jhb171achill

Out on the main line, A25. The photographer seems to have either followed this train, or been on it, yet in a position to take a shot like this en route. in typical style, the first three carriages are of three different types.....

Polloxfen’s Mill sidings at Ballysodare is as perfect a modelling subject as you’d get. Extremely short on space and compact, it lends itself perfectly to a small shunting layout. It had tight enough curves, and three-way points to assist. And operated by normal main line locos....

Yes, EXACTLY. I've been banging on about this for years (as those in the model railway trade who know me will testify)! Naturally, many of these items may not ever be commercially viable, so self-build for much of it will remain the only show in town - at least for a very long time. I am hoping at some stage to produce as complete a list as I can of appropriate "off-the-shelf" and kits which would be suitable for a 1955-65 period, interest in which is obviously growing, and not before time, as this period had the single greatest variety of stuff on wheels in all of Irish railway history; brand new stock AND locos operating alongside some items 70 and 80 years old - and everything in between. I would add some "off the shelf" British stuff which with a repaint would just about pass a "2-foot rule" for those on lesser budgets, or less concerned about absolute technical accuracy. For example, some of the "bought" SECR coaches (one anyway) would have a passing resemblance to a certain class of MGWR bogie, at least one example of which survived the grey & green era to get a clean coat of black'n'tan. I think it survived to about 1965. With "bought" six-wheelers now appearing, and at a reasonable price, that's one ticked off. JM Design and Silverfox do kits of tin vans, though a RTR one is needed. A wooden bogie - ideally GSWR origin (of 1910-20 design) is another must. Many another thing too, of course, VERY many - goods stock of all types included - would be needed.

I have become aware, lately, of where BOTH plates off one of the D16 "Achill Bogies" (No. 532) are.............. Being ex-MGWR, they are inscribed: G S R 532 .........and nothing else.

I was wondering how it got there, Jimmy! Didn't know that this vehicle had ever been anywhere other than Witham Street or Cultra post-1959........

VERY nice. I wish I had kept the 560 one I had.... That 184 one would be one of the originals, as the preserved loco (like 186 AND 461) has replicas. The green is off that one-off livery the thing had for some late 1950s open day in Inchicore. Original grey underneath, by the look of it..........

Not the greatest original pic to work with, but the pic shows then-newish laminates with a green “A” + stripe. Unusually, coaches 2, 3 & (out of view) 4 are the same type, so this is possibly a special train intended to impress someone..... Recent comments elsewhere about accurate weathering may be interested in where the oil stains were on these Crossley beasts. Additional comments - now that I see this pic in a larger screen, the carriages carry the name boards used on the principal expresses, which I think dates it to the early 60s. As this train passes, Inchicore Works is probably performing its Unboxing Dance with brand new 121s, ready-fitted with kadees, 21mm gauge axles and sound chips.

Dunno what they did IN the factory all year (played cards & drank tea?), but in terms of railway traffic, nothing. Trucks all parked up, and until the mid 1970s used for general goods elsewhere.

That would be right, Angus! Looking forward to seeing the result.... An ex-GSWR loco might have: G S W R number INCHICORE WORKS 1884 ....while an ex-MGWR loco would typically be: G S R number (just)!

Yes, you're right - most with a grey background (which, strangely, the manufacturer doesn't do) - but only because most engines were grey right until almost the end. By the time they started painting any engines black or green, the numberplates were replaced by painted numbers, so that with the exception of the 800 class, grey is the only show in town for numberplates - with only a very few exceptions which (a) kept numberplates into the late 50s, AND got painted black. The wording "Inchicore Works" and the build date varied from engine to engine after the amalgamation, though all GSWR locos had both. An ex-DSER, Midland, West Cork or narrow gauge engine might have "G S R" (and a handful had "C I E" later, but it varied. Colours: If the loco is grey, the numberplate is grey. Black or red backed numberplates on grey locos are simply as wrong as lime green CIE roundels. But, of course, a few exceptions! This one, "A few had the backgrounds painted black with the lettering and borders picked in red...." is not at all certain, and if there is any substance in it would certainly not have been in late GSR or CIE times - possibly early GSR (late 20s). 1. The 800 class. Initially, all three had dark blue backgrounds, uniquely. No. 800 retained these always. Nos 801 and 802 - again, uniquely - had theirs repainted red background sometime in the early 50s, and retained these to the end. 2. Ex-MGWR "E" / J26 No. 560. This engine appears to have been painted black in the late 50s, but kept its cast numberplates. However, in the early 1990s I owned one of its numberplates (wish I had kept it) and whoever the previous owner was, had scrubbed it back to the grey paint. There were a very small number of other locos like this, but once an engine was repainted by CIE, off went the plates. 3. CIE repaints. Between 1945 and 1962, CIE repainted some engines green: numberplates ALL removed, except the 800s, in place of light green painted numbers. Some grey: numberplates replaced by light yellow painted numbers. Some black: ditto - yellow painted numerals. So there is a fundamental error in a number of manufactured plates I've seen, in that the backgrounds are BLACK; this incorrect - if the loco still has a numberplate, it means it's still in GSR guise, thus grey ONLY. The raised edges and numbers on cast plates was normally outlined in pale yellow, but occasionally just painted over plain grey, sometimes *(as Senior observed) polished bare metal (which would have just got filthy!) and possibly (unconfirmed) other variations. However, if you want a red-backed plate, or a black-backed one, you're way back into GSWR times. Up to about 1900, when GSWR locos were green, numberplates were black-backed, and between then and about 1915, when GSWR locos were lined black, they were red. Perhaps the manufacturer might do them grey? Black or red would only be of use to GSWR modellers.

