jhb171achill

Grandson-minding duties complete; so here we are again. Window spacings and shapes on LMS types were completely different from GSWR. The narrower panes sere wider on GSWR types usually, and the wider windows spaced differently. Now; given the sheer variety of types on all railways, I would not get carried away by that. However, LMS roof profiles and side profiles were worlds apart from GSWR. Coach sides for the latter were straight from cantrail down to well below waistline, then curved in. Roof curvature was more even on post 1915-ish examples, or older ones were flat-roofed. By the time the LMS came to Ireland, older coaches on the NCC were all of older BNCR design, whole planets away from either LMS or GSWR in design. Past comments, as far as I am concerned anyway, relate to the LMS designs which were in CIE livery to go with Bachmann "Woolwich" locos. In the absence of anything else, they'd do - but in the same way that a "Flying Scotsman" in CIE green might be seen as a "Maedb", or a random British 0.6.0 tank loco be passed off as Irish by painting it grey, or painting it black with "G N R" on the side. Two foot rule; fine. Looks like real thing: only on the way home from Gibneys, when half-scuttered! Not, of course, that I would be aware of that, and I wasn't even there when I didn't do it.....

Got mine today! Quite simply, exquisite. Best yet, and when referring to IRM that takes some doing!

This just keeps getting better!

In answer to a number of points raised above; In relation to design, in 00 scale if you paint many types of British prototypes in green, and do it well, as WestCork did above, you'll get a perfectly reasonable pre-1960 CIE coach. The CIE stock at the time was composed of a very varied mixture, as follows. SIX WHEELERS Former MGWR types predominated in the passenger-carrying ones, though many ex-GSWR examples were also in use. In West Cork, one or two ex-Bandon ones were still about but not used much if at all latterly. DSER types had disappeared from traffic, as had ex W & L types, by the early to mid-50s; Inchicore always seemed keen to divest the world of much that was DSER rolling stock related! On the other hand, as far as six-wheeled passenger brakes were concerned, former MGWR ones were rare by the mid-50s; GSWR types dominated. So to go to the modelling world, while MGWR passenger types oytnumbers ex-GSW ones, the Hattons Genesis stuff are fine, as although built to the British loading gauge, they are by coincidence very GSWR-esque in design. BOGIES MUCH bigger story. In the late 50s, one might summarise in saying that GSWR types dominated the wooden carriage world, with a few MGWR, an EXTREMELY few DSER, and after 1858 a few GNR types thrown in, that's not the half of it, and this is where the stories referred to above come in. The two biggest companies within the CIE umbrella, the GSWR & MGWR, each had a bewildering array of designs, many being one-offs! A very large number of carriages were of batches of three, or six or ten; our younger enthusiasts today will struggle to understand just how UN-standard things were back then, and why a photo of a typical train rarely has two vehicles the same in it! The GSWR, for example, had two distinct roof profiles. The MGWR had three, complicated by the fact that both Broadstone and later Inchicore often rebuilt them in a slightly different format. Internally, as stated, many were one-offs, and others were perhaps one of a pair the same. DSER stock had two roof types, from memory. As for the peropheral lines like the CBSCR, there were all sorts of old relics, the unusual aspects there being things like short wheelbase bogies, non-standard carriage lengths, unusual roof profiles in at least one case I can think of, and external matchboard panelling, LLSR-style. So, amongst bogies, we have non-standard lengths, non-standard internal layouts, non-standard panelling, non-standard roof profiles, and gawwwd knows what else. But wait! dear reader. There's more. After 1925, anything the GSR built tended to follow Inchicore practice of the 1918-25 period. But into the 1930s and the GSR develops their own style through the steel-panelled "Bredins", of which several varieties, some initially non-corridor, existed. In 1951/3, CIE put out a series of steel-sides, largely based on Bredins but not the same exactly. Between 1955 and 1960, the Park Royals (several variations) and the laminates (MANY variations) appear. Phew! No, we're not done. An influx in October 1958 of ex-GNR stock - again, many many types, some timber panelled but most more modern, start appearing in places like Loughrea and Bantry on occasion, and become commpnplace on the DSER section. Add to that, some are brown and some are navy blue and cream. Now, you can have a train on DSER with a dark green coach, a light green coach, a silver coach, a brown coach, a newly black'n'tan coach after 1962 and a navy/cream coach! So many designs, so many possibilities. Thus, within this fog of diversity, just about anything repainted will look the prt. Mr. Grandson awaits my attentions right now; i will contionue this later.

To me, religious zealot that I am, lent means going out on the soup three nights a week instead of four.

A GNR suburban tank engine would indeed be a nice little yoke to have. Could be used in a branch setting too, though these particular ones were suburban locos. Interesting to look at Leslie's list above; now here's a thought to provoke...... Leslie has mentioned SIX locos. So, question: what existing coaches could run with any of them? More IRM carriages needed!

Nope - as colleagues in the same business they were, however, on different levels……..!

The 150th birthday of Downpatrick's No. 90 is this year, and between now and 20 years from now, almost every year is the 150th of something on the railway. And this VERY day, it's the TWO hundredth anniversary of 6th March 1825.

