Mayner

SSM produce complete kits for 4 types of GSWR 6 wheel coach 1st, 1,2,3rd Comp, 3rd and 3rd brake The kits are probably an easier starting point than using the Worsley Works scratch aids and sourcing castings, bearings, seats and other parts. MGWR coaches are on the JM Design to do list

Lasted a good few years when the up and down Day Mail was cancelled following the closure of Carlisle Pier and the TPO & Van attached to existing Heuston-Galway trains. The Day Mail used to connect with the overnight "Mail Boat" at Dun-Laoire usually a very heavy A Class hauled train full of tired passengers many of whom had already spent 8-9 hours on the train and boat from Euston.

Its good to see that the Ballyglunin group have reasonably realistic objective of restoring the station building for community and tourist use and long term plan to re-build the goods shed as a theatre/exhibition venue/community hall? has a greater chance of community buy in and success than a railway museum largely dependent on outside support. Many rural museums in New Zealand and the United States are 100% volunteer operated and only open on occasional weekends during the year or by appointment like Kiltimagh. Our local preserved railway the 7km Glen Afton Line has 7 regular operating days every year plus the occasional charter (coach tour) and is 100% volunteer owned and operated with some sponsorship from industry, charitable trusts and government agencies. The Welsh Highland Heritage Railway operates a daily service for roughly 5 months of the year and is pretty much dependent on legacies, donations from its members to fund the restoration and maintenance of its locos stock, building and plant. Shop and ticket sales pay the shop assistants wages rates & taxes, and the running cost of the train

CIE seem to have used the D14 or 60 Class on the Limerick-Sligo passenger trains and slightly smaller D17 or 52 Class on the Tuam-Galway local trains and J15s working all goods traffic from the late 1940s until the end of steam. D17 no 59 the star of the Quiet Man seems to have been a regular loco on the Tuam passengers and in a "Decade of Steam" Drew Donaldson contrasts the smart running of the 52 Class with the "leisurely loping" of the D14s working the Sligo-Limerick trains over the Athenry-Tuam section. No59 was timed at 64mph between Ballyglunin & Athenry in 1952 and superheated No16 at 66 between Balyglunin and Tuam running in the opposite direction. Ex WLWR 4-4-0, 2-4-0 & 0-6-0 locos are likely to have shared the workings with the GSWR classes until withdrawn in the late 1940s. A Decade of Steam speaks about the staff at Athenry shed (surely Tuam?) struggling with a leaking foundation ring on 59 afraid to send her to Inchacore lest she would never return. I doubt whether the C Class would have had adequate power for goods trains over the Limerick-Sligo line as traffic density (Ton/mile carried) was higher over the line north from Limerick to Athenry, than the lines into Waterford or Athlone-Galway. Daily Limerick-Claremorris & Limerick-Sligo were required from the late 50s until the closing of the Burma Road in 1975. Its possible that locos working Limerick-Sligo goods were changed at Tuam in steam days rather than working through between terminals and the shed was far busier than would normally be expected for a relatively small through station. A steam loco would require major servicing having been on the road for 7-8 hours with a pick-up goods and the crew out of time on the road. Its interesting that by 1960 the Tuam goods now runs through to Claremorris in approx. 12 hours and the through Limerick-Sligo goods in approx. 17 hours probably without change of locomotive. Personally the greatest drawback to developing Ballyglunin as a tourist attraction is its remote location and its limited nature as an attraction a scene from a movie made 60 odd years ago, Cong and locations in Connemara have a much stronger appeal Perhaps a restoration with more of a community based focus such as the Kiltimagh Museum or Templeport Community Centre than a commercial tourist focus may have a greater chance of success.

