Glenderg

12 hours pulling along requires a fair bit of lubrication, I'd imagine, but I don't have the S&M Cert for lineside certification, so I wouldn't know...!

I put up a request for any information on this coach, and the thread went dead as soon as it went alive. A kindly soul texted me with a few photos, and I thought it would be handy to post it here, if I got hit by a bus etc.

"To stock 1982, Grill/Bar/Dining Car

546 ex 5970 (TSO) and RSS 1800 - Mk 2f TSO: converted 1974 to prototype self-service buffet for APT-P."

This is most fantastic bit. They took a stock coach and fecked about with the interior to see how it would work as an APT coach. It didn't work, so they reverted it to RSS.

RSS you ask? Restaurant Self Service - a version of motorway services, where you perused and purchased and turned up at the till. Sounds mighty miserable.

"To Northern Ireland Railways 1983, regauged to 5' 3". When withdrawn, repatriated regauged as No. 1800. 2003 Overhauled at Heysham to become part of Wessex Trains Excalibur set as 1800. 2009 now based at Carnforth, although still operating as part of same set."

I assume you went along before the start of a shift and greased the bejaysus out of the moving parts to make your life easier!

Please elaborate

The auld white lead based paint used on those windows went cream over time, if anyone asks R.

The only ground signals I recall is a bay of four or more at limerick junction, beside the loop for the limerick train/Waterford Bay. Certainly had point rods connected, and the place had 2 cabins at the time. I've 2 photo albums here on the forum, they're all in there if they help. R.

I'm going to bump this post as I too am looking for any photos of 546, the oddball MK2f buffet coach. Also, so you can see tidy work by DV on the first page

The other one, NIR 547 had the Mk2b bodyshell with the larger windows, and I have plenty info on that.

"Interestingly, both NIR Mark 2 Restaurant Cars have now been preserved – 547 by the RPSI, and 546 (now re-fitted with 4’ 8½” gauge bogies and reverting to its original number of 5970) by Riviera Trains for special charter trains in Britain."

http://www.steamtrainsireland.com/carriages/mk2_547.html

Here are a few photos of her in current condition

Can anyone confirm that the window layout from that period represents what she looks like now?

Richie.

I did this for an IRM project, and finding this is pretty tricky. You can see fairly clearly that the lower profile of the code 75 would look better under Irish Conditions. Might be of use to someone. Richie.

Fabulous stuff Kieran, solid output covering all eras and companies. Have you much left to do ? R

The code refers to rail height in inches, so code 100 is 2.54mm high, code 83 and so on, increasingly lower in height. Code 100 or standard is grand if you have older stock with large wheels. R.

Leslie of Provincial Wagons supplies a wide range of 4 wheeled rolling stock.

Studio Scale Models do kits of the older passenger coaches, and Kirley of this parish possibly has one of everything ever run on GNR metal, via kit or bodging.

Have you anything in mind in particular?

Richie.

Tony,

If you're going to have a goods shed or sidings to form up a rake of wagons, you're going to need some type of loop in order to get the loco in the right position. Here's a quick suggestion, but I'd look at how one gets from the lower loop to the upper siding without it becoming a chore.....

Nice find Dave. Some crackin' bargains on scenic items, trees, and people. Is there a catch? R

Have walked the path of the Annalong Harbour - Silent Valley line in Co. Down. Mighty strange to see a bit of rail used as a gatepost, or dressed stone suddenly appear in the middle of dry stone wall country, but never travelled on any, alas. R

My shunting layout is less than 300mm wide, and is fine in an urban scene. What scenic setup are you going for though?

I think the slightly wealthier towns may have had paving slabs and cobbles on the roads. Tarmac wasn't invented until turn of the century - does that help?

Have a look at this for inspiration - http://lawrencecollection.com/

My guess on the tarmacing of roads might not have taken place until sometime in the 1930's, due to the lack of vehicles prior.

The 'sport-based' disorder in the UK gave a good training ground for combating this sort of thing - much easier to organise against than random events.

 

Going on a train on a Saturday, before football went 24-7, was not always a good idea.

 

I used to try to be aware of football fixtures and attempt to avoid certain teams' matches, though the worst event of all (by far) was down to Australian rugby fans.

 

Over the last 25 years, my rail travel has been fairly evenly split between UK and Ireland, with almost all the 'entertainment' here on the big island.

 

Whenever coppers have eventually got involved, they have been whatever the local force in the area is. I've only ever seen BTP once in my life and they didn't seem to be on an emergency at the time.

 

I did once have what turned out to be a copper jump on me from behind as I entered the station, only for his mate to shout "It's not him!", causing him to jump off and release me with a "Sorry, mate", before I could react at all...

Sounds a lot like Murder She Wrote here, where the "innocent" was present at a lot of crime scenes.... "It's not him!" my eye....

An JB, where can I get these funny powders you speak of? Weathering ones, I assume in Marks' ?

R

Cheers Noel,

All of the above is noted, but this is purely a sample for decoration and paint tones. The detail parts are their injected plastic colour, the hopper and body have been painted, so it will be uniform on the finished article. I quite like the bling wheels, but they will be chemically blackened unfortunately.

Agreed on the assembly of the final thing, it has to be beyond perfect, and the manufacturers will have a list tomorrow of final tweaks to be made.

Richie.

Actually JB, can I throw out a theory here? there are no markings at all on the wagons, and the colour slides I have of the original grey show a darker wagon than that here.

Would it be possible that they were given a coat of primer and sent for tests? Short rake of 12-14 wagons, with 2 brake vans.... I know it's black and white but this screams similar.

http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000304937

Answers on a postcard....

I'll PM you the details of a few others that might be of interest....

Wonder whose those are? There are two among them which I suspect are up there without the permission or knowledge of the owner - I will contact him and copy the link!

 

Nice shots though!

Do indeed. Many feature on a few NI Flickr pages, there appears to be wholesale lifting going on.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/UK-Bus-Photos/UK-Bus-Photos.html

Scroll down on the left hand panel until you hit Rail Photos - NI and Rail Photos - Eire. Enjoy

Mixed Orange and Ivory on a Supertrain, Ennis 1983....

I have some more I can post tomorrow when I get to the big rig. R

The coach depicted is missing the beauty board strapping and the 6" white band is wobbly, but nothing that can't be fixed.

R.