Mol_PMB

As far as I'm aware the locos were not renumbered though. Was there any non-passenger carrying coaching stock (horse boxes, carriage trucks etc) that may have been numbered in the carriage series?

I wasn't very happy with the gaps in the C class table I posted a few days ago, so I've been through the NLI archive and the RCTS collection as well as a few more publications, and filled a few more cells in the table. Here's the revised version: The additional data confirms that some locos skipped green entirely (206, 209). Some locos spent remarkably little time in BST after their re-engining, being repainted in ST within a year or two. Yellow panels were proportionally more common on the C class than on the A class. With any large data-collation exercise like this, errors can creep in. Some of those may be my own, such as typos or misinterpreting a livery from a monochrome photo, others can include incorrectly-dated images or locos captioned as one number but actually being another. Where possible I've tried to weed out mistakes but it's not always possible. In this table, the two variants of green for 216 look suspicious. The number of different liveries carried by B233 in its Maybach period look unlikely bit I've double-checked these and they are correct. It was outshopped with Maybach engine as B233 in BDT, then repainted black B^, then had a yellow panel added BYP, then repainted BDT2, and then painted in ST, all in the space of 8 years! Whilst searching the additional data sources I have updated the tables for the B101, E and G classes too and I am working on the A class which is a much bigger task. I'll post them up in due course.

There are some nice photos of derailed Esso tanks on the NLI archive here: Search Results - "Railroad accidents Ireland Westmeath 1970-1980" They include some other interesting wagonry such as a GSR/Ranks grain hopper.

Maybe even a 2-4-2T? Holdings: 42 train, Kingsbridge, Dublin City, Co. Dublin.

A remarkable price. I wonder if the chassis could be repurposed under anything else such as a 2-4-0?

The first two Mk3s have been tipp-exed placing the date at 1987 or later, but the loco and other visible Mk3s have not. Purely on those livery proportions I’d estimate around 1989.

Now I have visions of trying to shear a cat using electric hair clippers! I don't think it would appreciate the trim...

For those of you with access to the IRRS archive, I'd love your ideas on what livery A28 is carrying in these photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53510261712 https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53446886481 Is it light green but somehow looking extremely dark? Is it dark green without a waist line? Is it black but without the white eyebrows? Or something else entirely? In the second photo there appear to be no markings on the sides at all. Could it have been released into traffic in undercoat?

Many thanks Ernie. I've just posted embedded links to your Flickr images in posts on this forum, I have not used them elsewhere or commercially and have no plans to do so. Haha! That would be nice but perhaps optimistic. I wouldn't turn down a discount though... Incidentally, the A class research I have been doing in parallel demonstrates that there's at least one common livery variant IRM missed in the first batch, so perhaps might be worth considering if there is a second batch in future. They did BYP and #B^ but not the much more common B^ . Also I do think there's a light green with line variant but it's very hard to prove conclusively. Another subtle A class variant missing is the ST with numbers on the cabsides; IRM did this in STIR livery but not with roundels. And then there's the preserved liveries, such as A39 in silver with black bogies, with the 1990s bodyshell details.

I bought the print and have scanned the areas of text at higher resolution. I think it's clear now, it's 'WASHBANK' which makes a lot of sense in the light of the comment above. Also the wagon number does start with 0, probably a series used for restricted or internal user wagons? Mol

I ought to have done some illustrations but ran out of time yesterday. I hope @Irishswissernie won't mind me plundering his superb Flickr archive again. S Silver: G Plain green: -G- Green with line: BDT Black and Deep Tan (original, no roundel or numbers on side): BDT2 Black and Deep Tan (later, with roundel and small numbers on side): BST Black and Shallow Tan: #B^ Black with large number on side, no roundel: B^ Black with roundel and small numbers on side: #BYP Black with yellow panel, large number on side, no roundel, this is a Jonathan Allen photo as I don't think Ernie has one of these: BYP Black with yellow panel with roundel and small numbers on side (note that this is a Maybach but the livery was the same on the others except C203 with yellow bufferbeams): ST Supertrain, GM engined locos: ST Supertrain, Maybachs, without white-painted headlights (this is a scan from a print I bought recently): NIR, NIR blue (this photo from NI Railfan on Flickr):

I've just snapped up a set of 3 IRM bubbles on ebay for £99.50 which seems like a reasonable deal (at least after a few pints). Of course, having said in my previous post that Pack J was the 'Friday afternoon job' that's completely wrong, that was the set that came up for sale. So over Christmas I now have a nice challenge of regauging and modifying them with a variety of details and appropriate liveries for some of the different batches described above.

