Mol_PMB

Ah, I hadn't looked in that much detail but you're absolutely right. The tanks are different, as is the cabside cutout and the leading splasher. Thanks to Ernie again for the illustrations: There are lots of photos of both on the IRRS archive too.

And for oddballs like me who just can't leave a model alone, I could renumber it as 100 and it would fit my Fenit theme, if not my timeline.

Despite being the smallest, Pat wanted all the other locos to look up to him, and begged the Fat Controller to help hlm. He got EXACTLY what he asked for...

I wonder whether Pat was a Patrick or a Patricia, to the crew? The painted name was just Pat, and in later years was barely legible: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53813461924/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/110691393@N07/11403709374/ I think Pat was made in Cork and always worked there, while Sambo was made at Inchicore and always worked there. So I like the tongue-in-cheek idea of a collectors' pack of the two together! Incidentally, long after Sambo's demise, the Inchicore pilot loco turn was called 'the Sambo', even if it was an E class diesel rostered to the duty. I don't know whether that continued into more recent times.

Did they ever meet?

As I understand, the rail link is being pushed by Shannon Foynes Port Co. (SFPC). This strategy was published in 2011 with a vision forward to 2041, and it does mention rail in several places. https://sfpc.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/SFPC-MASTERPLAN-Final.pdf We're nearly half way through that time period now; I wonder how the current situation compares to what was expected? Foynes doesn't handle containers at present and the strategy does not seem to consider intermodal traffic as part of the port's future. Intermodal is one of the easiest traffics to put on rail, and in GB (as a comparable island nation) intermodal traffic to/from ports is now the biggest rail freight sector. But that seems unlikely at Foynes. Foynes (and the Shannon ports in general) are primarily bulk traffic ports. But my understanding is that most of that bulk traffic doesn't travel far within Ireland - it is used, processed and exported, or burned within the Shannon estuary area. Hence the lack of rail traffic at present. Clearly all the existing traffics are handled without needing rail. Are there hundreds of HGVs filling the roads to and from Foynes? And are they all going to the same place? If so, then rail may be useful. But I suspect not. Some of the break-bulk traffic (timber, steel) might have a longer inland journey, but this is relatively small in volume and probably serves a widely distributed range of customers rather than suiting a dedicated rail flow. So whilst the rail link is seen by SFPC as a key asset, I think there would need to be one or more new bulk traffic flows through the port to really make use of the rail link. While SFPC can encourage that by improving facilities, their remit is as port operators not mineral extraction or processing, etc. Is there anything realistically under consideration - new mines or heavy industries?

Very nice! It was a great talk with lots of interesting photos from that transitional era.

There are quite a few books on BnM railways and these are the ones I have: For the history, Brown Gold is by far the best. The railways were such a key part of the operation that they get detailed coverage in the history of BnM as a whole. You can get it for about 10 Euro and I would highly recommend the book for anyone with an interest in BnM railways. It’s a thick tome but worth working through!

