Mol_PMB

Chassis painted and reassembled, test run with direct power and lightly lubricated with graphite: Next step on this is the pickups, and then a proper track test. But first I'm going to paint the superstructure silver.

I wonder if these are of any use to Irish modellers? Available in crimson and 3 shades of green depending on whether you want GSR or CIE... https://southern-railway.com/2025/03/14/bachmann-announce-ex-lbsc-isle-of-wight-coaches-as-part-of-their-efe-rail-brand-in-00-gauge/?amp

20-odd years ago the tran and ferry option would definitely have been my first choice. In recent years they have become much worse for the foot passenger or 'rail n sail' option, because: Several routes no longer take foot passengers at all (e.g. Liverpool-Dublin) There are fewer fast ferries on the routes and what used to be the best route (Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire) no longer operates - there's no longer the seamless option to walk direct from train to ship The transfer facilities for foot passengers at the Dublin Port end are unreliable/non-existent GB rail services are unreliable The rail n sail tickets are no longer so readily available The prices are often more expensive than flying The journey time is much longer than flying For this particular trip, I could avoid the main expense of a hotel in Dublin by taking the overnight ferry from Holyhead (dep 0130, arr 0500) and then hope that I can get to Connolly in time for the train (probably by walking there). But that's hardly a restful night, and there's considerable jeopardy in the connections. For me, it's just not a sensible option nor a pleasant one for what is supposed to be a holiday.

Most interesting - thanks! Seeing the title I was rather hoping that the Foynes track relaying gang had moved east to continue the good work at Youghal!

Meanwhile, here's my JM Design GSR grain hopper, regauged and weathered, between two pristine IRM CIE grain hoppers that are awaiting the same treatment.

I keep wondering whether to see if I can increase my order for Leslie's GNR 10t vans and convert one of them into a grain van. I wonder if there's a diagram for them in the GNR diagram book at the IRRS? I haven't seen a good photo showing the underside which presumably had a hopper like the CIE ones.

As an example, in IRRS journal 185 (Oct 2014) there's a nice photo by David Boyle on page 165. It shows A22 in (early) black and tan livery at Leixlip hauling a very long freight train formed mostly of cattle wagons. However, the first 3 wagons are grain hoppers - two of the CIE type and between them is one of the GSR type. All in grey livery. So that nicely illustrates how grain vans would be marshalled into a general freight train, but you would often see a group of them together rather than just one. I mentioned the GNR grain vans; here's a very nice shot of one: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511443526 And there's another on the left margin of this photo, next to one of the GSR type owned by Ranks: Now, here's a nice photo from Ernie which again shows a block of grain vans at the front of a mixed freight train at Monaghan in 1959. It's hard to be 100% certain but I think we have 7 grain vans here, from the front: GNR, Ranks, Ranks, CIE, CIE, CIE, Ranks.

Lima 209 in NIR blue: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256854088440 RPSI Mk2: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205337426020 Not too stupid prices.

After a busy week I now have a long weekend and have made some more progress on the E. I've trial-assembled the chassis and made some spacers, washers etc to keep everything in line. Then I fitted the brake hangers and a representation of the cross-beams. Only the lower part of these is visible below the frames. Finally I assembled the radiator fan. This doesn't actually turn but I don't think it would be too hard to do - I'll leave that as a challenge to someone else! Then I dismantled everything, gave it a good clean and dry, masked off the hornguides, and all the parts have now had a coat of etch primer.

All such things can be done, but they all cost money. There comes a point where it just isn't worth it any more, for the limited usage they get. In the GB railtour market we've seen a series of mergers, takeovers and firms just closing down, to the point where there are now just a few big players each operating a fairly busy schedule. If the coaches are out working most weekends then they can earn the money to pay for enhancements like CET toilets, central door locking, new signalling systems etc. A rake that only runs a few times a year won't even pay for its maintenance and certification, let alone upgrades. About 20 years ago I was employed to do an independent audit on RPSI loco and carriage maintenance policies and practices, including inspections of 2 carriages (1 north, 1 south) and a steam loco. They got a pretty good bill of health. Anyway, I've booked my overpriced cheap hotel, my cattle-class flight and my excellent value RPSI diesel tour. No seats left in the bar car already!

