Mol_PMB

While you're waiting for me to get my finger out and write some more posts, here's a short interlude.

I had boxed myself in with the smokebox and I confess that the chimney and smokebox door (and the details on the door) are glued in place. Everything else is soldered, with bolted connections between the four subassemblies.

The boiler fittings are now fitted, and here’s a trial assembly of the body to show how it looks at present. You can just see the end of the gearbox below where the firehole door ought to be. Once I have fitted the cab floor, more cab interior detail and some crew I think it will be invisible. I have also been preparing wheels, crankpins, and trial-fitting my extended axles. They are looking promising. Still plenty more detailing to do, and getting the chassis going, but I have a weekend ahead of me.

This sounds like an excellent plan - thank you for taking the initiative! Somewhere I think I have a spare pair of IRM B4 bogies from the first batch of Mk2s that I could measure up, if that would help? No guarantee the wheelset interface is the same as the Park Royals of course. Potentially I would be interested in enough for 20 coaches. I’m in GB so if there was a way to avoid getting taxed twice that would be advantageous! Cheers, Mol

Finally back at the workbench today and I’ve been working on boiler detailing. The smokebox door is the original with all the detail taken off and replaced. The backhead (and the smokebox door dart) are lost wax castings from Caley Coaches, adapted to fit. I’ve also been fettling the dome, chimney and safety valves to get a better fit to the boiler.

Reaching for one of my purchases on the RPSI train last weekend…

Would a train of a carefully selected 6-wheel compo and a bogie brake first go well with that? (only a serious GNR carriage enthusiast will get this one)

Oh, I agree. I just thought a single 121 on such a long train might be a bit pedestrian!

Some 'shunter-shaped' locos in green which might be compared to your green B121s. Colour Rail slide IR637 shows a dark green D class in colour: This IRRS image is a nice colour view of 1004 in dark green: MMR_CIE_1004_Inchicore_11_July_1963 | [Photographer: Michael… | Flickr The only other colour image I've found in this livery is in the background here: MPC_CIE C216 Inchicore 22_Aug_1964 | [Photographer: Michael … | Flickr There are of course many monochrome photos of them, such as these two examples: RNC_CIE_1000_Inchicore_11_Aug_1948 | [Photographer: Robin N … | Flickr RNC_CIE_1001_Inchicore_22_Apr_1948 | [Photographer: Robin N … | Flickr The last link shows some fine lining round the edge of the front panel which appears more clearly in some other images. Only one of the D class D303 was painted in light green (with black roof) and it was one of the locos displayed at the 1958 Inchicore Works event. Quite a few locos were repainted especially for that event, which represented the end of Bulleid's time as CME, hence the end of silver/aluminium on locos and coaches, and a reversion to green. The dates on the images of D303 in light green suggest that it may have got the livery a bit earlier than 1958. https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/54336333309

Thanks! The one in the Tom Ferris book is B123. The written reference is in IRRS journal 37 (June 1965) which says: "Several more of the earlier (single-cab) G.M. locomotives have been repainted in the grey/yellow livery, and look very well, especially when this is embellished by bright red buffer-beams." It's interesting that these did not get the BnT livery at this time. The 121s had been one of the vehicles for which drawings were sent to Signa (designers of the BnT scheme) but they had struggled to make their scheme suit it. After describing the application to an A class, "The other one [i.e. the other loco, the 121 class], which makes no pretence to streamlining, has been treated purely as a machine. But the scheme could be carried through to the cab only." The red buffer beams would make an interesting livery variation on a model.

Tom Ferris Irish Railways in Colour vol.2 p42, it’s rather distant but definitely red.

Meanwhile I had been trying to identify the carriages by their roof details... Also note the rail-mounted mess 'caravan' next to the baby GM, successor to the 6-wheel sleeping car. I'm not into cars but I think I see a Randy Lover and a Renault 4. The buses aren't any CIE livery that I recognise, but I'm not into buses either! The nearer ship has an unusual colour scheme too - buff on funnel and masts was common but a buff hull wasn't.

Having had a quick search I agree with B127 as seen here: https://flic.kr/p/2pqXouh https://flic.kr/p/2qEu9zb I think B123 has red bufferbeams here too: https://flic.kr/p/2pwAE5Y

Those look very smart! Tomorrow I’ll dig out my colour images of D class in dark green as a comparison to the first one. I think the 1958 light green is more plausible given when they were delivered. Maybe add red bufferbeams? I found a written reference to some 121s getting red bufferbeams when in grey/yellow, but haven’t found a photo yet.

For fans of TPOs and mail trains, this is an impressive rake: https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000306219 (O'Dea collection, 1967) I think I count 3 TPOs, 4 bogie mail/parcels vans, 2 tin vans and a solitary passenger coach. The rate of progress of the mail behind a single 121 must have been distinctly 'second class'.

Very nice - I am tempted by a 4mm scale one when you go into production Because you have printed it flat, the layer lines on the horizontal planks don't look out of place - they could be wood grain. If it were mine I'd lightly sand the outer faces of the vertical timber ribs to remove the layer lines where they run across the grain. Only a few minutes work, hopefully.

