Mol_PMB

I'm not sure but there must be a source of air somewhere. Note also that the truck has storage tubes for hoses to connect to the wagon. The comments on the Flickr image say that it's a still from a Pathe film, so if you could find the film I expect it would show more. For an Irish example, I recall that one of the CIE annual reports from the 1960s has a good photo of a CIE road cement tanker. I can't remember which year though.

This image from Flickr is the wrong side of the Irish Sea but illustrates a minimum-size cement unloading operation.

It’s not so much later though. The missing wipers and sideways horns are in 1961 when these locos were only a few years old and still front line motive power.

When new, A15 had 2 wipers and the horn facing forwards. Again, thanks to Ernie: Also of interest in the photo at Inchicore that started this thread is that it was still fitted with sandboxes in 1961.

There seems to have been a few short-lived experiments on the A class around this time (1960 ish) I've also seen a photo of one with a large deflector plate on the lower cabside just ahead of the tablet catcher. A surprising number of them have the horn pointing sideways rather than forwards, and for a time it seems to have been the norm to have only one windscreen wiper fitted.

Good spot! I would say yes to your main question. Here's a link to Ernie's pic on Flickr so others can zoom in more easily. However, they are not visible here: Or here: TJD_CIE_A15_nr_Lucan_m1960s | [Photographer: Tom J Dowling] … | Flickr

Many thanks to Antony and Des Coakham, here's a dimensioned sketch of the SLNCR horsebox. This was a former WLWR vehicle. The sketch provides much more detail than the GSWR diagram 102 (upthread). https://irishrailwaymodeller.com/uploads/monthly_2026_02/9-24.thumb.jpg.ef933b0ecde8783cb21da9ed2ebfec91.jpg

This has led my twisted mind into a bit of word association. Beetle was the GWR codename for a prize cattle van, and they were numbered in the horsebox series. Here's an image of a Beetle on the excellent Warwickshire Railways site. I can't tell if it's John, Paul, Ringo or the other one...

Thanks to Ernie, a nice shot showing two UTA pre-ISO containers, in 1964 at Larne. I've seen diagrams of these and photos of them on road transport, but not so often photographed travelling by rail. They were dark green with 'ULSTER TRANSPORT' in yellow/gold, and other lettering in white.

Thanks to Ernie, a lovely photo showing a Diagram 103 horsebox in use in 1964, and north of the border too, in Belfast. Light green livery with XP lettering, and it is indeed in an XP train with an eclectic mix of vehicles:

Lots to enjoy here! Many thanks. I was just starting to write this when @Galteemore's message popped up. A pair of UTA containers in the first image, makes a change from the usual bread containers or BR containers. In the second pic, a diagram 103 horsebox in light green with XP lettering, still very much in use and away from home territory. Interesting to see! The GVS pics show rolling stock in a wide range of liveries - CIE silver, light green and BnT, UTA dark green. An unusual kitchen car I'll have to identify when I get home unless someone beats me to it. Also an older GNR coach in BnT. B121 still looking reasonably presentable after a few years in traffic.

Fascinating! Many thanks for sharing that. Documents like this can sometimes be very useful in identifying the wagons in service at a particular date.

There’s about 10 photos on the IRRS Flickr but mostly without trains, or while the track was being lifted. https://flic.kr/p/2qUMN3f

Yes, horrible vehicles. I'm very glad they've gone! My journey is now upgraded to a 150 (much like an NIR 450 but with the noise and heat more evenly distributed along the train, and now with slightly better seats).

I think that looks promising too. Hopefully it will still look right when applied to a green background.

Not so long ago that was a common experience in the 4-wheelers I had to endure on my commute into Manchester. If you were lucky it was rain, but sometimes it was engine coolant which was even less pleasant!

To illustrate the service from John at Precision Decals, after my enquiry yesterday he printed these last night and is posting them to me this morning! It will be interesting to see what these look like when applied to a green background. I think this pretty much exhausts all the colour options with the Alps printer so hopefully one of these will meet with approval!

As a postscript to the above, the Brassmasters GCR horsebox kit was the only GB horsebox model I could find that was close enough to any Irish prototype to be worth modifying. Largely owing to its wagon-type styling (as mentioned by JHB) and its relatively small size. It could also be built unmodified and wouldn't look out of place in an Irish train, unlike many of the other GB horseboxes. Here's another photo of the real thing (but another member of the class with slightly different details) and a view of the completed model from the Brassmasters website:

Many thanks! I've added some plank scribing to the lower part of the doors and I have plans to add some more brass strips or wire to conceal the remainder of the carriage-like panelling above the doors. I've now got the new, shorter end pieces soldered in place, replacing the old storage compartment doors: Other additions I need to make are the diagonal braces in the upper side doors - these appear to have been a later addition in GSR ownership as they're not on the diagram nor on the SLNCR (ex-WLWR) vehicle. Also I'll need to add the blocks on the drop-down doors which support them in the horizontal position. The various overlays for hinges, brackets and bracing can be used as supplied in the kit, but rearranged slightly to be more like the WLWR vehicle. It won't be 100% but I think it will end up pretty close and be reasonably convincing. Livery - well it could be light green, or it could be tatty dark green with snail. My prototype 1025 survived until 1964 by which time it would probably have been light green, but my latest photos of this type date from the early 1950s when they were dark green with snail. I haven't decided yet.