Yes. I've said this numerous times before. While many berated the Greens in the last government, I was fully supportive of their utterances on public transport, and I presume that a lot of the effort towards reopening this line may have been as a result of representations made by the much-maligned Eamonn Ryan. If so, good for him. Equally, I fully support any railway reopening. However - with precisely zero even vague talk, let alone "boots on the ground", or anything beyond wild opinions, as to WHAT will travel over this line, from and to where, and on behalf of whom; it is very tempting indeed to see this while thing as a complete white elephant, to have a ribbon cut across it by a local gombeen TD, and whoever Leinster House sends down in a limo and a raincoat to make a speech and shake hands. And then it goes silent. A month before the following few general elections, one of those yellow things takes a scoot down it and back, and it grows back into nature. Yet, yet again, I sincerely hope I am proven catastrophically wrong, and soon, but so far there is not a whisper of anything definite to contradict this view, let alone evidence. It is overall a somewhat bizarre situation. Meantime, because of previous inaction in bringing services back to Navan, there seems to be a blank-out clause in government, so that no matter what, nothing can be done here; it would constitute a climb-down for FFG. Reality is, passenger services to Navan, and reopening the Athenry to Claremorris line, would appear to have very definite and tangible arguments in their favour. We will see.

Never even heard of such a thing! Didn't know they had any wagons, and anything of that type would certainly be completely unique for Ireland. The whole thing looks a bit flimsy. Are we sure that's for the Fenit company, or something else which coincidentally has the same initials? Wasn't aware of the station building either = good catch!

In the 1930s it was the Turf Development Board, which pre-dated bnM. I believe the Dept. of the Taoiseach archives within the National Archives contains detail of that era. But your absolute go-to, who may watch this page, is the BnM expert, Sean Cain.

That’s the thing - space! Ive passed the point where all can sit in sidings. What I do now - and its light years short of perfect - is put a pile of 1950s stock on for one operating session, 60s for another.

I copied it as you said and it works. Many thanks! I know a guy who is building a live steam one so I will pass this on to him.

Maybe a few of us might detour to a local hostelry when all the buns are eaten..... Very true..... the Cultra livery, of course, follows the well-established Irish preservation tradition of getting liveries wrong on just about everything but ITG diesels (G611 excepted) and the RPSI's GNR locos, No. 4, and (belatedly) 186! Incidentally - how on a keyboard have you managed to get the dots above the "d" and the "b" on "Maedb"? Nice touch, and correct; didn't know it was possible.

My involvement is simply that I'm involved with the museum, and do all the historical / model arrangement side of it. Another regular on here is involved in the maintenance and servicing and trouble-shooting of the operational 00 scale layout. The new model on Monday night will be seen running on it too, all being well, so he'll be in attandance too. Mind you, as far as liveries are concerned, I've a very wide data base of what went with what! On an unrelated note, that pic above shows Ballyfermot when it was as Senior remembered it - rurality beyond inchicore! he was there the day they rolled 800 out for that photo. It was in works grey, not yet painted green, and not yet fitted with either nameplates nor its GSR crest on the tender. It was standard practive to photo locos when new in shades of grey and white, as this showed detail up best in photos, which of course were all in B&W. Inside, the painters awaited with the new green paint for the very first locos of either gauge to emerge with anything other than all-over grey for over 20 years. It must have been some sight. The reason that 800 had no nameplate for its official photos above was that they had planned an English language one, thus "Maeve", and written in roman characters. Someone decided that instead it should have Gaelic script, and the Irish spelling; and thus it was. But on photo day, the new ones weren't ready yet. Now, back to the event on Monday night!

Many reach for their smelling salts at the sight of this, but I think it actually looks well. So, we’re looking now at a Jeep with a choice of Donegal red, GNR blue, CIE green, or WLWR maroon….

Aaaarrrghhghgh! Not the TANK! I give in. The new model will be a (damn keyboard broke there...) So have I!

Amazon have just dropped the rotten eggs off, but I’ve redirected them to the Oval Office…….

Like most preserved wagon liveries, the H van at Downpatrick is wrong (as are the NCC brake van and the GSWR plough). The Flickr one of the grey van was an experimental version, not used generally, while no such experiment was ever carried out on anything brown post-1970.

Not sure if a Fintona horse could manage more than six……!

Brilliant! (I’ll stand on me head to look at ‘em…)

I told ye. It’s a Fintona horse. But don’t tell anyone here, it’s a secret.

Saw that, yes. the lettering is in pale green in a style only used for a short time after the GSR became CIE. Yet, the flyiong snail, which at the same time (1945-8, maybe) would also have been fully painted in pale green, is now a late 1950s white-painted stencil!

They did match them perfectly when painted; it's just that as you suggest, weathering varied them, as with anything. Very much so - absolute black but with filth - but they were actually painted red, always!

It was single unique vehicle, specially converted for the Waterford & Tramore. After it closed, it was re-converted to "irdinary" format and returned to the main line. Foynes train leaving Limerick.