I've also been learning more about the later history of the line. Owing to major deterioration of the structure, the pier was closed from the early 1940s until it was completely rebuilt in 1955. Of course fuel shortages in the Emergency had also badly affected the branch, so that in the 1940s it was almost moribund but it gained a new lease of life in the later 1950s. 560 (ex-MGWR 0-6-0T) was the regular branch loco from 1955, but E410 and G602 made appearances in the late 1950s. Summer Sunday passenger excursions were introduced in June 1959, and proved very popular with up to 3 trains each Sunday when the weather was good. This photo is an IRRS one which curiously doesn't appear on the IRRS Flickr but is on the internet elsewhere. It gives a flavour of those times: There are quite a few other photos of these excursions, which show that in the early 1960s they were often formed of railcar sets or C class locos and a mix of old and new carriages. One one occasion a railcar set needed assistance from 560 to climb the bank out of Fenit! Known numbers include 2601, 2606, C212, all in green. By the mid-1960s, G602 had been replaced by members of the G611 class; G617 appears in most photos but others may have appeared including G616 and G611. The Summer Sunday passenger trains were more commonly hauled by 141s by then, photos show B151/153/156/169 and with stock in black'n'tan livery. Mid to late 1960s freights appear with traction from a green C227, black C218, black A30. The shunter shuttled back and forth along the pier to form the train, and the bigger loco hauled it to Tralee and perhaps beyond. Retrenchment in the 1970s saw the passenger excursions cease in 1974 and the branch traffic was reduced to seasonal beet trains, but these sometimes operated daily as late as 1977 with 001 class locos. 006 and 025 in supertrain livery were recorded in this period. There is some inconsistency about the final year that the branch was visited by the weedspray train, but it was probably 1978 with loco 210. There were enthusiast railtours in 1961, 1964 and 1972. The first used 560, the second 186 (before preservation) and the third 186 again (after preservation). Next I need to have a look at wagons and carriages. I've got a reasonable assessment of the wagons already, and I've worked out that Park Royals turned up at Fenit in both green and black'n'tan eras, and there's even a Cravens in one set! But older stock was the norm. The description on the original image says 5'3" gauge, which narrows it down a lot. Especially with side buffers rather than a knuckle coupler. I think it is for Fenit.

Also well before my era of interest but nevertheless nice to see, this must be the station building that was long gone by the diesel era: An early loco and evidence of fish traffic by rail: Despite the caption, I'm pretty sure this isn't Fenit, possibly Tralee?

I've been busy busy at work recently and not much time to focus on modelling, though a bit of time for research. Still interested in Fenit as a prototype, I've been delving into that rabbit hole. I found this image of a rather interesting early bogie wagon, apparently a 30 ton high side open goods wagon for the Tralee & Fenit Harbour Commissioners, body 34' long, built by the Lancaster Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. Ltd. It doesn't carry a number; I wonder how many wagons the T&FHC had? There are some odd technical details such as the long 5-link coupling, the buffers spaced on blocks, handbrakes acting on all wheels. The top plank of the body seems to run the full length of the wagon. It appears to be iron or steel-framed with T-bulb section for the solebars. Bogies are a rather lightweight diamond-frame 3-piece type. Some details may have been lost in retouching the photo to hide the background. Anyone know more about these or other T&FHC wagons?

After my visits to the dying remains of the BnM railways a couple of years back, I bought several books on the history of the BnM and Turf Development Board. Some are more wordy and some more pictures. But they are all really good. The best one for a detailed history is this, and it's not expensive: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brown-Gold-History-Irish-Industry/dp/0717147525 There's also a fair bit of history on the BnM's own website, though it's not too easy to navigate to all the pages. When I was there, the oldest loco still in use was LM40 built in 1947: So by 1947 there were at least 40 locos in use by BnM. The first few locos pre-dated the LM numbering system, but it was introduced fairly early. One of the very first diesels still exists at Dromod - German-built I think.

I know that putting sheets on a rake of wagons requires the purchase of several packs of Tunnocks Caramel Wafers, but it's good to learn that making a model fuel depot can justify consumption of several dozen cakes!

Also in 1875 was the merger of the Dublin and Drogheda Railway with the Dublin and the Belfast Junction Railway to form the backbone of what would soon be renamed the Great Northern Railway. But another important anniversary in 2025 is the centenary of the formation of the Great Southern Railways. For the 2026 announcement, we can look forward to the 200th anniversary of the first act of parliament for a public steam railway in Ireland - the Limerick and Waterford. And for 2029/30 it's the 150th anniversary of the two surviving J15s, so if IRM haven't started a J15 already then they need to get that date pencilled in...

