Mayner

Mayo's historic victory was even mentioned in the TVNZ news at 6 last night (Mon evening) including clip of Mayo supporters reaction. 1951 loco/ train working would have been interesting to say the least. While Woolwich locos could be turned at Claremorris (following 1941 replacement of turntable) ex-Midland "Catte Engines", As & Cs 4-4-0s may have been the largest engines that could be turned at Westport, Midland "Standard Goods & Ks 2-4-0s largest/heaviest engines allowed on Ballina branch. So potentially ex-Midland engines (possibly a large 4-4-0 double heading with a Cattle Engine) on Westport specials through to Amiens St/Westland Row and Standard Goods or 2-4-0 on Ballina specials. I remember seeing a photo of a pair of ex-MGWR 2-4-0s double heading a Dublin bound "Pioneer" special (1947?) made up of 46 wheelers past Leixlip in one of the railway books. What of Balinrobe & Burma Road (Kiltimagh, Swinford possibly Charlestown & Tubbercurry (turntable), did through trains operate or connections into the Mayo Line. Possibly a Sligo or Ballaghadareen special who knows? I guess the greatest differences since the early 50s is that a higher proportion of the population own/prefer to use cars and the railways now operating a relatively frequent service on Sundays compared to the past (no scheduled Sunday trains on the Mayo line 70 odd years ago?) so no real demand for GAA specials. Back in the mid-late 60s our relatives from the West regularly drove to Dublin to attend matches at Croke Park or shows at the RDS and always visited their Dublin relatives on the way home, something you couldn't do travelling by train or bus.

Printed and positioned the Malt House to check how it would work visually. Again initial coat of paint from a paint/DIY store match pot. Quite pleased with the print quality & the way the windws worked out. I'll probably end up replacing the 'Tower Building' with a similar 3D printed building that extends to the backscene to give the impression that the maltings are part of a larger complex. Retaining wall to be extended to the backscene in Wills Coarsed Stone to match existing stonework Got to add windows and doors to the terrace of houses and finish painting the background buildings.

Possibly the Wicklow TPO which ran until the late 60s or possibly a working from Carlisle Pier The final working of the Wexford TPO was mentioned in an IRRS journal, 4w Post Office Van and fish sometimes appearing at the windows on the long exposed coastal section north of Wicklow.

Another evenings work cills, lintols and windows added, some minor adjustments before printing, meanwhile the shell of the large malthouse I started 14 years ago had a coat of spray primer, now to fill and sand the worst of the joints between the Wills brick material sheet panels before painting.

Re-thought the building between the overbridge and backscene on the fiddle yard approach and decided on a semi-low relief malthouse to balance the Tower Building rather than a pub! Progress after 2 evening (approx 4hrs total) with Fusion, cills and lintols to be added and decide on how I will form the windows, Wills parts or 3D printed. Section below street level will be modellerd using Wills Coarsed Stone sheets. I first produced a 3D model of the basic structure complete with window opes before adding the brickwork not unlike a building with in-situ or pre-cast concrete walls & brick cladding (without the cavity) Set out from one corner to get the header-stretcher-header pattern on the first course-then 3/4 stretcher (King Closer)-header-stretcher on the second coarse. (wall & base hidden in view Then added header-stretcher-header-stretcher-header for the second brickwork module then, copu and paste for the rest of the 1st two courses! Individual modules now combined and selected for copying. Progress to cill height and window opes set out. Coarse template beneath ready for copying. Distillery buildings at Grand Canal Dock the inspiration for the models. In its orignal form the Tower Building in the background was a landmark 'signature structure' in photos of Grand Canal Shed and the approaches to Westland Row, Pearse Station.

