Mayner

There was a yellow one stored out of use for many years at the town end of Mullingar Goods yard.

The GSR introduced power signalling on the Amiens St-Dunlaoire section during the 1930s with a elevated signalbox at Westland Row. Signalling was using fullsize & miniature searchlight signals commonly used during the 1930s, pointmotors and signals were possibly supplied by Westinghouse Brake & Signal Company in the UK. http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/tag/searchlight-signal/ http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000305055

It looks like a Coles crane often used in larger railway good yards in the 50s & 60s. CIE Coles cranes seen to have been standard yellow, though GNR & UTA may have painted theirs in company colours. Corgi produced a 1:76 diecast model that seems to come up on e-bay or the second hand market https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Corgi-Trac kside-DG226001-OO-Scale-Coles-Argus-6-Ton-Crane-British-Rail/1321328048

I suddenly realised how bad the smog in Dublin was when I returned home from London for the Christmas holidays during the late 80s early 90s I vaguely remember seeing Bogie Fertiliser wagons laden with briquettes from Littleton in the Holyhead Yard when I was working in the port area during the late 90s, I was more interested in the intermodal operations at the time with the new gantry crane and new bunded storage area for tanked container storage and the daily Liner down the Alexandra Road Tramway to the new Merchant Ferry Terminal. The BNM traffic for the Dublin market arose following the closure of Lullymore and the opening of the new Littleton briquette plant. Great photo of the MK1 flat wagon I have been looking for one for years!

The BNM traffic rings a bell arose as a result of clean air legislation introduced to eliminate air pollution from coal fires in the Dublin area during the late 1980s, during winter smog from coal fires was really bad in many of the suburbs before widespread conversion to natural gas heating. Did not realise that a couple of coal trains operated to Cabra Bank though the yard seems to have been used as a staging point for fertiliser trains to and from the south and west. For a long time CIE realised the development potential of Cabra Bank and discontinued the railborne bulk cement traffic to Dublin in order to sell the site, following the opening of the M50 between the N2 & N7 it may have been marginally more profitable for IE to supply the concrete plants in the Dublin area direct by road from Platin than by rail and road through Cabra Bank.

Noel Apart from 3-4 short branch lines, steam hauled passenger trains that would run behind a J15 on suburban or secondary main line passenger services in CIE days were more likely to be made up of elderly bogie GSWR coaches than 6 wheelers. You might be better off re-painting some Triang Clerestory coaches http://www.gwr.org.uk/protriang.html for layout train that passes the 2' rule, at a pass the Ratio GWR 4 wheel coaches could pass for ex-WLWR coaches taken over by the GSWR. Years ago Tim Cramer kitbashed GSWR 45' coaches out of Triang Clerestory coaches by replacing the roof with a plasticard low arch roof and fitting whitemetal ventilators and light fittings, he also widened the coach to a scale width 21mm gauge model, by throwing away basically everything apart from the sides and building new floor, ends and partitions out of plasticard but that's another story. The SSM GSWR 6w coaches are supplied as a complete kit including OO gauge wheels and the main components are basically designed to bolt together. The Worsley Works GSWR 6 wheelers are supplied as a sheet of etched parts only without castings or wheels. Ken & Popeye identified some design issues with their threads on Worsley Works 6 wheelers, on the plus side a much wider variety of coaches than the SSM kits.

I had a very memorable journey behind an 071 down the DSER with a group of college friends en-route to Paris purportedly to visit construction sites in early January 1980 which turned out to be a very educating experience indeed. I don't remember too much of the train ride too busy playing cards, but between the sound turbo and steam from the generator van the train made a very dramatic entrance to Pearse Station, from what I recall we traveled in a Laminate coach marshaled at the rear of the train behind the usual Cravens and a Park Royal. We crossed an up ballast train behind a 141 at Enniscorthy the driver giving advice to the card school.

The MGWR used double slips usually as part of a crossover from a main running line to goods yard or a loop at several main and branch line stations. The arrangement on your layout is not unlike Broadstone or Galway on a slightly smaller scale. You may need to build some Emerald Green or Royal Blue engines to offset the GSWR black of your time period David! There is a Hamilton-Ellis colour print of a train on the Clifden Branch with a MGWR 2-4-0 in the short lived royal blue livery in "The Trains we Loved" (Allen & Unwins version)

The two classes could have a bit more in common than meets the eye, both the GWR ordered the 322 Class and the GSWR ordered the 1st of the 101 Class from Beyer Peacock during the 1860s. Beyer Peacock also supplied locos of the same design of the 101 Class to the Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway.

