jhb171achill

Even better, Downpatrick has a whole train of them awaiting restoration, including one GSWR one! (And 1 x GNR, 2 x MGWR and 2 x BCDR!)

EXCEPTIONALLY good news; I understand in limited numbers too.........

Yes. They are very similar to one long-lived GSWR design, and carry numbers and liveries of exact examples which were still about post-1954 or so. A MUST-buy!

You were spot on, Leslie! A combination of a dog to be walked and a grandson to be mindxed has precluded me from commenting for an hour and 19 minutes since the announcement. OK, the background to these. The "generic" Hattons Genesis coaches are very like one of several GSWR designs of six-wheel coaches, and are thus suitable for just about anywhere on the CIE system, including even ex-MGW and DSE territory, in the 1950s and early sixties. All passenger-carrying six-wheelers were withdrawn by summer 1963, thus not a single one ever was repainted black'n'tan. However, some half-dozen full passenger brakes did survive beyond that, and three at least were repainted in the new livery, hence the fact that Hattons only offer the full brake in BnT. They are offering the two green liveries. The dark lined green was intropduced in 1945, while the light green appeared first on 6-wheelers in 1955/6. Between 1955 and 1963, when the last ones ran, newly-painted ones were light green, with the older livery still to be seen for several years later, like that lime green and navy livery on the modern 29s, which only finally disappeared this year. Thus, a train in the 1955-63 period could have coaches (bogie OR six-wheeler) in either green version. Hattons have gone to painstaking lengths to identify suitable carriages, and thus accurate carriage numbers, to be as near a match as possible to these generic coaches. As I mentioned, they are closest to a GSWR design that was being turned out in the 1885-95 period. Each individual vehicle carries a number appropriate to the type, and in all cases carriage numbers are of examples of the type which survived up to or past the mid-1950s. As a result, we have a truly excellent range of ready-to-run pre-1965 stock, for the first time! The Irish modelling scene may be allowed one massive step forward with these, which are PERFECT to go behind any IRM silver or greenj "A", or "OO Works" J15, on a busy Youghal or Bray summer excursion. For so many of us, domestic space, permission or both precludes a layout representing much more than a branch line or small terminus. Several of our worthy folks here are modelling West Cork, and in my own Dugort Harbour there's a remote branch too. These carriages are perfect for any branch line setting, as lines like Loughrea, Ballinrobe, Ballaghaderreen, Clonakilty, Baltimore, Ballina and Limerick-Sligo would have had vehicles like these, although in the latter case only until the AEC railcars (what a contrast!) came along. Once someone produces a wooden GSWR bogie, we'll have this covered entirely - as many of the above-mentioned branch trains consisted of an old bogie with one or two six-wheelers behind it. Until 1963, Cork kept a large supply of ex-GSWR and ex-MGWR types, which were used at rush hour to Cobh, and on summer excursions to Youghal. By that last year, a black'n'tan "A" could be up front, as well as a green or once-"silver" filthy-coloured one. If and when a ready to run "C" appears, these are precisely the sort of vehicles to go behind them. Hattons have produced several variations - full brake, brake third, composite and third. While they are all of the generic design, a mix of these types and aliveries will give the impression of a train with no two vehicles alike, which was prototypical. In final days, these vehicles were to be found mixed with MGWR ones (an extremely different design), and were of all sorts and types. During the seventy-odd year life of these vehicles, many were altered; some ended their days as one-offs due to some obscure part-rebuild in GSR days. Leslie mentions these yokes appearing on the GNR. Well, they did; in one of Charles Friel's books there is a picture of a SLNCR excursion arriving in Enniskillen, including some of their half-derelict stock (!), and several six-wheelers complete with "flying snails"; mind you, these are ex-MGWR, but since the Limerick-Sligo route brought as many ex-GSWR coaches into Sligo as ex-MGWR, any time the SLNCR wanted to borrow stock they could just as easily have got vehicles like these new models. Having seen some of the Genesis stock in the various English liveries, I am highly impressed by the level of detail and as such cannot endorse them enough; I'll be raiding the piggy bank and emailing Hattons right when I'm finished typing this. On detail, I note that Hattons have taken the trouble to get several oft-ignored details right. One is the use of eau-de-nil, in its correct shade, for lining and numerals. Both body colours of green are also spot on; I am aware that they ensured a correct colour match. On the dark green coaches, the number "3" is on the doors of thirds, but on the light greeen livery it miraculously changes to a "2". This is entirely correct, as about the time that the green livery changed, CIE re-branded third class as second. I've already mentioned appropriate carriage numbers, both for the carriage type and for the period. (Many other examples of each type had been scrapped years earlier, some long gone before CIE was even though of). Another is the "flying snail"; in the dark green livery, six-wheelers always hadone, while bogies usually had two; whereas in the light green livery few if any six-wheelers had the "snail", and bogies were about 60 / 40 split between carriages with, and without one. So the absence of the snail on the light green ones is spot on, as is the inclusion of it on all of the dark green ones. Absolutely superb news overall - I am delighted to see these produced. I understand that they are a limited run, so I will be losing no time in ordering my own........

