Mol_PMB

Anyway, back on topic, here's a super view of Cork with Glanmire Road station, the goods yards and docks, in 1949: https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/XAW027138 There are around 200 images of the Cork area, I'm sure there are some more gems in there. There are a few images of Haulbowline showing the narrow-gauge railway, like this one: https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/XPW042343 Here's a very clear view of Tralee Rock Street in 1934: https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/XPW043566 It's well worth a look at the map to see if there are photos of your area of interest. Just a reminder on BritainfromAbove, if you log in then you can zoom into the images and see much more detail than if you're just a guest. It doesn't cost anything to log in.

Looks like Dick Fearn might be there too. It's a long time since I last saw him - back when I was doing investigations into the second Cahir viaduct accident. Time flies (but trains don't)!

Very nice work and ingenious use of the Tortoises on their sides. I also like the invisible tie bar concept!

I have now completed the Excel spreadsheet of the 1961 CIE carriage register - this is attached to this post. The pdf of the original pages is in the Resources section. A few interesting things I found: The secondary stock still included plenty of 6-wheel coaches when the list was published in 1961, although most wouldn't last much longer. Also listed in the secondary stock are some of the former Drumm trains, now loco-hauled. They are numbered in the 250x series, which helps to explain why the former SLNCR railcar ended up being numbered 2509 (and their railbus 2508) - they follow the Drumm car numbers. Also, one of the Drumm cars is listed as through-wired for railcar operation. This is plausible but new to me. The listing includes camping coaches, but not vehicles numbered in the A series. Specific carriages and railcars were allocated to 'Named Trains' - I wonder what was different about these vehicles? Perhaps they were consistently in the new livery or had a higher standard of internal fittings? Several vehicles are marked as 'Declassified' and can be used for classes other than their original design. Some have been downgraded, but others are seconds which can be used as firsts if needed. My next step is to combine the 1961 and 1969 registers and data from other sources into one master list. That is quite a big job. My desk is currently piled high with IRRS journals and books with carriage information! Plus of course the useful lists and references provided here on the forum. Many thanks to everyone who is helping with this. CIE_carriage_stock_register_1961.xlsx

Wonderful- thanks. I will cross-reference that with the carriage register annotations and I’m sure it will fill some gaps. I think there were a few more, later. I’ll check.

I’ll have to put that in my diary. See you there!

Many thanks. Now I’ve got the 1961 carriage register with its annotations, as well as the 1969 one and the other various published stock lists, things are starting to make sense and I am able to trace most of the vehicles through their renumberings and conversions. This is all going into a master spreadsheet list. In some cases, 21xx composites were declassified into 16xx standards, then rebuilt into 25xx vans and then rebuilt again into 32xx steam heat vans, all within a decade. I will share my results when complete.

Still, it’s a useful reminder of the resource. I have used it a great deal in the past looking at photos of Manchester but I hadn’t thought to look for Irish photos there.

Ah, OK, damn Brexit! The duties and fees make such a difference. To me this one looks cheap. Maybe I should buy another...

There's another green A42 on eBay, presently cheaper than the one I bought, but DC only: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/277355536261 Price is good at present but may bid upwards in due course. I've got my green A already now so fill your boots @DJ Dangerous or anyone else who fancies one...

There’s plenty to see at Docklands station:

That’s come together very nicely - and a distinctive type of carriage too. The woodgrain effect is convincing, and it’s nice to see some passengers aboard.

Goraghwood, Newry and Warrenpoint?

Hmm, there must be a gap in my knowledge of Irish railway history. The little known GN&WR... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/257088734101

Incidentally, I have finally found out the CIE meaning of 'Hooded' as in the tin vans sometimes referred to as 'Hooded vans'. It means 'gangwayed'. This becomes clear when looking at the summary tables in the 1961 carriage register. The tin vans were probably the first large group of 30' vans with gangways, which may be why the name was applied. I continue to work on the spreadsheets, and I'm also trawling my old IRRS journals for more snippets of carriage fleet info.

Thanks! And thanks to our moderator for approving the pdf uploads in the resources section - so you can now go there and download the originals should you wish.