I found converting to DCC is simple enough for modern rtr but problematic with scratch or kit built locos. Basically I struggled to get kit built locos (typically Mashima motor 2 stage gearing) to run reliably when converted to DCC but ran fine before hand on DC and after I removed the decoder. For the moment my kit built Irish 4mm narrow and broad gauge steam locos (when I occasionally run them) are controlled by analogue hand held controllers, one a home built unit assembled as part of a model railway club project about 25 years ago, a second a Gaugemaster W the replacement of a W that gave up the ghost a year or so ago. For many years the controllers were powered by the 15V a/c output off an early 70s Safety Minor, I bought a couple of replacement modern plug/top power units about 6 months ago but just haven't got round to using them! Built in obsolescence is a major issue with DCC, like Leslie I have a digitrax system starting with a medium level starter set gradually expanded with additional throttles (controllers) and radio control operation 10-15 years ago, at this stage obsolete and no-longer supported.

Nice one Ernie, first photo I have seen of Castlegregory Junction viewed from the road side! Although passenger services ceased in 39 the daily goods complete with passenger brake appears to have continued to run until the 1947 fuel crisis.

Trial fitting of the terrace after painting the brickwork. Facade was first sprayed with etch primer and brown aerosol I had in stock, brush painted with a Humbrol grey acrylic working paint into mortar joints wiping surplus paint off face of wall with kitchen towels, and stippled/drybrushed face of brickwork with a 'matchpot' acrylic selected from a local 'home improvement' store. I selected a 'near match" between a Google Earth image of the building & paint colour charts. General view of terrace from railway/dock, buildings from Google Earth views of Sackville Gardens, Ballybough-Drumcondra depending on whether your a buyer/renting ot selling/landlord. Building on right is a temporary while printing the permanent one . The retaining walls are Wills Coursed Stone, the wall in the background painted/finished more than 10 years ago using similar techniques with the last of my stock of ( American) Floquil modelling paint. Water crane is a fairly ancient (early-mid 80s)n Mikes Models casting fairly close to a MGWR crane, Mike once produced a large range of water cranes and other steam era castings. The 'view from the bridge' so to speak looking towards the maltings based on the former distillery at Grand Canal Dock with its distinctive stone and brickwork, the yellowish brickwork of the distillery buildings should make an interesting contrast with the redbrick terrace. Looking back towards the road bridge and Tower Building, I am planning to add another low relief house between bridge and backscene and add the water tank/parapet to the tower building. I originally to form the tank sides/parapet in etched brass when I started the building around 2012, but probably simpler to produce a 3D printed model these days. The 'corner building" after curing, temp supports still in place apart from one window (I just removed supports.) printed in e-Sun waterwashable resin ( approx €15.30 500ml relatively cheap in comparison with other brands of resin). Seems to give reasonably consistent results, main drawback appears to be brittleness and some distortion, I print at the resin manufacturers default settings.

Just stumbled across this https://www.steamtrainsireland.com/rpsi-collection/52/504-guinness-grain-van while checking out current on-line information on the GNR Guiness Bogie Vans. I was about to post copies of the relevant sections from the GN Wagon Diagram Book to find the RPSI have published comprehensive information on the vans on its websits including diagrams and photos of both types! Completly unlike the Chatgpt generated document and an excelent resource for anyone tempted to model one of these vans. It almost looks like Chatgpt 'confused" 4w Continental vans with the Grain & UTA versions of the van

Appreciate your feedback Patrick, got a bit of a shock when I realised this thread has being going on for nearly 10 years and started building the railway 18-19 years ago. Finally got round to uploading some videos from last weekend and one from a year earlier, seems to be a lot of repetion. #278 out for one of her Mid-Winter runs during our Matariki/New Year holiday, it was bloody cold hence the nice plume of steam, the engine is also fitted with a 'Chuffer" (basically an organ pipe/whistle that fits over the exhaust/blast pipe inside the smokebox. I need to clean & re-apply/glue the ballast in this area, the blue material is plastic pond liner that protects the baseboard in this area. #278 again on the scenic section. Putting the trains away! Although taken last year this is how I put the (electric) locos and stock away at the end of the running session. The rails being dry #348 managed to get half way up the 4% grade before stalling, #463 following behind with a freight coupled up and acted as mid-train helper similar to RGS practice.

