Niles

On 9/27/2020 at 11:35 AM, Mayner said:

I saw a similar move at Longford during the same era when the loco and stock of the evening Connolly-Longford commuter train shunting the evening Longford-North Wall Liner Train.

After unloading its passengers the Commuter propelled back along the main line towards Dublin, before running forward into the Gantry Loop and coupling on to the Liner, the loco then pushed and pulled the combined train along the loop  until the coaches were positioned in the yard clear of the running lines. The loco then uncoupled from the Commuter and continued to push the Liner along the  loop and on to the Main Line until clear of the points at the Sligo end of the station before departing for Dublin. 

Railway men and women will tray and complete a shunt with the minimum number of moves to both to save time and reduce the amount of walking by staff on the ground.

I recall seeing similar 'loco sandwich' moves at Wellington Bridge, when all roads were occupied. An inbound empty train would arrive, couple up to 'stray' wagons ahead of it, and then move the whole consist at once to clear the Waterford-end points so that a loaded train could leave. The inbound loco would then uncouple from from the wagons it arrived with and propel the 'strays' towards Bridgetown and then draw them forward into the other loop once the loaded train had departed.

Hornby Black Five  No.45253 R2250 BR 'Early Crest' black, boxed, only ever got light use. (This is the 2002 tooling as opposed to the older 1980s version).

€115 including tracked postage anywhere in Ireland or UK.  SOLD

51 minutes ago, Noel said:

with a view to respraying them in RPSI blue and cream to join the RPSI boxed set and make up a rake of 6 or 7 of them, but before that I need to learn how to use a lining pen as there is pretty fine black lining on that livery that is not easily paintable.

That's why we used stick-on stripe on the real 1508, as @mphoey will attest! 

Been going through old photos to scan and came across this one I took of a cement bubble at Gorey, 21st September 2004, thought I'd put it here on the off chance it's of use to anyone looking for a 'weathering pattern'. 

St John's Mill siding south of Enniscorthy would make a compact enough little layout... the IRRS journal did a feature on it a few issues back.

Edit: issue in question is actually available here as a sample: http://irishrailarchives.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/IRRS_J192_2017_February_sample.pdf

Wow that was fast - swap arranged!

** Edit swap arranged, no longer available **

There's also Laminate 1460 at Kiltimagh museum, and another (1468 I think) in Sligo Folk Park.

Then converted brake 3rd 1918 at Downpatrick.

Anyone remember this? I found some snaps of the Killarney Model Railway I took on a family holiday to the Kingdom back in August 1999.

Note the good old Murphy Models/Lima IR-liveried class 33, not a patch on the forthcoming A but 21 years ago it was quite something for 11 year old-me to see a model that looked anyway like day-to-day trains I saw.

(I didn't now how improbable it was to have a vac-braked only loco hauling a mixed rake of vacuum and air-braked carriages!).

2 hours ago, Noel said:

Alternatively I could have a go at RPSI Maroon GSV 3173 using a Bachmann BR Mk1 brake 1st corridor donor.  It is quite a different layout to the more common ex-BR Mk1 GSVs CIE used (e.g. 3185).

 

There were a few others like that (3172 off the top of my head), however 3173 was changed (slightly) again when overhauled at Mullingar in the preservation era.

Interestingly, I've vague recollections that while researching the vans for the RPSI website articles a few years ago I discovered that Graham Farish had actually modeled 3173 in its original BR identity as w21146.

1518 and 1520 were also converted to snack cars around 1986 and reverted to standards after a few years... I "think" I've seen a pic of a Craven with plated over windows in CIÉ livery which would be one of these but not 100% sure. 1509 was damaged in the Belview derailment of 1993 on a GAA special.

1508 herself had a brief further modification in RPSI days, running with a wooden bar (painted by yours truly) in place of four bays of seats at the No.2 end from 2008, but we removed this again when she underwent full restoration over 2012-2015.

Friday 7th November

The Blue Train

"A private charter will see the Society's Cravens and an 071 diesel locomotive operate to Midleton from Dublin Connolly. As the passengers will not be returning on this train, we are able to offer the diesel-hauled one-way return leg to the railway enthusiast fraternity.

The bar and buffet will be available. NIR's 112 has been requested (no guarantee) for a blue train out of Cork.

Arr

Dep

Midleton

--

15:00

Cork 15:23 15:47

Dublin Connolly 18:51

--

Fare: €25 (Pay on the train)"

Probably the first time a NIR 111 has been to Midleton (all going well)

All profits from the trip go straight back into keeping classic loco hauled trains on the mainline

Of course... more carriages may get turned out quicker the more people that sign up to volunteer!

Loads of pics on www.facebook.com/RPSIDublin - check it out!

Some of the suburban variants had toilets retrofitted in time. Of the preserved ones 1419 is a mainline example, 1416 survived into preservation but was sadly destroyed by arson in the mid-2000s.

I think the pair at Clonakilty came off the last set active set.

The Heritage set is moving to Heuston for storage but as mentioned in recent RPSI newsletters it is not seen as a long term answer to the Dublin base question.

Whatever about having them as dummies out of the box, I don't see the point in going to the trouble of de-motoring an existing model. Seems like a lot of hassle for no real benefit.

