Mol_PMB

Ah, you are much wiser than me in the early liveries! Many thanks for the clarification. The photo I referred to does not have an exact date 'around 1930', but it features an MGWR loco in GSR livery and a GSWR carriage at a DSER station so it is surely in GSR days.

There's a nice photo of one of these coaches in the NLI O'Dea archive: https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000303897 The date is 10/07/1959 and the coach seems to be in light green with waistline and 2 class digits. It's possible that this is the same train, with the coach visible in the centre of the shot: https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000303894 This is a rather nice shot dated 1938 showing an lengthy passenger train hauled by a Woolwich mogul, presumably on the Dublin-Cork main line: https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000303129 Cropped to focus on the carriages, the third and fourth vehicles are both arc-roof open gangwayed coaches but neither identical to the subject of this thread. The nearer is a 50' third but has a lavatory about 1/3 of the way along the carriage (dia 41, I think). The next one is an older 45' open coach with a lavatory at the end (probably dia 34 third, possibly dia 12 diner?) The photo nicely illustrates the mix of rolling stock profiles so typical of an Irish express for many years. I think there's a Midland carriage and some clerestories further back. I've made a start on the etch artwork based on the drawings from the IRRS. It will take a while but I've got the basic concept sorted in my head. As you can see from the first photo in this post there are lots of subtly different layers in the sides of the carriages, and a single layer of etch cannot capture the full complexity. There are compromises needed, between ease of construction of the model, strength of the components, and fidelity to the layers of the prototype. The model is 76 times smaller...

Considering livery 4 in JHB's excellent list. The book 'Dublin Railways Past and Present' (Baker) page 11 shows a train at Bray around 1930. It includes one of these coaches in the GSR 2-colour livery. Of course the preserved example at Downpatrick also has the 2-colour livery. Various CIE green livery options are illustrated upthread. As yet I have not found any photos of these open thirds in livery 9, black and tan. However, there were some other GSWR 50' arc-roof coaches that received BnT in the 1960s. Definitely some full brakes and I think also a suburban compartment third. In due course I'll add to this thread to illustrate some of the similar types of coach. Additional to JHB's list the colours carried after withdrawal from normal services included red/cream for camping coaches, and we've seen upthread several options of green, red and black in departmental use

Now this is looking very nice indeed, even if the prototypes were a bit ungainly! I'm glad you have rediscovered the modelling mojo and are producing such excellent results.

Does Sambo secretly survive in preservation somewhere? Lurking in a backyard shed in west Dublin? I can't imagine that there was ever a comprehensive set of drawings for it!

Are these of any interest? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/336449892953 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/336449844845 (what is this? doesn't look right to me, maybe miscaptioned?)

For those interested in the 800s there are some photos for sale on eBay this week: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/336449899148 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/336449899785 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/336449900395 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/336449900905 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/336449901239 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/336450070451

It was very slow behind that Simplex so there wasn’t much chance to experience a lively ride. It was also about 35 years ago and I can’t remember much except that I took the photo and we did have a ride on it.

Is was loaned as a static exhibit and I gather they got into hot water for using it in service when railcar 12 failed.

And there was me looking forward to you selling a bargain A class with slightly damaged paintwork…

Nice! One of the quirkier vehicles in the fleet. I travelled on it once:

I’m sure you would be well tuned to their requirements. You might even strike a chord with the customer base.

The prototype spent a lot of time that way!

You should apply for a job as Accurascale's chief pun generator! Their latest Mary Poppins themed effort is extremely tenuous...

Their Class 73 also has a variant of the same power bogies.

Remove the magnetic roof panel then unscrew the screws holding the body to the main chassis block. Get some cocktail sticks or plectrums between the bottom edge of the body and the chassis block. Be careful of the small pipework details at the bottom of the bodyside. the body should then pull off vertically.

It could be the lack of a gen van to complete a train of the IR/IE ones? Also from a model perspective were many modellers sated with Murphy Cravens and aircon Mk2s, and the previous Bachmann (even Lima and Hornby) Irish Mk2 offerings? From a prototype viewpoint they were relatively short-lived in Ireland and not very popular to travel in. I recall their tatty patched-up secondhand origins being only too obvious to the passenger. Also there were only a couple of sets, they were much less numerous than Cravens or aircon Mk2s.

How did the 1953 experimental light green compare in colour to the late 1950s light green? In my research I have found a few photos around 1953 that clearly show individual carriages in a much lighter colour than those around them. But they’re all monochrome pictures.

I don’t think you have much hope of getting it back to ‘very presentable’ condition for sale. Almost any method that removes the acrylic paint will leave some degree of damage to the surface below. OK for weathering over again, but it won’t look factory-new.

This amused me over on rmweb: So, apart from those pesky big island Electrostars it must be ICR, 80 class, AEC and perhaps a Tokyu 2600 or a DART?

Fixed your typo there, Leslie!

Try applying the same acrylic paint to a piece of scrap plastic and then test your method on that first. The IRM paint is moderately resistant to solvents but the lettering (loco numbers etc) comes off very easily with IPA, thinners, white spirit etc. Be prepared to lose those.

It sounds like there's a fair bit of interest - many thanks. I'll make a start on the CAD design and see how I get on. I may well do the body construction like the SSM 6-wheelers as those seem to go together well. A little more complex than Comet but easier to align and adjust, and probably more robust too. I think I'll need to make the sides in upper and lower parts though, to get the layered effect of the beading and panelling.

I can dream of seeing them waiting at Thurles on Saturday to relieve 171!

Thanks! They’re not that good on close inspection. The kit design helps because many of the joints are made from the inside. I use 145 degree leaded solder, Carrs green flux, Antex 25W temperature controlled iron usually at 300C, even for fixing the whitemetal bits (work quickly!). 350C for bigger brass parts.