Nice job on the PP I was tempted to add one to my collection when SSM took over the NortStar range of kits from Addrian Rowland, was mighty taken by the large scale T&D Kerr Stuart tank loco. Certainly would make a nice companion for a OO Works U if you ever get to build a GN Main Line or Irish North layout. Many years ago my ears picked up when an aunt & uncle spoke about travelling by train from Amiens St- to Bundoran during the early 50s, I thought of the 'romance' of travelling by steam on the "Bundoran Express" their main memory/complaint was about the long slow train journey! Different perspectives.

I did a quick Google search on the use of national library (in the broadest sense) copyright material. One of the conditions in the AI overview was to provide the library with a free copy of the finished work regardless of whether your publishing/presenting it for monetary gain. I can't find the original search but it seems to ring a mental bell, similar to Universities requiring students to provide their libraries with a free copy of their thesis, despite the student or family paying an arm & a leg in academic fees. Although persentation would be classified as educational non-commercial, you may be subject to a duty to identify and obtain the copyright holders permission before publication. It would be worth checking out UK guidance on copyright and its exemptions https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/intellectual-property-copyright are you are preparing a presentation of the Manchester branch. The big issue like the extent of on-line scammers, its become very difficult to enforce copyright copyright law unless you have very deep pockets and are prepared to take a strong stance. It would just not be worth while for the NLI to go after individuals posting NLI copyright material on social media, cost more to persue a case than potentially awarded in damaged. Copyright breach is basically a civil offence where the copyright owner must sue the infringer for damages or injunction, only appears to crossover into criminal law when wiilfully done on a large scale for commercial gain or business use. No real point in going after JHB for the unauthorised publication of a photo of a stately home unless it was he made a lot of money out of the talk.

The similar J72 was used for J26 conversions during the late 70s The overall length of the NER E Class is similar ton the P J10/614 while the wheelbase is closer though the wheelbase is closer (5" longer) than an E J26/551. The P Class wheelbase is 15" longer than NER loco.

