jhb171achill

Sounds EXACTLY like I remember it! I saw them throughout their lives, from an early trial run and their first week in service, to being in the very last service train hauled by one (an ailing 101)… about 1993. It was last-minute deputising for a failed railcar that evening.

Keep well, Ernie! Your continuing input here is very greatly appreciated by all.

THAT'S the picture I had seen somewhere!

I saw a picture online, and it wasn't that long ago - of a newly-built loco for some American railway (or POSSIBLY South American) in a yellow and grey colour scheme about 1960-ish. More grey than yllow, ad arranged differently. If I come across it again I'll post it.

It is possible. However, another possibility is that GM had produced other locos for American lines about the same time as the 121ss were being built, so it is possible that some influence came from those quarters; if so, whether it was suggested by La Grange or Illinois will never be known. Looking at those two IRRS pics of Paddy Flanagan's, I was unaware any of the £P£ class buses got the yellow and grey livery. And lo and behold - while the U class depicted in the posters has a grey "snail" (of course), that on the "P" appears to be a standard eau-de-nil one across the radiator cover! But - it absolutely does my head in to see yellow "snails" on model steam engine tenders - it's like putting a bright red "double arrow" on a BR diesel on 1970s rail blue!

No need to worry there - apart from grey 121s on delivery, not a single thing on rails ever had a yellow flying snail!

Looking forward to seeing you, Mol!

You can maybe 3D print its furry dice….

No skirt on that one…. I never remember seeing one on a powered one, as in railcar, but I have seen pics of it, I think. I rarely travelled in them as railcars, but I do remember one time when an AEC set took me from Amiens St to Portadown, whereupon I transferred to another in UTA livery to take me to Lisburn! This was not a normal working and it wasn’t because of a DD failure, or bombs - it was about 1966/7. I’d live to know what was going on that day. The CIE one did EVERY stop, including Castlebellingham and Dunleer. As an aside, a few years earlier than that I saw a CIE AEC set heading south out of Belfast…. again, a one-off; Senior was with me and said he’d never seen a CIE set north of Dundalk….

Are you fitting it with sound and DCC?

I still have some degree of hope to see this done in my lifetime.

Amazing to think that in 1955 and even 1960 there were still quite a few steam-operated, mixed train branch services... Kenmare, Foynes, Valentia, Loughrea, Ballinrobe, Ballaghaderreen.....

DNGR stock was built to irish dimensions. Regarding NCC stock, vehicles brought in from Britain in the 1940s were obviously to the British loading gauge, so they were agood 9 inches narrower and also lower in height, though not as low as pre-1910 stock. NCC stock "proper" was built in Belfast or in Britain - to irish dimensions. I remember in UTA days, often seeing loco-hauled trains which were a mix of ex-GNR and ex-NCC stock of both types - and you could spot the British wartime ones a mile off due to being narrowr and slightly lower (maybe about 4 - 5 inches lower?) As for Genesis, I believe that GSR and DNGR liveries, at least, MAY be under consideration.

Yes to both! ...... that pic looks distinctly Loughrea-ish.... "DB" - given the south-easterly location, is this the Dublin & Bunclody Railway?

Those were like hen's teeth! Dunno how many they made but I think they sold quickly..... For your own purposes, if you wanted one to go with passenger-carrying six wheelers, and accuracy with it, then it would have to be green.

Yes, exactly. The Hattons stock is the right height and length for Irish six-wheel stock - exactly. But with british railways having a noticeably narrower loading gauge (width) than Irish stock, THIS is indeed exactly where a difference shows. My solution is that I use my SSM six-wheelers, made up from brass kits by Eoin of this parish, mixed and mingled with a green Park Royal I have, and the Hattons ones with a repainted British clerestorey bogie I have - it also being narrower as it was an LMS model. The compromise is the black and tan full passenger brake. When the very last of the six-wheelers were withdrawn, the green livery was still in vogue, and therefo9re no passenger-carrying six-wheeler ever saw black'n'tan. After they were all withdrawn and scrapped, or converted to breakdown vans in some cases (and painted grey), something like 6 or 7 FULL BRAKE six-wheelers remained. While at least two of these were withdrawn only a year or two later, and thus remained green to the end, a very small number survived to be BnT. Thus, once repainted this way, they ONLY ran with passenger-carrying BOGIE stock; which in turn means that they'd look odd behind a Craven. But, needs must and I am delighted to have one.

Correct. And early bogie coaches, a few of which made it into the 1950s and early diesel era, while longer, were also as low-roofed. Beside anything built after 1915 they looked lower still in comparison. This included a tin vans, which were full modern coach height - check out pics of a six-wheeled train with a tin van….

Some talk of these lately; here’s Cyril Fry’s model of a GSWR one. Some of these survived to the end of horse traffic in the 1970s. Note this model was made by Fry in 1969; thus, it was one of his last….

These things are absolutely essential for a 1950s or 1960s CIE, GNR or UTA / NIR (GNR area) layout - as much so as an ICR today. I hope IRM do one some day, but I am under no illusion that it won't be this year, next, nor the several after. Until then, the wrongly-liveried, unreliable, pricey (for what you get) and fragile Silverfox one is the only thing going. On that basis i am still considering ordering one, however, provided he does it in correct CIE green livery. Jury remains out at Dugort Harbour............. another thing from that era that few if any models seem to get exactly right, though it should be easy, is a B101 "Birmingham Sulzer".

I very highly recommend them.

It's one of these cases that if that's all there is available, we may take it or leave it! Was thinking of getting a green one, but only if he did the right livery.

Absolutely superb!

Got three of Enda Byrne’s SUPERB grain wagons the other day. Here, A42 shunts the empties from Castletown Mill into a siding to get them out of the way of an incoming cattle special one day in 1965….. the loco is about to go to Inchicore, from where it will emerge in black!

Main line set stables at Castletown West tonight…. Hoping to make a start on scenery here soon.

Never knew BR had their own cement lorries!