Mayner

A large package arrived this morning. Can't complain about DHL Express 5 days Dublin-Hamilton NZ via Leipzig-Singapore-Sydney-Auckland.

Tony has asked for an Irish example of Alan Wrights classic Inglenook shunting puzzle http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/sw-inglenook.html Basically a small goods yard with two points and two sidings that can be modeled as a self contained layout on a single baseboard with no hidden staging or fiddle yard. Private sidings serving a Paper, Linen or Flour/Feed Mill are probably closest to this sort of arrangement in Ireland, Patrick Davey's "Brookhall Mill" is a good example. Branchline terminals like Ardee, Castleisland and Fenit are a lot more spread out though a compressed Fintona would be very close to John Allen's classic "Timesaver" shunting puzzle. http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/sw-timesaver.html

I am planning to supply the Brake Vans to order in kit form (with transfers) during 2022. I am unable to provide a potential release date at this stage as production has been disrupted as a result of local Covid restrictions and global 'supply chain' problems since August. I will provide an update on IRM and the website once the position becomes clearer.

I saw the flyer for me it looks like a 'must have" forget the price

It arrived yesterday, very nice surprise! Hard to choose which article to read first between Valencia, West Cork, the GNR Vs and "Learning the Road" Leslie Hyland's 1952 exploring the CIE & GNR rail system in 1952 including Leslie's father driving from Dublin to Athboy so his son could catch an Athboy-Dublin GAA special probably the last passenger train to run on the branch. The article covers the Indian Summer of CIE steam operation before the AEC railcars took over mainline passenger diagrams and provides a detailed snapshot of CIE locomotive and carriage workings in the early 1950s with details of train consists. The article includes some excellent photos including 533 formerly Wolf Dog (incorrectly captioned as 544) the last operational Achill Bogie at Loughrea.

Have you considered Omagh Market Goods Yard? https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/negative-ireland-gnr-ireland-railways-464111290?popular Appears to be close to an Inglenook ladder arrangement with four rather than 3 sidings off a single line. Seems to have handled a variety of traffic including ESSO oil and petrol tank wagons in additional to covered and open wagons

That's great news, & reasonable transit time! I thought a shipment of vans was 'lost in the post" your order and other orders in the shipment are still listed as "Printed" in the NZ Post e-ship system, the Courier apparently forgot to scan the packages into the system following pick up on the 29th Sept. We have updated the TARIC codes on the customs declaration to the required 10 digit format should minimise the risk orders being returned to sender.

The Peco HOm turntable is a bit on the short side for small tender locos and a tad long for C&L & T&D locos! The table is hand operated with Meccano gearing track alignment by eye and squeaks. For turning Large Scale locos I use a piece of hardwood as a deck and its worked effectively for 10 years fine for smaller locos like 2-8-0s and 4-6-0s but a bit short for the 2-8-2s that work the heaviest trains. The particle/chipboard pit was recycled from a workbench and nice and scruffy. Track alignment and table locking is brass tubing soldered to the rail web and a removable pin.

Peco produce a turntable kit (327mm long) is probably the simplest most inexpensive option though large by Irish standards https://peco-uk.com/products/turntable-well-type . Greenwood Model Railway Products and London Road Models produce shorter turntables in the small family car/weekend in Kerry price range. Greenwood produce 55 & 60ft OO Turntables https://greenwoodmodelrailwayproducts.co.uk/product-category/oo-gauge/ Mike Edge ran a thread on assembling a Greenwood Turntable. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/146364-michael-edges-workbench/page/27/ I have my heart set on a London Road Models 45' & 50' turntables if I ever get round to building a layout https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blogs/entry/17974-building-a-london-road-models-50-turntable/

Earthquakes, slips, fires just every day stuff in this part of the World https://contractormag.co.nz/feature/midland-line-bridges/

I thought it looked familiar! 2016 North Canterbury earthquake.

I don't think there is a lot of difference between the standard of service offered by An Post and other national postal services, they are all struggling to cope with very high levels of parcels traffic international changes in customs clearance processes (not just Brexit) and recruiting/retaining enough people to do the work. One of my shipments has been lost in the NZ Post system for a week because the Courier forgot to scan the parcels into the system following pickup, a Royal Mail package showed up yesterday with a 1/7/2021 postmark. The United States Postal Service recently suspended deliveries to 21 countries including Australia and New Zealand due to the effects of the Covid pandemic and other problems.

Brings back memories I used to walk from Bray to Greystones along the coastal path and return by the 80 Class 'Shuttle" during the late 80s early 90s and also did a Cork-Cobh in an 80 Class visiting Fota as part of my summer holiday ritual. At the time IE showed a lot of initiative in hiring the 3 80 Class sets for the "Shuttle" and Cork-Cobh services offering reasonably frequent service with modern comfortable stock compared with the decrepit AEC push pull set used on the shuttle and the early 1950s stock used on the Cobh trains. Greystones lost its local passenger service when the 80 Class were recalled by NIR in the mid-1990s An 80 Class set may also have operated a Sunday only Heuston-Connolly-Dunlaoire Boat Train before the introduction of the HSS ferries.