I've had examples of designers and planners making assumptions and getting things seriously wrong and no none noticing in the days before A1. Housing development Rathfarnham 1980 I worked for a company that obtained Planning Permission/building consent for a development of 11 (expensive) detatched homes on a site in Rathfarnham during the late 70s. Only to discover on my first day on site complete with bulldozer, that the architect had made an error in the site plan with one of the homes seriously encroaching on a neighbours land, no one noticed the error during the planning and consent stage. I basically ended up marking up the architects drawing as an 'as built" drawing with the corrected boundary lines and a number of houses re-positioned/juggled around to fit all drawn in pencil with the incorrect lines tippexed out. I don't know if the architect produced a revised drawing from my 'as-built' for the title documents or they simply produced dye-line prints from my as-built if so could have caused some head scratching with clients and building society/bank solicitors at loan approval stage. Fun n games Harlequin Centre Watford 89-92 Real cases of designers, planners and contractors apparrently experiencing hallucinations on Phase 2 of the Project where the planners tried (had to use) a number of unconventional construction techniques due to the constricted nature of the site built to link the new centre with the existing Charter Place Shopping Centre and the existing M&S, NHS & C&A Department stores without disrupting their operation. 1. First stage of the job was to build semi-circular oval loop linking Beechen Grove (Watford Ring Road) with the top level of the Charter Place car park via a temporary bailey bridge so that we could demolish the existing (straight) ramp from Beechen Grove to the car park & demolish an existing 5 storey stair and lift tower where the Harlequin Centre was intended to link up with Charter Place. Funnily enough this phase turned out quite straightforward with few problems, even managed to drop in the Bailey Bridge as planned on a Sunday with the new ramp opening for business on Monday. 2. Second stage intended to form a basement service area with temporary service lifts for M&S turned out a bt more tricky. First job was to form a contigious piled wall with capping beam around the new basement perimiter to support the surrounding area before digging out the basement https://www.bacsol.co.uk/solution/contiguous-retaining-wall-piling/ almost forgot temporary ground anchors after digging down about 3 meters before completing the basement excavation works. Second job was a section of 'top-down" construction alongside the BHS store where we basically formed a short tunnel to link the existing Charter Place basement service area with the new centre, by casting a section of ground floor on top of two sections of reccently cast basement wall before excavating the tunnel. Third stage was to cast the basement floor and install temporary lifts to serve M&S in what was once the BHS service area. BHS agreed to take their deliveries from the High Street or a temporary covered walkway across the construction site. Again everything went reasonably to plan except the engine blowing up on the first night of a 7day 24hr operation & the Council shutting down nightwork setting the programme back by four weeks. 3. Fun b games set in in earnest at the beginning of Stage 3 planners assumed that we would serve the piling operation for the permanent ramps that would replace the Bailey Bridge from Beechen Grove but the City Council (also client) refused to allow concrete and muck-away trucks to cross the Bus Lane on Beechen Grove. I came up with the suggestion of a second bailey bridge this time heavy duty and 12m span, client not exactly pleased with the additional cost, but it did the job and no real alternative. Further blupers emerged as we began to build upwards forming a section of first floor slab to support a temporary ventilation system for the basement and enclosing the basement area by forming a ground floor over the basement. At this stage Phase 1 and 2 of the project were two construction sites separated by the area between Queen Road and Loates Lane occupied by the Trewin (John Lewis) department store separating the two sites. It was intended to decant Trewin's to a new store on Phase 1 once complete. It was then planned to demolish the existing store, remove Loates Lane then extend Phase 2 basement and structure to Queens Road. Snag was Loates Lane was supported by a temoporary contigious wall that would be removed once the basement structure was completed on the Queens Road side of the temporary wall. First bluper to emerge on the design architectural and engineering drawings was an emergency penetrated by the tempoary basement wall with a lack of clarity on phasing. It was enentually agreed we would construct the stair core (walls, starcase (all reinforced concrete) after the ground floor was constructed and temporary piled wall removed. The more comical was that the designers and planners did not realise the HVAC contractor intended to install the extract plant for the temporary ventilation system on a section of the first floor was not scheduled to be constructed for a further 6 months, resulting in extensive 'on site' modification. A similar problem arose with structural steelwork for an extension to the BHS store arriving which litteraly did not fit, resulting in an expensive return visit to the fabricators for modification, no one from the fabricators apparently had taken site measurments or from the design team checked the shop drawings or asked the question. Final doozie most comical of all was myself and bricklaying contractor asking resident architect what was the purpose of a series of rooms drawn without doorways in the Car Park. Eventually came back that the Client imposed a 'design freeze" on the design team alarmed at rapidly escalating costs. The Architect team ceased work on a number of Plant Rooms omitting doors and ventilation grills. Ended up with receiving a back handed compliment from the Client's project manager at a company function, thanking me for identifying the problem and costing the Client an estimated £100k in increased costs. I guess one thing I learned in my working life was to take nothing at face value whether on pen and paper or digital