I've had a go at the C class livery matrix, which has been quite a lot of work but rather interesting: General notes: Where there is a text entry in a cell that indicates a dated photo showing that livery on that loco. Cells coloured but empty are a reasonable assumption based on the same livery appearing in the years before and after. The blue boxes at the bottom represent the period when the locos were stopped. Empty white cells indicate that I haven't found any photos or other evidence to confirm the livery in that year. I expect there are some gaps that could be filled by photos I haven't found yet. Any more info would be very welcome, especially to correct errors or fill gaps. There are lots of photos which aren't dated, or only to the nearest decade. They aren't shown here, unless they depict a livery not shown in any dated photos, in which case they're at the bottom of the table. A loco could be repainted at any time of year but in my table I only have room for one livery in each year so please bear that in mind when reviewing the data. In the years that locos were re-engined (cells with a pink outline) they were also repainted, and I have put the new livery in that year. Where photos show the loco in Inchicore having work carried out in the remains of its previous livery, I have put that old livery in the previous year's cell. It is possible that some photos are wrongly dated; where there are direct clashes I have tried to prioritise the data from the photographer with the more reliable or precise date. Some further notes on the liveries themselves: Silver: almost all the C class entered service in silver, but apparently 231 and 234 were painted dark green with pale line when they entered service. Numbers and snail were green. Green: Many locos were painted from silver into green, but some may have skipped the green stage (206?). Some green locos had a pale waist line and some did not. There is a school of thought that the -G- lined green locos were all a darker shade of green than the unlined G green locos. I don't think it is as simple as that, because there are several photos showing lined and unlined green locos side-by-side where the shade appears identical. This photo shows 3 green locos side by side, the middle one has a line and the others don't. The shade of green is indistinguishable: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53449386806 Nevertheless, I think different shades of green may have been used on some locos. Lighting conditions and film/slide response to colour can be variable and many photos are in black and white. I have not attempted to distinguish light and dark green, simply whether there is a line or not. If people have more info then please let me know. Black and Tan: Mostly black, with a tan band on the lower bodyside and a white cantrail line at the top of the bodyside. There are 3 distinct variants: BDT: The tan band is deep (in dimension, not colour). In the early 1960s, some C201 class locos were painted in the original BDT scheme which had no numbers, lettering or roundel on the sides. These included 206, 207, 209, 210, 218, 221, 229 and 233, but many locos seem to have skipped this livery and gone directly from green to black. On the other hand, some BDT locos skipped the black livery (221, and probably 229). BDT2: In the late 1960s, a few locos were painted in a revised scheme which retained the deep band of tan, but also had a roundel on the sides, and small numbers at solebar level behind the cab doors. These were all B201s and included the first to receive a GM engine (206) and the two Maybach-engined locos (233 and 234) although the latter two had been outshopped in black from their first re-engining. BST: The later black and tan livery had a much shallower tan band, with a roundel on the sides, and small numbers at solebar level behind the cab doors. This was applied to almost all the class when they were re-engined in 1971/1972 (exceptions included 206, 233 and 234 which had BDT2 already). The BST livery did not last very long on the B201 class. Black: Plain black all over except white 'eyebrows' above the cab windows. Applied to most C201s and B233/234. I have decided to split this into 2 distinct variants: #B^: This has a large number near the centre of the bodyside, with styling similar to that used on the silver and green liveries. There is no roundel. I think this less common scheme came before the other black scheme. Locos carrying this scheme included 214, 219, 222, 225. B^: This has a roundel on the sides, and small numbers at solebar level behind the cab doors. This is more common and carried by the majority of the class prior to re-engining. Black with Yellow Panel: Some black locos had a large yellow panel painted on the cab front, sometimes as a later addition. 203 was the first done in 1968 and also had a yellow bufferbeam, but the others had a red bufferbeam (including 205, 209, 211, 223, 226, 232, 233). These are shown as BYP. One of the locos with the rarer #B^ scheme received yellow panels and this loco 219 is shown as #BYP. Supertrain: Mostly orange with a black band, and only applied to B201s, sometimes not long after they had been outshopped with new GM engines in BST. Both the Maybachs B233/234 carried this livery for 6 or 7 years before they were re-engined with GM engines. A distinctive feature of the pair during that time was the lack of the white GM headlights on the cab front. NIR: some locos were sold to NIR after withdrawal by CIE, and were painted NIR blue. There were at least 12 liveries in total, perhaps more if we were to distinguish the shades of green. None of the locos came close to carrying all of them, but most carried at least 5 schemes and many had 6. I think 233 carried 7 different liveries in its life. Now then, I wonder which versions IRM might produce? (I am working on something similar for the A class but with nearly twice as many locos and 4 additional liveries it's quite a task!)

