Patrick Davey

Delighted to add another ‘Brennan Brake’ to my collection - a magnificent scratchbuild by Gareth Brennan, the undisputed master of plasticard! It looks very much at home on Clogherhead and Gareth has given me permission to weather it

Superb!!! Oozes atmosphere!!!

The Ghost Train of Knockloughrim Johnny McWhirter struggled to cycle through the snow which covered the Derganagh Road near Knockloughrim. There had been a heavy fall overnight and the wheels of his bicycle crunched through the pure white snow until eventually he had to dismount and walk the final stretch of his journey to the railway station. He wheeled the bicycle in through the imposing main entrance, with its stone pillars standing guard, then he opened the small wooden gate which gave access onto the platform. It was Monday, December 8th 1958, and Knockloughrim station was now only visited by the infrequent goods trains which ran between Magherafelt and Kilrea, once a daily working but now generally only running twice per week. The Ulster Transport Authority had ended passenger services along the Derry Central line in 1950 but was maintaining a basic goods service along part of the route for the time being. Knockloughrim station during the time of the Kilrea goods Johnny was close to retirement and it was his relatively undemanding job to be present the station each time a train was due to pass, whether it was booked to stop or not. Generally they didn’t stop, but occasionally there was a parcel for someone in the village and it was Johnny’s responsibility to process this and deliver it. After opening the small station office and lighting the fire, Johnny went back out onto the platform and looked up and down the single line of railway track, the rails completely hidden under several inches of crisp, white snow. To his right, beyond the end of the platform, stood the sturdy stone bridge which carried Derganagh Road across the railway, optimistically built to accommodate double track but only ever sheltering a single line. To his left, the line curved off to the right towards Magherafelt, no longer the the busy mid-Ulster railway hub that it had once been. The long disused goods shed stood at the Magherafelt end of the short platform, beyond the red brick station building, and after surveying the frozen scene, Johnny turned and started back towards the beckoning comfort of the station office. Before he could open the door and escape the cold, he heard a voice calling him from the direction of the bridge. “Hey there Johnny!” came the voice - it was Davy Carmichael, the farmer whose land lay to the south of the railway line. Davy was a friend of the railwaymen and was one of the few locals who still made use of the remaining train service to send his produce up to Belfast. Davy was standing on the bridge and Johnny walked along to the end of the platform to speak to him. “Mornin’ Davy, what has you out at this early hour in this cold? Yer a brave one!” said Johnny. “Not as brave as yer colleagues who brought a train through here at 3:00am Davy, was there some special working or sumthin’? There’s been been nuthin’ like that since the war years…..it stayed at the station for a few minutes then the flamin’ thing whistled like a banshee as it left, scaring the livin’ daylights outta the Mrs. and the bloody chickens!” “No idea Davy” replied Johnny, “Must find out though!” After chatting to Davy for a few minutes, Johnny remembered that he could no longer feel his fingers, so he quickly made his way back into the station office, which was now pleasantly warm, with the gentle crackle of the fire and the rhythm of the ancient clock giving the impression that nothing had changed from the heyday of the Derry Central railway. He took off his heavy coat and his railway cap, which still proudly bore the initials LMS-NCC, and set them both on a chair beside the fire. It was 8:05am and there was a train due to pass from Magherafelt at 8:34am, so Johnny opened the large dust-covered ledger into which all train movements had to be entered, and he was startled to see the following as the most recent entry: The entry was written in immaculate copperplate hand and Johnny was now getting very curious - phone calls to both Magherafelt and York Road only heightened the mystery because nobody he spoke to had heard of this working. Neither had any