jhb171achill

I’d need to see the sign closer up, but it could be genuine. But it’s not a gate sign, it’s an end-of-platform trespass sign. Someone has attached it to that gate latterly.

Another “genuine” - made in China, 2021?!!!

Looks like a late 1880s / early 90s GSWR third. Slight chance it’s a Waterford & Wexford Rly equivalent. Not DSER anyway.

They aren't, as numerous youtube videos show, when these utterly contemptible, arrogant, "bar-room-intellectual" idiots are stopped by police in America. I have yet to hear of anyone in Ireland claiming to be a "sovereign citizen", or dreaming up childish reasons why they think they are above the law, but given the growth in some people here believing online anti-democratic propaganda, it wouldn't suprise me one bit. And yes, I would empower gardaí to snatch their phones and fling them in the Liffey.

And rightly so.

Indeed. I’ve two of those old Hornby clerestoreys. If I ever have time they’ll get arc roofs as you say. By happy coincidence, even retaining the bowed-in end (unique to the WLWR as far as Ireland was concerned), they bear a very good resemblance to two old WLWR brake thirds (953 rings a bell, number-wise) which lasted to the early & mid-50s. The narrative will be that they lived out retirement on the Dugort Harbour line…. I think I paid about £9 for one and £3 or £4 for the other.

The carriages in that shot are ex-GSWR which were brought in (I think five of them) to replace worn-out Bandon stock. Go for the style of coach on the far right in this image. The one shown above has distinctive LNWR-style panelling, found nowhere in Ireland bar a tiny number of 2nd hand GNR coaches and DNGR stock, so it's unsuitable as the panelling gives it away. I'm just wondering if the panelling is moulded on these things or printed. If printed, they'd be no use for anything Irish as any repaint would obliterate any "panelling".

It could be a junction station - several of the lines did have junctions along the way. Also, where they met the standard gauge, if you'd call that a junction of sorts, there would be a shed! (e.g. Garsten, Zell-am-Zee, Gmund, etc...)

Your track plan is good, George. Most stations on most of those lines had several loops going through and maybe one siding. The building looks great too. Will you be working in modern era or a bit of everything? (Mine was going to be circa 1980, when there were 2091s, 2095, s a mix of old and new liveries, and still a little steam - plus, of course, a few mixed trains, like on the Krimml line!

I'm following this with very great interest. Until Murphy released the 141s, and SSM did an 800 class kit, I had spent twenty years collecting 009 OBB stuff with the intention of having a quite ambitious Austrian narrow gauge layout. The entire collection was sold some years ago now, in order to switch completely to what is now Dugort Harbour, a 1955-70 rural west Kerry layout. I travelled extensively on the OBB narrow gauge line sin the 1970s an early 80s, and they were truly fascinating. Sadly, they've gone to rack and ruin now in many cases; otherwise closed, devoid of steam, or with gold coloured Luas-like things on them instead of "proper train". Had a number of cab runs in those 2095s as well as steam on the Waldviertalbahn - great locos,

Actually, if you look at one roof profile of the new Rapido "generic" coaches, the all-third looks close enough to one design of CBSCR coach. many of their (few!) bogie coaches were comparatively short in length. Paint it dark olive green and away ye go!

Correct - it’s “online” nonsense as always!

I missed that - my first tour was 1970! Hope to sign in later - readers in general, this will be a great show!

Indeed. Like railway preservation, many recognise the historical or cultural value, but ask them to give up their time to make it happen, or worse, get out their wallet, and it's someone else's job to do that..........

It wasn't too bad until the roof started deteriorating, which from my own observations was about 6-7 years ago. It's beyond hope now, unbfortunately.

I would guess this would be when CIE closed it, so probably 1963/4-ish?

I love this layout - an absolute stunner, as noted by many others! The strong corporate image of BR in the "blue" days - one of the best such i've ever seen - was of great interest - a but like CIE in the late 50s / early 60s with the tail end of steam intermingled not just with new diesels, but newer rolling stock too, and a new livery dosplacing an old one by degrees. My first exposure to it was on a family holiday in North Wales in about 1969, when the local trains were railcar sets, and a number of classic diesel types were on main line stuff - I remember 47s and either 24s or 25s, and (I think) 37s. The railcars I saw were all plain blue - none blue and grey - with the odd one still green. Similarly, most carriages were blue and grey but maybe 20% of them were still maroon. Blue diesel locos and green ones intermingled too - much for me to see. We went to Crewe one day - Senior doubtless wanting to do a bit of train spotting - and I got several of those old ABC "spotters" books. One on locos, a couple on railcars. Had 'em for years. (Sorry; being Brexitstan, I probably should have been referring to railcars "DMU"s.....)

Let’s hope so!

Indeed - almost certainly so. Much as it would be welcomed by many, and doubtless used, the reality is that railways cost money to run, and the government will know this.

The issue seems to be the NTA, who in conjunction with the government hold all the cards. If and when there is enthusiasm within that body (e.g. re a new proposed cycle lane) it tends to get done, with or without local council funding. As far as rail is concerned, local authorities will doubtlessly be deterred by the colossal bill that the NTA would wave at them if they offered to fund something like this. This should not be, but it certainly would appear to be the case. Yes, Brexitstan and other countries are ahead of us on that point in some cases, but the NTA is often referred to as the "No Trains Authority"; their fascination with roads and motorways and buses is reminiscent of the UTA in the 1950s.

One argument against reopening Navan - and, in truth, it is the only argument aganist, albeit a fairly powerful one; is that from M3 Parkway to Navan via the D & M route, or from Drogheda via the GNR route, neither of them pass through any other significant population centre en route, therefore the reopening would be just to serve on single significant terminus. Much as Navan COULD do with it, the NTA are unlikely to consider it as a priority for a very long time to come. More urgently, something simply MUST be done about proper long-term planning and significant infrastructural modifications along the Drogheda - Bray (and Howth) corridor.

As a "Deviationist" (before imaginations go wild, that's a "navvy" who worked on the Dduallt deviation round the lake in the 1970s!) I remember our foreman, a (then) serving British soldier whose interests were (a) the FR, and (b) eh, explosives..., inevitably referring to DDuallt as "DDT" as he couldn't pronounce the Welsh version which sounds something like "Thee-acht".... Despite his dismissive attitude to the Welsh, which was richly reciprocated, as a FR volunter his extensive knowledge of explosives was put to very good use when the new tunnel was being built.

Looking at them a bit closer, they are not really all that "Irish" looking at all. They are too short - while we did have 48-footers, they were few and far between and not similar. The Genesis Hattons six-wheelers at least bore (by sheer conicidence, obviously) a more than passing resemblance to several GSWR designs, which is why they appeared in Irish liveries in the first place. Looking at the diagram above, the middle left one, a composite clerestorey, probably looks best, and it would also be a GSWR type. We have yet to see anything on the model market that approximates to the GNR(I). Naturally, if one were to take one of each, paint green, and place in an assorted rake of GSR / CIE stock of all types, the overall impression of the whole lot would look very convincing.

Available in DCC, flying snail or Kadee flavours. The snail-flavoured ones are, I am told, quite disgusting....

The whole range, yes.