jhb171achill

There was one particular crew member whose yell could probably be heard at the other end, when he was excited…..

In this day and age we need to be careful. I tried to correct several wikipedia entries (all related to Irish railway history!) in recent years, and while in some cases I was able to, in others I wasn't. These were cases where incorrect dates or something else had been quoted. In an eventual conversation with a wiki person online, I established that they wouldn't change it as "it says so" in a separate online source. It did indeed "say so"; but that source was plain wrong.

A question; while I often saw these things in real life, this is the first time I’ve seen them from above. What are those hatch-like things on top of them?

Where are you and what do you need?

A VERY rare animal these days. I saw two Schull & Skib vans which were in that condition, or worse - and that was over thirty years ago. I doubt there’s much left now - they were in a field near Schull.

Not so many still survive, but at that time you’d never know what you’d find in rural settings like you mention….

Many thanks, Leslie!

Mol will hold you to a very high standard!

I had 24 cattle trucks to deal with tonight at terminus where the loop can only take 9, and the cattle bank 14…… It delayed the incoming passenger, which happened also to be the first run of one of my new IRM Park Royals….

Thats what they said……

Shunting proceeds long into the evening the night before the big livestock fair in Castletown West…. IMG_5398.mov

Fair Day beckons again, as empty cattle trucks are moved up to Castletown cattle sidings. Empty grain vans for West Kerry Mills have been added onto this empty wagon working in 1971…. IMG_5401.mov

It’s not that heavy. It only took nine men to lift it into that display cabinet…..

Exactly the type of thing I had devsied for Dugort Harbour. I had based my routine on the Albert Quay - Bantry working timetable, with two return passenger trains a day "up to the smoke". But instead of one goods train coming in early in the morning and departing late morning, I had two; the idea is one arrives from Tralee, the other from Cork. (In real life, they'd have combined them, I am sure, somewhere between Mallow and Killarney). Add to that paths for GAA, pilgrimage, beet, cattle and fair day specials and it is surprising how complex an operating session can become - on a busy day, my operating routine can take over two hours to complete. Lately, I have also introduced extra local workings relating to an imaginary mill premises, which is actually back to the fiddle yard - this was since Enda and IRM produced grain wagons!

Had a look to see what number mine ought to be. Most Y5 vans (Leslie's kit of a GNR passenger train parcels van - the GN equivalent of a fitted "H" on CIE, or a "brown van" on the NCC) ended up on the UTA. (In contrast, of the six Y4 vans, CIE and UTA got three each). Of the Y5s, Leslie's kit type, CIE got one (No. 770 - probably 770N) which had originally been 469. I have seen a picture of it in green, which is what mine will be, and as far as I recall with a snail on the sliding door. The UTA got four, two of which lasted into NIR times, both being withdrawn in 1971, so it's unlilely they got NIR maroon and most likely ended their days in UTA dark green. The other two UTA ones were withdrawn in 1963 (probably still brown) and 1967 (definitely green, as I remember seeing its body in a field about 1988!). Of the other four, the GNR themselves had withdrawn them before 1958. So mine will be 770, which was withdrawn by CIE in 1962. Interesting to note that among the older Y4s was one (GNR No. 439, UTA 644) which also lasted with NIR until 1971.

Tis under construction at Dundalk Works as we speak!

Good to see you as always, Leslie; and equally as always I was unable to walk away without purchasing something further of four-wheeled “Provincial” provenance….

IVE MET HIM, YES! ELVIS IS KING!

Green with flying snails!

I’m STILL ogling pictures of the “C” class……!

THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS MODEL CANNOT BE OVERSTATED! Others have described what they did, the fact they always seemed to be in the background doing unsung humdrum tasks (though there's nothing as humdrum as a modern railway with no goods at all, and nothing but the exact same railcar type, in the exact same formation, shuttling back and forth all day!)... Bear in mind they were more numerous than the modern 201s, and almost as numerous as the 141s. MORE numerous than 181s, Hunslets, B101s or 121s. They did get about. So, their history has been well commented upon, and to an extent which I hope will increase the rapidly growing interest in the "black'n'tan" and "grey'n'green" eras. If we look at the more practical in these days of what they might be put to work at on a layout, we have a surprising number of options. The sheer variety of these is fodder for any modeller's imagination - anything from hauling a six-wheeled brake third, a couple of empty beet trucks and a tatty old 10 ton brake van on a remote branch line in 1960, to charging about the Dublin suburban area pushing or shoving clapped-out railcars in the 1980s. I encountered B209 at Attymon Junction on the Loughrea mixed two days before that line closed. The last two resident "G" class had been withdrawn from Loughrea earlier that year (1975) and had it remained open, only B201 / C types were to have been used. Even one "Supertrain" one, 232, did a stint there that summer. You'd get them on weedsprays too. They could be seen in both Crossley and GM form - pre- and post-re-engining - with goods trains, the Loughrea mixed (increasingly so before that line closed), ballast trains, and of course the NIR stuff. The "might have been" NIR ore traffic is another potential scenario. The fact that they were less common on passenger workings in later years than, say, 141s, will be one of the reasons they were "ignored". The only cab run I ever had in one was on a ballast working from Clonsilla to North Wall. So, they definitely deserve a pedestal by now. Which I why I'm ordering some six of them; on my layout, had it existed in real life, pretty much all services would have been worked by these and 141s once steam ended. This really is an IRM project which is WELL worth supporting.

It’s a sleeper-built PW tool hut.

It’s just all going round in circles….

Delighted to meet you again. It’s a superb little layout and very practical for exhibitions. Delighted to meet you again. It’s a superb little layout and very practical for exhibitions.

An excellent account; and one of the most important announcements yet for anyone modelling 1957-86!