josefstadt

And just what were IÉ supposed to do? Store wagons for ten years just in case someone might decide to resume growing beet. And what benefit would a siding in Wellingtonbridge be for beet being grown in 'Co Cork somewhere'? And where would the crop be processed - all the factories have been demolished (by their owners, not by IÉ)? If beet does come back in a substantial way, then it would seem likely that a new factory, or factories would be built in the beet growing area (s), not in a location requiring rail haulage of the raw product. And in any case is the 'Co Cork somewhere' location anywhere near a rail line? Dive, the 'bogie beet wagons' were not new. They were existing 42' 9" container flat wagons on which 40 ft containers were mounted. Again, the containers were not new but were acquired secondhand and received some minor modifications (internal bracing and alerations to doors). I'm not sure what happened to the wagons, possibly some are in traffic on liner trains, but I'd suggest that the containers were probably withdrawn.

There are also a couple of YouTube videos of this excellent tour: and

That's upside down jhb!

Is a change of direction on the cards? I suppose you'll have to change your site name - how about 'No Wrenn Is He' (with apologies to Lucy Lu)!!!

Virtually current. For example, the Second Edition was published in February 2004 and the diagrams in most cases show the position in November 2003.

From Gobnait O'Lúnasa to Fr. Jack so many hours of enjoyment. May he rest in peace.

Lovely pics JHB, they bring back memories.BTW, Nos 2 and 5 are Arklow.

Brilliant work Kieran!

At least one of the earlier GSR cars got the Black & Tan livery. The May 1969 issue of 'Irish Railfans' News' contains the following entry: 'Drewry Inspection Car No.4 of 1927 has been renovated at North Wall, Dublin, and converted for use as a track recording unit to help locate irregularities in the lines. It has been repainted in the standard livery of black, golden brown and white'.

Indeed they were Railer. Builders were Fauvet Girel of Lille, France.

Sadly it wasn't operational when I visited the museum back in 1981.

I'm not sure if Paul Johnson owns the copyright to all of the photos on the site. The information at the top of the page: 'Some of these pictures were taken by me and some were bought. All are part of my collection. These pictures are published for pleasure/information/research purposes only and are not for sale or copy under any circumstances.' He obviously does own the copyright to the photos taken by him, while some of the older photos are, I believe, part of the National Archive collections held in the NRM York.

JHB, only a few wrong way up images so I think that the pints are well deserved. Don't know about the singing though!!

Excellent!! Thanks for posting John.

On the other hand the load would be less also, so it might balance out.

Great videos John. Pity about the soundtrack in the second one though, it would be much nicer if one could hear the 'music' from the locomotives instead.

A great broadcaster and a wonderful ambassador for Ireland. He will be sadly missed. RIP

Sorry that I missed the second half of the trip - especially the driver training at Tara Junction!

The guy in the second photo reminds me of 'Doyle' from The Professionals! CI5 to ESB?

The Rapido announcement on the company's website starts: 'Following the exclusive APT-E trainset and Stirling Single locomotive, Rapido Trains Inc. and Locomotion Models are excited to reveal a new partnership to produce the ground-breaking Prototype HST (HST-E) Power Cars in 4mm scale/OO gauge as part of the ‘National Collection in Miniature’ series' (my emphasis). I would agree, however, that it would make more sense and be quite likely that there would be at least some intermediate trailers produced. Fortunately, for those wishing to convert these coaches to represent Irish MkIIIs, the vehicles used on the prototype HSDT were fitted with buffers. But, as RedRich says, the resulting conversion would again be just a repaint of an expensive BR MkIII with wrong doors etc and, as Glenderg points out, the cost of a correct version would likely be prohibitive.

It was announced at the Warley 2015 show by Locomotionmodels and Rapido Trains; it was reported in the January 2016 edition of Model Rail (p. 28); and the announcement is on the section Rapido Trains website dealing with British models (http://uk.rapidotrains.com/). It remains to be decided what the package will include - just the power cars or if there will be the coaches as well.

To the best of my knowledge there were no MkIII gen vans in Britain.

Well done John Walker and the Wexford Model Railway Club. Looks brilliant!