In response to a question, the stock in the train above is typical of the period; this train containing green laminates, a Park Royal, and (out of sight) at least one Bredin, more laminates of several types and what looked like a dirty silver tin van at the rear. I focussed in on the loco, as I will in the coming days. Today's picture, sticking with the "A" class, this at Mallow. The light green paint on the line along the side, and the "snail", have worn off - many photos show this line weathering badly, even when the main body colour was still smart enough. Mail van attached, still in "silver". Modeller's details: Water column on left, still very dirty / weathered green. Note the roof of the TPO. It looks black. It is important to note that like domes on blue GNR engines, or red Donegal engines, although these often LOOKED black, this was 100% dirt, and in all three cases were NEVER actually painted black. Similarly, silver coaching stock and locos never had black bogies - always also silver - but covered in gunge, gunk, oil and brake dust. Silver (unpainted) stock, despite being new, would on occasion still be steam hauled. Good luck with a clean roof on that one! This pic is the Kerry mail, so it will have about three passenger-carrying coaches behind it, plus one or two - or being a mail train maybe more - tin vans. More tomorrow.

From the P Dillon / C Fry collection, I’ve fished out a few guess which I’ll post over the coming days to illustrate the “A” (and, for good measure, the B101s) in the 1958-64 period. I do jig have to hand exact dates for each individual one. These are cropped to show maximum detail on the loco and what “goes with them”. I hope this is of interest. Firstly; A7. The copyright for ALL of these that I will post in the coming days belongs to Hassard Stacpoole or Patricia Dillon.

Indeed - not great. The grey one has the “wrong dirt in the wrong places”, perhaps; are these things “factory-done”? In real life, with a livery as impractical as pale grey and yellow for a locomotive (and initially still surrounded by steam engines!), this livery got filthy quickly.

No idea - probably the same reason but maybe different locations.

Yes, they were - only a few cars (for all I'm aware maybe only one) got them. And it did run in West Cork on some occasions, as I've seem pics of it at Bantry and Albert Quay. However in the above pic, that's a shadow of telegraph wires - you'll see it goes right along the roof. Roofs were normally black. Yes, arrival 2.30pm in Cork. Tail lamp on railcar. The AEC cars were given a trial on the Valentina branch (though never used there). They needed the wider buffers for sharp curves. Some bogie coaches were fitted with them too.

A guy I met in a pub told me............

It will indeed, Robert - many congratulations!

Those look like tar tankers. No wonder the Park Royal Guinness tasted like antelope poo.

Anything inside it?

Bet you'd rather have an AEC set drifting down into Bantry!

It’s because the box is still with it....

That’s of big interest to me with a small South African shunting layout in progress.....

Did they clean the novichok off the seat?

Maybe it’s the pills I’m on, or advancing senile bewilderment, but even I would be tempted to buy one of those silver pipes on wheels, as a curio to remind me of regular travel between Galway and Dublin in recent years. But it would have to have a working model of the tea trolley, its Eastern European staff, and REAL kitkats.

Rather than grain wagons....? I think some of those opens with the curved tops to the ends were still kicking about in the 1930s, and possibly longer - you'd never know what you'd find hiding long forgotten in some nook or cranny siding in West Cork.