Mol_PMB

A rare colour view of a diagram 88 full brake, still with its birdcage lookout, in 1959. The vehicle behind is not a GSWR one - most likely a CBSCR brake. I wonder what shade of green this is, under the grime! I think plain unlined green could be either dark or light green.

A few closeups of 1077, the gangwayed full brake that was on the 1964 all-Ireland railtour. One of these shows the gangway very clearly. There are also views of both sides here and you can see the asymmetry of the ducket and guard's door position:

I agree! But I bought exactly such a double pack from John Mayne a couple of months ago! My next step is to build them. Having said that, I would probably buy more if there was a good quality 21mm-friendly RTR model available, but I think that your suggested price point may be hard to achieve these days.

The GSWR 6-wheel lavatory composite is considered finished, for now. Closeup of the end: Comparison with a Genesis 6-wheeler: And with my two other green vehicles: There are a couple of niggles, such as the smoking signs being too prominent, a lack of passengers and no steam heating pipes. I may revisit those in due course. I can't yet put it into passenger service, because I don't yet have a passenger brake van. As Leslie points out over in this thread, they are essential: https://irishrailwaymodeller.com/topic/19742-tin-vans-heating-vans-please/ However, I do have a couple of John Mayne's kits in the queue, and perhaps a tin van should be my next project? First though, I need to finish off the tar bitumen tanker which has also made some progress today. I have fitted attachments to connect the tank and the underframe, and also to fit the couplings. I've also fitted the ladders and the steam pipework. And I've made the lettering boards for each side of the tank. There's still some underframe detailing to attend to before this is ready for the paintshop. Hopefully I'll get it physically complete in the coming week.

So, here's the model which I think I'm calling finished, for now. There are a couple of niggles, such as the smoking signs being too prominent, a lack of passengers and no steam heating pipes. I may revisit those.

Most likely 1075 then. According to the 1961 CIE carriage register, 69 had 2 gangways at that time: I have found clear photos of 18, 79 and 1077 in BnT livery, and would be interested to see photos of others.

I do hope Dave is going to watch the site for 24 hours and photograph the activities when the boxes are swapped. Now he's piqued our curiosity it's the least he can do!

It's also worth noting that most of the 6-wheel full brakes that lasted beyond 1963 were gangwayed ('hooded') for working in those mail trains. I think 18 may have been the only non-gangwayed 6-wheel coaching stock to receive BnT livery, and it was the early variant of that livery with a shallower band of tan and the numbers on a black background. I'm happy to be proved wrong especially if you can post a photo in this thread: https://irishrailwaymodeller.com/topic/19723-gswr-6-wheel-full-brakes/

For those modelling in O gauge, there are some Irish bits and pieces here, mostly underframe parts for wagons: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/287065310636 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/287065304970 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/287065295178

I can understand placing a container there as a temporary store, but what I don’t get is why it’s a different box every day. It’s not the easiest place to lift a container, half tucked under those trees and surrounded by vehicles. There doesn’t seem to be enough space for a machine that could lift a loaded 40’ box. I was also wondering if it would get a parking ticket!

An update would be nice. It has been a long time… How are they placed with respect to the Chinese New Year shutdown?

Is it going to be installed in a container? Preferably an illegally-parked one.

I bought a few old Irish prints on ebay recently and I think this one is sufficiently 'interesting' to put here as it is a nice contrast of old and new. The date is 1957 and the location is Skibbereen. The passenger train is topped and tailed by the new order of shiny silver C class and tin van, both looking pretty clean at this time although the excreta from the Crossley engine is starting to show. In between, 3 old 6-wheel coaches probably of MGWR parentage form the passenger accommodation. Two seem to be two lav compos or former lav firsts, with an all-third (now second) in the middle. Lightweight track, low-quality ballast and some weeds growing by the rails. I think the poster on the left is advertising CIE bus or coach services. Come on IRM, we need a C class!

I bought a few old Irish prints on ebay recently and here's a couple that belong in this thread. In 1955, J15 157 is seen shunting at Waterford. The leading van is a diagram 88 full brake with the simplified panelling typical of this period: And in contrast, in 1957 at Ballina a very clean C223 heads the branch train for Manulla Junction, showing another diagram 88 full brake with simplified panelling: On the loco, note that the sandboxes are still fitted.

I bought a few old Irish prints on ebay recently and here's one that belongs in this thread: The photo is dated 1953 and the location is Inchicore. The handwritten caption says it is number 89 but looking closely at the print I think I'd vote for 88.

Glazing and seats now fitted, and smoking labels on the windows of two compartments. i decided not to fit out the interiors of the toilet compartments, as you can’t see through the opaque plastic windows or the tiny gap above them. All the other windows are proper glass. Underframe and roof have been weathered and the last major job is weathering the ends. I have not thought about passengers.

I am re-learning the art of glazing. An absolutely flat surface with no debris, some graph paper to guide the dimensions, something diamond-tipped to score the line, and then carefully snap along the line. Be very wary of any little broken bits as they are extremely sharp. And expect a wastage rate of at least 50%. But I'm getting there. I'll give the windows a clean in IPA before gluing them into the carriage.

Very nicely done! Subtle and just right.

It seems an odd place to leave boxes for just 24 hours.

Meanwhile, work continues on the replacement sides for the two 6-compartment thirds, which are going to become a full brake and a sleeping car. I'll add some roof details to the etch too for these. My other passenger coach will hopefully be an Alphagraphix MGWR third.

Yes, I know, but I can't get the right decals in the eau-de-nil so I'm trying to make do! The tonnage on the ends will almost disappear under the weathering, and the coach number on the side is so small and fine that you would be very hard-pushed to tell the difference. It isn't entirely white anyway as some of the green shows through. As shown in many of the colour images above, they did fade to quite a variety of colours and often things like lining (painted eau de nil) faded to quite a different shade to the class numbers (transfers).

Just to wrap up and thank everyone for their contributions, here is the 6-wheel coach painted in Revell SM364, which was the chosen shade. It's had a light coating of 'micro gloss' to protect the decals but has not yet had any weathering. That will happen this weekend but I wanted to capture the unweathered shade in a photo first. Compare with IRM A42 in out-of-the-box condition which is a very similar hue but a bit lighter. Also the green van is Railmatch SR malachite with a bit of weathering applied. Decals on the coach are Railtec eau-de-nil for the class numerals, Precision Decals 'opaque white' (slightly translucent) for the carriage number, and Precision Decals double layer of solid white and opaque white for the tonnage: Looking this close the imperfections stand out too much! Hopefully they will be concealed by some weathering.

A trial assembly of the painted parts of the coach this evening. I still need to do some weathering, and add interiors, glazing and couplings. The close-up images cruelly show the imperfections. Some weathering needed! In general I'm pleased with it so far, and the green feels just right. Thanks to @Mike 84C for the kit and the green paint suggestion!

Hornby do a W4 Peckett which is similar in style and probably the closest RTR option. There are several variants of dome shapes, cabs etc in the models.

Here are some pics of it on the IRRS Flickr archive, including one being scrapped at Inchicore in 1949. The latter still shows lining on the sandbox, possibly a quickly-applied splash of grey paint had worn off again? RNC_CBSCR_495_Albert_Quay_17_April_1933 | [Photographer: Rob… | Flickr HDF_CBSCR_495_Rocksavage_c1939 (2) | [Photographer: Harold F… | Flickr RNC_CBSCR_495_Rocksavage_04_May_1946 | [Photographer: Robin … | Flickr RNC_CBSCR_495_Inchicore_1949 | [Photographer: Robin N Clemen… | Flickr