Personally I don't buy the 'poor as Irish" narrative Ireland had begun to become quite prosperous during the era the railway preservation movement had begun to emerge in the United Kingdom. Some people become good at making "an béal bocht" to gain sympathy and use it to our advantage (including the business sector) but Ireland entered an era of prosperity from the late 50s until the 73 oil crisis with improved living conditions and falling emigration, as a people we just wern't really interested in trains, the unreliable Crossley diesels with their frequent breakdowns didn't help. In my extended family country cousins who remained on the land expanded their holdings and became prosperous farmers and those that left the land established businesses in Dublin one family from Co Cavan established a successful housebuilding company, another cousin and her husband established a chain of electrical appliance and TV stores. The Dublin branch of the family all had steady employment during this period in the trade and service sectors, thier children all continuing into secondary education, trade or tertiary during the 60s & 70s a first within our extended family. "An béal bocht" kicked in again after the 1st oil crisis this time from the housebuilding sector, with lobbying for grants and an easing of lending restrictions to encourage 1st time home buyers. These incentives introduced late contributed to a late 70s property boom during which it became necessary to recruit trades (particularly bricklayers) from the UK to keep up with demand and inflation with rapidly increasing house prices (housebuilders simply increased house prices by the value of the grant (initially £1000 later £3000) avg price 3bed Tce we were building increasing for £13.5-17.5k in 3 years and a shift to larger higher priced houses as lending restrictions were eased I completed my first £100k home (for a surgeon) in 1980. The whole applecart collapsed with a Government debt crisis and a credit squeeze as the chickens came home to roost in 1982, tax cuts (motor tax & domestic rates abolished 77 and the second oil crisis did not help. Early-Mid 80s was not a good time for railway preservation or for that matter anything in Ireland. I was made redundant 83 company just about survived, signs of revival cut short by Vat increase on new homes June 85, contractor I was working for casually decided to re-locate to the USA in 86 and I headed for Hollyhead and did well during the Lawson Boom. Best to keep to model trains these day, no longer have the time or physically able to volunteer on our local line, though sometimes a good escape from everyday reality

AI can be a useful tool but has its risks and limitations I wonder did Chatgpt gathers (scrapes) information thats published on the internet. Presumabably it experienced an "AI Hallucination" (made things up) unable to find accurate photos or drawings when asked to generate a OO/4mm drawing of the van. Back in the day the "Transport Research Associates" a group of IRRS members published a seemingly accurate detailed 4mm drawing of the GN 20 Ton Bogie Covered Wagon (Guinness) complete with dimensional data, construction (material & sections), brakes, running numbers and wagons converted to carry bulk grain 1938. The drawing (possibly CAD) prepared by Herbert Richards 1968. The GNR Wagon Diagram book(now possibly in the care of the IRRS) also contains diagrams of both the bogie Guinness wagons and bulk grain conversions. There is also the thorny question of potential copyright breach if Chatgpt lifted photos or drawings that are subject to copyright from the internet. Perhaps the IRRS may be able to come to an agreement with Herbert or his family for his extensive photo collections and excellent wagon drawings to be made available for future generations through the Archive. Meanwhile in this part of the World. An acquaintence of mine a sports photographer is experimenting with AI as a photo editing tool as opposed to using AI to creat images. Meanwhile the NZ Government is planning to axe 8700 public sector jobs by 2029 to save $2.9B and adapt AI tools as a replacement https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics/595847/replacing-public-servants-with-ai-could-come-with-hidden-costs-critics-warn Personally I try to avoid the AI Overview on my browser like the plague as it simply regurgites original material from other sites on the web.

Always remember having a quiet drink in Douglas many years ago (2000) as a very exicted group of people arrived off the Ferry from Liverpool almost re-living the 1966 victory having watched England beat Germany in the EUFA Group stage on the journey over on the ferry. I'd no interest in the soccer, I'd flown over from Dublin that morning to explore the Islands railways and had a very good weekend of it

Mixture of physical and digital modelling. Preparing some of the building in the terrace for painting/weathering. I have glued the three building on the right together primed and sprayed with brown aerosol (my version of CIE brown wagon paint) and filled & touched up unsightly joints in the party walls. Brickwork joints in the building on the left flooded with a cream paint to represent the mortar joints and brickwork overpainted with a shade selected from a photo of the prototype and a paint colour chart. I used a colour chart and matchpot from Resene a New Zealand owned paint & decor company. The buildings on the right and left were overpainted with the same colour one on a grey the other on a brown base, I've forgotten which is which and managed to 'disappear" the two test pots I bought yesterday Finished the CAD work for the final building in the terrace, main difference is that I extended the brickwork and plinth onto the gable. Currently the prototype has a rendered finish and pitched roof gutters visible at eaves level and bay windows at groundfoor level, out of character with other buildings in the terrace and the adjoining terrace on Ballybough Road. It looks like the building was originally to a similar design/character to the other facades in the terrace and along Ballybough Road, but re-built parapets removed, possibly roof framing replaced and external walls given a render finish and bay windows added. Interestingly window, door locations and general proportions are similar to other facades in the terrace and on Ballybough Rd. I'll probabably model the pitched section of the roof and chimneys in semi-low relief and on the backscene as the buildings are only 30mm deep>