As Lough Erne says I wouldn't mind what the railway press says, another publication seemed to think that Heuston was going to be a new Dublin base!

The RPSI's own bulletins and newsletters are the most accurate source.

From the RPSI news page:

14th November - Society News:

50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS ANNOUNCED

As many members will be aware, the RPSI was set up at a meeting in the Presbyterian Hostel in Belfast on 30th September 1964. This means that next year, the Society will be celebrating its 50th anniversary. A small committee was set up earlier this year to draw up proposals to mark this auspicious anniversary. It will be an occasion to celebrate the Society's achievements to date, to take stock of where we are, and to look forward to the next 50 years.

It is proposed that all RPSI events and operations during the year will be badged as "RPSI 50" occasions and a special, distinctive logo has being devised to signify this.

In addition, Charles Friel will be presenting a talk about the Society's first 50 years to audiences in Belfast, London and Dublin during the year.

Two prestigious dinners are also planned - the first in Dublin on Saturday 17th May which is the weekend of the international tour; the dinner will be open to all members, not just railtour participants. The RPSI was founded as an all-Ireland body and hence we are keen that the anniversary should be marked as emphatically in Dublin as in Belfast.

We are delighted to be able to announce that the main celebration will be a gala event on Saturday 13th September at Belfast City Hall, the use of which has been generously granted by Belfast City Council. The date has been chosen to coincide with the staging in Belfast of a Heritage Railway Association conference, and because it is so close to the actual date of the first meeting. The City Hall is an ideal venue, being located only a couple of hundred metres from the venue of that first tentative gathering, at which, incidentally, our President the Lord O'Neill kindly consented to be appointed as patron of the RPSI.

At present it is hoped to launch the year of celebrations with an event at Whitehead in March, of which more details will emerge shortly.

Marking this important anniversary is designed to help to raise the Society's profile throughout Ireland and to acknowledge the assistance of so many people and organisations. But it will also be an opportunity to thank the members for their support and to give all members a chance to celebrate the RPSI's achievements to date. We hope that among the specific outcomes will be:

* The recruitment of 50 new members (at least).

* The conversion of 50 existing members into working members.

Watch this space for more details as the events unfold.

With the overhauls of 131 and 171 starting there's a lot to look forward to in the next few years!

By this stage the kegs would have been brought into the Ardee road depot (south west of the platform).

Don't know if this has been posted before, but the RPSI have a range of historical journal material now on their site:

http://www.steamtrainsireland.com/contents/#archives

This includes all issues of 'Irish Railfans' News' (published 1955-1973) and is also uploading the 1990s publication 'Irish Railway News'.

It also includes back issues of its own 'Five Foot Three' magazine, and some of the Irish News pages featured in 'Steam Railway' magazine over the past few years.

Worth a look.

2011 last time it was out I think. The is a video on youtube of an 071 hauling down Newcomen Junction from Connolly.

 

Actually it was 073 in 2010.

 

 

Do the RPSI still have the older maroon rake of coaches, don't what they are exactly I've only even seen photos of them. They look like LMS style coaches.

There's some LMS NCC stock at Whitehead, some of which is used on train rides within the site. 68 was overhauled not long ago http://www.steamtrainsireland.com/photonews/110608/index.html#68

They also refurbished diner 87 recently. Whitehead has other vehicles of GNR(I) and GSWR origin.

The Dublin based Heritage set is a mixture of 2 CIÉ Laminates, 2 CIÉ Park Royals, a CIÉ 24xx series diner, a GNR(I) diner, a GSR Bredin side corridor, a GNR(B) Brake 3rd, a GSWR side corridor and also obviously GSWR State Saloon 351.

Last outing of a Heritage vehicle so far was Park Royal 1419 on the 2010 Santas.

Interesting,thanks for the update. By the sound of the Rail Express snippet it looked like Heuston would be the new RPSI base in the Dublin area. Be interesting to see how it pans out.

Haven't seen Rail Express recently but no it's a temporary storage solution for the RPSI heritage rake. As members will know from RPSI newsletter there is a committee looking towards the goal of establishing a proper base in the Dublin area but obviously easier said than done!

So if anybody is looking to give away large a rail accessible site in the Dublin area I'm sure the RPSI would love to hear from you!

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A couple of Aerial shots of Inchicore..

 

You can explore yourself at this link http://www.bing.com/maps/#Y3A9NTkuNjkxMzE1fi0xNS44MjYxMTQmbHZsPTUmc3R5PXImcT1pbmNoaWNvcmUlMjUyQyUyNTIwZHVibGlu

I reckon those pics were taken 2007ish, judging by the Cravens awaiting scrapping and A39 being in the midst of its repaint from silver to black. Not a black 071 to be seen.

I wonder where these locos will be going now that the RPSI will be moving their coaching stock out of Inchicore?

It's only the Heritage set that's going to Heuston for storage. Cravens will still be based at Inchicore for time being.

I remember when I was about twelve watching what to my eyes seemed to an enormous train arriving in Dundalk from Belfast, a 201 hauling a combination of kegs, cement bubbles and containers, shunting the keg flats off on arrival. Different times indeed.