A lot will depend on the time period (and livery) being modelled. You'll need a thorough read of the railcar site as linked above; these pages in particular may be useful. Class 108 DMU Diagrams Class 108 DMU Operations I think you will find that the 4-car sets had different driving cars to most of the 2-car sets. Those built with 4 cars were formed DMC-TBS-TS-DMC. Depending on which variants Bachmann have produced, you may therefore need to modify the driving cars too if you need to accurately recreate a 4-car set as built. You may need to buy several sets to get enough bits to cut and shut. This should tell you what Bachmann have produced, it looks like they've done mostly 2-car sets and a few 3-car sets: Bachmann Branchline OO Class 108 (2006) - Details For example this set contains one DMC and one TS that would be suitable for a 4-car set if renumbered, but the other driving car is not the correct sort. Bachmann Branchline 32-911 Class 108 3 car DMU BR green yellow warning Whereas neither of the cars in this set would be suitable for a 4-car set: Bachmann Branchline 32-906 Class 108 2 Car DMU in BR green with half In later years the formations would have been changed and very often mixed up with other classes, so it would be entirely plausible to have (say) a Class 101 trailer formed into a Class 108 set.

A little more info from my research. Firstly here is a clipping from the Octobr 1977 IRRS journal describing the use of these wagons from Tara Mines for the first few months the mine was working, June to August 1977: Secondly, a look at the excellent book 'Rails through Tipperary' by Jonathan Beaumont (of this parish) and Barry Carse found two colour images of the Mogul zinc trains in August 1973. The wagons appear to be in brown livery, and neither the laden or empty trains have sheets on. However, the tubular sheet support framework is still present. Another photo in the same book shows a rake of empty wagons at Silvermines in July 1974. These are definitely in brown livery and the tubular sheet support framework has been removed from all the visible wagons. So those photos give us a fairly tight timeline when the framework was removed, and a reasonable idea of when they were repainted brown.

If you get a chance while you're sorting the class 50s, please would you apply the same fix to the IRM bulk grain wagon page? Many thanks!

One of the benefits of this hobby is there are so many different aspects to it and you can pick a project to work on that suits the mood, weather etc. But I am guilty of a lot of half-finished models!

Nice work on the tender behind. A pity that plan A didn’t work, maybe it needed a bit more weight?

I had my eye on this too. I think the number is 0731. The wording appears to read ‘TO WORK BETWEEN WATERBANK AND STATION ONLY’ but it’s not entirely clear on the scan. Did the cattle bank at Mullingar have a name? From the same seller there’s also a nice photo of a pair of the MGWR side-discharge coal wagons of continental design: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335714103886?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=jL0OYQ-sSgG&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=PWnBnL0RQpq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Curse those lacrimatory vegetables!

I have looked at a lot of B101 photos in compiling the livery table, and I don’t recall tablet catchers even in silver livery photos. I will re-check once I’m home. i have found some more photos and will update the B101 and E tables next week. Mol

Sadly I’m of the wrong generation to remember those times, but I have fond memories of some RPSI trips including a very valiant effort by 186 (a substitute itself after 4 had failed). 186 seemed to enjoy it as she arrived in Connolly with a huge glowing red smile! We’ll not talk about the speeds achieved by those little goods-engine wheels. (A good thrashing over the hills had filled the smokebox with half-burnt char which then heated the lower half of the smokebox door to a red heat, hence the smile) I also enjoyed a Herculean effort by 85 with 7 on, unassisted out of Cork on a wet slippy day and in simple mode for the first 3 miles, barely reaching 12mph. The tunnel roof got a good blasting and 85 was more black than blue on arrival at Mallow. In the old days, trains would have 2 or 3 locos for that climb.

Yes please! I was hoping that IRM would announce the 22’ container flats, but in the meantime some of yours and John’s earlier 20’ variants would be very welcome.

I’m reminded of an Enterprise trip in early DD days when the timetable was optimistic and the substitute was a 6-car 80. I was ‘lucky’ to get a seat with my back against the engine compartment as it roared, thumped and howled in a valiant but doomed attempt to keep time.

I have visions of a vessel the size of the Ever Given with every container full of Accurascale and IRM products!