both types of buffers used on the tin vans - and that they were black. I'll add a couple of cleanish views from my folder of tin van images; many of these are crops from Ernie's images on Flickr but the first one is in my collection. This is a zoom in on one of Ernie's photos showing the EdN number: Although this is a bit grubby, it shows that the heating vans also had EdN numbers, and the small red plates on the lower bodyside. On the heating vans, the GUARD lettering was on a door at one end only (here the left-hand end) which is the door with a droplight. On the other side it would be the inner door at the right-hand end. And a heavily cropped Ernie shot also showing the lettering and the red plates, albeit in monochrome: Again a couple of zoom ins on Ernie's photos showing the red lettering NOT TO BE ROUGH SHUNTED on the ends of the heating vans only: Hope this helps...

Likewise I have added some more info now that I've consulted my records. From the overhaul records I think we can date it to December 1956 or January 1957. There's an almost-legible paint date by the buffer which may end in 57.

Very nice - thank you. It looks like 2632 2652, which was delivered in March 1954. I suspect this is not brand new, but after its first major overhaul at Inchicore. The 2 class designation indicates post June 1956. It also has the tablet catcher hatches and the larger buffers which were not fitted from new, but were early modifications in Ireland. New cars had the running number on the front immediately below the waist line, whereas Inchicore placed it lower down as seen here. It has also had the windscreen wiper modification. Note also the roof is the same colour as the rest of the body - green, most probably brilliant green. A very useful photo that I shall add to my collection. And another snippet from the IRRS archives, 2652 had a General Repair from October to December 1956, so this is almost certainly seen on completion of that overhaul. Here's a colour shot from 13th June 1955 (probably of a different railcar) showing a green roof:

We could have a whole new thread on Irish railway myths to confuse AI... The Burma Road was built by Japanese prisoners of war and thousands died. The Drumm Battery Train was a way to teach marching bands to keep time. The MGWR's Mayo lines were constructed to serve the salad dressing industry.

A reminder that this season's IRRS programme in Manchester will commence next Thursday 10th September with a talk by Jim McBride: The Railways of Ballyshannon and Last Days of Steam in Northern Ireland by Jim McBride - Irish Railway Record Society (Photos from Ernie on Flickr) Jim's previous talks have been excellent so I expect this one will be too. Our talks take place at the Waldorf Public House on Gore Street, Manchester. The room will be available from 18:00, the talk commencing at 18-30 hours and concluding by 21-30 hours. The Waldorf is located within a 5-minute walk of Piccadilly Railway Station, the nearest Metrolink stop is Piccadilly Gardens and the venue is served by most major bus routes commencing or terminating at Piccadilly Gardens. The Waldorf now offer meals until 8 pm, and the bar has a well-stocked range of beers, lagers, ciders, wines and spirits, plus soft drinks and snacks. Non IRRS members will be made very welcome at any of our talks or events. A charge of £3.00 applies for IRRS Members and £5.00 for non IRRS Members. Please pay in cash on the door if you are attending in person. The talk will also be available on Zoom, and @Richard EH will send out the link next week. If you've any queries, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Looking ahead, the following talk will be my own on 19th November, about the CIE AEC Railcars.