jhb171achill

"To infinity and beyond"................... Reminds me of Senior's imitation of the station platform staff there back in the day... "CHANGE at Ballybrophy for Roscreaburrinena"!!!!

Yes, if even that. They were all-brown from the start of fitted bogie wagons, right through fertiliser bogie times, and onwards. I am not sure exactly when black bogies started appearing, but as you say comparatively recently.

Guy goes to confession. "Father, forgive me, for I have sinned". Priest says to him: "Yeahh..... I saw it on Facebook....."

You should be able to buy tins of LMS maroon from somewhere like Mark's Models or some such similar place. The new 6-wheeled coaches - maybe buy three or four to make one passenger set!

That is an absolutely superb model. First model I've seen in the 1890s version of GSWR lining - very intricate, brilliant job all round.

Yes, they only had a few bogies, and most of these rarely strayed off the Bangor line! To model the BCDR, six-wheelers are just not possible to do without, but there's good news here, as Hattons now have RTR 6-wheelers. Some of these are in maroon liveries. While these coaches are closest in design to GSWR designs, and in fact don't resemble other Irish companies at all, in the absence of anything else I'd get a dozen or so to make up a couple of BCDR passenger sets. Nothing buyable resembles BCDR bogies, but, again, a bit of artistic licence, and get a bogie with no end gangways to represent one of the several they got the NCC to build for them for the Bangor line. For the main part, you'll need 0.6.0 tender engines, or 2.4.2 / 4.4.2 tank engines. BCDR coach livery: Black chassis, light grey roofs (weathered!), maroon ends and sides - same shade as LMS maroon, conveniently, as were the GSR, Clogher Valley and NCC! Post-war, many were unlined. Prewar all were lined pale yellow. Wagons: Grey all over. The grey was significantly darker than the neighbouring GNR or NCC, almost like a charcoal grey. FITTED vehicles ONLY were often in a bauxite brown. Ironwork was body colour above platform level, black below, unlike GNR, GSR or other wagons which were body colour all over. It is worth pointing out too, albeit going off on a bit of a tangent, that there seems to be confusion on when wagons were brown instead of grey. Many British companies painted fitted wagons brown, others grey. The BCDR and UTA seem to have copied this, and in later days the GNR. The GSR and CIE never did - they painted everything grey, but about 1970 as a livery change, started painting all wagons brown. Nothing to do with being fitted otherwise. The BCDR was unusual for Ireland in having several operators of private owner wagons along the way, in particular the open wagons of the East Downshire Co., based at Dundrum, and used for carrying coal. Provincial Wagons do a kit of these. The livery was plain grey, of a much lighter shade than BCDR grey, and with lettering in pale yellow instead of white. Ironwork was grey too. There are no commercially available RTR wagons that approximate to BCDR goods vans of brake vans. Ordinary opens can be used, repainted in a very dark grey, to give a good impression.

Sorry, only seeing this now. A very dark green indeed; don't use No. 30 in Cultra as an example, as it is totally incorrect. I would go a good few shades darker than BR loco green. Tried to find a pic just now but couldn't. If I do, I'll post it here. Someone else posted pics of BCDR loco green recently. When dirty, like CIE grey, it could look almost black. Lining was red and white.

Prompted by the Wanderer's latest photos over on the photographic page, can someone enlighten me about why the Tara times in the WTT bear no relation at all to when it actually runs? I am within sight of the railway just outside Malahide. I can see those green railcars, DARTs, NIR railcars on the Enterprise, and Taras in the distance from where I'm sitting now. When I hear the unmistakable roar of an 071, I look outside. What I SHOULD see is this, according to the WTT: Times PASSING MALAHIDE Southbound: 10:56, 13:56, 20:28 Northbound: 14:36, 19:45, 00:18 What I HAVE seen in the last few week, at random, are these: Date Time No. Wagons North / South 13:11 11 S 40-odd mins early; close to official path 16:33 6 N 13:52 11 N 44 mins early 9 Feb 13:51 11/12 N 43 mins early 10.2 13:33 12 S 20 mins early 10.2 14:10 12 N 10.2 17:28 12 N 11.2 13:36 11 N 11.2 14:07 12 S 11 mins late 16.2 22:34 ? N 17.2 11:00 11 N 17.2 13:36 11 N 19.2 13:51 12 N 19.2 17:24 12 N 22.2 13:56 10 S SPOT ON! First time for everything....... 23.2 17:09 8 N Also, there appears to be a northbound empties regularly between 22:10 and 23:10 most nights, rather than 00:18........ Above, the few highlighted in bold are the only ones which appear to follow stated paths. Maybe this is something to do with a temporary covid-related timetable, or covid-related changes in work practices at the mines? As an aside, here's a bet; within hours of any future announcement of the mine closing, IE will have ripped up the track, demolished the viaduct at Navan, and Eamon Ryan will be on TV crowing about how the new Drogheda - Navan greenway will enrich everyone from Malin Head to Wisht Caark. meanwhile, all 18 of the 071s, plus all the Tara wagons, will be scrapped as hastily as possible, where they stand.

