Mayner

Wished I'd be around to document that, a very nice station. Interesting to note since my visit a Celtic Tiger housing estate has swallowed up the former station site, although part of the goods shed is still in situ.

Sunday afternoons 30 odd years ago sent exploring abandoned branch lines after getting my first car.

Very attractive line with riverside sections & a backdrop of the Wicklow Mountains.

More common view of the North end of the train shed Not sure of the purpose of the stone building on the right it looks more like a farm than a railway building and too small to be a loco shed.

Station building from the South East similar to Rathvilley

I will put up the goods shed and trainshed when I get a chance.

The branch lost its passenger and regular goods service in the late 1940s, the only traffic appears to have been cattle specials to Baltinglass with the loco running light to Tullow to turn. The branch seems to have been quite run down and over grown in later years, most photos in later days show trains running through a sea of grass with the rails hardly visible.

There are a couple of nice photos of the Station in GSR days with a 52 Class on a passenger and a J15 on a goods in Great Southern Railways by Donal Murray (ian Allen 2006).

The trains are a nice mix the passenger with a corridor coach in chocolate and cream and a 6 wheeler in what looks like the then new maroon livery, the goods made up of old style14' wagon is a bit like the old Triang-Hornby Freightmaster set with no two wagons the same.

One of the oddities for the terminus of a long branch line is that Tullow does not appear to have had a engine shed at a time a shed or workshop was essential for carrying out maintenance light repairs between runs.

Neil Ramsey' C Class comes pretty close.

Possibly commissioned by Metrovick as a boardroom ornament for CIE or for publicity purposes.

Taken with an Instamatic (I hadn't anything better) around 1980 wont find this one on Eiretrains

Its a bit ironic to see luxury tourist trains appearing so many years after the most scenic lines like Achill, Clifen, Valentia and Waterford-Mallow closed. CIEs 1st diesel programme in the 1940s included a luxury train aimed at the American tourist market.

It will be interesting to see if the new train will involve an element of overnight running, this would have advantages for Belmond and IE in moving guests between attractions, avoiding the boring bits in the middle, feeing up line capacity and improved security.

Nothing wrong with Noels interpretation of the MRSI title.

 

Maybe the MRSI need a Change of Name then to imply that it is not an All Ireland Association if its stuck on the Northside.. MRSNSOD sounds great...Good to see you in form Ed. Noel is rattling you bigo. Go Noel

Good to see that tribalism is alive and well in Ireland. Funnily I haven't heard similar calls for "The Model Railway Club" in London or "The Ulster Model Railway Club" to change their names or calls for a ban on the imperialist NMRA recruiting members outside the US. The club is similar in a way to the MRC in London one of the oldest in the country with good working relationships with other clubs and members drawn mainly from the greater Dublin area with even a few from the SDMRC Dunlaoire-Rathdown heartland.

I like the 3/4 view the model really captures the look of these coaches.

The IFM Park Royals look like good layout coaches and are reasonably priced for what they are and fill a huge gap in the rtr/easy to build market.

To a degree comparing the IFM & Worsley Works Park Royals is like comparing apples and oranges. The IFM model is aimed at the modeller/collector who wants a coach that looks like a Park Royal, rather than someone who wants to build a scale model of a Park Royal.

The TPO/Tool Van kits are in stock at $106 + $20 shipping prices quoted in NZ dollars.

I will be in contact with anyone who has expressed an interest or placed an order for one of these vans.

Wouldn't mind a pre-1925 layout, before pretty much every loco got plastered with battleship grey. Since many rural Irish stations changed very little between the 1900's and 1980's with a few subtle changes one could have a bit of scope. A station serving 2 or 3 companies would have been rather colourful places back in the day, think WL&WR locos were the best looking things on wheels, plenty brass and spit-and-polish.

WLWR layouts made it to the cover of the Railway Modeller and almost became fashionable in the 80s with Richard Chown's Castlerackrent and Dave Walker (I think) Killaney. Killanney was exhibited at Chatham and Castlerackrent tends to appear in various forms at exhibitions in Scotland.

There is a good selections of photos seems to be mainly MGWR and WLWR No2 Shannon in lined black http://highlandmiscellany.com/2014/06/03/last-train-to-castle-rackrent/.

