Mol_PMB

Yes, though mine had different lettering. I did a lot of modifications, partly for 21mm gauge, but a simple repaint would get you 80% there and close enough for most. Incidentally the margarine works was about 2 miles from my house, and there’s a 1:1 scale model of one of their tank wagons at Irlam station.

The plan view of each shelf is 450mm x 89mm, and with them at the close spacing they are 63mm apart (height of 58mm between the top of one shelf and the bottom of the one above). The top and bottom shelves have slightly less clearance. It's just enough for 4mm scale Irish stock on the low profile 21mm gauge track. But there's less than 2mm clearance between the 141's horns and the shelf above, so taller stock needs a bit of care to get in and out.

Now I have scared myself with how many wheelsets need regauging and how many buffers need moving. And I haven't even unboxed the cement bubbles which are the most difficult. I also have a stash of wagon kits to work on, which will probably take priority over many of these. I can see the commercial reasons for IRM producing wagons in sets of three, but it's a policy that has led to be buying too many. Note to self: NO MORE TRUCKS! As you can see, full-length bogie coaches only fit one to a shelf in these display cabinets, though they could be paired with a tin van or a baby GM on a shelf. Some of the trucks will have to get put away again, or be regauged and move to the other side of the cabinet, to make room for the Park Royals when they arrive.

Thanks! I'll fill up the other side with some unconverted stock and see what it looks like. Though I might get daunted by the amount of work still to do on them!

Another purchase arrived this afternoon - some extra shelves for my display cabinet, so that I can fit in twice as many toy trains! I have fitted them and done some reorganisation and consolidation. The principle at present is that the left-hand cabinet contains only completed 21mm gauge models, while the right-hand cabinet is at present mostly empty but I may put some of my yet-to-be-regauged models in it now that I have the space. I have an embarrassingly large stash of green IRM boxes (and some black MM boxes) that haven't yet been regauged, as well as some kits still to build. These cabinets can hold a lot of wagons but once I start putting bogie carriages in, I think they will fill up rather quickly. Hence my desire to make best use of the space with extra shelves. Here are the finished items, and the eagle-eyed may notice a new vehicle - the tin van - bottom right. I've just completed this today and will take a proper portrait of it on the photo plank when the sun comes out. You can also see that my era selection has been rather indecisive, with some wagons in late 1940s liveries, right through to the 1970s. The truth is, I model what I like the look of! I still need to put A11 back together so it can take its place on the empty shelf, and I also have the WLWR horsebox to finish off. There are a couple of other stalled projects but I may allow myself to start something new when I get back from my weekend trip to Cork.

Having another trawl through my IRRS journals I have found a lovely photo in No.184 (June 2014) inside the back cover. It shows a fair special from Kingsbridge to Carlow on Sunday 25 July 1948. It has slowed while passing some PW work on the adjacent line and this seems to have encouraged the passengers to lean out of the window and look at what's going on. The train comproses J4 0-6-0 257, then six various horseboxes including GSWR types and one WLWR, all occupied and with some of the grooms visible peering from their compartments. The first horsebox is still in tatty GSR livery but the other 5 have acquired a snail so are presumably in dark green. Next is an old arc-roof bogie passenger carriage, with passengers on board, followed by a 'sleeping car' (it appears to be a 6-wheel coach but only has short footboards), again occupied. The remainder of the train comprises a long string of cattle wagons stretching into the distance - the brake van is out of sight. So that gives a nice example of how a fair special might be formed up and how one might use horsebox models. I promise to finish my model soon!

London Road Models kit, I'm not sure of its parentage. It seems about the right size for an Irish branch line. Big enough for an 0-6-0 or 2-4-0 steam loco or a 121 class.