entries been made in the other book where railway staff were obliged to sign in and out of their shifts. As Johnny chewed the end of his pencil and pondered the mystery, he was startled by a high pitched whistle which sounded far off in the Magherafelt direction, telling him that the Kilrea goods was approaching. Johnny put his coat and cap back on and went back out onto the platform to see the train ease around the curve. At the head of the train was U2 class 4-4-0 No. 84, Lissanoure Castle, pulling a long train of open wagons and covered vans - there was healthy traffic to and from Kilrea this day. Throwing up a lot of snow and sending white plumes of smoke and steam into the cold sky, the locomotive brought her train through Knockloughrim station with another loud and very long whistle, as her crew acknowledged Johnny tipping his hat to them from the platform. Soon the bright red light on the rear of the brake van was disappearing into the gloom of the cutting beyond the bridge and as the flying snow began to settle, Johnny wasted no time in returning to the office to make the appropriate entry in the train ledger, right underneath the mysterious one from early that morning. The return working from Kilrea was booked to stop at Knockloughrim at 10:24am so Johnny would have to remain at the station until after the train had left for Magherafelt. The train arrived promptly at the expected time and as the elegant locomotive screeched to a halt at the platform, Johnny took the opportunity to have a chat with the crew, two Belfast men whom he had not met before, to see if they had heard anything about the strange early morning working. “Not a word” said the driver, “and it’s possibly someone takin’ the hand outta ye lad cos Dunseverick is sitting in a siding at York Road out of use, looking like she’ll nivir run again!” Johnny pondered this as he signed the guard’s docket and accepted a small consignment of parcels for the village, and soon the whistle sounded again and the train slowly made her way off towards Magherafelt, the long train of wagons and vans rattling behind the locomotive. Johnny waited until the red brake van light could be seen no more, then he once again returned to the warmth of the office to complete the entry in the ledger. Johnny forgot about the strange ledger entry until the following Monday, when it was his turn once again to be on duty at Knockloughrim to oversee the up and down Kilrea goods workings that day. As usual, he arrived at the station just before 8:00am, lit the fire and placed his coat and hat on the chair nearby. He sat at the table and opened the train ledger, and was immediately shocked to see that the mysterious entry from the early hours of December 8th had vanished, leaving a clear gap above his own entries for later that day. It was all very strange and colleagues started to question Johnny’s perception of events, until one month later on January 10th 1959 when a different UTA employee was arriving for duty at Knockloughrim, and was also spoken to by Davy Carmichael from the bridge, who was as before asking about the early morning train that disturbed his family and his animals. And, once again, there was the very same copperplate entry in the Knockloughrim train ledger: Further phone calls to Magherafelt and York Road failed to shed any light on the working and even more mysteriously, this latest ledger entry had also vanished by the following week. By now the tale of the mysterious ‘ghost train’ of Knockloughrim had become a local curiosity, and indeed these strange events repeated themselves each month until the line fully closed in October 1959. Everyone believed that would be the end of the mystery but this was not to be the case: not only did reports of the ghost train continue after the line closed, but they even continued into 1960 after the rails had been taken up and the sleepers lifted. By that stage, nobody dared venture into the now much dilapidated office at Knockloughrim station to open the ledger. It wasn’t until January 1962 that there were no local reports of the ghost train of Knockloughrim, and it may or may not be coincidental that U2 class 4-4-0 locomotive ‘Dunseverick Castle’ had succumbed to the scrapman’s torch the previous month. Knockloughrim station after closure U2 class 4-4-0 No. 80 'Dunseverick Castle' - did she or didn't she.......?