Having converted the Bachmann Big Haulier to on board battery control it was difficult to resist running a double headed freight with the modified Bachmann Connie 2-8-0. The 4-6-0 is just about capable of pulling 5 cars and caboose without slipping the 2-8-0 can manage 8 the 2-8-2 12 over my hilly line. Locos on shed waiting departure this is the 1st time I had two battery powered locos on shed. #20 turned awaiting departure The turntable is a piece of decking timber that pivots on a coach screw. I had intended to replace the timber deck with a metal bridge and proper brass pivot but the current set up works and is trouble free. The locos was modified to resemble RGS 20 about 5-6 years ago with new plasticard cab, lowered running board, shortened smokebox deeper tender tank, detail fittings include Ozark Miniatures classification lights and builders plates. Locos backing down I have got to finish the plumbing from the tender airreceivers and tone down the paintwork on No 20 and order some decals! Double headed train taking the High Line at the Junction. The gondolas are cut in between the locos to help spread the weight on weak bridges/trestles. I am planning to add a wye track in the area to the right of the caboose for turning locos & trains to add more operating interest. Doubleheader on the 4% grade A bit like a 60 Class or D14 doubleheading with a J15 the locos seem to run well together once the 4-6-0 is leading. I was rather surprised when #20 managed 6 heavy 1:20.3 scale freight cars on the 4% though the morning was dry and sunny!

Autonomus freight vehicles is predicted to be among the next generation of disruptive technologies eliminating the livelihoods of millions of truck drivers within the next 10 years http://cerasis.com/2017/05/24/autonomous-vehicles-in-logistics/, while railfreight remains wedded to the 1950s American concept of running heavier and longer trains to bring down running costs. Truck manufacturers are developing hybrid and fuel cell technology to reduce carbon emissions and distributed power units for tractor and trailer units a road DEMU? Articles in Engineering & Technology Magazine speak of operating the motorway system in a similar manner to a traditional railway creating marshalling yards to consolidate and distribute line haul traffic into the trunk system at traffic hubs, some bright spark even suggested stringing cantanery over the motorway system to power hybrid trucks another suggested converting the railways into traffic routes for autonomu vehicles. In New Zealand HPMVs are eating into rails market share and many of the core parts of our State Highway system are not dis-similar to the Roads in parts of the West of Ireland where rail does not reach. Locally a 30 wagon 60 TEU freight is considered marginal & 100TEU profitable. One of the surprising things was the international failure to develop the freight DMU to transport freight at passenger train speed, this would have appeared to have been ideal for the relatively light freight traffic levels carried on Irelands railways and offered an advantage in terms of faster more frequent services required for high value freight and lower operating costs than IEs traditional 30-36 TEU freight trains.

The 3 WCR railcar trailers ran on converted T&D coach underfames, one of the trailers was restored and used on the preserved C&L at Dromad

Road tends to be more cost efficient faster and flexible for less than train load lots. The road transport system has the advantage of being a user pays system where the Government and Insurance companies can adjust fuel, vehicle and road user excise taxes and insurance fees to recover the full internal and external costs of road transport. Another big pro in favour of road transport in Ireland is that you can load a truck with butter or cheese at a Co-Op in Cork or Kerry and deliver direct to a supermarket in the UK or main land Europe. Road vehicle technology is also jumping ahead of rail, with larger more fuel efficient vehicles (HPMV) and GPS based fleet management systems improving roads competitive advantage over rail. https://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/vehicle-types/vehicle-classes-and-standards/vehicle-dimensions-and-mass/high-productivity-motor-vehicles/

Threats of Ireland being fined by the EU for carbon emissions is something of a red herring. The European Emissions Trading Scheme is part of an international trading scheme that allows big energy users to buy and sell carbon credits or a license to pollute. Coca-Cola and other big international shippers that use the IWT & DFDS container service have admitted that they use rail because of the lower carbon cost to their business. Apart from Coillte, Tara & possibly Irish Cement there are few other shippers that could use rail to farm carbon credits. I am not sure whether buying carbon offsets and carbon farming reminds me more of selling indulgences or the South Sea Bubble. Regardless of the carbon trading scheme or the treat of EU fines its difficult to see a swing back to railfreight in a small island like Ireland with little or no heavy manufacturing industry and apart from Ballina most manufacturing and process industry within 40-50 miles of a deep sea port.