On the buffets specifically, I would tend to agree with JHB that the photo of 2407 linked above is in standard post-1955 light green. The green-painted window is a clue - these were frosted/white when first outshopped. Also it has a snail; these were usually absent on the early 1950s liveries. IRRS journal 184 (June 2014) has an article 'Vico Day' with a whole set of (monochrome) photos of special trains taken on Sunday 5 September 1954. One of these is a 6+2 railcar set, including a buffet car which is clearly a lighter shade than the rest of the train. This must be one of the trial shades of light green applied in 1953/54. It has a waist line, but unfortunately part of the lower bodyside is hidden by a wall so we can't see if it has a snail. This photo from May 1954 shows 2408 in what appears to be a lighter green than the adjacent coach, with waist line but no snails or class designations. RNC_GSR_2408_Claremorris_09_May_1954 | [Photographer: Robin … | Flickr On the same occasion, compo 2146 still looks very clean and ex-works, and is a distinctly lighter colour than the adjacent vehicle which is one of the 1339-1355 compartment thirds outshopped in 1951 in plain dark green livery with no lining, logos or class digits. 2146 has a waist line and a 1 class digit, but no snail. This is definitely a lighter green than the traditional dark shade. RNC_MGWR_642_nr_Claremorris_09_May_1954 | [Photographer: Rob… | Flickr RNC_CIE_2146_nr_Claremorris_09_May_1954 | [Photographer: Rob… | Flickr RNC_CIE_2146_nr_Claremorris_09_May_1954 (2) | [Photographer:… | Flickr Colour views from the early 1950s are extremely rare, and without them it's really hard to tell whether the 1953/1954 experimental shades of light/bright green were similar to the shade later adopted as standard. It may be as JHB says that the experiments were more in chemical formulation than colour, though one might expect that different formulae might have slightly different colours. But the monochrome views do support the statement below that the Buffets and Compos in these series being built at the time were painted a lighter shade than the previous carriages, and they had a waist line. When looking at later 1950s photos, it's worth remembering that the '2' class digits were introduced in mid-1956 (when second class formally replaced third class across Europe) and seem to have been applied to all standard class doors on carriages repainted after then. Snails were also re-introduced. I think the '2' class digits were also retrospectively applied to some coaches in older liveries, but I think if you see a light green carriage without class digits on the doors then the chances are that it was repainted before 1956, and therefore it's worth considering whether it may be in a 1953/1954 livery... https://irishrailwaymodeller.com/topic/17455-voiding-the-warranty-mols-experiments-in-21mm-gauge/page/17/#elControls_277660_menu Also worth remembering is that the standard livery for new carriages in the 1956 to 1958 period was not green at all - it was unpainted aluminium. I really do want to get to the bottom of this, but it will take time as I need to get back to the contemporary sources in the archives. If anyone has a set of IRRS journals or Irish Railfans' News from the 1950s they could look through for info on new carriages and liveries, then that would help. It should at least mean that I can be better prepared when I visit the IRRS archives (and hopefully CIE archives) in Dublin.

I had a bit of an accidental impulse buy on eBay this week and have acquired this with no real plan of what to do with it!

The CIE carriage liveries in the 1950s went through a complex series of changes and I have been trying to get to the bottom of this. Much of the available information is conflicting, or over-simplified. Some of it was written decades after the event, some may be relying on fallible memories from a lifetime ago. Colour photography was rare and there were many problems with colour sensitivity and deterioration over time. So it's really difficult to be sure about shades of green. Even if there were only 3 main body colours, there were many different livery styles through this period (in terms of lining, lettering, snails, underframe colours, end colours etc). My understanding of JHB's view is that there were 2 'standard' liveries and a load of oddballs. Whilst I agree with those 2 'standard' liveries, I think there's a clear sequence to most of the other variants and I want to make sense of them. I am gathering material to write a detailed thread about the liveries of this period, but I'm not rushing into print because I need to avoid perpetuating myths. I am presently trying to arrange visits to the IRRS and CIE archives to see if I can find any clues in documents actually written at the time it happened. In fact I had a helpful email from Norman Gamble last night that I need to follow up on. I started trying to summarise my knowledge so far, but it's going to take too long - I have to go to work! I'll try and do it later. See also this recent post of mine which is illustrated, but far from the full story:

There was Spruce Goose?