That GSR crest is seriously complex and multicoloured. I haven't even mastered the snail yet... On other matters, I have made a start at kitbashing the GCR horsebox into a WLWR version. Here is the main body etch with a few scribe marks on it. It's too long, with the extra length in a storage compartment at one end. I have cut off the storage compartment sides entirely, and shortened the floor to the correct length each end. I have also enlarged the rectangles in the floor to cope with the revised gauge and wheelbase. The place where the storage compartment was will be replaced with a short section of planking cut from the ends - one is seen positioned here: This is the part of the end which I am using to complete the modified sides. I will have new ends in the custom etch, as the planking ran in the opposite direction on the WLWR horseboxes. At the moment this still feels a lot like vandalism but hopefully it will come back together again and look good with the detail overlays added. Ernie's photo here shows my prototype, 1025. There's another excellent photo of one of these in Sprinks's book on the SLNCR, page 69.

To be fair, in the past (a few years back) I have had a couple of custom items done by Steve at Railtec, and they were excellent quality. It took a long time and a lot of prodding to get them done though. I do still ask for a project like this, but rarely get a response at all now. I think he's just too busy with the main range and more mainstream products, and I can understand that those are his priorities. Although using an older technology, John at Precision Decals does produce excellent custom work with great service. There is a fair range of ink colours but something like EdN is hard to achieve.

Yes, that little one is a Railtec one. They have a technically different printing process and can produce the correct colour easily. BUT they don't sell much in the way of coach numbering, 'GUARD' labels, or the 2" wide lining used on the later loight green livery. Nor do they do loco numbers for green locos, or the tonnage lettering for the coach ends. Nor EdN lettering/numbering for wagons, though I have bodged it on a couple of wagons by using snails and (incorrect) EdN loco numbering offered for smaller scales. I have tried suggesting additions to the range to suit the later carriage livery, in many cases they could just print existing artwork in their EdN colour. I have tried requesting custom transfers. I have tried offering my artwork free of charge for them to offer as a product. They're not interested and either don't reply, or say they're not interested. Sometimes they rant on RMweb about being too busy to do custom work and thye would prefer that people should stop asking! Precision Decals have excellent service, great communication, good prices, quick delivery and are happy to do custom decals from my artwork. But they use an older printing technology and can't print EdN directly like Railtec can. So I'm going through the pain of trying to create an acceptable version of EdN using the Precision Decals inks. It's hard going!

The ERPW transfer has no green element to it at all. It is just partially translucent so the green paint underneath is showing through. This is why it's no good on backgrounds other than green. I appreciate that in reality the green transfers were applied to backgrounds of other colours (grey wagons, 'silver' coaches, black tenders) but applying this ERPW transfers to those colours would just give shades of grey. Hence why I have now asked for some more trial samples with a green ink layer followed by an ERPW layer. With 3 different shades of green. Hopefully I'll get there eventually. It would be much easier if Railtec would do custom transfers!

Thank you for the constructive criticism which has encouraged me to reassess. I have applied the trial transfers to a green background, which has made quite a difference to the appearance of the colours. The variants are: ER PW - this has just one layer of translucent 'Pastel White', and the green paint showing through. In places this looks good but the colour is uneven, and of course it would be no good on a silver, grey or black background. PG+OW - this has layers of White (as a primer), 'Process Green' and 'Opaque White' to lighten the green. It's a bit bluish but probably the least bad option so far. PG+2OW - as above but with an extra layer of 'Opaque White' to further lighten the green. G+OW - this has layers of White (as a primer), 'Green' and 'Opaque White' to lighten the green. This shade of green is less blue, but the overlaid combination has just gone grey. Not very convincing. Now there are some other possibilities that I could try, though each trial has to be paid for and takes a few days to arrive. And not all combinations of colour overlays will stick. I'm thinking that the following might be worth trying: White, 'Green' and 'Pastel White'. White, 'Process Green' and 'Pastel White'. White, 'Spot Green' and 'Pastel White'. Perhaps I will ask for trials in each of these before committing to a full sheet.

Unfortunately your preferred colour (the small one) is not an option for the custom decals! That’s my difficulty here.