Matariki Màori New Year Holiday: Friday was Matariki or the New Year holiday, the weekends weather was sunny but cold as hell (by our standards) so time to run some trains on the garden railway including some live steam. On Friday ran a Stock special also some practical work transferring lawn mower batteries from the tool/implement shed to the workshop via Utah-Extension. #348 with stock train in spot of afternoon sunshine. #348 had been recently through the shops for attention to her leading truck and this was a bit of a test run. #348 picks up a laden gondola from the lithium mines at the end of the extension. The old RGS became infamous for transporting radio active ore used in the first Atom Bomb in wooden freight cars with archbar trucks hauled by steam locos, possibly one of the main reasons the road survived the war rather than been torn up as scrap. Gondola added to train and away without incident. Arrived at its destination, I have set up a charging station in the workshop for garden and other battery powered hand tools. Saturday was to be the big day with livesteam operation. While 278 successfully raised steam only ran one lap of the circuit, the seal on the lubricator filler was not quite steam tight which made a mess and did not help the running. I managed to loose the original cap and sealing washer a week or so earlier, the replacement seal is a bit of 'bush engineering" a typical Kiwi No8 wire solution and washer needs replacement. The "Line Up" #278 cooling down, Motor #6 in the photo #348 & #463 waiting to run round the circuit to the Wye reverse their trains and return to the staging & home for the night. #6 although recently charged I carried her home to the shed than return by rail. Bit of a success story #464 waits to depart with her train late afternoon. I recently replaced #464s NiMh batteries after approx 4 years use and replacements wern't showing much sign of improvement, though today she successfully managed 3-4 laps of the circuit before I switched her off after a full charge. Once switched on she almost but not quite made it back to the staging approx 200' away. I'll probabably use her batteries as a replacement for the batteries in "Galloping Goose" Motor #4 and get replacement sets for #464 & 4-6-0 #40. Interesting todays NiMh rechargable packs have a life of similar duration to the Drumm batteries of the 1930s, the replacements potentially see the through to 2030 when I hit my mid 70s, what happened to the youngish chap that left Ireland 20 odd years ago?

Not really CIE property division role is/was to rent or dispose of non-operational land. A preservation society even at a minimal rent was not a bad tenant. The problem arose when it becomes necessary to disconnect/replace the connections to the Mallow & Tuam sites and its highly unlikely that CIE/IE could financially justify installing a replacement or either preservation society had the money to pay for a replacement. The connection to Mallow shed was removed in connection with the Cork line relaying and extension of the CTC to Mallow most likely would have required a new turnout & trap points and signal interlocking possibly controlled by a ground frame. The whole business became a moot point with the dispute within the society over the restoration of 131 its unlikely the GSRPS would have been capable of raising the funds required to restore the loco. Westrail was equally complicated, the Athenry-Claremorris line had been out of use for couple of years with IE using the line as a source of rail to replace badly worn rail on other lines during IEs p.w, crisis of the early 1990s. During this period No90 was transferred by road to operate steam hauled trains between Galway & Athenry and Cork & Youghal, WISRA apparently lost money on the Cork operation. IE eventually re-opened Athenry-Claremorris for Asahi Coal &Oil trains in 1995/6 Asahi eventually closed in 1997. The signal cabin at Tuam was closed and the connection to the passing/run round loop removed, Athenry-Claremorris now worked as a single section (possibly on train working) eliminating the need for a signal man at Tuam. Its possible that IE could have maintained the crossing loop and Westrail connection at Tuam (ground frames replacing signal cabin), but it would have been difficult to sustain Westrails continued operation of steam trains over the approx 16 mile Athenry-Tuam section particularly after the Asahi and other freight services had ceased running. As far as I recall Westrail steam hauled trains operated over the Athenry-Tuam section on Saturdays during August, there appears to have been some informal discussion/proposal of borrowing and restoring ex-SLNCR 27 from the RPSI before the Westrail operation folded. Basically the opportunity to operate a broad gauge heritage railway in the Republic arose at a bad time economic recession hindered fundraising, shortage of suitable locos.