Excellent. I'm pleased you have granted yourself a reprieve (or is it an extended sentence?) and look forward to hearing about the new proposals...

I just thought to check something else. At normal Irish Rail single fares, Dublin - Waterford - Limerick - Dublin (the tour route) would cost EUR87 if I've got my sums right.

Normally the grain wagons would have been marshalled into a general freight, often as a block coupled together since their origin and destination may well have been the same. Maybe around 6 grain wagons together. Often they were a mix of the type modelled by IRM and the older GSR version modelled by JM Design. The GNR also had some bulk grain vans, but I don't think those lasted as long.

I'm not familiar with the market price sensitivity in Ireland, but I'll just note the following. I am considering visiting for the diesel tour in May. The dates aren't ideal for me but I think I can make it work. Route, rolling stock and locos tick my boxes. The cost of a ticket on the tour is EUR85. Because it starts early in Dublin and gets back to Dublin late, I need 2 nights in a hotel in fairly central Dublin. Thats going to cost me the best part of EUR400. Add in some flights from/to Manchester, the cost of getting to/from the airport at both ends, and a budget for food/drink, and the cost of the rest of the trip (excluding the railtour itself) is going to be around EUR600. The point I'm trying to make is that for me, the railtour ticket is too cheap! It's only 12% of the total cost of the trip, yet it's the main purpose of going. I could have my arm twisted for a first class ticket at twice the price (if such a thing existed), because it doesn't make that much difference to the total cost of the trip.

The red-brown livery was introduced in 1970, several years after the snail had been replaced by the roundel. For grain wagons, the answer to your question is a definite no. In the 1950s the GNR had followed the British Railways practice of painting vacuum brake fitted freight stock in red-brown livery, and unfitted stock in grey. Some of the GNR fitted vans inherited by CIE did receive a snail on red-brown livery in the late 1950s. This was rather rare and would not apply to grain wagons as (a) they weren't ex-GNR and (b) they weren't vac-fitted. Here is a snail on a former GNR fitted van: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/54257197990

I see that some of the H vans and grain wagons are getting close to selling out, especially the brown ones: https://www.accurascale.com/collections/irm-wagons Hopefully the orders are holding up and will help to justify some further model developments. I get the impression I'm not the only one to be attracted to Irish modelling by the quality of IRM's products!

Are there RPSI tours in planning south of the border? Apart from the May diesel tour (which I'm tempted by) I can't see any in the calendar yet.

I think the 5th carriage in this train is a former Pullman, hauled by 801 in 1955: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53508723481/ Dimensions of the Irish Pullmans were as follows: Length over body 63'10", over buffers 67' Bogie centres 43'4" Bogie wheelbase 10' Body width 8'11" Height to top of roof 12'9.5" I don't know much about the UK Pullmans except that there was a huge variety of them. Probably none identical to the Irish ones but some might have similar dimensions and style? Some Irish Pullman photo links: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53507626132/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/54252982311/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511625293/