The 0-6-0s and 2-4-0s locos were supposed to be based on GWR designs and close in size to the Dean Goods, tank engines fairly simple in outline would be fairly easy to build in plasticard if you can find a small enough 2-4-2 or 0-4-4 chassis.

The 4-4-2T & 2-4-2T locos appear to be identical apart from one class having a leading bogie this was probably to improve tracking/reduce wear on the loco and track. The GSWR did the same around the same time turning out the last of the small radial tanks for the Kerry branches and Cobh line as bogie engines.

Not exactly US/Canadian or Modelling but distinctively American in style probably one of the reasons I settled down here. Our October Bank Holiday weekend is more the equivalent of the UK & Irish May weekend and the mid point of an annual spring tour.

This year the tour covered most of the central North Island including a day excursion over one of the local freight only line. On the day the weather was pretty grim cold and overcast, 5 year old daughter thoroughly enjoyed chasing Thomas.

A bit like the Scottish railway photographers story of filming a train while carrying out earthquake research, sometimes I have the knack of being in the right place and combining work and leisure.

The crew have just completed shunting the Lime Train clear of the main line for loading. Its unusual to see these locos running "elephant' fashion, the return journey will involve approx. 60 miles "long hood' first running. The train is classed as a trip working and thee loco double manned for shunting at the lime works and possibly other industries.

Later on I heard a whistle and eventually caught up with Thomas, half of the town seem to have stopped work and turned out see the loco being coaled and prepared for the long climb mostly at 1:70 to Poro-o-Tarao Tunnel the first of the major summits for South bound trains.

Looking like a typical NZR express from the early 1900s to the late 1960s. The first typically American 4-6-2 Pacific and 4-8-2 Mountain locos were built for use on "Main Trunk Line" in the early 1900s. NZR further developed the type with the 4-6-2 becoming the maid of all work from express passenger to branch line goods from the early 1900s. Large 4-8-4s based on a combination of American and South African practice took over the heaviest trains in the 1930s and a large class of modern 4-8-2 introduced from the 1940s onwards displaced the Pacifics to branch line duties.

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Has anyone completed this kit before?

George's RM thread http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/66331-studio-scale-models-bandon-tank-4-6-0/?hl=%2Bstudio+%2Bscale+%2Bmodels

Thanks Kirley. That seemed a good solution for extra power and traction, but if I read the thread correctly those Hornby 55 bogies don't have all wheel pickup due to traction tyres. I looking for a suitable chassis with ALL wheel pickup. If I understand correctly your A class now has pickups on one side only of each power bogie. I have peco insulfrog points, but MM locos with their all wheel pickups run perfectly even at crawl speed over the points, as do some of my Bachman steam locos that have all wheel pickups. I'd prefer to avoid having to use keep-alive decoders in an attempt to get an A class to run well at crawl speed over points. Due to the popularity of SF A class I'm hoping somebody has discovered a solution. Any idea what bachmann chassis are similar to MM for drive and pickup quality (eg MM071)?

Fitting Ultrascale replacement OO gauge wheelsets https://www.ultrascale.com/eshop/products/view/CAT007/410 with wiper pick ups on the insulated wheels would be the simplest option for doing away with the traction tyres and converting a Lima or Hornby Class 55 to all 12 wheel pick up. The wheels are basically supplied to order so there should be no problem in getting a two motor set. I have used their wheels both for 21mm gauge Irish locos and stock and re-wheeling Lima British outline locos.

If you want a central motor and flywheel drive a Walthers or Lifelike Proto 2000 SD7 or SD9 may be a more economic conversion than a Heljan or Dapol Class 52. Years ago I motorised a MIR/Q Kits whitemetal A Class using the motor, trucks and driveshafts from an Athearn SD9.

It was basically a matter of building a frame and motor cradle from KS Brass strip and box section to replace the Athearn frame. The only modification to the drive to fit the shorter A Class bogie centres was to remove one of the flywheels.

No pubic o WTT Railway Byelines Annual No 5 incudes a 12 page Des Coakham article on the Harcourt Street Line in the 1950s. Excellent selection of high qualty photos of steam and diesel (railcar) trains on the line, photos of Harcourt Street inside and outside the train shed and some of the intermediate stations.

Services in the end do not appear to much different than what we would expect on a similar line today 100% railcar worked. Park Royal and Inchacore built AEC railcars, 3 car sets mainly with Park Royal and Laminate intermediate coaches.

