jhb171achill

I think two or three 121s got red buffer beams while grey. Not sure of numbers.

Indeed - on a mail train, yes - there were the priority!

I'd definitely be interested in one of those in 00 scale!

Niggly detail on those - the P&T bit should be green writing on a pale yellowy-green background, not red and white.....

And proper Irish carriages...... and the paler green livery! And and and

Bogies silver as well............... Must say I really liked this. I've two grey and yellow 121s. Thinking cap on, activated.....

Totally agree. He also built Seafield House, Donabate, though what is there today was substantially added to in the 1880s. In original style, a perfect example of Palladian symmetry, and a light-filled house as he had windows at the back facing the ornamental gardens when you walked in through the hall door. Would you consider a standard Land Commission / "Gaeltacht" 1920s house in 00 scale? GNR paint scheme on the doors, by the look of it!

One thing you'll note (and as seen on Connafeld already) is that in mainland Europe, actual goods sidings as such were much less common than here or Britain - instead loops rather than sidings were a lot more common. Not an exact science, of course, but certainly in through stations a great deal more common. I think "Connafurt" or possibly better, "Konnafurt", sounds best of the ones you mentioned. I think these days I'd avoid anything ending in "-stein"!

So it travelled 12 minutes back in time? Never knew one of those ventured into Wisht Caark, boy!

Personally I’d concentrate on the trains, unless you might plan an operational crane on the ship…?

That top pic at Cashel is likely to be at the opening of the line, or near enough….

ANYTHING but reopen the railway to there!

That's exactly what it is. They were used on cattle specials and tended to be found lurking in Athlone, Mullingar and Broadstone when not in use. You would think that they also might have seen use on branchlines, especially where cattle was a big thing (e.g. Loughrea) but seemingly not so much. Certainly not in GSR times. Senior took a photo of a similar van but without passenger accommodation at Broadstone in the early 1930s. It was shabby looking and as he said, probably (but not certainly) out of use. It was still in MGWR livery like the above. The full brake versions of these were green, so the above may be too. Failing that, certainly standard dark wagon grey. There is a Cyril Fry model of a yoke of this nature in the Malahide Model Railway Museum. It is a very dark green, not unlike UTA coach green or BCDR loco green. The van that Senior saw in the 1930s was a dulled mid-green, but since anything in Midland livery in 1931 or 1932 hadn't seen a paintbrush for at least seven years, the original colour could have been very much darker indeed. Fry's livery interpretations are generally exceptionally accurate and exceptionally detailed, though there are a few aberrations to the theme; he painted a model of a 500 class 4.6.0, and two other locos, which spent their entire working lives in dark grey, in "Maedb"-style blue-green!

They’ve captioned that wrongly - this was a GSWR 2.4.0…. That lower one is Bishop’s Castle Railway in England rather than Belfast Central. Fior that line, and quite a few others in Britain, vehicles like this were not uncommon. The 3rd class compartments must have been cosy….

The Corkmen have got lost….. a 26 pauses at Malahide this afternoon in the museum…. Meanwhile a Craven set is in Mallow, as the lads down there wonder where their 26 class is… and Dublin, as usual, is choked with buses. Come and visit! . A down Rosslare skirts Bray Head in the museum today.

Not just an exceptionally rare picture, or an exceptionally rare vehicle - but an exceptionally rare TYPE of vehicle in Ireland. A four-wheeled anything of that style is almost unheard of here, though once relatively more common in the Neighbouring Island, but a two-compartment four-wheeled brake third would be little more than unique. Excellent find - and it has lasted into GSR days!

Kingsbridge? 92 spent a large part of its life as the Inchicore "taxi", I believe.

VERY well deserved. As one who travelled extensively on the Austrian narrow gauge going back to steam days, I can say it captures the atmosphere of these lines perfectly.