A bit more progress cab and running boards fitted to chassis and reversing levers assembled and fitted.. Boiler fittinges, lamp irons, sandbox operating levers and grabrails to be fitted to new locos before trip to paint shop. McDonnell style linkage reversing level and new frames fitted to the "White Engine". I need to replace the wonky riveted strip at the cab running board joint. Engine personalities becoming more distinct 229 "Coey" J15 with direct reversing lever, raised sandboxes and slightly exposed rear splashers. Apparently these locos were considered sluggish compared to the original design and tended to oscillate at speed. (J O'Neill & D Dondalson a "Decade of Speed" IRRS 197? 1?? Superheated J15 with new deeper frames and original motion with linkage reverser. Like the GNR S Class 4-4-0s a significant number of superheated J15 received new heavier frames during re-building and were practically new locomotives with few original parts remaining. This rebuilding significantly reduced the cost of GSRs goods train operation by cutting coal consumption and maintenance costs at a time the company was struggling with the effects of the Great Depression and The Economic War and probably contributed to the GSRs superior financial performance in terms of goods train operation compared with the GNR(I).

The UTA used a similar apparatus to CIE to exchange tokens on the single track sections of the Larne and Derry lines. The snatcher was mounted on a post in the doorway of the guards compartment of an MPD railcar, when the door was open the snatcher could be rotated outwards through the doorway to make the exchange then brought inbound and the door closed. There is a photo of the token exchange operation in "Diesel Dawn"

Up to the 1960s mechanical staff exchange on CIE was largely limited to the Dublin-Galway & Mallow Rosslare lines and mechanical staff exchange was later introduced on the Limierick Junction-Waterford and Cherryville Junction-Waterford Lines after the AEC railcars were bumped from the principal main line passenger duties. The guard normally did the staff exchange with the CIE AEC railcars, with a bell signal to the driver that he had collected the correct staff. Staff snatchers were fitted inside the guards compartment on some CIE railcars with a small roller shutter door to allow the snatcher head to swing out to make the exchange. The snatchers and roller shutter doors were removed and plated over after the railcars ceased operating main line passenger services.

The diagram looks like its from Pender & Richards book of GSWR Carriage Diagrams. The biggest drawback with this type of drawing (apart from the lack of dimensions) is that they usually show one side of the vehicle which with a side corridor coach leaves the modeler with a lot of guesswork trying to work out window & door positions and beading detail. The GAs available in the IRRS digital collection contain a lot more detail and importantly measurements and construction details.

The book just lists stock in service in 1987 with regard to 7140 the book simply states: "Number Series 7111-7194 See 7101 Series for details." 7101-7106 are listed as 72 Seat Open Standards introduced 1983. The MK3s were introduced in 3 batches the 1st batch supplied almost complete from BREL, the 2nd supplied in CKD form and assembled at Inchacore, the 3rd batch built at Inchacore to BREL design. In the absence of information from an official source, 7111-7194 are likely to from the second batch of MK3 coaches which were supplied to CIE rather than the original 1st batch of coaches. Its unlikely that the two MK3 coaches listed as 1st Class 7107 & 7110 would have been able to cover all the MK3 carriage links that required 1st class accommodation, re-classifying a Standard as a 1st would have been a quick & simple way of increasing available 1st Class accommodation. I don't not know whether 7140 entered service as a 1st and was subsequently re-classified as a Standard or the opposite occurred, it might be worth while having a trawl through IRRS Journals during that period for information on MK3 stock and carriage allocation.

Most likely its more efficient/cheaper to use HGVs to feed into Ballina Inland Port rather than to drive to Dublin and queue to await unloading. A truck is not earning money when its queuing at a a port waiting to load/unload and eats into HGV drivers hours with a knock on effect on productivity. Ballina is more or less ideal as a Hub for Dublin Port in terms of the lack of container ports in the West of Ireland and line haul distance to Dublin. There is less opportunity for this sort of operation in the South & South West with its good shipping connections from Cork, Waterford & Rosslare to the UK & Europe, though an Inland Port for Dublin in the Limerick Junction or Charleville area possibly in connection with one of the big Dairy-Cooperative potentially would have the critical mass for a rail operation but would probably create a political storm with Cork & Waterford port interests.