Yes, as long as they're in the correct livery.

I have a box of each for sale, €100 for the lot. Postage free.

Now that's something I haven't heard of in years. Senior did that with the vast "0" gauge tinplate layout he had in the 1920s. The clock was doctored by HIS father (of Inchicore), and it survived until his old house was cleared before he went into his final nursing home a few years ago. Unfortunately it had been in an old loft and was destroyed by rust and general battering about to an extent that would have rendered it well beyond restoration. I think the house clearers would have put it in a skip........... I tried to fix it when I was in my teens - no joy, although in my teenage years everything was black and white, the TV was clockwork, the Kenwood food mixer was steam-operated, and the motorway was cobbled.

I would agree. While for most, myself included, available space precludes an accurate portrayal of an actual location, when it is possible the exact working practices can be reproduced, with shunting, engine changes, and so on. Some years ago, for nothing more than curiosity, I examined the working timetable of the West Cork system immediately prior to anything non-steam ever having gone near the area, and 1960, its last summer. I "followed" the activities of each departure to establish how many locos were needed, how many crews, where locos swopped or were alternated with another for servicing, and so on. Such a thing makes a fascinating study, and really opens ones eyes to how the railway actually worked. Needless to say, it was inevitably very, very different to today. If that system were functioning today, it is likely that one 2-car railcar would do two return trips to Bantry, and another would do two connections to Skibbereen. And that would be it. Kilkenny likewise. Now, a few ICRs potter in and out and nothing else happens. In the period you are modelling, there will be a wealth of operations, with their own rosters and even possible operational peculiarities, as often happened as a "legacy" of the earliest days when more than one company might have used the station. As late as the 1990s there was still a surprising amount of freight and interesting workings at numerous places. All the more fodder for an interesting model. I should add that for the majority (?) of us with less room than would be needed for an accurate prototypical location, study of a real scenario such as that outlined above will inform a ralistic way to operate even a smaller, fictitious location. The fictitious nature of a location can be more than compensated for by high quality scenery, models of high quality with the correct locos and carriages / wagons matching for the era or company, and realistic operational practices BASED on those observed in a real place.

I've actually just emailed them to see what postage costs are now post-Brexit.

The "Dutch" van - what model was this?

I am ABSOLUTELY with you there, Lambeg Man! And I am one with an "underlying condition".............

Cream was a standard sort of interior colour used by - at least - the MGWR, GSWR, DSER, GSR and CIE. The DSER, from Senior's memory, had its carriage insides mid-brown to waist level, and cream above that. I think CIE might have done that too on some 6-wheelers, but I've no proper info.

Maybe, Gerry - but they ARE needed! Silverfox, of course, do green laminates. I am sure their "tin vans" can be done in green or silver too.

In terms of carriages, ANYTHING green and anything pre-Craven types, and the “tin vans” are a must for all early diesels. With no steam heating, a diesel-hauled 1955 - 69 passenger train needs one (or more) as much as it does a loco!

Very true, indeed. And as for a Dublin underground or sensible additions to the Luas.................................................!!!! I reckon another 112 years.

Trouble is, that makes sense. Our elected representatives "don't do "sense"".

Yes, there were several instances of them at different places between Claremorris and Limerick.

Barry's and my next book will show one WAAAY off its beaten track, and on a most interesting working.............

Done. How could anyone NOT vote for those fertiliser wagons!

Very much so. Like a whitish roof on a carriages, a pristine-painted black chassis on a coach will be "weathered" almost on its first journey out of the paint shop. Also why it was sometimes hard to tell whether a very workstained locomotive was originally black or grey, especially in a black and white photo....!

Indeed. While far-fetched, I know, given population increases, one could almost make a case for ensuring that no obstructions are ever placed in the way of a potential Midleton - Youghal - Dungarvan - Waterford - Rosslare route! Now THERE’S a stamping ground for a “Woolwich”, a grey 121, or an “A” class on a suitable layout!