jhb171achill

I believe it’s been opened on a number of special occasions for pre-arranged groups.

In the narrowest gauge place.

Yes, on some services. One per train. They were brown and cream when new - but not Pullman livery brown and cream - GSR brown and cream! (Similar shades to GWR in Britain so actually much the same), black roof not silver as in GB. Senior said that they eventually had standard GSR maroon, with “GREAT SOUTHERN PULLMAN” in yellow above window level. It must have been short-lived as I have not seen a photo like this. In a colour pic, though, of one in a scrap line in the early 50s, maroon can be seen showing under the green. Eventually CIE dark green but unusually no snail, due to the planked lower sides.

Over 30 wagons..... some main line cattle specials were allowed to load to 45 plus van! Tis a special breed of horse that was bred specifically for this use; they were born with lamps attached.

In all reality, the likelihood of a Park Royal behind an 800 class, while technically possible, is highly unlikely. By the time the main line PRs were being introduced, the 800 class were doing very little - Cork trains were largely in the hands of Crossley "A"s, B101s and AEC railcars. The stock needed for AUTHENTIC stock behind an 800 is a selection of both types of Bredins, the 1951-3 CIE equivalents, and various older main line corridor wooden-bodied GSWR stock. The older wooden ones and the steel-sided ones (Bredins onward) were, judging by photos of anything steam on the main line in the 1940s and 50s, about 50 / 50 each. With the actual absence of anything at all RTR at the moment, and (I suspect) for a long time, we must make do with what the nearest equivalents are. Apart from the SSM and Worsley brass kits, for RTR various types of 1930s off-the-shelf LMS designs from across the pond would do a reasonable impression of Bredins if painted in GSR livery (same as LMS, conveniently, down to the lining, but with very dark grey roof instead of silver) though different lettering; and there are some representations of wooden-bodied stock from Britain (go for LMS or GWR types, not Southern or LNER) again repainted. Alternately, the very same vehicles in older CIE green with eau-de-nil lines, as per the re-liveried LMS stock that came in that Bachmann train set with a Woolwich some years ago. The 6-wheelers wouldn't have gone behind an 800, with the possible exception of a full brake carrying mail bags, and alongside a TPO; now THIS is something for which nothing but a scratchbuild would do, but would be present in most 800-hauled trains. So right now, nothing beyond that; but who know what the future would bring. A RTR Bredin or laminate would cover a huge lot of holes in the market.

Certainly looks like it! You’d be aware the palvans were a lot higher….

I ate it all for him.

I think that’s a 1930s GSR van….

This is a truly outstanding layout! More please!

A lot - if not most - of the “soft-tops” were the older, lower-sided, round-roofed body types as shown in the models above. A handful made it to the late 50s.

Yes, there’s an hourly bts service. If you fly to Dublin, Tailté Tours will be operating a day trip from Dublin.

I'd stick with Cultra and Whitehead - Grand Central has all the atmosphere of a Soviet-era cigarette and steel manufacturing factory, and as much charm as a wet February Tuesday morning in Carrickfergus............!

It's true - this is one of many large gaps in Irish railway literature! Other than what's been mentioned I'm aware of nothing significant.

I had several locos finished in CIE grey which I wanted to have realistically weathered to look like they did at the tail end of steam. The results were very realistic - I’ll try to find pics. Dempsey of this parish did some of them; but unfortunately I can’t recall who did the others!

Light engines and other comings and goings today….

1946, and a maintenance train is stabled at Dugort Harbour.

Except he’s a great deal more dangerous and irresponsible than Miranda!

We could move it to Europe or the USA, to any town where factory workers will work for €5000 a year. Trump and his ilk prattle on about how China has “stolen” their industry, when the reality is that (a) big business in the USA and elsewhere have proactively outsourced their industry to lower-wage countries and (b) as a result, American and first-world customers have voted with their wallets. Dump China, and be prepared to pay multiples of the price for all consumer goods, as proper western wages have to be paid to the workers. We can’t have it both ways…..

I think that in terms of return on investment - if we view that in traditioanl purely fiscal terms - not one red cent spent on any railway in Ireland ever will produce a "return", as such, so that one's long gone. However, the way to look at it is the social and practical benefit it brings, rather than return on investment. There is absolutely no doubt that if the money could be found, the existence of a much higher speed service would be an absolutely immense benefit. Four-tracking Drogheda to Dublin, a la Cork line, would in theory be the best answer, but Connolly congestion would become impossible. Plus, there isn't the room to four-track that line without (in some places) removing housing in a city with an existing chronic housing shortage. Add to that the difficulties associated with, perhaps, and entire closure of the northern suburban service for many many months, perhaps several years. Yes, hypothetically possible, but given the above, it just ain't gonna happen. The ONLY way is underground. Keep the darts where they are and send the Enterprise, and outer-suburban semi-fasts, UNDER the ground.They built the Port Tunnel WITHIN the allotted tomescale, and as far as I know within budget (Children's Hospital take note). If they had the undergrounde serving the airport and Swords areas too, four-track THAT, and have a new and badly needed commuter route, with the Enterprise scooting through on central tracks. It really is that simple. If Vienna, a city of similar size to Dublin, can do all this - which it can and does - then so can we.

I'd be inclined to agree re accident repair. As you say, and as can be seen in zillions of photos, none of them had these waistline beadings when new.

Not remotely a stupid question - a very valid one. Everything was grey until 1970, and after that the brown livery appeared. However, flat wagons of this type were on their way out by then, so not all that many got the brown livery - a good lot of them, possibly an actual majority, saw out their days in grey. So a 1970-1977 layout can legitimately have both grey and brown.

Yes. I think these were for North Wall traffic. I think I’ve some info at home - will delve later. Not identical, but very similar. As Mol shows in pics quite a few detail differences. Apart from the panelling, see the footboards.

Yes, all grey pre-1970; brown the last few years, but even when the very last loose-coupled goods ran in the late 1970s, possibly 10-15% of the wagons were still grey. The standard CIE guards’ vans were either 20T or 30T.

Excellent list. Pity there’s nothing Midland on it, though!

A “might-have-been” factory beside the railway….. think Courtaulds (Carrickfergus), Allmans Distillery (Bandon) and of course CSET at several locations. For a built-up area, we had Shell at Alexandra Road, Dublin, with their diminutive Planet loco. In my teens I had considered a shunting layout based on Westport Quay as if it had been a private railway, to make use of an old Hornby shunter of some sort that I had. (Like many a grand scheme, it never saw the light of day!)