BOOK REVIEW LOCOMOTIVES OF THE MIDLAND GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY By Jeremy Clements & Michael McMahon Published by Transport Treasury 2026 This is the third book in a series* by the two authors relating to locomotive history in Ireland, and will be a "must-read" for modellers of this system or any of its locomotives. The first dealt with the locomotives of the Great Southern Railway, thus excluding types from any constituent companies which were long gone by 1925 when the GSR came into being. The second dealt with the locomotives of the largest constituent company, the Great Southern & Western Railway. This latest book is a fitting addition to the written material related to the Midland Great Western Railway, arguably the most unique of the larger Irish railway companies for a number of reasons, not least their very individual locomotive history. It is this latter point which makes this a most valuable addition to Irish railway writings. The authors have excelled themselves with this volume. The research has been very thorough, with depths plumbed within some of the obscurer archives both in Ireland and in Britain. In particular, the period from 1846 to the 1870s, aptly dubbed the “Dark Ages” by the authors on account of the dearth of available information, is extremely well covered – in fact, it occupies a chapter of some thirty pages with copious plans, photographs and tabular information from a variety of sources, much previously unpublished. After the customary introduction, a broad account of the history of the MGWR follows with a chapter on early building of locomotives. Next, the system of identifying different classes follows. As in the previous volume on the GSWR, in order to make sense of earlier classification styles, instead of the official class designations used by the company concerned, the authors rely heavily on the more logical, but technically amateur, nomenclature devised and used by the late Bob Clements, probably the leading expert of Irish steam locomotives ever. Clements lived through the heyday of steam traction and made extensive notes on all classes of locomotives on most lines. While unfamiliar to most enthusiasts who would be more accustomed to the MGWR’s letter-based system, and the later GSR / CIE numerical system, Clements’ system of Roman numerals may be found to be more consistent to the academic student of locomotives, which is why the authors have used it. There follows a list of locomotive types with building and withdrawal dates. The authors have included much detail in this volume which often overlooked in other publications but is of great interest to read. The MGWR had a policy of naming most locomotives, and a table is given of all names ever used, plus the meanings of these names – some of which are obvious, but others a great deal more obscure. Locomotive design is examined in detail in the next few chapters under the headings of the “Dark Ages”, already referred to, then the tenures of the three main locomotive engineers, Atock, Cusack and Morton. In each chapter, detailed information is given relating to their policies and the engines which resulted, as well as rebuilds of earlier types carried out under their watch. Appropriately the last class dealt with is the “Woolwich” 2.6.0s, acquired as kits of parts from the Woolwich Arsenal in London, with assembly at the MGWR’s Broadstone Works in Dublin during the company’s last months of independent existence. The small four-wheeled railcar built for the Achill branch is dealt with as well. What then follows is several chapters of highly detailed material relating to tenders. Much of this detail, like that of the locomotives earlier, will be invaluable to any modeller. Liveries are also given detailed attention, including the very short-lived blue livery which was only applied to a handful of main line locomotives in the very early 1900s. The MGWR became just one constituent (albeit the second-biggest after the GSWR) of the newly-formed Great Southern Railways in 1925. Rather than simply state this fact, the authors have dealt with the background to the state of the railway industry as a whole at the time, thus placing the amalgamation which created the GSR into context. They continue to expound on the theme of how the GSR managed locomotive policy in the ensuing years. This in itself is a subject which, despite its importance, is not frequently covered in other writings. Several appendices follow, again covering much detail in areas rarely covered adequately. We read of differing cab styles, industrial disputes, and a fascinating section relating to engineering patents attributable to a number of individuals within the MGWR’s successive locomotive staff. Finally, some accident reports are included. These often give an interesting insight into driving conditions, locomotive performance and the general conditions of railway operation at the time they occurred. In a work of this kind, it will be obvious to the reader that many sources were consulted during what was clearly long and painstaking research over a number of years. The authors have listed these in detail, and have drawn on first-hand accounts dating back to 1866. In more modern times, the notes and research of a number of early 20th century railway enthusiasts, some of whom were instrumental in the establishment of the Irish Railway Record Society, have been heavily relied on. Amongst these were Bob Clements (1910-1994), already referred to, and the late Harold Fayle and Kevin Murray. Other material in the IRRS archives has also been painstaking perused. The book is copiously illustrated with much previously unpublished material. Photographs come from a variety of sources, but invaluable assistance has been provided to the authors in particular by Charles P Friel of Belfast, custodian of a vast archive of highly important historical photographic material. A detailed index is provided. Production quality is excellent. As this writer knows all too well, copies of many old photographs may not have survived in particularly good quality, so a publisher can have their work cut out to make such an image acceptable for inclusion in a book. It is evident that much has been done to address this issue with some of the more obscure pictures. Other illustrations include maps, diagrams and many locomotive drawings, especially the reproduction of some very obscure illustrations of early classes of locomotive. All in all, this book is to be very highly recommended. Like the preceding two volumes, this will be the authoritative reference work on the subject covered. JB (* “Locomotives of the GSR”, Colourpoint Press, 2008, and “Locomotives of the Great Southern & Western Railway” by the same authors plus Alan O’Rourke, Collon Publishing, 2020)

Where are you based? If I had that, I'd have a model of the whole Achill branch!

This is interesting. Normally, when you had any sort of railmotor or other vehicle consisting of a loco part and a coach part, the loco was in the standard company loco livery, and the coach in the standard coach livery. In this case, it's green, as GSWR locos were then lined green. But that coach part is most certainly not the extremely dark brownish maroon which ws standard for the GSWR then; in fact, it looks to be the loco colour! Could it also be green? The green also looks to be WAY lighetr than the extremely dark olive green the GSWR used, though the lining is similar in style. The GSWR railmotors, though several decades later, had the dark crimson lake colour on carriages, which in photos looks more or less black, and the loco portions in loco colour. So what may we conclude? My suggestion is that this is NOT in GSWR livery - it is the livery of the Castleisland Railway Company. Since this company owned not one thing on wheels bar this contraption, it may be taken that their livery, if they had one, was unique to this. Since the GSWR very quickly acquired it and numbered it 90, it would have acquired GSWR livery after only a short time. There is no "90" Inchicore numberplate on it either, which adds weight to GSWR90's suggestion that it's in original condition. So, could we be looking at the only photographic evidence of the C.R. Co.'s own livery - I would suggest we are. I wonder, therefore, what it is? Possibly (probably) a mid-green? So what may we conclude?

Exactly - flying rats! This just has to be amongst the rarest visit of anything to anywhere. The coach is a (pre-NCC) Belfast & Northern Counties Rly. full parxcels brake, as used primarily to carry mails between Belfast & Derry (via Coleraine) in the late 1890s. Quite a few BNCR coaches survived the LMS modernisation in the late 1930s, but there was a "cull" of older stock, especially non-corridor types, by the UTA in the 1950s. Despuite that a FEW BNCR vehicles made into the early 60s, but no longer. I have never before seen a picture of a BNCR vehicle south of Lisburn! And you couldn't get much further soutgh than Cork (Glanmire Rioad)!

A superb article. It woul be interesting to hear a smiliar tale of someone who worked on the Irish ones. JhbSenior never mentioned anything much about them, though he would have seen the last one in the 1930s - No. 92 I think?

At very short notice I will be able to go to Wexford tomorrow for a look round. I wonder would anyone be free to give a lift as I'll have no car? PM me if so? Otherwise, I will brave the DSER!

Superb stuff, Mol!