Probably best to check out die-cast car dealers for 1:24 Scale cars This seller has 1:24 scale die cast cars including a Morris Minor http://www.ebaystores.com/suprememodelsonline Morris Minor, VW Beetle & pick up truck, Fiat "Topolino" and post 55 rear engine 500 were fairly common in Ireland between 50-70s. Farmers with small dairy farms would use Morris Minor or Beetle to tow a small trailer to take milk churns to the creamery

Very well written an informative article about the "Indian Summer" of Sligo Line freight operations during the 1990s when for a short time IE was pro-actively pursuing new traffic including re-laying and re-opening the Sligo Quay traffic for Cold Con traffic, timber, grain, and less than train load such as Molasses and Cold Chon Bitumen. There may be some truth in Tim Mulcahy's claims that railfreight was run-down to improve the return to the Exchequer (and Toll Road companies) for major road improvements and motorway construction that took place after 2000. The road transport industry is a huge source of revenue drivers income tax, vehicle registration and licensing fees and excise duty on fuel while the railways were seen as a drain running on green diesel and requiring a subsidy. Tim Mulcahy's comment about doing a lot of freight work as a 'less senior driver" was the root of the problem that lead to the ILDA dispute. Because of the seniority system a senior driver basically had to die or retire in order for a driver to progress from a freight to a passenger link, many of the less senior drivers who worked Liner Trains were almost continuously rostered on night work with little opportunity for shift rotation which can lead to physical and mental health problems. Unfortunately like the UK Miners Strike the ILDA dispute was ill timed and played into the hand of a government that had little confidence in CIE or IE management.

Tried to identify the location the "double track" section between Ballinamore station and the divergence of the Main Line and Arigna Branch. Photo appears to be taken from the cab of a Passage Engine with the 'Bus Coach" and a "Milk Van" on the mail line and 5T on the branch. The Ballinamore Byepass follows the right of way of the Main Line and Tramway to the site of Tully Gates before curving around to follow the reserved section of the Tramway along Golf Links Road which runs alongside the Ballinamore and Ballyconnel Road joining the R208 Fenagh-Drumshanbo Road near the site of Ballyduff Halt. Last time I visited Golf Links Road was single lane probably no wider than the original narrow gauge right of way.

6T is back out on the road working coal traffic following her repairs, I completed the kit in the late 90s so hopefully she should be good for another 20 years! Passing Keadue with a laden coal train for Boyle or possibly Sligo. Prototype C&L coal trains usually loaded to 10 wagons & a van, though staging roads will only take 5. There is some snagging to complete I am not happy with the rear coupling mount and front spectacles require re-glazing with Crystal Clear, need to sort out a front vacuum pipe and above all a crew. Although the original paintwork wasn't bad I gave the loco a quick re-paint and finished the loco with the last of my stock of Testors Dullcote, the loco was still in reasonable cosmetic condition after its 1st years service on the C& L but the sheen had gone off her black paintwork. I used HMRS Presfix LNER loco transfers as the numerals are similar to those used by CIE, the biggest challenge was forming the letter T from an E! The coal wagons are my own resin castings from a brass master with custom lettering by SSM 15L has developed a distinctive sag from overloading/pulling out of the mould a bit too soon. The horsebox in the background is a refugee from the Clogher Valley, I will have to build a matching passenger brake and a Sharpie to go with the horsebox and my two CVR coaches. No progress to report on the cattle wagons and new opens, will have to order couplings, wheels and lettering.

While An Post are responsible for customs clearance and collecting vat, Revenue and Customs set the ground rules and expectations of how An Post carry out these duties including expectations around minimum standards for customs declarations. I had some interesting feedback from another carrier that indicates that the problem may not be limited to An Post. Basically all carriers are experiencing problems delivering IOSS shipments to a small number of (un-named) EU countries, the problem is driven by national Customs Authorities taking their own interpretation of the new EU vat rules which is leading to inconsistencies within the EU. This is leading to challenges for IOSS sellers applying standardised processes across all 27 EU States, sometimes resulting in IOSS customers being charged Vat & admin fees by the local customs authorities. I was advised that the major shipping and logistics companies have raised the issue at high level with the EU in Brussels and across all 27 EU states. Personally I suspect the Irish Government saw the new rules as a golden opportunity to collect VAT on every parcel arriving in Ireland and decided to plough ahead without considering the practical implications for An Post or its customers.

I have parcels in limbo in the An Post system waiting to be returned to sender for 7 weeks. On the positive side a parcel that was last scanned in the Athlone Mail Centre on 30 Aug "We could not deliver. We will try to return it to sender" appeared unannounced on our door step (in New Zealand) on Monday. We will probably re-send with another shipper. I had a number of parcels stopped by An Post in August, interestingly some but not all of the parcels were cleared and delivered in response to an intervention by NZ Post early in September. Basically it looks like An Post made a policy decision not to accept amendments/corrections to customs declarations that were rejected by their electronic customs clearance system and return rejected parcels to sender.