We live in a changing age, both in model railways and in the bigger picture. In model railways, the standards keep rising, and what was the 'must-have' loco 10/15 years ago is now superseded my new models, new manufacturers, new technology. What was once a highly sought-after model may no longer have the same value. In the wider world, we're now in or approaching a position where disposable incomes are no longer growing, probably decreasing or soon will be. So the market for discretionary purchases like all collectables is decreasing. For model railways in particular, there's a boom generation who are now in retirement with more-or-less generous pensions, that probably represents a peak demand. Younger generations may look towards different hobbies and interests. The market for high-end models is probably close to its peak volume now, and if the demand shrinks then the prices plummet. We've seen this effect already with old railway books - some sought-after titles which 5 years ago were impossibly expensive are now surprisingly cheap. I'm not qualified to offer investment advice, but my view is that model railways are not a good long-term investment at present. By all means, buy a model because you like it and it will give you pleasure in owning/operating/modifying etc. There's also potentially money to be made in buying discounted models and selling on fairly quickly at higher prices, although increasingly marketplaces such as eBay are getting more greedy with their fees. But don't buy a model in the hope that it will be worth more in 10 or 20 years time! Having said that, the high-end, small-run obscure niche models are probably the least bad speculation option in the model railway scene, especially if you keep them pristine while idiots like me rip them apart, modify and weather them to destroy their monetary value. So get your wallets out next week and BUY BUY BUY!

Lovely! Some nice little details to catch the eye there. 141 has large shaded numerals on the cab front, relatively unusual and only applied to the first few 141s repainted in supertrain livery. Most had small unshaded numerals. 054 has the horn pointing straight towards the photographer, rather than forward along the track. Note also the small lettering on the lower bodyside, not often seen so clearly, not often modelled.

Sorry, I was attempting to be tongue in cheek, maybe that didn't come across. I had guessed that 'Senior' would have been there for this photo, and that the loco was actually grey (not green at all) when pictured. The same album has a photo of 801 in fully lined livery, much more elaborate than the photographic grey:

There are some interesting photos in the same album, image quality is a bit mixed but it's fascinating to see what it was like in and around the works over the years:

Well there's a reason 60's were nicknamed Tugs! On the other hand, here's a tug that sounds a lot like an EE loco: (Svitzer Sarah has a pair of Ruston engines very similar to those put into the 37/9s; that engine design has its roots in the earlier EE engines)

Maybe there's some kind of inverse logic going on in the model railway world? On the most numerous GB multiple-unit ever, 1000s built, that works all over the place (i.e. the Electrostar), AS still haven't got quite enough support to start production. Yet they announce models of a class of just 3 Irish locos that were confined to a small part of the network and worked for a relatively short time (i.e. the Hunslets), and they're overwhelmed with orders! So on the latter theme, another class of just 3 Irish locos that were confined to a small part of the network and worked for a relatively short time, could be an option. Dunno what JHB has to do with it all though, maybe he chose the shade of green?

Pretty much like the Wrenn catalogue from the 1970s! Just think of all those shades of CIE green to choose from...

But just think of how many liveries you could paint the TANK! No need to stick to boring prototypical black, I bet it would look good in NCC red, BCDR green or even GNR blue a bit like this: (Neil Harvey photo on Flickr) Why limit yourself to a 2-6-4 or an 0-6-4 when you could have 464 which was, err, only a 4-6-0... (Ernie photo)

"latest locomotive project" ... "Accurascale/IRM launch our most ambitious locomotive yet" So the ambitiousness (if that's a word) is in a locomotive rather than for example a complete train set or pack. What could be more ambitious than what's been done already? And is it ambitious for IRM, or more ambitious than the full Accurascale range? Well maybe hi-tech gizmos, but it has to be said that other recent attempts like Hornby's smoke effects and working poseable lamps have had a rather lukewarm reception. Another thing often referred to as ambitious in model announcements is a set of tooling that can cater for a lot of prototype variations. If true, then an 800 would be less likely and even a moderate coverage of the range of prototype J15s would be impressive. Having said that, there are plenty of variants among the AS 'Buckjumpers' and Austerity tanks for example. We may be reading too much into just one word! But I can't wait to see what it is...

Are you sure you want to use a tender? May be better to threaten with a tank! Kevin Lane photo, 1969 (before preservation)

Many thanks! Back on topic, almost, can anyone recommend the optimum Kadee coupler # to fit the H vans?