7140 is classed as a Standard Open In Locomotives and Rolling Stock of CIE & NIR 3rd edition. 7107 & 7110 are classed as 64 Seat 1sts. 7140 re-classified as a 1st with existing seating arrangements as demand for 1st Class travel built up following the introduction of the new trains.

Sudden burst of activity this week possibly shorter days late Autumn or the need to clear the workbench for the next project before everything gets hopelessly mixed up and parts get lost! Starting to look like locomotives 4 sets of mainframes assembled, hornblocks and bearings fitted. Smokeboxes assembled and boilers/fireboxes/smoke boxes fitted to locos. Had a bit of a panic at one stage it looked like a boiler had gone missing. Ended up with a spare smokebox if I get bored with the sloping smokebox on one of the locos! The smokeboxes are bolted rather than soldered to the boiler to ease/simplify assembly. Remaining work is to complete the loco body detailing and to assemble the loco brake gear. When these 3 locos are complete I should have 5 J15s all with different features.

The Casserley Irish collection is historically significant, I hope it goes to a good home. H C Casserley started recording Irish railways principally locos from the late 20s initially concentration on older locos that were still in service and the minor companies. Its possible that some of the negatives may be glass plate, his photos form the 20s & 30s are to a really high standard. I always assumed that Bob Clements was interested mainly in locomotives especially the Midland, his collection of ex-DSER coaches adds another dimension.

The J Classification for steam locos was part of GSR load classification system for steam locos rather than a reference to a particular class of steam loco. With the run down of steam by the late 50s the load classification system was virtually redundant the majority of steam locos apart from a reasonable number of Standard Goods had been withdrawn from service or scrapped. The J Classification included a number of classes of similar tractive effort or pulling power including a number of the larger more powerful 4-4-0s in addition to medium powered GSR, GSWR, MGWR & DSER 0-6-0 goods locos. A--- 5'6" Woolwich 2-6-0 B--- 6' Woolwich 2-6-0---500 Class--5'6"-4-6-0, 646 Class (MGWR B) 0-6-0 C---400 Class 4-6-0----ex GSWR & DSER inside cylinder 2-6-0 classes ex-MGWR Avonside 0-6-0, ex-GSWR 257 (J4) 0-6-0 E-- Medium power 4-4-0 & 0-6-0 Classes including ex-MGWR 623 Cattle Engines, DSER 442 "Standard Goods" misc. GSWR & DSER Classes. J---Ex-GSWR 321 (D2) 6'7"4-4-0 MGWR 540 & 545 Class 4-4-0s, GSR/GSWR/MGWR "Standard Goods" 710, 700,567,573,594,234, 101 L--Ex GSWR & MGWR medium 4-4-0s including 333/342 5'6" Rosslare Bogies, MGWR 536 4-4-0 & ex-WLWR 0-6-0 (Shannon) M--Ex-GSWR Coey medium power 6'7" 4-4-0s ex DSER 6'0" 4-4-0 Classes O--Ex GSWR & MGWR small 4-4-0 & 2-4-0 inc 60 Class 4-4-0 & 650 Class 2-4-0 R-Ex GSWR & MGWR light passenger classes incl Kerry Bogies, Achill Bogies and 52 Class 4-4-0 A separate classification was later introduced for the 800 Class. Theoretically the 5'6" wheeled Woolwick had the highest load classification, while the much larger 400 Class 4-6-0s were grouped in with the inside cylinder moguls and largest 0-6-0 Classes. The ex GSWR 321 & MGWR 540 & 546 Class 4-4-0s were rated at load Class J having a similar tractive effort to the various "Standard Goods" Classes . The large MGWR 4-4-0 were regularly used on cattle trains after the Woolwich took over main line passenger duties from the late 1920s. There does not appear to have been a lot to choose between the locos in power rating L&M the ex-GSWR locos were basically similar medium power 4-4-0s the smaller wheeled 333 & 342 Class had the edge in terms of higher traffic than the 6'7" version and were mainly used on steeply graded lines like the South Eastern Section and Rosslare Route while the larger wheeled locos worked the more easily graded lines in the Kingsbridge-Waterford-Limerick triangle.