Excellent. It's amazing how the weathering on the tankers has transformed them from a toy to a convincing model.

It would be interesting to make a list of those that worked in Ireland. There were several in Cork and Kerry over the years, including the Bandon Yanks, the Allman's locos, and the former Shamrock and Erin. Guinness, LP&HC and Courtaulds were other users of the type.

Saddle tanks have to fit over the boiler, dome, safety valves, and in this case chimney. It's rare to find a secondhand one that would fit a different loco.

Here’s a photo of the diagram of 91 in the IRRS archives. This is just a phone snap, it’s not flat or square so not suitable for scaling dimensions. Looking at the photo you can see how the saddle tank gave better maintenance access to the clacks and reverser linkage than a side tank would have done. Also better access to the inside motion from above. The awkward saddle dimensions may have been chosen to minimise alteration to the pipework and boiler fittings? However, I think the side tanks would give better weight distribution.

The camping coach was converted for the 1960 summer season so its stay there must have been very short.

The tour was great, and I met some old friends and new ones too. Most of the railtour was spent discussing Irish railway history with @Westcorkrailway and others - most enjoyable! One of the interesting things we discussed was GSWR 91, sister of 90, which was rebuilt as a saddle tank. In that guise it barely gets a mention in the GSWR locos bible but a drawing and a photo exist. Maybe it's in the GSR book but I don't have that. Although I took over 600 photos of documents in the archives I'm reluctant to post more than a few tasters here, as I'm not sure how the IP rights of the original material are controlled and I don't want to get into trouble or cause ill-feeling with the archivists. Richard MacLachlan has done a great job of digitising the carriage drawings and some of the loco and wagon drawings, and I plan to encourage him to continue that work with more loco and wagon drawings in the IRRS collection. There is plenty more to go at, although some of it takes a bit of finding in the drawers and boxes! I'd also encourage other IRRS members to spend some time with the archives. It is, after all, the Irish Railway Record Society and so we should be studying the Irish Railway Records! It would make for a more interesting evening if 2 or 3 of us were to arrange to be there at the same time and share our discoveries.

That's a lovely model, and thanks for sharing the drawing which I'm sure will inspire others to build one too. In fact it would be quite easy to produce a laser-cut kit for the standard design. A quick google found some photos of these in the NLI archive: Holdings: [House of Mrs Bridget Kelly, Lisvalley Vesey, near Tuam, Co. Galway] :: Library Catalog Holdings: [House and grass farm of Michael Turner in the townland of Cloonmoyle, Co.Galway] :: Library Catalog Holdings: [Mrs Philban's house and farm, Ballymacragh, Co.Mayo, one of the first to be purchased by the Congested Districts Board in Mayo] :: Library Catalog Holdings: [New dwelling house in Monivea, Co.Galway] :: Library Catalog Interestingly, at first glance they don't look that much better than what they were supposed to be replacing: Holdings: [Two cottages in Newtown village, Castlebar district, Co.Mayo] :: Library Catalog Holdings: [View of a house in Graigue, Co.Galway that is to be improved by the tennant with the aid of a Congested Districts Board grant] :: Library Catalog Holdings: [View of congested village of Graigue, Co.Galway, from where migrants were taken to holdings in Graigueachuillaire] :: Library Catalog Many thanks again for the inspiration!

As you'll know I'm interested in liveries and this has led me to a question about spray painting. The book 'The Works - Celebrating 150 years of Inchicore Works' contains many reminiscences of works staff and one of those relates to the introduction of spray painting for carriages (page 54). This notes that the traditional method of painting required 6 coats of paint applied by brush by skilled painters. This had been identified as one of the most labour-intensive and time-consuming practices in the works but carried on "through to the late 1950s". The tale in the book says that many spray-painting trials were carried out, using a wide range of paints, but the paint would never stick properly to the coach surface. Eventually this was traced to a chargehand who had been deliberately contaminating the paint with paraffin. Presumably over a fear of job losses if a quicker, more efficient painting process was introduced. I'd be interested to try and date this more accurately, as there may be a connection to observed changes in livery in the 1950s. The method of application and the number of coats can influence the appearance of paint, even the same colour paint can look different. But often the change to spray painting was accompanied by a change in paint formulation and supplier too. I've also seen some 1950s photos of carriages where the paint appears to have peeled off, and there are other mentions of experiments in the 1950s with different shades of green paint which could not be kept clean in service. Can anyone give a more definitive date for the introduction of spray painting at Inchicore? Many thanks, Mol P.S. It's worth remembering that for the 1956-8 period, new-build carriages from Inchicore weren't painted at all on the body. Older carriages would still have needed repainting though. Green was reintroduced as a livery for new carriages in late 1958 - might this tally with the introduction of spray painting or was it more to do with the departure of Bulleid?

Worryingly, a ferkeltaxi would probably be the prototypical passenger train for your branch line!