I’m no expert but just a thought. One of my friends using NCE had a problem like this when he consisted a loco with another. Then when he tried to use the loco on its own (without disbanding the consist) it misbehaved.

I wonder how one would look in the BnT scheme the 141s were delivered in? Or in late 1950s green? what are the rules on warning panels and visibility these days?

Well the later GSWR and GSR loco liveries are already well represented on most of the 071 class! What about the CBSCR?

That’s an appealing thought - a baby GM on a railtour. I’d definitely be up for that.

The Michael O’Leary of the joinery world?

I think only D304 carried BnT when in service, and then quite briefly. Photos from Ernie dated 1965: D302 was also painted in the scheme in 1963, probably while 'stopped', but may not have re-entered normal traffic afterwards. The tan band on D302 was not as deep, as shown on these IRRS images (you'll need to be a member): https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/54255284994/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/54419865305/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53527323881/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53526421872/ All five locos ended their lives in black livery, though there were variants even then! The records are confusing, and I have read that some D class were retained to provide backup power to the port facilities at Rosslare long after they were actually used as shunters.

What a distinctive house and a beautiful model!

The sun's shining and I've managed to finish off a couple more stalled projects, so the photo plank is being deployed again! The Tar Bitumen tank is based on a Bachmann tank with Rumney Models etched chassis widened for 21mm gauge. Also finished off this week with glazing, couplings and final detailing is a JM Design 20t brake van, seen here with the tanker: Together with my Murphy 141, this makes a complete train for the last years of the Quartertown Mill branch: I have plans and parts for another traditional bitumen tanker, also for a bitumen tank container than can be loaded onto a flat wagon. But I have more half-finished projects to complete first!

My tar bitumen tanker model has been hanging around 90% complete for a few weeks, but I've now finally got it over the line. This is a representation of the first batch of Charles Roberts wagons, in 1960s condition. A modified Bachmann tank on a Rumney Models etched chassis widened for 21mm gauge. Also new ladders and catwalks. Heavily weathered as was typical for these. Quite a lot of effort for one wagon!

Very niceI You got further than I did.

There’s an exception to every rule! The GNR used a reddish-brown colour on its vacuum-fitted wagons, lighter and more orangey than the later CIE colour. A handful of GNR wagons were outshopped in this livery with the snail logo around the time of the dissolution of the GNRB in 1958 I modelled one based on photos, there are also photos of a couple more. Also, some CIE engineers’ wagons, including a few dropside opens and some crew mess vans, were painted shades of red-brown in the 1950s, and some of them also had snails. Photo from Ernie: So a snail on a red-brown vehicle is possible but very scarce and only on specific vehicle types.

not a model but a photo. We’re all familiar with the American locos in Ireland, but the American freight cars at Haulbowline, opposite Cobh, were very camera-shy: https://ebay.us/m/hZEkMT The IRRS archive has a couple more images of the freight cars here: https://flic.kr/p/2pwBEbH https://flic.kr/p/2pwDhL2

Some of mine were paid for in December 2024, when I (wrongly) thought delivery was imminent and wanted to avoid a surprise bill in January! I think I got a good price on them though, so I'm not complaining. I haven't yet been asked to pay for my recent extra order - though the payment due date is shown as 31st March.

I thought it was strange that the WW range of 6-wheelers almost exactly matched the variants available from SSM when there were so many other prototypes to choose from. Perhaps it was governed by the availability of drawings at the time. You’re right, the centre luggage composite is another missing type in the SSM range and in fact I have since discovered that many of these were converted into sleeping cars - including the one I have modelled. So they didn’t survive into my modelling period in original condition. JHB mentioned 30-footers and that is indeed how they are described in the official documents. I’ve got another newer 30-footer on my workbench at the moment - one of your kits.