I now have my references in front of me so I'll just summarise what the kits represent. In 1935 the GSR built a series of gangwayed main-line coaches, with a 60'0" length over the body, and 9'0" width over the body. The upper body sides were vertical with a gentle curve below the waist to a width of 8'10" at the bottom edge of the body. This group included the following coaches which I think are those represented by the SSM kits Edit: the SSM kits represent the luggage van from this series, but the third and composite from the 1937 batch (see below): 8 corridor thirds 1323-1330 2 corridor composites 2114-2115 1 brake/luggage 2548 1 corridor first 1144 In 1949-1951, composite 2115 was reclassified as a first. 1327 was preserved but I don't think it now exists. https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511260053 Here's composite 2114 in CIE livery in the 1950s: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53508888343 They lasted in passenger service until the early 1970s. For example, 2115 was converted to brake/luggage van 2559 in 1971 and survived another decade or so, while 1335 was withdrawn in 1973. The GSR built a second series of gangwayed main-line coaches in 1937. These were also 60'0" length over the body, but the body profile was different. They retained the 9'0" width at cantrail height and 8'10" at the bottom edge of the body, but the width at the waist was increased to 9'6". This meant that the upper sides were noticeably inclined with a more significant curve on the lower sides. 4 corridor thirds 1335-1338 4 corridor composites 2120-2123 Apart from the body profile, these carriages were virtually identical to the 1935 batch. Edit: It should therefore be possible to modify the SSM kit to represent the earlier ones by reshaping the end profiles. Here's third 1338: And one of the composites here (in the background): https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53508777481 2120/1 were converted to brake/luggage vans 2560/1 in 1971 and survived another decade or so; the others were withdrawn in the early 1970s. 1335 was preserved and still exists: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53508127442/ The first carriages built by CIE in 1951 were a batch of 6 composites numbered 2124-2129. These were closely based on their GSR predecessors, but had a welded truss underframe. The body profile reverted to having vertical upper sides, but now at 9'6" width. The window styling was also different, with raised aluminium frames. A possible kitbash from the SSM model, but these would be more work. There's a nice photo of one of these on page 43 of the book 'Irish Broad Gauge Carriages'. After that, CIE adopted a 61'6" length and this also influenced the layout of the coaches, for example the composites had 4 first and 3 third compartments, rather than the 3 first and 4 third on the shorter 60'0" underframe.

Ah yes, here we are: https://www.studio-scale-models.com/Bredin3rd.shtml https://www.studio-scale-models.com/Bredincomp.shtml They look good!

Do you know the type or number series of the Bredin kits? I haven’t got my books in front of me but I recall there were 3 batches with different characteristics. I think the first and third batches were gangwayed but had different cross-sections, while the middle batch were (originally) non-gangwayed suburban stock.

I'll be at the Waldorf tonight for this month's IRRS Manchester talk: Ken Grainger presents “Rhapsody in Blue”. As the name suggests the talk is all about the GNRI, more importantly the famous blue engines of that railway concern, along with other forms of blue liveried stock, road transport also gets a look in. Ken will use slides, all his own and all in glorious Colour, if you were lucky enough to witness Ken's previous talk to the branch in March 2024 on the CDRJC, then this talk, like that on the County Donegal Railway, is one “Not to be Missed”. Might see some of you there; hopefully the GNR enthusiasts on the forum will be able to join online if not in person. And IRM might get some inspiration for their next steam loco?

I've had the Hunslet email, but the points from items bought on IRM haven't yet transferred over. I appreciate this is all taking some time to sort out. Perhaps IRM could post on here when they think it's all done, and we can then each check our AS accounts are correct?

Well there's a Bury 2-2-2 to consider, and the Atmospheric? Modelling the D&KR might would reduce the track gauge controversy. That's an advantage of the Lartigue too...

I was mulling over the weight issue too. Although these days getting 3000hp in a 120t diesel loco is commonplace, back in the 1940s even half that power was pushing the boundaries of the technology. For example the LMS twins 10000/1 were 1750hp and 127t each, and were intended to be used as a pair on the heaviest expresses. The same engine block was developed, in stages over 20 years, into a 3000hp unit. The Deltics of 1961 provided 3300hp in a 100t loco, which was world-beating performance at the time. But they used a complex and novel engine design design that proved unreliable in a rail traction application, and that engine was only a sketch on the drawing board in the 1940s. In sketching a 'might-have-been', I wonder whether they would have chosen a load-bearing chassis or a monocoque design with much of the strength in the bodyshell. The latter should have been lighter but more complex to design and providing less easy access for maintenance.