Alan it wouldn't be happening without the generosity of @J-Mo Arts and yourself - thank you both sincerely!

Treat yourself, you deserve it!

The Countess has returned from the Nixon Works after having her digital installation completed, using a ‘You Choos’ Jinty sound file - we went for that because it’s also an 0-6-0 and technically appropriate for Co. Antrim since the LMS sent two of them over here in the 1940s, although a generation later than The Countess. Many thanks - yet again - to Alan @Tullygrainey for this great work and for adding some additional details and weathering. A great range of sounds to explore here and I’m looking forward to making a few tweaks and learning how to use something mysterious called ‘Active Braking’….. Also - note how smoothly Alan’s chassis runs, with the best slow speed control I have ever seen, absolutely ideally suited to the very small layout which the locomotive will be running on. IMG_2793.MOV

Shaping up to be - unsurprisingly - a superb layout. And the railcars, all of them, are sensational!

And people say it's me who has too much time on his hands Alan! Very good!!!!

Great to see you posting again! The ICR is not in my area of interest but that does look superb and we should all appreciate the mammoth amount of work that is going into bringing the project to what will surely be a successful conclusion!

I’m assuming you do not sleep…..? inspirational as always.

Lovely stuff!! Sorry to miss this one

NUNS ON THE RUN PART ONE - KIDNAP It’s Saturday March 31st 1956, and the Great Northern Railway Board is running a series of special events to mark the 80th anniversary of the formation of the Great Northern Railway of Ireland on April 1st 1876. They had decided not to run events on the exact anniversary date because April 1st was Easter Sunday that year. Despite the precarious state of the GNR Board’s finances at that time, the railway employees took such pride in their work that they insisted on the anniversary being marked in some way. But the Board were not overly keen to spend money on network-wide events, and instead, the staff at each station were left to organise (and fund) their own events. At Clogherhead in Co. Louth, it was decided to offer a day of steam locomotive driver experiences, with regular Clogherhead locomotive T2 442t No. 64 rostered to be at the station the whole day. It was a fun family day at Clogherhead A fleet of GNR buses operated a shuttle between the station and the beach No. 64 was sent to Clogherhead with driver Rod Glover, a top link man who was actually a descendant of the esteemed GNR(I) engineer George T. Glover who designed the original T class locomotives: Rod was therefore well-connected. His fireman for the day was Sammy Shovlin, a keen but ultimately unsuccessful golf amateur, who blamed his lack of sporting achievement on his railway job - he always ended up in the bunker. Also on duty that day was Fergie French, by far the finest fitter (he was from Fintona) who would be on hand to ensure that No. 64 was well-oiled throughout the day (Rod and Sammy had previously expressed their intention to get into exactly the same condition after they finished their shift at Amiens Street that evening). The Clogherhead steam locomotive driver experience event was scheduled to begin at 10:00am, and well before that time, a sizeable queue had gathered at the station, as many folk wished to avail of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of driving a steam locomotive. The day was a great success and those who enjoyed the experience left the station filled with renewed pride in their railway, and they expressed their gratitude to the GNR team who had done so much to make it all happen. Two nuns, Sister Ann R. Kay and Sister de Zaster, have been awaiting their turn But things started to unravel around 4:45pm when it was the turn of the final two people in the queue to ascend to the footplate of No. 64. Two nuns, Sister Ann R. Kay and Sister de Zaster (she was from Belgium), had arrived by car from Ardee, having heard of the event and hoping to build on their previous, if unorthodox, experiences with No. 64. Rod and Sammy were actually delighted to see the two nuns, whose antics had become the talk of the railway. Soon the sisters were absorbing all the essential information pertaining to the locomotive’s controls, and both driver and fireman were actually quite impressed by how the ladies performed when given carefully supervised control of No. 64, easing the locomotive gently forwards and then backwards along the platform a number of times. As the locomotive came to its supposed final stop, Fergie French the fitter from Fintona appeared at the cab door, and alerted Rod & Sammy to a possible issue with the right hand side piston. There's a problem with the locomotive but the crew shouldn't have left the footplate unattended.... The locomotive crew, in a moment of carelessness, both left the footplate to see what was concerning Fergie so much, and immediately, the naughty nuns looked at each other, winked, and sprang into action. In an impressively slick manoeuvre, Sr. de Zaster slammed the cab door firmly shut with a flick of her shoe, whilst at the same time disengaged the locomotive’s brake lever. Meanwhile, Sr. Ann R. Kay, waiting for just the right moment, pushed the regulator forward and soon No. 64 was in motion. It all seemed to happen in a matter of seconds, so much so that the three enginemen stood frozen to the platform with looks of absolute terror on their faces. By