My cousins comment was more about the level of interest in the United Kingdom in railways and its imperial past, nothing to do with claims that the British built Irelands railways "to control us" In a way my cousin had a point railway preservation movement in the UK was driven by a nostalgia to re-create the 'good old days' of the past just as minor railways and branch lines increasing closed following WW11. There seems to be a strong sence of nostalgia for 'the good old days"in this part of the World with Museums and Heritage Railways operated by historical societies often in sparcely populated rural areas. People involved often have family connections to the people that settled the land, or involved in the local mining or logging/sawmilling operations. There would have been little room for this sence of nostalgia/loss in the South as the newly independent state increasingly asserted its independence from Britain before ultimately declaring a Republic in 1946. The GSR and later CIEs dour livery, ancient equipment & sparce service was not exactly appealing to enthusiasts compared with the Big Four in the UK. I recall an MRSI member writing (early 70s) about finding the CIE railscene uninteresting uninteresting as grew up in Kilkenny in the early 50s, but was immediately hooked on the GNR once he visited Amiens St.

30 or so years ago late cousin Dennis a Workers Party/Democratic Left activist could not help but view my interest in railway perservation in terms of British Imperialism. He came from a politically radical family his Grandfather fought in the War of Independence but took the pro-treaty side his Granma despised Dev but politically active an Aunt was elected as a Labour TD at a time a woman was expected to stay in the home. Most of the multi-millionaire Irish property developers I worked for while in Ireland (none from Dublin!) tended to invest heavily in conditions in their county/village, in my opinion better than a heritage railway. Mind you back in the 60s when the preservation movement was largely limited to the Tallylyn, Festiniog, Keightly and Worth Valley, Bluebell and Dart Valley there was concern that the market had already reached saturation point and no room for new entrants.

Nothings changed Joe McGrath (Irish Sweepstake (lottery) & horsebreeding) provided my grandparents with a home and livelihood (maintaining a hunting lodge) during the 1930s at a time the landed gentry had sold their estates and fled the country. In a way putting money into railway preservation like property and horses is a good way to turn a large fortune into a small fortune, but its their money and their decision. Locally the family behind Mainline Steam Trust own a company that totally dependent on the success of the construction/property sector, profits from the property sector subsidise the operation and maintenance of main line steam locos. Property like the stock market is very much boom and bust: Working in the sector I just about kept my head above water, others have been less fortunate busts in the Irish property sector have taken a severe toll on the health of some people I know and respect, a couple of people I worked for at different time before I left Ireland were wiped out financially by the 2009 GFC.

