Mayner

Along with the Bob Barlow obituary Model Railway Journal No 240 has quite an Irish flavour with an article on scratch building Irish Narrow gauge locos and a colour photo of David Holman's Arigna. The models of C&L No1 Isabel and Tralee & Dingle Kerr No 4 are so realistically modelled I first though they were O rather than 4mm scale For modern traction modellers there is an article on converting an O gauge Class 37 to a real Co Co with traction motors driving each axle

404 was one of the Armstrong Whitworth built locos. These were un-superheated and supplied new with the large E Class tenders which carried 7 tons of coal and 4500 gal of water, probably needed the full tender load to reach Cork. There is a legend that orders to scrap 404 in 1930 were ignored, its number plates swapped with 409 which was scrapped instead.

I was over the Eastern end of the line twice once on an IRRS special to Kimacthomas and New Ross during the 70s and a final IRRS special on the day the line finally closed. The line was busy with passenger traffic on the final day a Pitzer staff excursion from Ballinacourty and associated ECS working hauled by a pair of 121s and the IRRS special worked by a 001. Kilmac was retained as a crossing loop with a short siding the old goods store at the Western end of the station.

Leslie 375 ties in with Locomotives of the GSR Type C tenders 374-77 built in 1922 most likely to run with 401,402 & 406 built 1921 & a spare. JHB The 400s & 500 seem to have been built with new tenders, but of 4 different types C,D,E & F ? The 3 surviving Inchacore 400s 401, 402 & 406 probably ended up with larger D,E or F tenders with the poorer quality "coal" available during the Emergency and during CIE days. Larger E Type tenders from the scrapped Armstrong Whitworth 408 & 409 and Type D & F tenders from the 500 class appear to have ended up behind the rebuilt 400 Class. 800 The K3 & K4 or 355 & 368 Classes had a reputation of being very useful heavy goods and mixed traffic locos . Some were scrapped in the late 1920s as the GSR had a surplus of heavy freight locos with the Great Depression and the introduction of the 500s & Woolwich Moguls. 356 was used as a guinea pig for the turf burner conversion as she was considered to be the best of the type

The GSR & Irish Free State publicity machines seems to have been aimed chiefly at competing with Northern Ireland and the GNR & NCC for overseas visitors. Once the GSR had successfully lobbied Government to allow the railways to take over competing road services there was no real need for a publicity machine in the Free State, the real problem was economic stagnation and the long drawn out closure process for uneconomic lines. Had the GSR got its way the narrow gauge and most branch and cross-country lines would have gone by 1939, this would have allowed most of the older and non-standard stock to be scrapped, leaving the GSR with a modern fleet of locos and rolling stock.

186 tender looks more like a GSWR Coey tender rather than MGWR. Visually the two companys tenders were quite different Midland platework very smooth countersunk rivets, GSWR covered in snaphead rivets, framing quite different between large Midland & GSWR tenders.

"Locomotive of the GSR has a whole section on GSWR tenders but unfortunately no photos showing the front end. 186s tender is most likely to be what described as a Type C Tender 67 of which were built between 1899-1922. These tenders appear to have been the standard for the majority of 4-4-0, 0-6-0, 2-6-0 & 4-6-0 classes built between 1899 & 1914 and the three Inchacore built 400 Class 4-0s 400, 401, 402, 406. The remaining 400s were built by Armstrong Whitworth in Newcastle and fitted with the larger E Class tenders, the English built engines were not superheated and would have been expected to be a lot more heavier on coal and water than the superheated Inchacore built locos.

I got mine from Tonys Trains Exchange in the USA a long-long time ago, Digitrains in the UK seem to stock them expensive though http://www.digitrains.co.uk/ecommerce/search/?loc=1&q=&c=1&m=17. Converting your Liliput HOe locos to DCC is probably more trouble than its worth and won't help the re-sale value or improve the running quality of your locos. DCC works best in N or 009 /HOe with bogie diesels or electrics with 8-12 wheel pick up. I converted my Irish narrow gauge locos back to analogue as I could not get reliable operation with 4 or 6 wheel pick up and found analogue more forgiving.

I found the CMX Clean Machine very effective in N gauge, should do the job in 009 Used to run the car around the layout in the consist of a train once or twice a month. Used isopropyl as a cleaning fluid in the car, and to clean loco/stock wheels.

Came across this explains what a Relco is supposed to do. Definitely not suitable for DCC but recommended for 009 http://www.mrol.com.au/Articles/DCC/Relcos.aspx

They would have needed at least 3 MPDs to put out a similar power output to a 141 or 4 to equal a 181 or Hunslet. The heavy freights would have put a terrible stress on the MPD engines and transmissions. In Diesel Dawn Patrick Flannigan spoke of power units shutting down as engines and transmissions overheated until there was only one 275hp power car trying to keep the whole train moving. Between the constant threat of closure, reliability problems with MPD cars and Crossley locos the drivers and fitters lot could not have been a happy one in the 60s and 70s

Harris imported Hino trucks into Ireland in CKD form in the 60s & 70s claiming that they were assembled in Ireland rather than imported. "Assembly" was basically attaching the cab to an already assembled chassis, topping up with fuel, oil and water and driving off the assembly line.