the time they realised what had happened, No. 64 and her liturgical lady loco crew had passed the end of the platform, and were steaming smartly towards the road bridge. Thankfully the points were set for the running line rather than the headshunt, thus avoiding an immediate derailment. But that of course created another, and much bigger concern - the locomotive was now heading out of the station on an unauthorised movement, with two nuns at the controls…… The two nuns bring No. 64 towards the overbridge.... ....as the GNR men can only look on in horror PART TWO - RUNAWAY On the footplate of No. 64, the mischievous maidens were very happy with themselves - they had of course planned the whole thing, the idea being to steam their way a short distance out of the station, then return and enjoy the embarrassed looks on the faces of the railwaymen. However, as soon as Sr. Ann R. Kay reached for the regulator with the intention of stopping the locomotive, she realised with sheer horror that it was firmly stuck in the forward position and she was unable to release it, not even with the help of Sr. de Zaster. No. 64 was by now well clear of the station limit and was making her way at a leisurely pace, but out of control, towards the junction with the GN main line - not a pleasing prospect. Back at Clogherhead station, Stationmaster Sandy Castles was making frantic phone calls to Amiens Street and also to Drogheda North signal cabin, which controlled the junction for the Clogherhead branch - the signalman immediately set the points for the branch and stopped all traffic in the area. Driver Ned O’Hara was quite confused when he was brought to an unexpected halt a short distance to the north of the junction, with VS No. 208 ‘Lagan’ hauling the afternoon up Enterprise, and his confusion only intensified when shortly afterwards he saw locomotive No. 64 ease onto the main line from the branch, with two nuns on the footplate, frantically waving their arms and sounding the whistle. The runaway loco approaching Drogheda No. 64 was now on the GN main line, and soon she was rattling across the mighty viaduct on the approach to Drogheda. A down goods train was occupying the centre road through the station and there was a railcar set in the down platform, so the runaway had to be routed into the up platform, and those who remember it speak of the locomotive lurching to the right as the left side wheels lifted off the rails, the right side wheels squealing like a demented banshee, and the loco almost toppling over. Thankfully she righted herself just beyond the tall south cabin, and there was a loud clang as the wheels slammed back down onto the rails. Soon No. 64 was well past the junction for the Oldcastle branch, and confidently making her way southwards towards Laytown. Crossing the mighty Boyne Viaduct Once the railwaymen had recovered from the shock of realising that one of their locomotives had in effect been stolen by two tiny nuns, who had only been shown the basics of driving a steam locomotive ten minutes beforehand, they started scrambling to formulate a plan to bring the situation under control. CIE had been sending their new diesel locomotives across to the GN lines on test runs, and it was quickly realised that A class locomotive A30 was sitting in a siding in Gormanston station, in the care of a CIE driver, a CIE Inspector and a GN pilotman. The request was made for A30 to help bring No. 64 to a stop, so the brand new diesel locomotive, her futuristic silver livery sparkling in the Spring sunshine, was driven onto the up main line around 15 minutes before the tank engine was due to arrive. It was estimated that No. 64 was travelling at around 40 miles per hour so A30’s driver selected a speed just below that, intending to allow the steam locomotive to make contact from behind, at which point he would start bringing her to a controlled stop. The GN pilotman would then board the steam locomotive and undo whatever damage the naughty nuns had inflicted on the controls. No. 64 hurtled past regular service trains on the mainline A30 had just crossed the Delvin viaduct and entered County Meath when the CIE Inspector, who was travelling in A30’s rear cab to act as lookout, spotted the unmistakable wisp of white exhaust in the distance. He ran back through the locomotive, past the deafening throb of the Crossley engine, and alerted the driver and GN pilotman that the nuns were approaching. The Inspector returned to the rear cab, the pilotman took up position in the engine room (holding his ears) and all agreed on a system of hand signals to be used to count down to the critical moment of impact. No. 64 was approaching, but seemed to be slowing down - it later emerged that her experienced fireman Sammy Shovlin had kept the fire low for the short runs at Clogherhead but as luck would have it, he had also arranged to have the loco’s water tanks topped up just before she was commandeered by the nuns, with the intention of making a swift departure once the event had concluded - this meant that the fire was burning itself out and there was little danger of a boiler explosion. A30 was well beyond Balbriggan when the Inspector gave the signal to indicate that impact was imminent, and sure enough, at a speed of barely 30 miles an hour, there was an almighty ‘clank’ as the steam locomotive’s front buffers made contact with the diesel’s rear buffers. The three men, who were all in the front cab by this stage, were thrown forward quite roughly, but the driver was able to quickly compose