I had a look around Harcourt Street in the mid-1990s, at the time apart from the track lifting and removal of the Adelaide Rd bridge there was remarkably little change to the buildings or structures in the station or goods yard.

Good piece on putting two motor bogies in Hornby or Lima diesels http://www.emgauge70s.co.uk/model_omwb101.html simpler than trying to shorten a metal chassis with central motor drive to the bogies.

The Lima Deltic bogie was close in overall length to the A Class.

Going back to modelling what we felt we were secure with in our childhood does not really stack up for those of us who grew up in the late 50s early-mid 60. Probably the reason why so many people model Continental, American or even the Big Four or the GNR in preference to CIE or UTA.

As a teenager I was mainly interested in the GWR mainly from articles in the Railway Modeller, only started to develop an interest in contemporary CIE operation exploring the network on a Rambler Ticket after I left school. The new Supertrains, 1st phase of CTC on the Cork Line, new freight stock was exciting, but as I grew older the traditional steam age railway became more and more enticing.

All this probably explains why have American G & N gauge collections and a mixture of Irish and BR locos and stock.

I'm looking at that photo again - I doubt if it was in 1932 - probably earlier.

 

Having said that, I wouldn't think the GSR ever repainted it. There were several "oddballs" that survived well into the thirties without ever seeing GSR livery: C & L 4.4.0T No. 1, C & L 0.6.4.T No. 9 "King Edward", the magnificent MGWR twelve wheel Director's Saloon (without doubt the most sumptuous Irish passenger coach ever built), the T & D inspection car, the small tank engine 299 based in Albert Quay, one of the surviving Waterford & Tramore 2.2.2WT's, the aforementioned Inchicore-based No. 92 (almost certainly) and so on....

 

Senior, who I visited today, recalls a few carriages in GSWR livery at "Kingsbridge" in the early 30s....

With ex-MGWR senior management at the helm and ex-GSWR staff in charge of things mechanical and civil engineering the GSR was very careful with money.

Without a commercial need to establish a new brand you would expect that the GSR would only re-paint locos and stock following a heavy overhaul.

Locos and carriages built/overhauled in the early 20s probably would not be due for an overhaul until at least 10-12, high quality paintwork from the Edwardian era with multiple layers of varnish would have lasted even longer.

While he first Woolwich Mogul 49 was re-painted before the paint had time to dry from lined MGWR livery into grey and re-numbered into the GSWR, its likely that Broadstone would have continued to use up its paint stocks on locos and coaching stock built or overhauled in early GSR days.

Both Inchacore and Broadstone were very busy in the mid-1920s as the railways tried to catch up with repair backlog from WW1 and to replace locos and stock destroyed during the Civil War.

Both works were busy turning out large modern mixed traffic locomotives and mainline passenger stock. Although the GSR CME was opposed to superheating small locos Broadstone continued its superheating programme for the 19 remaining 650 Class 2-4-0 some of which may have ran in MGWR black into the 1930s.

I am not sure if modern paints are better but in New Zealand we have some locos running in freight service that have not seen the inside of a paint shop since the early 90s that are still in reasonable cosmetic condition. Locos that either have a high level of reliability like straight electrics or non turbo diesels tend to put up higher mileage between visits to the works for a heavy overhaul or the paint shop as opposed to turbo-charged diesels.

Did she run on gas?

You could be half right the cylinder seems to be part of "Cabs" lighting system. If the date of the photo is correct No.92 seems to have been really well cared for by GSR standards possibly something of a 'pet' engine kept in GSWR line green livery like 184 in the late 1950s-60s.

No92 is part of the same family of small locos with carriage portions built by the GSWR including No90. No 90 lost her carriage portion and converted to an 0-6-0 side tank possibly for use on the Fermoy-Mitchelstown line in the early 1900s

Very rare and worth looking out for.

"Irish Railways Today", Brendan Pender & Herbert Richards - 1967 guide to CIE & NIR lines, locos and stock operating in 1967. Larger format than Locomotives and Rolling stock includes photos of stations, locos, passenger and goods stock, numbering details and background information.

There may be a copy in the IRRS Library.

Its probably better to go for double track rather than single track and concentrate on one station when building a layout in a small space particulary if you can have a bridge as a view blocker at each end similar to Dalkey.

