BSGSV

The platform went when the third road was extended over Sarsfield Road bridge and up to meet the four-track section at the west end of the Works. The Platform wasn't just for the Works. There are references to Summer Sunday trains to and from DSE destinations in earlier Irish Railfans' News. The Down Home signal attached to the footbridge is unusual.

Looked at the wonderful IRRS Photographic archive. Not an Annett's key either, but control levers between "A" and "B". "B" would have been a small ground level cabin of the same design as Birr or Charleville "B". I'd still like to know what the staff was for though...

Perhaps, but I would have expected "B" box to be released by an Annett's Key and not a staff machine.

Given Kilmallock should not have needed a single line staff, that one is odd. I guess there could have been temporary single line working, but that usually is associated with bridge renewal.

I suspect it might be Kilmallock.

Stanley Street is where Dublin Corkporation had their refuse depot and incinerator, going back 120 years ago and more. Track was laid to connect to the North Quays tramline, to move wagons of refuse at night, to a landfill at Fairview. The landfill is now Fairview Park.

The first carriage looks suspiciously like 1097 or its sister, before it was got at to make it an Ambulance coach.

From Irish Railfans' News: Ballylinan & Palace East: On Saturday July 9 loco 184 (in GS&WR livery) headed the first IRRS dining car special ever out of Amiens Street. The train consisted of HV 3122, second 1469, ex GNR dining car C144N, brake second 1905 and the 1912 GS&WR Officers’ Saloon 352. The special travelled first to Athy and then diverged to traverse the 4½ mile Ballylinan branch - the first occasion of a dining car working on this line! The train returned to Athy and continued to Muine Bheag to travel over another semi-closed branch to Palace East - the subject of “Station Survey” in this issue. The return trip to Amiens Street was made via Macmine Junction and Enniscorthy.

Looks like a batch of posters obtained to be on hand at short-ish notice, which could then have the details written on, whenever they ran an excursion. As a guess, they could have used ink, but that might run if (rain-)water got on it, whereas pencil wouldn't.

That's a new one on me, but of a piece with other schemes that seem to have been floated in the mid-1970's. Aside from Blue Pullmans, CIE looked at re-engining the Sulzers, and I was also told by someone who would know that they looked at buying redundant Westerns from BR. I'm sure the new 071's they did go for would have seemed quite pricy given the times, but haven't they got their money's worth out of them since!

When the carriages were newly repainted/refubished, the set would be all Galway livery, 5 standards, buffet, standard, gen van. As the Mk.2 air con ran down, the Galway carriges could turn up in ones or twos, mixed in with IE livery carriages.

When Mk.2 air-conditioned stock came to the Sligo links, they got a composite (still with 1st, and between the gen van and the buffet) in each of the two sets, plus buffet and 4 or 5 standards. The Rosslare sets were all standard, and shorter, so probably more helpful as regards as 4-5 carriage train, including gen van. Ex-composites often turned up as one of the three or so standards, with gen van and buffet.

It had cabs both ends, so far as I know. I thought one problem was a relatively low seating capacity, and another was that it wasn't that mechanically reliable.

Adavoyle was replaced by a new "cabin" (a hut) at Meigh. Adavoyle was apparently inconvenient if a northbound freight was stopped at it, as it was not handy restarting on the rising gradient. Meigh was easier in that regard and also covered the level crossing.

The Up Home at Adavoyle does seem to have been been for sighting, as there's a farmer's overbridge not far north of the station. The station appears to have been built c1892, which would explain the integration of the signal cabin in the structure. Quite why the station was built at all, and not just an intermediate cabin, has always puzzled me.

Finally, a decent photo of one of the ten suburban compos, with the 3+3 second class seating, that became brake standards later. Many thanks.

Great photo, particularly nice for me in showing the EMD Worksplate was the blue/red version, rather than the grey I had thought was in use by the time they appeared. As for the train, from Irish Railfans' News:

The semaphore signalling on the ex-DSE side of Amiens Street was replaced in 1934 (commissioned 28/10/34), so the loco is probably less than a year old, given there is no sign of any replacement colour lights, which would have been installed before October.

I'm pretty sure that's Claremorris, with the two old cabin tops on the Goods Yard side of the station.

I thought the leading carriage looked to be a Harty GSR-built corridor third (flat sides), but I enlarged the photo and don't see any truss rods, so more probably a 1339 series CIE built corridor third (second by 1971). On a separate note, the Suburban Park Royals only seem to have got TL cabling c1980/1 or so.

And given Attymon - Athenry only got double-tracked c1905, it only lasted, such as it was, for 20-odd years.

Not having a dig at you or Mr. Hajducki. Given we all make mistakes, it's no surprise that books have them too!

I'm not aware of there ever being a cabin at Lavistown, I think it was always only two single lines running in from Carlow and Waterford to Kilkenny, together. Navan Junction to Kingscourt Junction was, for a short time, a proper double-track line, with a cabin at Kingscourt Junction. Like a lot of cabins probably over-provided during the installation of block working and interlocking, (post-Regulation of Railways Act 1889), Kingscourt Junction had a short life. Harpers block was installed Newry King Street to Bridge Street c1907, so the double-track was from Newry North to Bridge Street. The Belfast Central was double from Central cabin to East Bridge too.

On the MGWR, Collooney MGW station to Sligo was double-tracked, except for a short stretch from Collooney Junction to Carrignagat Junction. On the GNRI, Portadown - Trew & Moy was double, the section from there to Dungannon had a tunnel, so stayed single, so far as I know. Dungannon to Donaghmore also got doubled I think. Newry North to King Street was also double.

Do you know if this a bad sign for the coach or is this just the normal state?