jhb171achill

As long as the front doesn't fall off..........

Not so sure of exact internal layout, but, yes, there was table service in it. The kitchen was at one end with a side corridor round it as you suggested. While I stand to be corrected, I think the last actual kitchen cars with service entirely in an adjacent coach died with the GNR in the 1950s, and CIE in the early 60s. The NIR 1970 dining car always had a particularly garish plastic internal decor……

Yes, exactly! I think that without the 80s it could have succumbed even more. Those things kept it going through the troubles and a concurrent period of very severe economic deprivation. A RTR model is an essential thing now - well beyond my period of historic interest, but I'd buy one for the craic.

I should have added, to put it all in perspective, the historical background to this. The UTA and early NIR were acutely aware of the constraints of a lack of standardisation, so they wanted anything new after the 70 class to be as versatile as possible. The Hunslets were from Day 1 also intended to be used on the last few spoil trains, anything loco hauled (they still had quite a fleet of old steam-era carriages for busy summer days). When the 80 class were in planning, about the same time, they were to be used in 2, 3 or 5-car sets; the latter (or six car sets) to be made by joining driving trailers to create a through-corridored 5 or 6 coach set in addition to operating as 2 or 3 car sets. Also, they were always planned to be used on rugby specials and as an emergency substitute (or extra) Enterprise service.

Yes, exactly - though at the very outset the idea was that the spare carriages and a spare Hunslet would be used as a local set - probably on the Derry line; in those days, passenger loadings didn't exceed the equivalent of two coachloads on many services. Two standards and a driving trailer would have been adequate. This didn't happen in reality, largely because of the poor reliability of the locomotives - rarely were all three in traffic. Understandably, this led to a degree of head-shaking in the Loco Dept., where those of a more practical mind took the view that NIR would have been better off going to La Grange for three 181s, rather than Hunslet! There was political pressure put on NIR by Stormont to go to Britain rather than America, which is in itself an interesting story dating back to late UTA days.

802 seems to be in the middle of a repaint - black lining added but not the white yet! I suspect she still has a blue numberplate background - while hers did end up red like 801s, it looks a bit dark for that in this photo.

That is truly superb and captures its atmosphere perfectly. Shows the value of good, realistic scenery and surface textures.

The second one was (a) in case the other was out of service for maintenance, and (b) the seating in it strengthened the set when busy. While not always adhered to, the original plan was that a seven coach set would be used in the summer with TWO locos, one at each end, and the driving trailer in use as a guard's van and passenger accommodation, as opposed to an ACTUAL driving trailer. In winter, a five coach set would be used with a loco at one end, and a driving trailer in use as such at the other. At the very outset, they neither went to Derry were intended to, though forays on that line did happen later on, but never for a sustained period despite various announcements now and again, and pressure from rail users' groups to have an Enterprise-like service on the line. Had the Derry Road stayed open, one wonders if they might have ventured there.....

If you mean when it will be in steam on a public trip, I understand that it is not yet possible to give a date, unfortunately.

Almost. The plane has touched down here in Achill Island, where I am playing with them all. I promise to put them back in the right boxes.

Certainly at least one!

There ye go - tin van either end, obviously, plus GSWR wooden bogie, Park Royal and two older CIE coaches of slightly different designs. Six vehicles, no two alike.

While it’s not easy to make out, the first two carriages illustrate perfectly why I’m always banging on about at least one RTR older wooden coach to go with not just early diesels, but 141s and even 181s too - the last wooden bodied coaches lasted WELL into the black’n’tan era, though in the above picture, obviously all carriages are green and will be for some time. The coach behind the loco is a wooden flat-roofed one, way off its GSWR home turf, and built between 1900 and about 1912. Next, a Park Royal. Gawd knows what the rest of the train is made up of…..

I guess that's behind much of the suggested issues. No matter what we all aspire to in preservation, and no matter how "purist" we would all like to be, at the end of the day it always ALL comes down to plain old hard cash. As a former 25-year treasurer of the RPSI and DCDR, I have always been aware of the conflict between those who have a vision, and those who pay the bills. Every society has its members - including centrally-involved working ones, who have zero notion of budgetary issues, and others who sit in AGMs and say "why" to what they see as a sell-out of the organisation's principles to naked commercialism. I'm not setting out the arguments for or against any of these things I mention - that's for another day - but the harsh, cold reality is that for any heritage organisation to succeed, it's ALL about the money. €€€€€€€€€€€. So you're absolutely right about a rich donor! Britain has them aplenty, but we've none on this island.

The items I have had diverted via Daughter have ranged in value from £3.50 to about £40! The issue with these is postage costs rather than customs or duties.

I should add to that the fact that recently a British supplier of bits and pieces told me that one small item I was thinking of buying, value some £10 stg., would cost £5 or so to post within the UK; and something like £13 to post it to here. Madness. I don't need it that much. No deal done.