I recently converted a Bachmann Big Haulier 4-6-0 from track to battery RC control. I modified the engine to resemble RGS No 20 re-wired and converted the loco to DCC using a Digitrax decoder in 2010-11. I converted the loco to on board battery power to improve reliability as power pick up became erratic as the plating wore off the driving wheels after 6-7 years use. The conversion gives me a 3rd medium sized line haul loco and the opportunity to double head heavier freights rather than use the K27. Battery Sled RCS "decoder", sound card and switch gear fixed to tender floor, the speaker is a standard fitting on these locos. Battery sled installed above electronics and speaker on tender floor The sled is a piece of acrylic sheet RC system on test I re-wired the loco with in line connectors between engine and tender and wiring loom and headlamp. I modified the loco to resemble No20 by fabricating a new cab in plasticard and fitting new lower running boards also in plasticard. I reinforced the running board with KS brass box section & strip as the original Evergreen box sections had failed and broken off. Loco partially re-assembled showing power connectors between loco and tender I am not happy with the paint finish, I have been unable to match the Floquil paint I used in the original re-build and tried a satin black aerosol to try and match my two DRGW locos.

Quite a contrast to tiny volunteer groups in remote parts of the United States like the Galloping Goose Histroical Society in Dolores Colorado who are prepared to fund their own restoration without the expectation of Government funding. http://www.gallopinggoose5.org/what-we-do/

Excellent drawings Wrenn! good enough to build 12"-1' replicas of the Irish Railway Clearing House (IRCH) wagons widely used by the GSR & GNR(I). The GNR continued to build outside framed vans and timber underframed ppens to the IRCH design into the 1950s. The GSWR/GSR preferred steel framing and strapping the steel framed van evolved into the CIE H Van of the 1950s. In 4mm SSM do a very nice whitemetal kit of the open & Provincal resin kit of the GNR van

Marlborough Express article on 1st works train to reach Kaikoura since the 2016 earthquake. The train was 1km long! The repairs involved the demolition and re-building of a number of reinforced concrete bridges and viaducts with temporary steel structures. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/93513630/first-train-since-the-earthquake-made-its-way-into-kaikoura-today Some drone fottage of the damage, the stranded train and locos were recently removed by road. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/90984405/kiwirail-train-left-in-limbo-by-earthquake-shifted-for-track-repairs

I was recently in contact with Chris Gibbon of High Level for a suitable motor and gearbox for the 650 Class Chis advised that at this stage Mashima motors are still available and are considering Canon Motors as an alternative.

There are several photos of J15 hauled North Wexford passenger trains iin the early 60s in the Irish Railways in Colour series, the usual consist seems to have been a late GSWR corridor coach sandwiched between a pair of 4 w (tarnished silver) luggage vans. The only change seems to the consist seems to have been substituting one of the luggage vans with a heating van when the service was dieselised shorty before closure in 1963. There is also a picture of a North Wexford passenger train made up of a large J9 Class 0-6-0 and a solitary Rosslare 12 w brake comp. This would have had room for 1st and2nd class passengers and mail/parcel traffic. The line limit over the North Wexford appears to have been 50 for passengers and 35 for goods trains. The passenger services on the Waterford-Mallow line was restricted to a daily Cork-Waterford passenger train and the Cork-Rosslare express appears to have run trice weekly (TTS) for most of the year and daily during the summer peak. Although there was no scheduled mail service over the line a luggage van on the goods would have been useful for parcel and newspaper (The Cork Examiner?) traffic on a line with such a sparse passenger service.

The Waterford-Macmine Junction line closed shortly after the 1st film was made in 1963 with Bo-Bos taking over from J15s on passenger services. I have a copy of the 1960 WTT the general line limit of 50mph for the North Wexford line applied crossing the Barrow bridge, though there was a speed restriction on trains descending the grade from Rathgarogue through the tunnel to the bridge. The B101 apparently double heading with a C is an interesting one. Through goods traffic on the central section of the Waterford-Mallow Line between Dungarvan and Fermoy was quite light, the heaviest traffic was concentrated on the section between Waterford & Dungarvan and to a lesser extent between Mallow & Fermoy. Goods traffic was carried by a daily return Waterford-Mallow goods and an afternoon Waterford-Dungarvan return trip working. The B101 appear to have taken over from the Woolwich on the Rosslare Express & J15s on goods trains when the line was dieselised in the 1950s up to the arrival of the BoBos. The B101s would have been more sure footed than a B121 or B141 with a heavy loose coupled goods on the steeply graded Waterford-Dungarvan line. The double headed train was a westbound filmed between Durrow Viaduct and Ballyvole, the luggage van next to the brake van adds another dimension to the train. Was the operating department simply using the train to transfer the C Class and the luggage van to the Cork area or was one of the locos to be used to work a Dungarvan-Waterford goods with van? I was luck enough to see the level crossings in Dungarvan before the line closed in 67 and walk through Durrow Tunnel and over Ballyvoyle Viaduct before the track was lifted and even tried to cross the the DSER line Barrow viaduct before chickening out in crossing the opening span with the burnt out timbers. Plenty of modelling material with both lines

