jhb171achill

The late Harry Mulholland, former Knockmore Junction (GNR) signalman, who some of us here will have known, used to tell the story of being sent by the Lisburn signalman when was a junior there, across the road to get the driver and fireman of a train of sand out of the Robin’s Nest bar. The train had been looped in Lisburn for a while due to a loco failure, and the crew left a youth in charge of the cripple while they went for a “cure”! When the relief engine appeared, let’s just say the fireman drove it to Crumlin while the driver snored loudly on the coal pile.... And then there was Castlegregory Junction! The late GSWR loco man Billy Lohan also told me several other tales of similar ilk. Cattle fair days brought specials into many towns, and the crew might nip off for a few while the “beasts” were being loaded! Billy was a “vehement teetotaller” and very strongly disapproved of the very IDEA of bars! He would have banned alcohol outright given the opportunity....

Just got the news that I, too, will have a 2-year old grand-something - in 2 years time! Daughter the Middle just announced it - great news.

I will definitely take one, to span two tracks.

And 560 was to be seen as well; the only one to keep her plates right to the end, I think.

So THAT’S what’s inside a Murphy 00 gauge locomotive!

There are transfers available in the right style, so no problems there. Some had numbers from the early 50s, other never had them, so accuracy is easy whichever you prefer....

That's a very nice job to convert the tank engine to a Midland J26! I had considered doing that, and this gives me an idea what it would look like. You mention weathering it - I would suggest enhanced realism by a coat of grey paint first (and dull down the connecting rods!), as those wouldn't have been black.... Some of those J26 tank locos kept their GSR cast number plates well into the 1950s, depending on which you want it to be, you've a choice with that class of a cast numberplate or painted number.....

Yes, I thought that was exceptionally harsh - the same review is in the IRRS Journal, which hit my letterbox yesterday. The amount of technical detail and invaluable historical material in this book cannot be understated, and it is all the more to the credit of the authors that they spent years trawling through much obscure material to get to the bottom of it. I reviewed it - here, plus several other places, and I was very happy to do so a great deal more positively.

Sublime, as always. I don't believe I've ever seen better brass kit work....

I see you've replicated the small outlet for point rodding on the down Sligo platform. The renewal of that little tunnel under the platform was jhb171Senior's first ever solo civil engineering job on the GSR just after he joined the team of the very august P. T. Somerville-Large in the District Engineer's office in Westland Row.....

WOW! Absolutely superb weathering.

Fascinating documentary, though the plummy accent of the commentator is agony to listen to!

Indeed, and there’ll come a day! They’re actually needed....!

I know, but there was a version in original state.....

The obvious thing for original-state grey 121s is of course green laminates and Park Royals, and tin vans....

Soon!!

Was THAT thing full of Guinness? I WANT one. (A full one).

Good to see we have several colleagues right now working on pre-GSR stuff! .... Senior was into that period, though he'd be 103 now if he was still hanging about! One day, maybe we'll see a "full GSR" layout, based about 1937......and not a diseasel about!

And an 071 in GSR grey - oh, we've pretty much GOT that!

That was a SUPERB evening, thanks to ttc0169!

Indeed and so do laminates - a MUCH neglected species, despite various iterations making up the MAJORITY of ALL coaching stock in the 1960s and 70s. Obviously, cold hard finance must be the ONLY arbiter in what manufacturers produce, but within that criterion, it's a given that people will buy more locos of ANY kind, in ANY scale, of ANY prototype, if there's stock to pull. If nobody had ever produced Cravens or Mk 2 / 3 types and their variants, and the prevailing opinion amongst manufacturers was that such a venture would be hopelessly unviable, I guarantee yiz that we'd have LESS 071s, 141s, 121s and 201s bought - those that were would be whirling round with inaccurate BR varieties, or just BR Mk 1s with LMS dining cars and Great Western horse boxes. With the Hattons "Genesis" 6-wheelers, we see the British market for such vehicles apparently deemed to be sufficient for a RTR model. This is despite the fact that Britain got rid of these things from day to day use YEARS before WE did; we had them in regular traffic as late as 1963, and 1970 in the case of one full brake. I was speaking to someone in the trade over there who is of the opinion that this will boost sales of steam engine models of the (British) 1900-30 era. We may hope so - though the Irish market is not the same, of course. There IS a dearth of rolling stock here. I'm not campaigning (yet again) for a six-wheeler model, but not just Park Royals, but at least a couple of varieties of laminate, plus possible a Bredin 1937 design, and CERTAINLY the very essential "tin vans" are a must. And yes, these will suit ALL diesel types, PLUS the late steam era.

Yes, that is correct. It was never even steamed like that! The first loco was completed just as the MGWR was ceasing its existence and becoming but one part (albeit a major one) of the GSR. Locomotives of GSWR extraction were already being repainted plain grey (since 1915-18) and as a final act of "independence", the first "Woolwich" was finished in full MGWR livery. Since 1918, the MGWR had abandoned the time-honoured green, and any loco repainted after that was in their new black livery, with red lining. So, complete with next number in MGWR series, it was painted up, wheeled outside into daylight, photographed, and immediately brought back in again for repaint into plain grey, and renumbering with the now-correct GSR number and cast numberplate. Thus, it never turned a wheel in MGWR livery, never mind haul a train, and all of its sisters entered traffic in GSR times as GSR engines, in GSR grey from the outset. Two historical echoes would follow some years later. In the late 1950s, 388 was repainted black, with red lining - one of the Bachmann models was in this guise - for the Cork - Rosslare services. While very short-lived, possibly no more than 18 months, as the diesels were coming along pretty soon, it looked very well, if contemporary pics are anything to go by. But, while this repaint is often described as being similar to the old GSWR livery, while that is true, it's actually a great deal MORE like the final MGWR livery! So if anyone ever wanted to model the first of the class in MGWR livery, and use Rule 1 ("It's YOUR layout"!) to justify running it as such, all you need to do is remove the CIE cabside number and replace it with the MGWR one, and remove the "flying snail" from the tender and replace with "M G W R"! Reminiscent of Broadstone's closing MGWR livery echo, in Dundalk Works, the same thing happened a couple of years AFTER the GNR had ceased to be, and all locos in it were owned by CIE. The very last ex-GN 4.4.0 ("S" 174) was outshopped in full lined GNR blue, complete with "G N" and crest on the tender. Between the end of the GNR in 1958 and the closure of Dundalk to steam engine maintenance, the few repaints had involved the lined blue livery, but with no markings at all on the tender, and "CIE" stencilled on the buffer beams. So, hopefully soon, an ICR will appear in fully lined CIE 1950s green..........

Yes, it could certainly be described as such!

That same gentleman would very certainly know what he was talking about, if he's who I think he is!

Yes - while very rare indeed it did happen, especially on the Galway mail trains. But in all cases the stock used for passengers was behind the loco, and the other stock on the tail was locked off and out of use, just being worked as ECS or carrying mailbags locked in.