jhb171achill

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!

Yes, MikeO, black and white photos can completely deceive without separate background info! Almost without exception, CIE painted carriage ends black, like the chassis (and often the roof). But this Midland beauty had the green round the ends. I think that in CIE days the roof was black or very dark (loco?) grey. But in Midland livery it had the lighter roof.

All MGWR coach chassis were black; in fact, as far as I know, with the exception of a few CIE new-builds in 1955/6, all Irish passenger-carrying vehicles, “full-stop”, had fully black chassis. When the MGWR’s dark lake (very dark maroon) came into being in 1918, I have no clear information about roofs, but they were probably painted in the white lead, which darkened almost immediately and then got blackened with smoke. Carriage ends were maroon, just as carriage ends had also been brown when that livery was the norm. So, yes, a dull grey would suit carriage roofs well. That actually raises an issue; when general carriage roofs in the 1890-1920 era are described as “white”, e.g. with the GNR, it was actually actually white lead paint, for waterproofing. That was in fact a very pale grey rather than pure white. We see white roofs on model WAGONS all the time (thanks to Hornby!) but this is inaccurate for Ireland anyway. The state coach did indeed follow the norm. It skipped GSR livery and remained in MGWR maroon until it got its first and only cost of green in the late 50s, just a couple of years before it was inexplicably scrapped! There’s a photo of it in MGWR livery on P96 of Ernie Shepherd’s book on the Midland. The late Des Coakham described it as being by that stage “a dullish red”. The roof is clearly a darkened grey.

Indeed - we can look back on stories of old, but I don’t think anyone would seriously advocate going back to those days. Public safety was taken less seriously, and workers’ safety likewise. It’s frustrating to oul wans like me who remember happily wandering all round goods yards with shunting in progress and main line trains going past, with nary a steel-capped boot, hi-viz clothing, or PTS in tow, but obviously it’s better the way it is today.

They put them back - and they remain unused almost 30 years later......

It's a historical throwback to when CIE inherited a share of the Fishguard & Rosslare Railways and Harbours Company, which owned the South Wexford line and the Rosslare port (plus other stuff).

And neither of the drivers were even there when they weren't watching what they were doing..........

Had the thing lasted, it's most likely it WOULD have ended up like that! If the very last steam engine ever repainted (late 1962) had lasted only a year and a bit more, it would have ended up with a CIE "roundel" on its tender, probably (though I think the tan would be a step too far) and been plain black instead of dark grey.......

So it was for a model of the "Flying" Scotsman?

Superb stuff, Sean, very well done!

Some of them have different types of bogies, I think. Do you know what type it is?

It’s a cattle drover’s van. They carried dealers / drovers / cattle men in cattle specials.

The world will be a better place!

I’ll check, DJD, but from recollection there’s nothing that shows anything different. Some of these places had such a sparse service that photos are rare enough - especially of anything happening there.

Can’t see it, Jimmy...

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.