Galteemore is correct in terms of GB railway preservation coinciding with the prosperous era of the 50s & 60s. The opportunitiy to set up a preserved broad gauge line did not take place until the early 1980s as the country was about to enter a major recession with little money (private or public) about for such a project. Although the housebuilding sector did well during the late 70s work dried up during the early 80s as a result of high interest rates and reduced government spending, not a lot different to todays world. The Great Southern Railway Preservation Society (GSRPS) grew out of a proposal by the East Cork Railway Supporters Association? (a local group) to re-open the Youghal branch to regular passenger and goods traffic- and a proposal to operate steam hauled excursion trains in the cork area. CIE agreed to the GSRPS establishing a base at Mallow shed and a loan of GNR(I) Q Class 131 and purchased a quantity of recently withdrawn early 1959s coaching stock to operate a service. While the GSRPS seems to have been successful in carrying out (mainly carriage) restoration work using Fâs & volunteer labour it appears to have struggled to raise funds to complete the restoration of 131 and a dispute developed within the group over the resstoration of 131. The GSRPS later shifted their restoration attempts to the Fenit Branch where they carried out re-sleepering and may have carried out carriage restoration work at Tralee before the project folded after CIE disconnected the Fenit Branch in connection with the re-development of the North Kerry Yard for a new Dunnes supermarket. The GSRPS may have intended to use No90 on the Fenit Branch (some work was carried out on the loco at Mallow shed) although CIE had agreed to loan the loco to Westrail. Westrail developed out of the West of Ireland Steam Railway Association (WISRA) (possibly late 70s) to re-open the Loughrea Branch as a preserved railway. WISRA struggled with its attempts to restore the branch/ locos and stock from its Attymon base and lead by a more pragmatic group within the association transferred to Tuam where it established an operational base for diesel and steam hauled excursion trains in the West using E429 and No90. Westrail successfully obtaining funding for the restoration and re-boilering of No90. Westrail effectively ceased operation in 1994/5?after IE disconnected their Tuam operating base from the Irish railway network. Effectively the Irish economic recession of the 80s and CIE/IEs disconnecting the GSRPS and Westrail's depots for the networkput paid to setting up a broad gauge heritage line in the Republic, the absence of suitable steam locos doesn't exacty help!

Love the way this thread is going almost as good to include trusts, national identity and culture almost as good as some of the stuff that appears on RMWeb, Facebook etc. I share JHBs view that the relative lack of heritage railways in the Republic is mainly down to the low level of interest in railway preservation compared to the Uk and other countries, and an almost complete absence of the wealthy donors that are a core part in establishing and maintaining the preservation movement in other countries (no Irish equivalent of Alan Pegler, McAlpine, Bob Suchmann, Tony Hills, Peter Rampton, David & Charles, Ian Welch (founder of Main Line Steam Trust NZ https://www.mainlinesteam.co.nz/history. I don't believe that the Republic's relatively low population compared with the UK is a significant factor in this lack of heritage railway operations. New Zealanders with a similar population to Ireland spread out across a land mass of similar area to the UK have established over 60 heritage railway, tramway and museum groups represented by a FRONZ a national co-ordinating body similar to the Association of Railway Preservation Societies in the UK. Many of these railways operate in sparcely populated rural areas founded and operated by grass roots local groups with restoration and operation funded mainly by the members donations and business sponsor ship. According to the stats there are between 140-150 'preserved' steam locos in New Zealand with approximately 20-25 operational. Varying in size form main-line 4-8-4 tender locos to humble 0-4-0T locos and American and locally manufactured geared industrial (logging & mining) locos. Going back to "Trusts" these are a vehicle to protect your private assets from your creditors if & when you go bust, your from your family when you kick the bucket and a way of avoiding inheritance/estate tax. Back in the day 70s/80s I worked in the Irish Construction/Property sector one of our 'founders' worth about £14m at the time set things up so his entire estate passed to a 'family trust" avoiding death duties. Unfortunately he and his brothers had no interest in railways preferring fine art and horsebreeding on the plus side his family invested heavily establishing factories to support their mainly Dublin based construction business. Interestingly although things seem to be going backwards here as in the USA, UK and Ireland in recent years (increased income disparity/relative poverty/failing public health systems and infrastructure), teenagers/young people continue to enthusiastly volunteer (often the dirties most unpleasent jobs like ashing out) on the local heritage line in a similar manner to my experience volunteering while unemployed (& with negative equity on my home) during the UK recession of the early 90s. Mc Millans comment about 'you never had its so good" could apply equally to my childhood/early teenage years in Dublin during the 1960s-early 70s, but plagued with uncertainty as I searched for work as an 18 year old school leaver in the aftermath of the First Oil Crisis. While few of my best laid plans worked out as planned, we have a reasonably comfortable retirement more by syncronicity than planning and investment. I guess my advice to someone interested in reviving/saving the West Clare or Tralee & Blennerville would be to set up a page on social media to gauge the level of interest both at a local and national level, then set up/get involved in a support group.