Diesel workings on the West Cork seems to have been somewhat convoluted with a mixture of main line goods and passenger and branch line workings. The 1960 timetabe appears to have required 4 C Class to work the mainline goods and branch line connecting services with a single railcar set operating the main-line passenger services. The Drimoleague-Baltimore line appears to have been worked in two sections with the majority of trains originating and terminating in Skibberreen. This required two locomotives and sets of coaching stock(usually one coach!) with one C Class based at Skibbereen, the second loco appears to work down from Albert Quay on the 7:30am "Drimoleague Goods" which continues as the 1:45 Mixed Train to Skibbereen only having connected with the 12:15 Railcar from Cork. The Skibbereen loco then works to 3:00pm passenger to the Junction where it connects with the Up passenger to Cork. The mixed then departs for the Junction at 3:50pm where it transforms into the 4:40pm goods to Cork. Its possible that the Cork railcar has brought up a van or two from Bantry to attach to the 4:40 goods. CIE seems to have rotated the West Cork C Class locos between main line goods and branch line duties rather than allocating a particular loco to a specific duty. The Drimoleague Goods seems to have been used as a means of returning the Skibbereen & Clonakilty locos to Cork for servicing and maintenance avoiding light engine mileage. Clonakilty was unusual in its final years with an un-balanced passenger workings with a single down passenger working from the Junction and two Up passenger workings with connections for Cork. The branch lost its down passenger service when the branch went over to C Class working to allow the branch loco work an as-required goods on the Timoleague and Courtmacsharry branch. Personally I find trying to capture this type of operation far more interesting than watching trains go-round and round or trying to capture intensive main line operation, running a train dropping a couple of wagons off at a wayside siding or better still a branch or trip working into a main line train can keep an operator happily occupied for quite some time

Pairs of 121s regularly worked the Connolly-Sligo & Connolly Rosslare services and some Heuston-Westport services from the late 1970s into the IE era. 121s also worked occasionally in multiple with 141 or 181 sometimes with one loco in Black & Tan and the other in Supertrain Livery. The arrival of the 071 freed up more smaller locos to work in multiple to speed up services on the secondary main line routes. These trains were made up of TL (train line, steam heated) coaching stock and generator van, mainly Craven with MK2 Bredin Buffet car and occasional TL fitted Park Royal or Laminate coaches at busy periods.

For corrugated asbestos Iain Rices Plastic Structure Kits Making the Most of the Wills Scenic Series. Iain recommended wet brushing with a pale bluff colour then dusting with talc before the paint dries. This probably helps capture the chalky look of a newish asbestos roof before it discolours and darkens with moss and algae growth. I spayed the Wills asbestos sheets on the walls on my corrugated goods shed on my narrow gauge layout with grey auto primer & it seems to look the part.

The large wheeled MGWR F/GSR 623/J5 were known as the "Cattle Engines" the first true mixed traffic engine they worked cattle trains from the great fairs on the Midland system, and sometimes Night Mails and excursion traffic. Rebuilt from a large GSWR 0-6-2T banking loco. A Waterford loco apparently nicknamed the "Reverend Mother" with those small wheels she would not run fast no-matter how wide the driver opened the regulator. Jumbo Waterford's Goods Yard and Dock Pilot rebuilt from an 0-6-4 back Tank in 1896. A very popular loco supposed to have been a city institution. MGWR As GSR 545 "Celtic Class" 4-4-0 most powerful MGWR passenger class largest Irish 4-4-0 when introduced in 1902. Ended up on cattle trains bumped from Midland Section main line passenger services with the introduction of the Woolwich moguls, to heavy to be used on South Eastern section. MGWR C/ GSR 536&540 "Connemera" or "Kylemore" Class 4-4-0 Introduced for use on Mayo & Sligo lines 1910 onwards later rebuilt with large superheated boilers. Used mainly on slower Midland Passenger and Cattle trains. Not the most successrful design with a reputation of rough riding and heavy on coal, though seem to have preformed well on Dublin-Limerick via Nenagh trains in the 1930s!

The shed looks really impressive Tony, your determination to persevere with Omagh is seems to be paying off.

An item this size is more likely to be detected by customs than a small package sent by Airmail. I sometimes use the E-Bay Global Shipping programme for items from the States this avoids the cost and delay associated with customs clearance.