jhb171achill

You were spot on the first time, Midland Man, well done; I was just curious - then I saw Errigal behind, so it couldn't be anywhere else! I've recently got a load of Senior's old prints scanned to a better quality than the ones I posted a year or so ago. He only travelled to Burtonport once, and took very few pictures; this was taken from the footplate of No. 12, one of the 4.8.0 tender engines, near Gweedore. Now, for Lough Swilly experts, WHAT is that ballast siding on the left? WHERE exactly was it? 100% right!

What makes you think that, may I ask?

Going back to the theme of this thread, any guesses where this might be? (H C A Beaumont collection)

....calling at Skibbereen, Paris (Orly), Strabane, Achill and Harmonstown...... Yes, they are both from Inny Jct. They would have been on different platforms. The main line down side would have said "To Cavan, Clones Junct. & Killeshandra" and the other "To Longford, Ballaghaderreen & Sligo", exactly as you say. Kilfree would have simply said "Change for Ballaghaderreen" or just "To BGallaghaderreen" or something like that. I pinged the auctioneer and told him that he ought to make clear in his advertising that these are not the same sign.

Yes, there was a GN loco shed at Cavan, and MGWR / GSR locos only went that far from Inny Junction (or, more specifically, Mullingar). Even between September 1957 and April 1959, when Inny Jct. - Cavan - Clones - Dundalk was basically one single long goods-only route, ex-GN steam locos still operated from Dundalk to Clones, and "C" class diesels operated from North Wall - Inny Junction - Cavan. There was no operational reason why it couldn't have been done as one route - maybe it would have at least lasted until the 1967 closures on that basis. Layout idea: Cavan in 1966 - goods only, but many a GAA special! There WERE a very small number of diesel operations from the Midland line north of Inny Jct. An "A" class took a GAA special out of Monaghan one time, south to Cavan and on via Inny Junction to Croker. But regular services never crossed over. ....calling at Skibbereen, Paris (Orly), Strabane, Achill and Harmonstown......

That's exactly what it is - two separate signs. Pity! Useless in that combination....

That is an absolute work of art! Prior to about 1900-05, they would have been a very dark olive green, as authentically seen on two of Fry's models plus No. 90 at Downpatrick. After 1915, the all-over grey. So here, we're in 1900-15!

Nach labhraíonn tú Gaeilge ar bith?

NOW you’re talking! Imagine “Woolwich” music up that tunnel!

That’s what you get for living in Darkest Peru, DJ !

The scenic and aesthetic beauty of Irish railways personified: A long scaffolding with pipes and bits on it poses gracefully in front of a silver customer-tube on wheels.

Good thoughts, Paul - Fingal CoCo need to deal with external stuff. Valid point which I will pass on. I’ve mentioned DCDR & RPSI stuff to them before - worth following up again.

Drogheda today….. Several mobile customer pipes:

When dealing with models which are very old, the utmost care has to be taken in handling them. Years in an inappropriate storage environment before the Malahide thinbg got under way and proper conservators got involved, buffers had fallen off, soldering joints parted company and in this case, the old timber piece used to make this van cracked. Some types of damage are restorable, others not. Now, the entire building they are in has temperature and humidity controlled all the time. Nothing will not deteriorate in SOME way over time, but the slower this process can be made to be, the better. Fry's modelling went through three stages - like many of us. He started off as a child with bought Hornby stuff; there was no IRM Towers then, and Paddy Murphy's parents were probably learning their spellings! So, he started off by buying "bought" stuff, then graduated to repainting or altering "bought" stuff. Then scratch built with a lot of wooden blocks, finally much higher quality tinplate modelling and his own castings. His earliest models date from the mid-1930s, and finishes are not always as good as later. In particular, he appears to have made leaps and bounds after about 1941, when he truly mastered tinplate. Earlier models used wooden underframes and the details were much cruder. Have a look at the two chassis below. One is of this "cracked" bogie goods van which he built in the early 1930s, and look what less than a decade makes as a difference; formed tinplate chassis now, with a lot more detail, on the underside of the four wheeled LNWR coach shown. The bogie LNER van is the one with the crack going the whole way down the body. Close examination suggests that crack has been there a long time.

Janey mac..... Limerick to Ballybrophy in a 7-Up can, in under a day.........

He sold me six for an even £10,000 and included even the sausages in his logo......

Some more LNWR stuff today. First, a few four wheel carriages.

A pair of mainline LNWR corridor coaches. The vast majority of Fry’s British passenger stock is of LNWR origin, as he travelled over their lines while attending boarding school in England.

Today's update on all things Malahide Model Railway Museum. Following Drew's suggestion above, signage will be ordered to explain the four scenes on the layout. There's an overall review of signage going on anyway, so it's now included in that. When the place was opened, the initial thought was that roughly half of all of Fry's models could be displayed, and the other half stored; the two sets being swopped several times a year. I advised against this at the time, for the obvious reasons of constant handling not being in the best interests of the models, to put it very mildly. So, I thought, I will select the more interesting half, and get them to put up pictures of the rest. Result. However, once the display cases were installed, it became evident that a very much greater proportion of his models could be displayed. The models Fry built (as opposed to the ones built later by other folks for the Castle layout) consist of approximately two thirds Irish, almost a third British prototypes, and a dozen or so mainland European items, plus an American five-car diesel train which Fry repainted. So, with more space than expected, the entire Irish collection (bar several duplicates) has been displayed. The only Irish stuff not displayed are one badly broken open wagon (similar to others anyway), a couple of half-built things (possible focus of a future "work in progress" display) and several duplicates - e.g. he made several "H" vans, and more than one of certain designs of BCDR, CIE, GNR and NCC coaches. In the latter case, one of each is on display and the others are stored. There was just about enough room for all but (I think) one of the mainland European stuff. This left the British stuff, which is a mix of the following: (a) LNWR coaches and locos - probably half or more of the British stuff; (b) other one-offs (like a BR 1950s sleeping car), and (c) well-used bought Hornby stuff which Fry had as a kid. There is no room for all of this anywhere. Today, we had a look round the place to evaluate proposals for more glass cases, with a view to displaying this material (not the Hornby models). If this can be achieved, ALL the Fry-made stuff, bar a few items retained by members of the family, and which were never gifted away at all, will be on display. There had been various ideas about where we might display this stuff. The most likely option has been changed, so these days I'm packing this stuff into proper conservation boxes as they're likely to be out of sight for a few years. I'll post a few pics here in the coming days and week. To start with, this is a working LNWR mail coach. The trigger underneath activated the net mechanism on the side, to make the net drop to pick up mail bags. You can see the spring attached to the trigger on the underside of the coach. Fry got a batch lot of LNWR crests made. Some are on the side of a GSR coach as a "GSR" crest and a couple of Dublin trams have them too! They're somewhat overscale too - a common complaint of crests and logos on model coaches of all types.

Looks a BIT bright, perhaps, though not far off?

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!