jhb171achill

Sam Maguire? Perhaps those devices used to drain loco cylinders of condensation which you must be sure to turn on before setting the engine in motion? A goal is 3 points, so 1.27 is 30 points in total. 5.10 is therefore 5 x 3 plus 10 = 25 points…..

Yes!! I told ye - they won’t order American ones…..

Can’t see them buying American ones. Sure it would cost a fortune to ship them here, and they’d be too heavy for a ship anyway….

Also in 1961, a local mill has entered into a contract with Brookhall Mill, near Lisburn. This will involve regular transfers of rolls of linen between the two. Brookhall's linen is among the finest in the world, and here in Dugort the local textile factory is making high end Irish Linen tablecloths and tourist goods for sale in Blarney castle, Parknasilla Hotel and tourist shops in Killarney. Here, we see the first three vans received from Lisburn being shunted into the goods platform. As one might expect, a mix of one CIE "H" van and two ex-GNR vans, hauled by a UTA "Jeep" to Dundalk, A12 to Dublin, B105 to Cork, and A42 to Dugort harbour. It's just a shunting layout at the moment, but with the assistance of some good cronies, it will be hopefully extended in the new year.

It's 1961, and the branch "C" class has failed (again). Well, C202 failed the week before, C221 the week before that, and C230 the week before that. The normal branch loco, a J15, is off on beet duties, being late November an'all, while the other J15 is having its boiler washout. So the branch mixed has superpower today - just out of Inchicore since being repainted out of the filthy silver, but before Mr. Crossley's contraption covers its new green paint with a layer of sludge. There's a fitter on the way to fix the front handrail.

It's been fixed since!

No. 800 poses with a GSR “Santa” train. Authenticity assured. She’s getting assistance from Santa’s private locomotive, as those two troublesome trucks are too…. troublesome. …. A39R en route to Foynes, and a J15 with empty cattle wagons for Baltinglass Fair. IMG_0983.MOV

I believe they won 1.27 to 5.10…..

I could have seen them struggle on with hiring stock and diesel locos in from CIE & the UTA in Enniskillen, as they were already doing that with carriages on busy days. Fast forward to EU days and they get grants to get a couple of 2-car 2600 sets. And IE operate their timber trains from Manorhamilton…

Last time I got anything from him I wrote to him, and got the relevant stuff promptly.

Anything to do with the Hamiltons of Cluanín?

They look superb! GREAT to have yet another addition to the range of real Irish wagons. Prototypes like that lasted a lot longer than many realise - there were still short-wheelbase vans and even old curved-roof "soft-tops" in use in far-flung places like Wisht Caarrk up until abut 1960. So a "C" class at the very least, but probably an "A" as well, would have hauled them in amongst more modern ones during the "grey & green" era. The last of this type of vehicle would have died with the end of steam, or probably just before it, and before the black / black'n'tan liveries appeared - but who knows, possibly a VERY late survivor? If or when these go into production, I'll be looking for some for sure!

I'm still with the Adams "Radial", Galteemore, though the SECR loco (I always liked SECR design, especially their carriages) is a great beauty....

I’ll pm you, Ken!

Hi Ken If you were ever able to scale down the "soft-top" and the goods van I'd be interested in a few. To 00 scale, that is.

Yes, they are. There's nowhere else available to store them right now.

Perhaps he might climb into one of the boxes he's taken a model out of, and spend two hours closing said box?

It's from the Msgr. Reid photographic collection. Some amazing old colour stuff there, but that's the only railway one; a gem, nonetheless.

Many thanks, Keith. For projects like that I have always gone to Oakwood (now Stenlake Press) for this type of thing, or Colourpoint (now Blackstaff) for colour "picture books". One has to pick and choose publishers in terms of paper quality and photographic reproduction. Over the years many an excellent publication that I have seen has been spoiled somewhat by indifferent colour rendition or sharpness of image. Oakwood have, of course, one of the oldest pedigrees of the lot for railway books, going back to the mid 1930s, I believe. Of the two principals in Oakwood, one retired shortly after I started Clifden, and she rang me to tell me they were being sold out to Stenlake. The other "half" of Oakwood still works with / for Stenlakes, specialising in railway books done in the Oakwood style, such as this. Stenlake's other books, in their own "house style" is very different in format. Nothing wrong with it, just different. Hope you enjoy it!

"Unboxing videos" are almost by definition "waffle"! I generally avoid them like the plague - the only thing comparable is youtube videos of some supposedly spectacular train (I was unfortunate enough to come across one this evening) where you're staring at a tunnel mouth or a field beside a railway line for 10 minutes and 28 seconds, and then eventually for the last 17 seconds the train appears and rushes past - and the "photographer" cuts it off before even half the carriages have been seen!

So we can skip the first 4 minutes! Excellent. Just watched it. You can skip through to the last quarter, when you see the thing actually running.

.......? What are the items?

me too!

Sounds odd importing sleepers here from Russia……as does the imperial coat of arms depicted - on a sleeper! Is this an urban legend or is there evidence of it?

They're actually much worse now, sadly. Less windows, more slime, a lot more graffiti.