"....You're measuring it? What for?" "I'm making a model of it, with an electric motor..." "Really? Well, measure away, she's being withdrawn at the end of next month. Last of 'er class. We're getting a new "C" class diesel when they've built them all...."

Is there a difference?

I get everything I order in the Republic of Brexitstan, sent to my daughter in Wales nowadays, and she brings them over in her jeep, along with the dog, whenever she comes to visit. Tomorrow I set sail on an aeroplane to London Heathwick for a family wedding over the weekend in Deepest England. I will come back with a few odds and ends which have been posted from some supplier IN England, to Wales, then brought by Daughter Dear up to London by circumventing Welsh sheep, choirs and rugby players, and handed over to me. In with the dirty socks they go en route back here. So, to the Commissioners of Customs, Inland and Revenue, I'm saving you paperwork. No need to thank me.

They are run by a community group rather than a local authority (like the ill-fated Tralee project) or a railway enthusiast group. As Airfixfan says, the location can be an asset in one sense and not in others. It is still open just one weekend day and Tuesdays, somewhat bizarrely. Unless I am unaware of some local issue about Tuesdays, one would have thought that both weekend days might have attracted a better audience, given the remoteness - and it IS remote; as others say, too many thousands of km away. While only my guess, I suspect that the number of people operating it is limited, and maybe maintenance knowledge is also thin on the ground. Sound commercial knowledge might also be sparse; however, one way or another, it is the only preserved operation on this entire island apart from Dromod which has its own original station, and it scores top of the league for having an operation "train" which is actually original, plus a spectacularly scenic location. The sensible way ahead is for the trustees and owners of the railcar to come to a sensible and practical operational agreement with them as to the operation of the railcar, in line with its own best interests and proper CRR and Safety Case oversight and compliance. With government funding for any sort of scheme like that now thinner on the ground than ever before, a one-off engagement with a professional fund raiser or "grant finder" might be productive; properly run - if in such a location this is possible - will result in a very unique and valuable asset to the area, and to railway heritage in Ireland overall. Long term they cannot expect to rely on one railcar, irrespective of how hard-wearing and easy to maintain a Gardner engine is. They would do well to get a couple of cheap Hunslet Wagonmasters while they're available, paint them red and cream, and get a Dromod-style modern coach to give the railcar a rest from time to time. I wonder (I don't know) to what extent a long-term view such as this is to be found among those who run the thing. I had dealings with one man up there years ago in terms of a joint grant which I was involved in applying for. This was from the "Peace Money" and related to "cross-border" schemes, so I invited the Cavan & Leitrim and Finntown to join in with the DCDR to apply as an "umbrella group" called "Ulster & Connaught Heritage Railways" for a grant, on the basis that this "UCLR" was a cross-border thing; we gopt the money and divided it amongst the above-mentioned. My understanding is that the share that Finntown got was put into extending their line to its present extent. The guys at Finntown were most co-operative, though I only met them face-to-face once. At THAT stage, at any rate, they were a community group funded, I think, by FÁS or some such agency. The owners / trustees of the railcar have every right to keep tabs on the care of their railcar; it's unique. Should circumstances ever arise when it is not possible for this thing to be given the care and attention it needs, then it makes sense for Finntown to find something else to run.

The yellow doors with red diamond pre-dated what you call the "teal" line - and that came about in the late 1990s after NIR became the railway arm of "Translink" in 1996. Prior to that, of course, the NIR livery was the same except that instead of the turquoise / "teal" line, there was the well-regarded black-white-black-yellow lining there instead - but also, with the "teal" line livery, the blue went right up to the roof line, no grey line above it. When the 80s were introduced, the end doors were the same maroon and blue livery, and then at one stage they were all-maroon with a light grey diamond - this "door livery" appeared with the light grey with maroon waistline livery. The yellow things with red diamond appeared as these were beginning to be repainted blue. Personally I thought the older colours looked better - for all the advantages that yellow has in visibility terms, it matches almost nothing!

B165 is busy with wagons as B147 sits at the platform with the local train, a spare branch passenger set laying over in the cattle siding….

..........And that's just how the layman could tell them from original 80-class stock.

I think in later days quite a few ex-1970 Enterprise coaches ended up within the 80 class fleet.

A highly respected late RPSI volunteer and I were having a conversation about dialects in Quinn’s in Drumcondra years ago, after an RPSI meeting in Connolly station. He was a native of Larne originally, born and bred, and he referred to somebody who was being unnecessarily awkward or cranky as “thran”…… he would use that term himself. He had a huge vocabulary of what he said the “Ballymena and Larne men from out the narrow gauge” might have been familiar with. Wish I could remember them all, though few were printable!