British Leyland discontinuing the supply of engine and transmission parts was one of the main factors in the demise of the AEC railcars. During Leyland did not seem to understand the long lived nature of railway assets and a business model based on the supply of spare parts. New Zealand railways had to re-engine its DSC heavy shunting locos (52) with Cummins engines in the early 70s after Leyland discontinued to supply parts for the Leyland UE902 engines shorty after the last of the locos entered service.

The Jackson County like the Rio Grande Southern seems to hire locos and freight cars from the DRGW to move heavy seasonal freight traffic. This was our 1st weekend of winter, and we ran our 1st freight train in about a month after a lot of leaf sweeping/blowing/shredding and a new radio transmitter from RCS in Australia. Jackson City DRGW K27 #464 arrives with stock cars and box cars from Placerville #464 was regularly hired to the RGS during the late 1940s early 50s traffic ore in boxcars from local mines and sheep during the fall stock rush. Sometimes up to 3 locos were needed to move heavy stock or ore trains. Busy day at Jackson City RGS Motor #4 arrives with the trice weekly mail and express. The RGS Geese were converted from late 1920s Pierce Arrow Limousines and more or less kept the railroad running into the late 1940s. Surprisingly most of the fleet survive and several are runners! Motor #4 is an Accucraft model bought second hand from the UK and is fitted with RCS battery radio remote control system and a Phoenix sound system. In classical RGS/County Donegal fashion the radio control system was salvaged from a scrapped loco

Some small scale stuff for a change more unfinished projects. Ex-MGWR non-passenger stock going through the paint shop. 3L & 8T in the background waiting overhaul. Like Inchacore after the Emergency finishing anything takes a long long time. I started painting the vans in Jan and they are still not complete. Two vans are supposed to be in GSR livery the others are now in a representation of the early CIE green I have once again dusted off Keadue nearly 14 years after starting to build the layout as a minimum space quickie! I added a sleeper built buffer stop to the store road and found the ground frame I mislaid in 2012. Some posters of CIEs new diesel trains and luxury coach tours to tease the unfortunate passengers on the daily mixed. No 8L poses at the new coal stage outside the loco shed. The stage is built from individual wooden sleepers.

850 seems to have been intended as a prototype for a light modern go almost anywhere passenger/mixed traffic tank. The Wall Street Crash put paid to building further new locos for 6 years when the GSR designed a passenger version of the "Improved" J15 with the 5 670 class 0-6-2Ts. 850 managed to briefly escape Amiens St-Greystones and was tried on Waterford-Limerick trains during the 1930s.

Yes. Small scale plans of most of the 1st generation of railcars and a lot of useful information and photos.

http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/entry.php/107-850-Nearly-there!

The time available and whether you prefer building models or running models are probably the biggest factors in deciding to work in 21mm gauge or OO. I have been working in 21mm to the slightly coarser EM standard for about 30 years but still have not had the time of space to build a layout P4 is probably a better option than EM standards for steam locos like GNR 4-4-0s on account of tight clearances between wheels, though its nearly as difficult to get these engines to run satisfactorily in OO, much simpler to keep to diesels. It would be worth while contacting the South Dublin Model Railway Club to get an idea of whats involved in building in 21mm gauge to P4 standards. They built a model of Beltubet to P4 standards and are the custodians of Tony Mills Adavadoyle a P4 GNR Main Line layout featuring a large junction station.

It will be interesting to see how the re-launched MIR wagon kits fare especially with the Tara's & Ammonia tank wagons duplicated by IRM and SSM. The hobby is shifting more from kit and scratchbuilding to rtr with the availability of small runs of highly detailed rtr models from China. The loco kits were dropped and the wagons re-tooled as resin kits about 10-15 years ago.

It might be worth while contacting the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Cultra GNR, NCC & BCDR carriage and wagon drawings are available from Cultra, so its possible drawings for GNR assets in Northern Ireland went to the UFTM rather than the IRRS