Research for my recent (and future) posts on the AEC Railcar trailers has led me to the CIE Carriage Registers. These list all the items of coaching stock in service at the date they were issued. Many thanks to @flange lubricator for copying every page of his version of the 1969 register for me, and giving me a hard copy at Downpatrick recently. That 1969 document had a few pages missing, probably removed by whoever at CIE owned the document when the coaches listed thereon were withdrawn - they were also missing from the version Mark had. Then @seagoebox contacted me with an offer to help with the missing pages. It turned out that he had a complete CIE Carriage Register, but it was an earlier document from 1961. Many thanks to Michael for photographing every page of that document and sending them to me! In both cases, the documents have been maintained as a 'live document' for some years after their original publication, withdrawn carriages being crossed out while some conversions are referenced. New carriages have been added with hand-written annotations to some existing pages, and whole new pages have been added to record new and converted vehicles. Some pages listing withdrawn vehicles have been removed, however. As a first step in sharing this information, I have combined the scans/photos of each page of the registers into a pdf document - one for 1961 and the other for 1969. I have submitted these into the 'Resources' section where they are awaiting approval by the moderator. This will give everyone access to the original source information. My next stage is to put all the information into a spreadsheet format so that it is more easily searched and is consistent in format where possible. However, that will involve some element of interpretation, and perhaps some corrections to apparent errors in the original listing. I am also making a list focusing on the renumberings and conversions which occurred in this period - a surprisingly complex story in some cases. Attached is an initial version of the spreadsheet for the 1969 register. It attempts to broadly replicate the format of the original document, with each carriage type described in a separate list. I have also collated all the pages into one 'master list' at the end. Over the next few days I'll do the same for the 1961 listing. I have an ambition to then combine that data with the Pender&Richards, Doyle&Hirsch and IRT&T stock listings, as well as info on the inherited GSWR and GSR carriages (and other sources where possible) to create a complete listing of the CIE steam-heated carriages from 1961 onwards. That may be a big job, but it's the sort of thing my OCD likes to do. CIE_carriage_stock_register.xlsx

Many of my visits to Ennis in the 1980s were like that! But sometimes there was a train. Sorry for going off topic into my childhood reminiscences and terrible photos! I haven’t yet found any pics of a very young me on the footplate of a plinthed green 5c. It did happen, before it was moved and painted black. I’ve not seen it since then. Just visible in the background of this pic of the Ennis datacentre of the 1980s… You’ll have seen the last one before! I was not the cool kid… Well done to Mum for knitting the A class jumper - there was a Mk2 carriage on the back.

I remember the GSRPS stock at Mallow and Tralee, even the Ruston which reached Fenit. A sadly missed opportunity but ultimately the infrastructure is one of the most expensive aspects and all CIE’s branch lines were completely life-expired. Given the tourism focus in the Killarney/Kerry area I think Tralee-Fenit could have worked, but a branch line nearer Dublin would have been better.

Wow. When I was a kid there was no passenger service at all to Ennis, just the occasional special train. Amazing to see how the service has developed now and the extra stations opened or planned. Thanks for the info.

Indeed. I hope the crew at Maam Cross can call on the expertise of people who know how to keep it going. Modern stock is much more challenging than 1960s locos, and if IE have given up on the 2700s that says something.

Good news, Bad news, Good news, and a Question I have tested my green A42 on DCC, having worked out that its ID was 42. No surprise I suppose. Initially it was very jerky and inconsistent. Giving the wheels a good clean with IPA solved that issue - mechanically it runs. Good news But there was no sound (this was advertised as DCC sound fitted) and the lighting functions weren't set up right. So I looked in the roof and found that the chip fitted wasn't a Loksound, but what appears to be an old entry-level non-sound Bachmann chip. Bad news I contacted the eBay seller, and suggested that the best way to resolve this was a partial refund. They responded within a few minutes, agreed to my proposal and sent the amount I had suggested. Good news Now I need to buy a Loksound V5 sound chip for a Crossley A class. There seem to be two options: Accurascale for £114.95: https://www.accurascale.com/products/a-class-crossley-sound-decoder Roads and Rails for £109.99: https://www.roads-and-rails.co.uk/products/loksound-5-decoder-for-irm-irish-a-class-diesel-crossley When AS loyalty points are considered, the prices of both are very similar. They appear to be different products - they certainly have different function listings. The Roads and Rails option has a Kadee Shuffle function which would be useful for me. That doesn't seem to be on the Accurascale function list. I don't know whether the sounds are from different sources, and/or which might be the more realistic for the Crossley. I have actually driven an XA on the main line in Australia so I ought to know what a Crossley A class would sound like. But it was a long time ago and my memory is more of the steam-era driving controls and the absolute filthy oily blackness in the engine room! So the Question, for those of you with sound-fitted Crossley A class. Which option did you choose, and why? Are you happy with it?

Hi John, Many thanks for offering the coach side etches. Sorry for the delay in responding - given the way they are grouped on the etches I've had to think carefully about which combinations of options make most sense. I'd like to order the following: 1339-55 Series Side Corridor Third - sides for 2 coaches 1904-8 Brake Second and BSSGV sides That's in addition to the 4-wheel luggage van and heating van kits already requested (1 of each). Many thanks Paul