Patrick Davey

Good to know these crackpot stories of mine might have a bit of authenticity to them!

AN ‘ALTAR’-CATION AT CLOGHERHEAD It’s all kicking off again at Clogherhead tonight. The driver from a few nights ago enjoyed winding up Fr. Ray Codd so much, by revving his noisy diesel, that he’s back for more tonight, and he has brought a few friends along too. Friday night devotions are a big thing in the church above the station and Fr. Codd is not impressed - he has emerged to remonstrate with the driver, whilst head porter Cliff Walker tries to keep the peace. Remember Nosey Neville from Brookhall, who was always hanging out of his brake van to soak up the latest scandal? Well he’s now working for CIE, and he’s really loving this one. It looks like Cliff is offering the driver some ice cream to pacify him...... Fr. Codd is particularly irked because tonight his choir are giving the world premiere of the brand new ‘Hymn of the Ocean’ which was written by one of the choir members, Mr. C Shanty. Thankfully the driver only planned to keep the stunt going for a few minutes because he wanted to poke fun at the clergyman - over a cup of strong tea in the stationmaster’s office later on, he confided in Stationmaster Sandy Castles that he has no time for the men of the cloth after nasty experiences at the hands of the Christian Brothers in Dundalk. He visibly shakes when he names the two main culprits - Br. Whackem and the even more vicious Br. Makem Wince. Later, all is quiet, as the engine crews turn their locos off, and the haunting strains of ‘Hymn of the Ocean’ are the only things to compete with the cackling of the ever-present seagulls and the waves breaking onto the sands below the railway.

October 1965: The signal cabin at Clogherhead was closed back in the 1950’s but this evening somebody accidentally discovered that the electricity was still connected - urgent work has commenced to rectify this potentially hazardous situation.

Clogherhead: the driver of this evening’s light engine run has a quick chat with Stationmaster Sandy Castles on the breezy platform, before climbing up into his cab for the short run back to Drogheda. The 121 class will remain at CHD overnight.

CLOGHERHEAD SAND TRAFFIC The GNR had obtained a license from Louth County Council to extract a small annual tonnage of sand from Clogherhead beach. The Clogherhead sand saw light usage, such as in fire buckets and flower beds, and also for light maintenance and repair jobs around the GNR system. Usually a single open wagon was all that was needed for each sand run and this was brought to the station along with a brake van. Once the brake van had been shunted clear, the open wagon was shunted into the sand loading bank. Once the loading of the sand was complete, the brake van was attached to the other end of the wagon, and both vehicles were brought into the platform road before the locomotive ran around. The sand was brought to Drogheda for onward distribution. In CIE days the procedure was much the same, except that the motive power was usually a 121 class, and the sand was transported in one or more Bulleid open wagons. Clogherhead Sand Traffic.mp4

Could be trouble ahead….

Trouble with the neighbours at Clogherhead tonight…. This evening, locomotive A15 is on late evening manoeuvres at Clogherhead station, following a recent overhaul at Inchicore. All her systems are being thoroughly tested, which inevitably creates a lot of noise. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue in this remote part of County Louth but tonight there are evening devotions taking place above in the chapel, and Fr. Ray Codd is not amused by the frequent interruptions to the singing of his choir by the revving Crossley engine and the piercing horns. Presently, Fr. Codd emerges from the church, in full regalia, and the threat of a strongly worded letter making its way to the CIE board will be enough to make the loco team shut A15 down for the night.

Always a mine of information JB! Where did you dig that one up? Bursting at the seams here with laughter. Ore maybe not……

Moody shots from Clogherhead station this evening.

Exceptional work Kevin - easy to forget it's 2mm!! Looking forward to further updates.

There is something reassuringly hypnotic about watching a train of covered vans snaking its way across pointwork. Van Train.mp4

Impossibly heavy goods traffic at Clogherhead this evening. One of the trains has been named ‘The Insomnia Special’.

HIGH SUMMER AT CLOGHERHEAD It’s July 18th 1956 and the morning GNR goods from Drogheda arrives into Clogherhead, hauled by T2 442t No. 64. The loco needs to shunt her train into the bay platform pretty sharpish this morning because a CIÉ special is due to arrive from Bray, Co. Wicklow. Once the goods train has been shunted into the bay platform, unloading can commence - the Clogherhead goods shed was closed 10 years earlier and the very sparse goods traffic is now handled at the main station. Shortly, the special arrives, hauled by one of CIÉ’s brand new A class diesel locomotives, No. A30, and the train is interestingly made up of elderly GNR stock. Later, No. 64 departs for Drogheda and A30 brings her empty train back to Dublin, having successfully brought her happy sunseeking holidaymakers to the coast of County Louth, where they will enjoy the delights of warm golden sand and sweet-tasting candy floss for a few hours, before A30 returns to bring them all home again. Simpler times indeed. GNR Days @ Clogherhead.mp4

My thoughts? Incredible!!!!!!

That is EXACTLY how I remember them! Top job Philip!

Can't see how to delete posts - can someone assist? Ta!

No success with an attempt at posting a video - just won't upload......

These look fab! Lovely stuff IRM.

B125 at Clogherhead this evening, getting ready to bring some empty wagons back to Drogheda.

Another stunner!! BCDR heaven!!

Pre-ordered!

Regarding suitable paints to represent GNR colours, I have used the following: GNR carriage mahogany: Revell Aqua Colour Mud Brown Gloss This produces this effect: I should probably add a wash of black to these at some point before adding GNR coat of arms decals. Then for the GNR bus/railcar/carriage blue & cream: Cream: Anita's All-Purpose Acrylic 1106 Antique White (it's definitely cream though!) Blue: System 3 Acrylic 134 Prussian Blue Hue I used these two on my GNR buses: Hope that helps!

*THUD* (That was the sound of my jaw hitting the floor.....)

Meanwhile at Clogherhead, A46 arrives with the by now quite rare CIE ex-GSWR/GSR 10-ton brake van. Thankfully, this ancient vehicle did not tear herself apart on the dodgy double slip…… IMG_6966.MOV

She does Philip - Mr. Weaver approves!