jhb171achill

Very much so. If we look across the pond to Brexitstan, we see 1930-70 models having held sway from that time to the present. Flying Scotsmen, GWR 4.6.0s and any amount of tank engines all over the model shops. You don't think wooden four-wheeled trucks were still in traffic. BR Mk 1 and (early) Mk 2s still rolling off the production line. This is nostalgia-driven. However, people don't fully KNOW the nostalgia here. Apart from the almost total dearth of railways north of the Sligo line and all over the west, there was never the level of interest here "per head" as in Britain. i firmly believe this is changing. There is growing awareness even on this board of things historical, and the many books with good pictures of the "grey'n'green" era ave helped. When I pored over the black and white pics in Colin Boocock's book in the 1970s, it was the only "picture book" of Irish railways available. More commercial models will, absolutely without doubt, generate more interest in this fascinating period. Half a dozen particular prototypes replicated as models would, I remain convinced, act as a huge catalyst.

Would you consider an offer of €1,850?

Train spotting on a well known layout in North Dublin….

Yes, there was. Both got filthy within hours of going into traffic!

Countless, indeed!

No, not diesel. Note that the tender in the colour pic above has been converted back to coal, yet retains its "white" circle. The pic of 346 is clearly in CIE days (painted cabside number) but the coach is still GSR maroon.....

THAT is for CERTAIN!! Plus a run in a brake van from Sligo Quay to Belfast on the cattle, or a jaunt in a six wheeler on the Clonakilty branch..........

The time taken for the Dromod - Belturbet section was a long two hours and 26 minutes for 33 miles!

In 1935, the 07:20 from Broadstone would have had you in Ballinamore for 2 p.m.; the only return train left 13 minutes later! From Cork, it would be a two-day journey there and the same back....... more a package tour than an excursion!

I believe so - but the tender could be off just about any mid-sized locomotive. Must delve….. There’s neither snail nor white circle on it, so it’s obviously been re-sheep-dipped since oil days….

Anglicised as "Pollnacostin", perhaps?

In Irish, “poll na coise tinne” means “rainy hole”……

Fintona = "Fionntamhnach", meaning 'bright clearing'..... "Fintona-sur-la-Mer" might, in French, be roughly "zone lumineuse près de la mer"! There's a station nameboard to rival "Llanfairpwgyllwllygghhwghwghgwhyywjhgwhjhwllwklwjhyyyyllllwwwwywywywywywhjgsfdcugywtfb$mdxbcjkghwsejhgrfkljasxcjkhqlwkjsilliogogogochgochgoch".

Stunning

Superb concept. Perfect for a place (e.g. small apartment) where a full-size layout is impractical, but could also allow for large scale modelling in a reasonably sized room - you could do a thing like that in Gauge 1 - think of the scenic detail possibilities on that!

What the tender does have is a ladder - probably a relic of oil burning!

Oh...ok!

Superb! I will summon what passes as IT skills to print this off and try to make a poster with it. If my efforts are even 10% passable, I'll post here.....

If you were to flatten it out and scan the bottom part - the rest could be made up.

The light green paint wore off the silver underneath it very quickly! It would be there, but maybe worn or weathered away entirely, usually leaving a nondescript "shadow" behind it.

Some of those actually were monochrome - sharpening that one up the way it is would certainly look the part.

Senior used to get "O" gauge stuff from them - I recall the packages arriving.... rails, chairs, pins and other bits for his coarse scale track, sadly long gone now.

They ARE amazing! Lovely to travel in, beautifully made. And there's an authentic MGWR internal door in one of them, and authentic GSWR door handles.

"Teatime railcars".... interesting. I am guessing that the railcar set used on the Cork - Bantry service was swopped for maintenance purposes at this time with another set from Glanmire? The evening service left Albert Quay for Bantry at 18:30, I think, so if they were swopping them it would make sense for the set coming in from Bantry earlier, to have crossed the tramway to be replaced by another in late afternoon, in time for the evening down departure? Does that sound about right? I only saw the place once myself, and that was just weeks before it closed. I wandered in, took a few pics, and wandered back - no signs of life that day in the place, and few wagons.

The loco needs a coat of paint! Next time I'm down there, maybe..........!