Having investigated spent the best part of the last 15 years investigating workplace accidents including several fatalities, I have found that common sense is not the most common of commodities as we are hard wired to take risks. Trains cannot swerve if someone cocks big time and permits a train to enter an area under possession, a high vis just might draw a drivers attention to warn workers of an approaching train. PTS certs and training has become more critical with the increasing number of contactors and casuals, with CTC and power signalling and multiple worksites there is probably a greater risk of control loosing track of possessions than during the era each section had a local ganger and control by a local signal box. The behaviour of the Ballymena signal man is a symptom of the casual culture on the railways during that era that that lead to the like of Buttervant and Cherryville and Clapham Junctions disasters. Was this the usual practice for exchanging tokens at Ballymena? Did the union raise the issue with management and ask for a platform for exchanging tokens or simply let sleeping dogs lie?

Great photos I did not realise CIE operated bulk cement and unit load/sundies container service to Waterside. The mixed manifest consists are more typical of the Speedlink wagon load era in the UK than CIE freights of the same era.

80 Class power cars may have been used to work the "Derry Vacuum" between Lisburn & Waterside. The Vacuum was an overnight fully fitted express goods that ran between North Wall and Derry with freight for Donegal in the 60s & 70s The train was diverted to run via Antrim after the closure of the GNR Derry Road and was usually hauled by MPD or EE railcars between Lisburn & Waterside. The service ended in the late 70s when traffic to rail freight to Waterside was cutback to Fertiliser and possibly bagged cement

The lack of road knowledge in combination with inadequate information in maps could be a factor. You would expect accurate information on road maps and GPS/routing systems. Before the building of the West Link bridge and the M50, European truck drivers regularly tried the R109 narrow and twisting road from Chapelizod to Castleknock as a short cut from the Galway (N5) to the Navan Road (N3). For anyone that does not know the area the road has a severe height restriction at Knockmaroon Hill. Although there were overhead gantry loading gauges at Chapelizod and the top of the hill, the odd driver still tried it and had their driving skills tested having to reverse an artic and 40' trailer from the bottom of the hill along the narrow twisting Martins Row to Chapelizod Village I doubt few if any drivers made the same mistake twice. We tend to protect high risk overbridges with box section impact beams independent of the bridge span or deck.

Some day Some day To drive from New Orleans and follow the old SP across Texas and Arizona to the Pacific is still one of my unfilled ambitions. Last time I was in the states wife made me turn back half way across Montana she thought I would not stop till I reached the Pacific, when all I wanted to see was some blue MRL diesels, got to Bedrock though and eat a Broto-Burger.

I would disagree the one of the main reasons I left the private and joined the public sector was out of frustration with consultants. I have come across some horror stories where private sector clients have been sold complete pups in terms of management, environmental, heath and safety and design consultancy. One of the favourites is to charge a client for information that is already in the public domain and freely available.

There would be the usual argument over who should pay the railroad/the city/State or Federal government. The combination of speed & sudden narrowing of the traffic lanes under the bridge is potentially lethal with cars and van striking the abutment and re-bounding to the opposite side of the road. I once drove from New York through Southern Ontario to Chicago and the Mid-West the only place we were honked at or came across really agressive driving was in Canada.

The Blacksod Terminal seems to have been part of a much bigger scheme for communication between the UK and the more far flung parts of the Empire without having to set foot on foreign soil. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-Red_Route. Its hard to know if the promoters lead by J P McAndrew and a group of English investors were genuine in their attempts or it was a speculative bubble feeding of the rampant jingoism and nationalist fever that lead to the Great War. Mc Andrew and his supporters also appear to have taken out mining options in the Arigna Valley and made two unsuccessful attempts to build a broad gauge Sligo-Arigna line. I always liked the idea of a Ballina-Crossmolina line that would have given Burtonport and the Kyle of Lochalsh & Mallaig lines a run for their money in terms of remoteness, possibly hanging on into the late 50s like Valentia or Kenmare. I just wonder how the terminal building with its concrete structure and glass roof would have held up to the salt air and Atlantic storms.

Steam tours tend to sell out quite fast, fares are expensive by UK/Irish standards. http://www.steaminc.org.nz/_brochures/South_Is_Booking_Form_2015_v6.pdf. Rolling stock and crew shortages, restrictions on trains carrying passengers through the longer tunnels are making it more difficult to run steam on the main line.

Very popular annual steam excursion along the "Coal Train Route" from Christchurch across the Canterbury Plains through the Southern Alps to Greymouth in Westland. No excursions this year due to the lack of available coaches, future of the route potentially in question due to the collapse in coking coal and gold bullion prices on the world market.

The NTA providing targeted funding for specific services seems to be an improvement on the old system. Is it feasible to provide cross platform interchange between services using the slow and fast lines at Adamstown? It would make sense to route long distance commuter trains over the fast lines between Hazlehatch and Clondalkin with Adamstown or Park West as an interchange point between Heuston & Grand Canal Dock services.

Dapol held on to the Wrenn wagon toolings and incorporated them into their wagon range. Wagons like the Dapol Cattle Wagon, Gunpowder Van and Fruit D are basically Hornby-Dublo bodies on Airfix GMR chassis rather than the original HD diecast chassis.