jhb171achill

As Mol suggests, there are unresolved issues about Park Royals; e.g. how many were silver, how many were dark green, DID any dark green ones have an upper EdN band (despite some thoughts, I do not think so), and which coaches and when had green ends, and / or green roofs.

What we DO know is that some were silver (as Mol suggests, almost certainly not many), some were dark green (ditto), but most were the lighter green with a single thin EdN waistline, for most of their lives (including in many cases from new) up to the introduction of black and tan.

I've pretty sure I've seen a pic somewhere of one painted new in 1962 - right at the start of BnT - with the tan band not quite window height, and the coach number on the black background. Must try to find it - it might be in Cyril Fry's daughter's collection.

6 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

Yes, I agree, I think these colours look far too bright and yellow. 
It is useful in showing a difference in colour between the seconds and the buffet. 

I have some better colour photos of brilliant green on other coaches, but need more hours of research first, before I do the writing up.
This image from Ernie is a better representation of brilliant green:

 

Colour wise, a lot better, yes! Interestingly, the flying snail on that railcar is thee "normal" way round. In some cases, on THAT side of a railcar it was reversed, as on the same side on a lorry, bus or steam loco tender....

Superb stuff, mol.

The pic above in Sligo, though, while interesting in terms of whart was painted what colour, is so badly compromised by age and printing processes that as far as actualy shade is concerned, it has become completely inaccurate. Colour hues on the track, the two vans, the station roof glass and the station stonework are wrong too. Interesting, as a separate issue, to see the two ancient Midland mail vans there too. There was one (not one of those two) still in use up to about 1960, which dated back to 1877!

Fantastic scenic detail for a corner, which has given me an idea for a similar unused corner that I have on the "not-yet-sceneried" part of my layout.

55 minutes ago, GSR 800 said:

Maedbh makes a spirited departure with the Day Mail 

Latest addition to the train, one of the two IFM bogie TPOs

Really wonderful models from Tommy, very impressed!

OUTSTANDING work!!!!

On 1/12/2025 at 7:18 AM, David Holman said:

A fine ensemble. There is something rather nice about a mixed take of vehicles and certainly more interesting than a fixed unit railcard set...

Light years more interesting.

On 13/12/2025 at 11:09 PM, GSR 800 said:

Some more work done today. The clerestory and the Bredin Mk2 got some lining, decals and detail picked out. Once again picking out the windows in silver on the Bredin Mk2 was a tedious process!

And with that they now join the train!

Longterm I'd like to change the roof vents on the Bredin mk2 to something smaller, the dapol ones are enormously overscale.

This WHOLE LOT is truly inspirational!

6 hours ago, Tullygrainey said:

Kieran, whose models those are, tells me it’s a 1st Class Saloon coach

Yes, the GSWR had several of that ilk! 

Great to see a layout in full 1950s mode. What's that carriage in the middle of the rake?

2 hours ago, Tullygrainey said:

I had one of those once but the wheels fell off

You should have fitted a X5S4 to it….

I haven't the beginnings of a clue what yizzer talkin' about, lads. My reply to the above is therefore F6T1 89YG H4W7.

The two-coach train on that LRTL / IRRS jaunt in 1953 had the leading one still in very badly faded GSR maroon, but the one nehind it, while in CIE green, was every bit as badly faded due to the false economy in the 1930s of removing the carriage shed at Ballinamore. The loco, naturally, was dark grey.

Colour pictures exist of this incident. Apparently, the loco crew and some passengers put the car the right way up again, and it was actually able to drive away, with the driver thankfully not having any injurioes beyond bruises and scratches....

2 hours ago, Westcorkrailway said:

1954, a train of, fairly worn at this stage, 1940s livery coaches 

Another livery quite far away from home, a GNR coach going down to youghal post GNRB Split 

 

One similar GNR coach which a short time on the Loughrea branch and also made visits to West Cork. You can makle out on this one that they've roughly painted out the GNR(B) crest, but I have a photo of a GNR vehicle like it on the Loughrea branch and still in GNR brown, WITH a crest.

Long distance displacement happened in other instances; in the 1910s or 20s the BCDR had long-term hire of about half a dozen MGWR six-wheelers and a similar number of GNR ones. And of course, an NCC 4.4.0 was to be seen at one time on loan to the GNR in Cavan. 

But of all the widely travelled yokes there were, Midland six-wheelers have to be up there in sheer numbers. Very many of them ended up (post-1925) on the DSER (especially the Harcourt St line), North Wexford, the isolated Waterford and Tramore, and working out of Cork to Youghal and Cobh, as well as in West Cork. South-westerly branch lines like Kenmare, Valentia, Newmarket, Fenit and even Mitchelstown were visited by them too.

14 hours ago, Westcorkrailway said:

Steady now JB, could you be persuaded to say that more then just West Clare/ Cork stock got that plain unlined green!

Oh yes, the odd one here.n.there, I'm sure! But dem lads in Albert Quay seemed to be very independent, boy! Serious point, though; just as in the dying days of standard British Rail corporate blue, there were some depots which added their own embellishments to newly painted engiones, thiongs repainted in Cork or Limerick tended to be more likely to vary from the standard comp[ared to Inchicore. One ex-Bandon coach, for example, was tuerned out in plain dark green, with unlined numerals and flying snails (thus showing they were painted, not the usual transfers), but no lining at all. Also, despite being a six-wheeler, it had two "snails" per side. 

Other better known variations were several Cavan and Leitrim coaches which were dark green but with the upper lining only, not the lower, on the dark green standard background. On the West Clare, a number of vehicles were plain light green, others plain dark green, with no lining at all - some didn't even have snails.