himself to begin the risky procedure of gradually reducing speed in order to bring the unlikely ensemble to a halt. No. 64 was, on paper, no match for a brand new and ultra modern diesel locomotive, but the ageing steam locomotive gave a good account of herself and put up a mighty protest as A30 tried to slow her down - and slow down she did, albeit very gradually, although the CIE driver and Inspector were getting concerned that the incessant shuddering and shaking would eventually tear their lovely shiny new locomotive to pieces. The GN pilotman then made a suggestion - he yelled his plan into the ears of the two CIE men, who looked at him in horror, but both agreed that this was probably the only means by which the whole debacle could be brought to a swift and safe conclusion……. PART THREE - SALVATION AT SKERRIES By now, word had been passed up the line about the runaway steam locomotive and the ‘diesel in shining armour’ (literally) which was doing its best to bring her under control. At the next station, Skerries, a large crowd had gathered on the down platform to watch events unfold, because the up platform had been placed out of bounds to allow the locomotives to pass safely. A small number of staff remained on the up platform, in the shelter of the main station building, and before long they saw the silver A class appear in the distance, by now travelling at less than 20 miles per hour. In the front cab of A30, the GN pilotman asked for one last effort to reduce speed, then he opened the cab door, and positioned himself at the top of the locomotive’s cab steps. Speed had now reduced to around 10 miles per hour, and as soon as the down platform at Skerries had been reached, the pilotman jumped out of A30’s cab, raced along the platform beside the diesel locomotive for a while before falling slightly behind to draw level with the black steam locomotive’s cab, the terrified nuns staring out at him in disbelief, their faces by now black with a thick covering of coal dust. With the end of the platform rapidly approaching, the pilotman launched himself towards No. 64’s cab door. He just about managed to land correctly, then he kicked open the door and fall in an undignified heap onto the footplate, just as the platform ramp passed by outside. He immediately jumped up, reached for the regulator handle, and with considerable force, managed to free it, pull it back and at last bring No. 64 to a halt, around a quarter of a mile beyond Skerries station. He also made sure to engage the brake, just to be sure, then he glared sternly at the two nuns who were consoling each other and sobbing in the corner of the cab. A30 had stopped a short distance further up the line but she soon reversed back and coupled up to the now pacified steam locomotive, the hiss of steam gradually weakening. The CIE inspector suggested that they push No. 64 back to Skerries and place her in the loop off the up line, throw out the remnants of the fire and leave her there until further instructions were received. The pilotman agreed, so once the CIE men were back in A30’s nearest cab, he disengaged the brake and A30 began the slow shunt back to Skerries. They stopped at the platform, where the two nuns were escorted down from No. 64’s footplate, to be looked after by the station staff. The steam locomotive was placed in the loop and soon she was sitting there in silence. Meanwhile, the two nuns immediately headed across to the booking office and innocently asked for two single tickets to Clogherhead. The reply of the ticket clerk was not recorded. No. 64’s original crew, Rod Glover, Sammy Shovlin and Fergie French, soon arrived at Skerries on SG3 No. 41 which travelled light engine from Drogheda, to be greeted by the sight of No. 64, sitting lifeless in the loop. As fitter Fergie examined the stricken locomotive, a local character, who had just been thrown out of a nearby hostelry as a result of over-inebriation, staggered up to Fergie and asked: “Wasshhamadder boss?” Fergie answered “Piston broke.” Back came the reply: “Aye, me too.” With grateful thanks to Kieran Lagan and Tony Mirolo for facilitating the insanity!

These look superb - I would certainly like to see more photos!

i wonder do sound files exist for that and also for the sound of bin lids being hammered onto the pavements.....

Crikey those vehicles really bring me back!

Looks like a great show - sorry to be missing it this year but grateful for the photos here on the forum.

The Countess has returned to the Nixon Works for some final detailing and her digital installation. That will leave just the separate etched name and builder plates to round off the build, as well as a cab interior and some other small fittings. With many thanks to Alan @Tullygrainey for this great work and for this clip of the locomotive running on one of Alan’s superb layouts. And huge thanks to Jamie @J-Mo Arts for doing the CAD of the locomotive, you did a fantastic job there sir! IMG_2745.MOV

This is just stunning!

Superb Jason - can’t wait to see what you do with that amazing space

Gulp

Very impressive!

Fabulous model of an iconic prototype!

Wondering what this means?

My prediction was wrong but I am not complaining!! Thank you IRM!! Order placed!

Mighty stuff - happy first decade IRM! I was actually right with my prediction of the 800s in March so I'll probably be wrong this time..... suggesting that Thursday's announcement could be a C class and Saturday's could be the Irish style of footbridge that was hinted at a few years back........