I gave up trying to fit Ballymoe a small Mayo Line two platform crossing station into a space 17' long, the two station and crossing loop took p nearly 10', the 3' radius approach curves on each end just did not look right for a station on a straight section of line in fairly open country

Micro Mark and North West Shortline in the US produce similar tools for cutting plasticard.

The Duplicutter & Duplicate-it have an adjustable stop and is great for accurately cutting large multiple parts such as wagons sides, ends, floors. http://www.micromark.com/duplicate-it,9546.html

I have also used the Duplicutter with an Offra Cutter for scribing planking on wagon bodies.

The Chopper & Chop-it are guillotines with adjustable stops great for cutting multiple parts in plasticard or stripwood. http://www.micromark.com/chop-it,9547.html

I have a NWSL Chopper & a Duplicutter both of which must be getting on for 20-25 years. When the hardboard under the blade gets worn with cutting I just fill the groove with plastic filler and keep going.

At one stage I converted to N gauge as an alternative to working in OO in a small space. By going for a spacious design, fitting in no more track and buildings than an equivalent space in OO, I was able to run 5-6 coach passenger and 15-20 wagon goods trains with reasonably large radius curves by gauge standards.

At the time moving to N was no disadvantage as there was little or no Irish rtr available and N gauge locos and stock better than contemporary OO.

I stayed with N rather than shifting up to HO when I my modelling interests shifted to American modelling, personally large diesels HO and long freight cars look totally wrong on tight radius curves.

One strange feature is that the driving cab is on the 'wrong' side of the coach. Facing the direction of travel, the driving position is normally on the left-hand side, but in the case of 1407 it is on the right-hand side. This is all the more strange given that the platforms at both Waterford and Tramore were on the left-hand side for trains proceding towards Waterford, so the driver would have been sitting on the side away from the platforms.

The Waterford and Tramore was famous for only having doors on one side of its coaches as the platforms at Waterford and Tramore were both on the one side of the line. Curiously some of the UTA MPD units were built with drive on the RHS & some on the LHS.

Placing the driving controls in a cubicle on the RHS rather than in a full width cab would have followed in W&T tradition and importantly allowed passengers to board through the vestibule doors at either end without major structural alterations to the aluminium body framing.

Some of the 1904-1908 main line brake standards built in the early 50s were built with driving cabs for use on the AEC railcar worked Westland Row-Galway/Westport "Cu na Mara" express service to allow the train to split at Athlone. The use of the driving trailers was short lived as the train grew from a 4 to a 6 car set and Westport eventually got its own fast direct services.

God those photos bring back memories of a fine station, I spent half my teenage years in the west cabin ( the advantages of a track side photo pass) . Never knew there was a cabin just under the cliff , v-dodgy!

 

I travelled in the loco on some of those dolomite trains, never remember them running around in the station area,

 

Despite what was said, the oil trains and the dolomite hoppers were rarely run together. They were usually separate trains. The hoppers were also used to load ballast from the quarry at carrolls cross ( i know this cause I was in the loco at the time!) . The line went straight through the middle of the quarry.

Before Tara mines the Dolomite trains were the heaviest in Ireland usually worked by pairs of 141s. The Ballinacourthy-Tivoli oil magnesite-oil trains seem to have been an A Class job and were unusual for a train carrying bulk traffic to run with laden wagons in both directions. It would make sense to re-marshall the train at Waterford to have the laden wagons behind the loco and the empties at the back.

While Waterford station was attractive with the elevated signal cabin and the rockface, re-signalling was long overdue the fact that the bay platform can handle all passenger services is proof that the signal cabin and mainline platform are surplus to requirements.

The Tramore line got 3 AEC railcars and 2 Park Royal coaches all with bus seating. Two of the railcars faced Tramore the third faced Waterford. The driving trailer would allow a service to operate if the Waterford facing car was out of service.

One of the drawbacks was that on busy days busses were also needed to supplement the train even a 5 coach set seating approx. 500 could not cope with the crowds on busy days.

The Tramore railcars were sent to the Thurles Clonmel line on closure then to the Dublin suburban operations. The Park Royal driving car seems to have been converted back to an ordinary coach, boarding passengers through a single doorway would have been extremely slow.

Excellent work with the MPDs Kieran very true to the prototype with the kitbashing of ex LMS coaching stock.