Mayner

To me the most striking thing is the well maintained look of the locos stock and infrastructure in the late 1960s early 1970s compared with the more recent photos. Maybe its something to do with the relatively new rolling stock the Bo Bos were practically new, most of the coaching and wagons stock has less than 20 years service. Maybe the clean carriages, well maintined track and station gardens was more to do with staffing levels than anything else, expensive the sort of jobs that disappeared with mechanised track maintenance and the rationalisation of freight operation. The re-railing of the Burma Road where 60' rails were taken out and replaced with shorter worn rail lengths is doubly ironic fitting in with the stories of lines being re-laid prior to closure and the temporary closure of the line North of Ennis 20 years later when track panels were used from the WRC were swapped with worn panels from elsewhere to keep the Ballina Branch and other lines open. JHB You mentioned the Loughrea Branch in its final days and the G Class. I understand that at one time CIE tried to use double headed Gs on a goods train rather than mixed train operation. There has been some discussion on another forum whether with One Engine in Steam or Manual Staff working whether you could have a loco in a yard at the end of the single line section while the section was occupied. Loughrea was worked under Manual Staff opertion in its final years, there was a piece in one of the old IRRS journals that when double heading one engine apparently G611or 617 was usually stabled in the goods shed when the Passenger was operating. After arriving with the Passenger the Branch loco would then couple on to the engine in the shed and depart double headed with the goods to Attymon. Do you know whether this was carried out with the Manual Staff or did they have to revert to ETS? The only reason I could see to using ETS was if you needed to run trains consecutively through the section. Once the second loco was in the loop or yard at Loughrea the single line would have been clear for one train operation. John

I would say run them as they are in the 1930s the GSR & GSRPS tried Chocolate and Cream maybe the FRHRC imported rake of ex-GWR Super Saloons to spruce up the Rosslare Boat Train . John

Patrick thats a brilliant article explains a lot about the Sharks. What an amazing story the D&H only had them for about 4 years having got them in 1974 from a scrap dealer in exchnge for some box cars, The ELSR basically siezed them from Castonite iin leiu of storage fees! Warbonnet. I could not resist a pair of Kato FA1s John

Amazing looks the way to go for large buildings. I wonder if laser or some other form of computerised cutting possible for cutting out the windows or engraving detail? John

Its well worth checking out Neill's other videos Although mainly narrow gauge the broad gauge side of things seems to be getting bigger with SLNCR & GNR railcrs nd rail busses. John

The 071s & the NIR 11s were originally fitted with mounting/blanking plates for snatchers but I am not sure if the snatchers were actually fitted. When the 071s were introduced they were rostered mainly to long distance main line passenger operation out of Heuston, occasionally showing up on the Enterprise and Connolly Rosslare passenger trains. At the time snatcher opertion was mainly limited to non-stop trains on the Clonsilla & Mullingar section but the operation was discontinued in the early 1980s with the re-opening of Maynooth and the closure of a number of Block Posts. When originally introduced the 071s seem to have painted in a darker richer shade of orange to that used by CIE and for severl years were banned from freight trains due to driver/union concerns with braking and traction. John

The Sharks went to the Escanba & Lake Superior in Upper Michigan. There is speculation whether the Sharks still exist, its alleged that its alleged that the owner has kept them hidden away for over 20 years after a bad experience with Railfans. ELSR have/had a fleet of Baldwin Switchers and Road Locos http://www.railroadmichigan.com/mign1216s1.jpg John

Besides dabbling indoors in Irish Modelling on the Broad and Narrow Gauges and a G Scale American Narrow Gauge layout, I also had a fair interest in American N Scale. I dusted off a pair of modules based on the One Trak concept that I started in Dublin in the late 90s basically to see if they are worth re-using. Snowbirds and U Boats A pair of Atlas LV Snowbirds approaching the yard. In the background a D&H SD45 leads a consist of Kato U30s & SD45s Across the bridge mixed D&H power wait on the yard lead and loco servicing tracks. The original modules used to live on a shelf above the workbench which could be operated as a switching layout and were later incorporated into an attic layout. Grain Elevator and Yard Throat Module The modules are based on the idea of two railroads entering a shared yard. The Downtown Module Walthers and DPM warehousing in the background. The model is based on elements from Binghampton, New York where the DLWR and Erie had parrallel lines through the city centre. Sharks and U Boats I could not resist this probably the best and the worst real and model! Atlas U23Bs and E-R Models (Bachmann) Sharks. John

Bit of a Mixed Bag. Recently I have been catching up trying to finish a number of half started loco and rolling stock projects. To complicate matters a little in three different gauges and scales:). About five years ago I decided to sample some of the locally manufactured kits of NZR locos and stock. Model Locomotive Company 9mm Scale NZR F & S Scale NZR open wagons Runs on O Gauge track the kit is a mixture of whitemetal and brass stampings and a hell of a lot of lost wax castings. Most of the assembly work is complete just a uestion of adding the details. The wagons are a mixture of whitemetal, resin and plasticard parts. Whistle and Safety Valves Westinghouse Pump, Headlamp and Turbo Generator blutacked in place Because of the size most of these sub-assemblies will be pre-painted and pinned in place. A bit closer to home TMD (SSM) MGWR E Class GSR/CIE J26 The main sub assemblies ready to go! The first etch brass Irish loco kit designed 1981 & the first brass kit I attempted which is still going strong. Georgian Windows and Doors! I am planning to use thses in a terrace of low relief houses on my Liffey Branch test track. John

Weshty you forgot to mention the best part was that the cattle were being loaded at the Down Passenger platform, a real bull in a china shop image with flower baskets, potted palms, the farmer looking on dressed in his 70s best brown suit. There is/was a video from the same era of the Sligo-Limerick Goods shunting at Kiltimagh a B141 with a Lomac & a JCB setting back into the yard to pick up some vans, the shunter another 70s fashion victim wearing a suit with elephant flared pants and platform shoes. I wonder how long he survived. John

I dont know or want to know about the background, but the new Newsgroup is a bit like the old Rio Grande Railroad when the occupants of Animas City all upped sticks overnight and moved to Durango:rolleyes:

Quite a surprise best of look with the new thread John