Found some more British stuff of Senior's. This one is badly out of focus, but shows a lot. Must have been colourful with all those private owner wagons. Next, this: I've posted it before, but putting it here for completeness with the other ones.

A busy day today…..

See above pics!!!

That was done by Dempsey, of this parish. Everything I possess was weathered either by Dempsey or the equally talented Kevin McIntosh of Bray.

Castletown West continues to be tested. Scenery is a good way off yet, but we'll get there. Some of the resident locos to be seen here. The plastic platforms are off an old layout and are only there to establish where exactly to put permanent ones.

When in traffic, they were initially kept quite tidy, and repainted at respectable intervals. Towards the end, patchwork was the order of the day - the bogies might be shiny new brown, along with one end, with the sides and other end composed of panels with paint peeling off, faded, disfigured, or replaced with an unpainted panel. Initially, the CIE logo was ALWAYS on the second panel from the left, but latterly they mixed doors and panels up. I saw wagons with the logo at the other end, in the middle, and on at least one, TWO doors with logos; others again, none.

Fine lookin' beast The final one in this series - unless I find more!

An absolute pleasure to see so many familiar faces today, and others I know on here but haven't met - like J-Lo Arts and David Holman. It was an absolute privilege to see Fintonagh in the flesh for the forst time - it's just as stunning as the pictures suggest - SO much going on in such a small space, and as always with Mr. Holman, the scenic setting and immaculate attentiuon to detail is really exceptional. Fenaghy is another favourite of mine; the UTA in such excellent and accurate detail is a much-neglected subject, especially the erstwhile NCC section of it. Superb stuff all round, and an enjoyable day meeting so many people I hadn't met before, or haven't seen in years. As a result, I arrived back in Dublin at 17:30, not 15:30 as I had intended (and needed!) to.....

Autumn 1958, and 472 brings the late mixed train into Castletown West, against the backdrop of a spectacular sunset.

The late afternoon branch passenger train hurries through the boglands towards Castletown West on a gloomy evening in 1974. Scenery is now ready for grass, weeds and overgrown stone wall boundaries. The gritty dirt is dried out and washed turfy, sandy soil from Achill Island.

Now that I'm back from a few days away, here are a couple more.

He told me he couldn’t be exactly sure when any of the above would be ready. He deals with up to four separate factories, so it’s in the lap’o’the gods for now.

Not sure where it is, to be honest! All I know is that he did get to Rathkenny. He did not cover Ballymena - Ballyboley for sure, and I am unaware whether or not he did Larne - Ballyclare….

Another for tonight. I believe this to be mid-1930s.

You do realise that without a wagon number, Mr Weaver will kick up hell!

More, this time the LNER area.

No we’re not…….

“Halfway” liveries rarely last long.

I had a fair oul go at the scones and KitKats, neither of which appeared to have any suitable pockets for NEM couplings, let alone a place for a DCC chip (mind you, they would have been a bit chewy). Otherwise, they looked extremely realistic.

Saw the whinging, indeed. However, I think most of us with a bit of wit realised the realities as pointed out by some club members.n It's a bit like then preservation issue "Why doesn't the ITG / RPSI / DCDR put everything at Moyasta and everywhere else into fully-restored heritage use next week....?" In the tiny market that is Ireland, we're lucky to have shows at all, and people to man them and organise them. I have started 3D printing large parcels of 500 euro notes in order to be ready for the next IRM announcement. All children, cousins, kitchen sinks, uncles, parents, siblings and neighbours are long since auctioned off. My credit card is at the doctor's this afternoon.

Well done Ken, in both your treatment and the latest developments at the port!