53 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

Thanks, that’s good to know on the paint colours. 
 

I agree that much of the older stock was purged in the mid-1950s and this would have seen off many vehicles in the late 1940s green livery with elaborate lining. 
This is why I started the thread looking at the composition of the fleet through the years to illustrate the purges. 

Also, with a repainting interval of around 7 years, coaches that had been painted in the late 1940s would be due for a repaint in the mid 1950s, so those which survived the purge would have received a new paint job then anyway. 
 

A few hung on in fully lined older green livery right up to around 1960, though by that stage very few. And there was still one coach as larte as about 1956 on the Cavan and Leitrim in extremely faded GSR maroon (by now a dirty brownish pinkl!)

1 hour ago, GSR 800 said:

It's interesting, it 'seems' like the dark green got purged rapidly from rolling stock from 1955, with very few colour images of them or photos of them with the lighter green coaches, bar the example shown above. This may simply be down to many of those coaches being retired in large numbers as the newer PRs, laminates, Bredin mk2s, came online.

That's exactly it. No carriages would have been repainted dark green with full lining after 1955, though it seems that a handful of West Clare vehicles, at least one West Cork coach, and possibly a handful of Cork's large fleet of secondary stock received a coat of plain dark green on or about then. As you say, large scale withdrawals of old stock took place around then.

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

22 hours ago, Horsetan said:

If anything, I'd think the mails were treated with greater priority than the passengers....

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.....

Just now, Westcorkrailway said:

it took like 5 prompts to chat gpt to get it to that point…..I’ve run out of my daily limit! 

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

7 minutes ago, Westcorkrailway said:

I forgot about that….good times….cause quite a stir back in the day 

 

nearly half a decade later, and it’s still not out! 
 

anyway I tried chat gpt earlier for livery edits, didn’t go so well! 
 

what I want to see most is an 071 in inciting green (like the livery on the mark 4s / 201s) as I saw one like this in an RSA book once 

 

the other thing I’d quite like to see is 121 /141 class in 1960s light green with eau de nil waste and 

Bogies silver as well...............

19 minutes ago, Flying Snail said:

Few pics of it here in @Westcorkrailway's thread: 

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

On 2/5/2026 at 12:23 PM, Kevin Sweeney said:

I often think Jack Fitzsimons and Richard Lovett Pearse were the two most influential architects in irish histoy. Fitzsimons stated the bungalow revolution and Lovett Pearse the Palladian revolution. Lovett Pearse designed among others, Castletown House, 9 and 10 Henrietta Street, the Houses of Parliament on College Green and Bellamont House. Lovett Pearse definetly wins on aesthetics. 

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?

On 5/5/2026 at 6:57 PM, Kevin Sweeney said:

Navan Station is installed on the customers layout.

GNR paint scheme on the doors, by the look of it!

12 hours ago, Georgeconna said:

Hi Folks,

recently I sold off quite a bit of surplus Irish as it was just sitting there for ages and I wanted to run some trains hence Connafeld to keep the interest alive. From the funds I have just received a nice Roco freight set as a start.  Works out at €33 a wagon. Good deal really and the detail on these is fantastic.

The layout will be Prussian region of which I have zero idea of the how and whys of German railways, I know and small bit about the buildings so lots of learning here. I have an idea of the plan from looking at various German websites. Period will be1950's - last 60's and will most likely will have only 3 steam engines, possibly a Diesel shunter and the plan is to have little stock to fill this out. Famous last words....I know. 

Maybe looking @ 2 x ft scenic plus fiddle yard. Small Turntable or segment turntable at end

Thinking of my last 2 layouts we have had Connaton and currently Connafeld...

so what could I have here is a possible name? Connaburg, Connadorf, Connastein, Connafurt, Connabad

The first exciting loco is due this week...... 

 

Anyone know what this is?

 

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"!

1 hour ago, Westcorkrailway said:

Just having a read of a journal I picked up today, included a section from the 1st of July 1929, which includes Clayton railcar only working which arrived at Clonakilty at 19:03 and departed from Cork at 19:15.

So it travelled 12 minutes back in time?

Never knew one of those ventured into Wisht Caark, boy!

On 11/3/2025 at 3:38 PM, Mol_PMB said:

Thanks, that's very useful info!

Here's a very nice photo of a timber train at Fenit. I'm saving my money for a C class (or three).

I'm working on compiling a list of the various different freight traffics on the pier, and how they were carried. Also photo links where possible.

Certainly open wagons with coal or timber, sometimes more sensitive cargo sheeted with tarps as you say - grain was another imported cargo which features in the Kennelly archive, in sacks and being loaded onto road transport but it could have easily gone by rail instead. A lot of photos show vans too:

Fish was a major traffic in some years, I think I can justify a few vac-braked H vans to be loaded with fish and attached to the night mail from Tralee.

Latterly the main export was Liebherr cranes, and that's still the case - there's a ship at Fenit right now loading crane parts. Photos suggest that those mostly came by road to Fenit even while the railway was still in use, but I am going to apply Rule 1. In 'Rails Around Dublin' (Donal Murray) page 70 there's a super photo of a train of Liebherr crane components at North Wall - the girders mounted on 25436 series flat wagons, overhanging the ends, and spaced apart by Bulleid 4-wheel flats used as runners. The date is about 1970. I have the ingredients for this in model form. 

 

I have also been looking at the types of ships which served Fenit and wondering whether my layout design should be increased in width to include a vessel...

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….