Railwaymen & women will try and complete a shunt with as few moves as possible; its likely the crew of B165 would have coupled on to the coaching stock after running round, before pulling out that long cut of wagons to release the brake van and the wagons due to go out in the mixed. Choice things would have been said about the crew that left the Van by the stop blocks rather than some where handy like the cattle bank road. The staff at Limerick Junction had harsh words to say about the North Wall Shunters (human) that marshalled the Limerick portion of the day Cork Liner in two separate rather than a single cut of wagons one Oct Bank Holiday Friday in the late 1990s. The additional shunting was time consuming and could potentially delay Heuston-Cork-Tralee passenger services and the Shelton Abbey-Marino Point Anhydrous Ammonia train, high pressure stuff. There are some nice photos of a mixed train with Kerry Bogie, GSWR Bogie coach & wagons in Kenmare Goods yard in Ivo Peters "Somewhere along the Line", there is also a late 1950s photo of the Loughrea mixed complete with the statutory 3 MGWR 6 Wheelers shunting a cut of covered wagons in Attymon Junction goods yard goods store road. According to Peters when made up the mixed complete with coach and van retired to the goods yard (possibly for the crew to have lunch or load sundries traffic) before returning to the platform at the appointed hour. In railcar days the Donegal was famous for taking passengers for jaunts around goods and loco yards, shunting 'Red Vans" & turning railcars. In more modern times I saw the loco and coaches of the evening Connolly-Longford Commuter shunting the Longford Liner. After discharging the passengers the loco and coaches propelled back towards Mostrim before running forward onto the Gantry Road. The loco coupled on to the Liner while still coupled to the coaches, then pushed-pulled the combined train until the coaches were safely stabled on the Gantry Road. The loco then uncoupled from the coaches and continued to propel the Liner out on to the Mail Line at the Sligo end of the station, before drawing forward into the passing loop to cross the Down evening Connolly-Sligo passenger. Dugort Harbour is a bit of an out of the way place seldom disturbed by a Traffic Inspector from Cork or let alone Kingsbridge. I was once asked "Ar-U-from Tralee?" when I asked a retired Kenmare Postman for directions while on 'Official Business" with the Health and Safety Authority", the post man was shocked that "they" had sent someone from Dublin jumping to the conclusion that I was there 'about a man that fell from a roof" while I was only there on a "flag flying" exercise in "The Kingdom"

The Wexford-Rosslare local trains ceased in the late 1970s possibly 78. In its final years the train seems to have operated as a summer only service for holidaymakers , the train was worked by the loco of the Dublin-Wexford Newspaper train (B141+ bogie parcels van) working down in the early hours of the morning delivering the Dublin morning newspapers returning in the evening after working the last Rosslare Harbour-Wexford local. During the final season the coaches of the local were used to form an additional late evening Wexford-Connolly passenger that followed the evening Rosslare-Connolly passenger, returning in the morning as an passenger/newspaper train. I saw the local/empty newspaper train in the loop at Wexford during a summer holiday day trip by rail in the summer of 77 or 78 from Dublin to Waterford by Limerick-Junction home by Rosslare Strand.

It looks like IE have contracted out track maintenance to Rhomberg Sersa Group possibly a "partnership' agreement. Possibly IE staff transferred to the new undertaking similar to what happened in the UK during the 1990s. Seems to be a multinational track/infrastructure maintenance company https://www.rhomberg-sersa.com/en that operates in Europe, the UK and Australia.

They appear to have considered a 'Southern loco" mainly working on the old GSWR & WLWR. In their final years B101 possibly including 103 work the weedspray taking a member of the class visiting the entire CIE & NIR system

Recent e-mail from my NZ Post account manager indicates that An Post require a 10 digit TARIC code to clear an Item through Irish Customs, although the EU TARIC look up site shows an 8 digit code The example is a kit that An Post claim was rejected as a result of issues with the electronic customs declaration. "Hi John, We've had feedback on advice for Ireland bound shipments going forward. Please see this below. 1. Descriptions to have spaces between words. '/' is not an ideal word separator. 2. The tariff item to be entered is the 10-digit taric code for EU destined items. For example, 95030030 could be 9503003000 however, to be clear, this is not being provided as tariff advice, it is an example. It is the sender's responsibility for providing the correct taric information. It might be worth raising the issue on an RTE consumer affairs problem especially as its coming up to Christmas. A phone call or programme on gifts from family in the UK and children's toys being delayed because of An Post bureaucracy is certain to stir public interest.

They appear to have taken over the Rosslare Express workings from the Woolwich Moguls. The main complaint among drivers was cold feet, the Sulzers were reliable, smooth running, good haulage at slow speed and efficient brakes. They were mainly concentrated on North Wall-Heuston transfer work and Dunlaoire Parcel Trains when I first noticed them in the late 60s early 70s , always seemed to be one waiting at Island Bridge Junction to work a transfer goods when I went by on the No23 bus or one on a parcel train in the old Dunlaoire Station while returning from a seaside outing to Bray. The cabs may have been cramped, but the engine room was surprisingly spacious probably enough room for a Sulzer 8LDA engine used in the BR Sulzer Type 3 Class 33. I sheltered in the engine room of 106 with a group of enthusiasts during a downpour an Inchacore Works visit.