jhb171achill

Wow! Brings back memories.... a 70 and an 80 in opposite platforms.... to be often seen anywhere in those days. Can you model the cigarette smoke in the interiors so thick you could cut slices of it with a knife! Especially when they eventually confined the smokists to the rattly boneshakers that were the power cars of both classes! In the days when railway staff could enforce by-laws in an efficient manner withour fear of claims, attacks or retributions, I witnessed an incident one evening on the LAST train out of Central for Portadown. A hoody-wearer started smoking. I was sitting opposite. A female passenger reported him to the conductor-guard who came up and told him to put it out. He refused, grinned and sneered at the conductor, and went on smoking. We were approaching Finaghy. He told the conductor he was going to Portadown. Conductor says "You put it out now or I'll put YOU out!" Hoody-wearer says something to the effect "you and whose army?". He happened to be sitting on the seat beside the central door - we were in the centre coach. You only travelled in a 70 or 80 class power car if you wanted your false teeth and eyeballs shaken out, and to be deafened. Lest nostalgia intervene, a daily commute in a 70 or 80 class power car was NOT fun. Train pulls up at Finaghy. Without a word, conductor opens the door, grabs hoody by the scruff of the neck, shoves him out onto the platform, assisting his egress with a heavy boot to his hind quarters. A fair oul kick, he gave him. Slams the door, leans out, whistles to the driver, and off goes the train. The troubles were in full swing at this time - it was about 1992. This guy was going to porteeedown. It was about 11 at night - not a safe time to be abandoned in Finaghy, in an area which was an "interface" between "themmuns and us" (or "us an' themmuns", depending which side you were on). This was the last train of the night. There were unlikely to be many - if any - buses, from the main road. Taxis were non-existent around there. Too dangerous for them to operate, with drivers being abducted and murdered with depressing regularity. I wonder what happened that gentleman with hoody, smirk, cigarettes, and lighter that night.... Final score: NIR - 1, cigarette 0.

Today (Saturday 1st) is the fiftieth anniversary of the last public trains on the Loughrea branch. While official closure date was Monday 3rd, since the line had no Sunday service for almost all of its life, the last trains ran on the previous Saturday (1st). Also closed with effect from 3rd November 1975 were the ex-GNR Dromin Jct. to Ardee branch, the Claremorris - Collooney "Burma Road" and the Listowel-Ballingrane Junction section of the North Kerry (Listowel-Tralee would close the following year, along with Castleisland). This period marked the last significant reduction of railway mileage here, though apart from the Loughrea branch the others were goods-only. 1975 also saw the end of cattle traffic - as I understand it, Ennis, Athenry and Loughrea were about the last places to ship any out. I recall seeing rows of cattle trucks that year lined up in Cork goods yard awaiting scrapping. They were all still grey. It also saw the last use of the "G" class, which still saw use on the Loughrea branch until the mid-summer, after which re-engined "C"s were used on this line, with an occasional appearance by a B141 or an "A" - though crews dreaded the latter on account of the state of the track. Finally, 1st November 1975 saw the last official mixed trains, again on the Loughrea branch. While officially mixed to the end, in later months crews preferred to do an unofficial mid-day run with the branch loco to the junction and back, acting as a seperate goods train, to deal with the paltry amount of goods traffic, which had declined to 2 or 3 laden goods vans a day inwards. Virtually nothing was going out of Loughrea by goods train by that stage. Barry carse recorded this working on one dull misty day. The loco was G616 and it had two empty H vans and a guard's van to the junction, and it brought back just two other laden ones. Meanwhile, the "mixed" train each way was just the passenger coach hauled by a "C". The one time I travelled on the branch, it was the same; that was about two weeks before the closure. The trains was the single coach hauled by B209; I was disgusted! All that way - Connolly - Mullingar - Athlone - Atrtymon to see an oiul "C" class sitting in the branch platform instead of a "G": sure you can get any oul "C" to Bray or Howth any day, I thought. But that's what it was; and while technically a "mixed", there was actually no incoming toods traffic at all that day for Loughrea. One of very very few mixed trains I've ever been on, and the only one ever in Ireland. (The nearest other one to that, geographically, was on the Austrian narrow gauge Krimml - Zell-am-See line in 1979, when an incoming train stopped at Mittersill, reversed into the siding after doing its passenger stuff, and hitched on three bogie goods vans for the run home).... So, this fine day I lament Gs, mixeds, Loughrea and cattle traffic. And steam, and buses with flying snails on them, and UTA crests on carriages, black'n'tan 141s, grey 121s, Bredin, laminate and steam-era wooden carriages, proper dining cars with steak dinners and dribbly teapots* , South African eight-coupled steam locos battling the Montague Pass, narrow gauge steam in Austria, main line steam in India, wood-burning 2.4.0 tender engines in Indonesia, and all manner of stuff. I lament the view of the Raford River near Loughrea from the train window as the sun set over it on a freezing afternoon; the endless level crossings seen from the train on the Navan-Kingscourt line, wandering round Albert Quay station in Cork watching fertiliser wagons being dealt with, seeing a GNR "UG" shunting at Lisburn, rain seeping through the roof on the Athenry - Claremorris line, the clatter of loose-coupled goods trains, watching a black'n'tan B145 shunting at Tuam, and I'm showing me age. Time to stop burbling. From 1976, all was modern. 071s seemed to cap it all. Illogical it might be, but in all railway matters I hanker after the pre-1976 period, with little to nothing that was new after that being of much interest to me! Odd and ancient I may be - but I know i'm not the only one! (* Actually, my local coffee shop, where I will be in an hour's time, does a good line in those...)

This is going to be a MIGHTY operation ! Very much looking forward to seeing it develop!

I believe the oldest is at Clonmel about 1850, showing a man in a tiop hat, as far as I recall, standing under the railway bridge with a loco int he background. There is another, probably the 2nd oldest, showing a very early MGWR train at (I think) Castlebar, which seems only to have had one platform then.

For those planning to go this weekend, this event is delayed (books not yet back from printers). Will update in due course. I had been hoping to have the launch this Saturday, as this will be the exact 50th anniversary of the last public trains.

One of these was not on the IRM stand….

If anyone’s about on 7th November I’m doing a talk in New Ross on the North Wexford line that evening. All welcome! And they tell me they’ll have choccy bikkies….

Probably the laziest and most hideous, unartistic livery ever applied to anything in history!

How ON EARTH do they get working motors into stuff that tiny? If extremely small scales like this, or Z, gain much traction, what about a 5mm gauge track to represent 5'3", and Irish models at a scale of 1mm = 1ft!

Correct. Like all such paintings, it was for official photo purposes only. Before any locomotive went into traffic, it was painted in its "proper" livery. The IRM grey model certainly has novelty value, which will make it very7 popular with collectors, I would imagine. I am unaware of any manufacturer ever making any model of anything in "photographic grey". Especially for a beast THIS size!

Unfortunately, apart from the “wannabe”-CIE-era aspect, the livery on that thing is is utterly wrong on several counts!

I’m clearing a quantity of surplus of my own, plus some bits I’ve been asked to sell for a non-internet friend who has gone into a nursing home. First, these; carriage (the first of many) €10 and two container flats €5 each. Postage €8-€12 depending where you live.

Sold

Having seen the prototype today, I would VERY highly recommend this. Put me down for a few!

Selling this as surplus to requirements, for same price I paid for it, €100 / £90. Will have it at Blackrock on Monday at the Tailte Tours / Downpatrick & Co Down Railway stand.