jhb171achill

That is correct. The UTA in its last days was very impressed with the 141s and 181s and there were thoughts of getting several. In those days the spoil trains were running, so with that AND the “Enterprise” in kind, an order of half a dozen of them would have been possible. If they were to be used on Derry trains too, and the cross-border goods, up to twelve could have been needed. That, in turn, would probably have resulted in somewhat fewer 80 class railcars, and no “111”s or second-hand “C” class locos.... Black 141 with UTA crest, anyone? Or maroon NIR ones?

Yes, and utterly disgraceful it was (and is), too.

Senior managed that - on the footplate of one of the 4.8.0s! I think I posted a pic some time ago..... Sadly, I didn't, Mick. Had I done so I would probably not have remembered as I was pre-school - though I do remember a visit to my great-grandmother's house at the same time (non railway related!) so I like to think that I MIGHT have remembered! I think that my earliest railway memory was the inside of an old wooden GNR carriage, hauled by steam.... and another - no idea where - of standing beside a steam engine, having been told to stay put, and the driver chatted to me while Senior had gone off to talk to someone......

I wonder is there any ENTHUSIAST alive now who travelled on any of the lines closed in the 1930s, like Achill, Clifden or Muskerry? A tiny handful of "ordinary" people, but I dunno about enthusiasts.........

The narrow gauge track seems to be cleared away, so it's 1960-65. Probably nearer 1960 than '65, as all the wagons have "flying snails"; if later, one might expect at least one to have a "roundel" logo instead.

And look at the goods vans....on the right..... CIE, GSR, CIE, GSR, CIE x 2.....

And by myself..... looks like I’m a stage further advanced in my dotage. Soon, I will be frolicking in the meadows with the Sweetie Mice and the unicorns.....

There are, I know, more than a few on here who did the Derry Road, the County Donegal, Sligo Leitrim, and the Leitrim & Clare narrow gauges.....! Maybe a thread about best memories from closed lines! For me, that would be the madman on the Athlone - Mullingar line on the late night mail train, or the graffiti on one of the seats in the Loughrea carriage two days before it closed.....in biro, “FAREWELL TO THE DUNSANDLE EXPRESS”! And then there was the leaking carriage roof (a clapped-out laminate) in a violently torrential downpour somewhere north of Tuam.......about a quarter of the coach had to move seats! Lucky there were only about twenty-five passengers on it, and two carriages and a tin van!

In my case, only the half-mile from Navan to Tara Mines and the Sligo harbour line.....

Very briefly, timber came through en route from Westport or Ballina to Waterford. I have timings somewhere - it was during the night it came in, reversed, and continued via Clonmel.

Me too. They don't run on rails. They have long bits sticking out of the sides which would foul any loading gauge. Despite jhb171Junior having been in the aircraft industry and having had me in aircraft cockpits, he was unable to show me a single orifice in which coal was to be put in a moving aircraft, nor injectors operated. None of these things appear to have even ONE connecting rod, and I'd lay money on it that they have no firebox. They have no obvious receptacles for coal or water, and I know for a fact that they aren't wood or oil burners. Airports do not, in any event, appear to have coaling facilities, and I doubt very much if there are coaling facilities in the air. Junior has not said or demonstrated anything to address my doubts. He talks about "wings" and "jet" something....... Strange.

All goes to show that well over a decade later, CIE's judgement, or rather that of their political masters, was (for once!) proved right!

It’s a GOOD idea, certainly! However, given the individuality of the lines you mention (and no actual railway ever reached Rostrevor...), what might be better is an imaginary branchline with, perhaps, a distillery-related private siding? In a city setting, maybe an imaginary single-platform terminus, closed some time between 1930 and 1955? Something “Street”, “Road” or “Place”, likely in Derry, Belfast, Dublin or Cork? Given good research results and photos of what would have run into and out of the imaginary location, the only big thing to think of is what era, and whether UTA, GNR or CIE?

Yes. There was a serious body of opinion in Inchicore in favour of putting GM engines in B101s. At this stage I can’t remember the persons involved, but it’s irrelevant niw. The 071s appeared as a result of varying opinions in the early 70s. Had history been only slightly different, noisy (beautiful!) GM noises would be coming out of plain grey 101s today, hauling Ballina containers, Wood-sticks, and oddball sundry yellow things full of gravel about a handful of lines, away from the graffiti, concrete, litter, cider parties and steel fencing scenic beauties of Dublin.....

Best wishes, Patrick, delighted to hear you're on the upward bound!

Indeed; Lemass, quite rightly, didn't want us to end up depending on ANY one other country, colonial power or not. CIE did, of course, continue to use British firms if they could step up to the mark; a certain Cravens of Sheffield being a prime contender! British firms continued to be used for new rail and for much signalling equipment. Exactly.

The other replies above regarding reliability are exactly right. Basically they got a very good deal, as EMD already had an unrivalled reputation, and the financial pigeons were already coming home to roost in terms of the shockingly bad reliability of the Crossleys. They considered German stuff too. Clearly, they made the right decision, and therefore stick with them. Had Dick Fearn's railcars not come along, I daresay we'd now be seeing the "251 class" in traffic, whatever they might be. British Railways were hamstrung, as they were tied to buying British products, long after it was clear that the American stuff was better quality and more reliable. The Americans had way way more experience, having largely dieselised over a decade before anywhere in Europe. A former friend of our family was a senior engineer with the GNR in Dundalk, and he knew my grandfather in Inchicore. Through this connection I am aware that CIE's senior figures in the fifties were talking to BR, Dundalk and various others about the pros and cons of American versus British technology. As others have commented above, when you buy a widget from Tesco and it won't widge properly, you go to Supervalu next time.

Yes, that’s the way an “unboxing” video should be! I can never understand the mentality in making an epic “war and peace” out of taking something out of a box! .......seems like making a documentary about opening a tin of beans, or a seven-part series about opening a cupboard door..... Surely nobody buys a model just to take it out of its box....

Take one plank, three times daily before meals, until it’s a flat wagon..... Do not drive while taking this medication.

That's EXACTLY what I was thinking for a possible future project....

That's not water, Galteemore. That's poitín, all the way from Wisht Ciarraí, boy! It is an interesting thought that the likes of IRM, neither British nor large, might have seriously rippled the waters of Bachmann Hornby Overdrive & Hattonsheffield Corporation PLC Inc., and had them summer-salting over their smelling saults over high-quality standards.....

So all of them about 3m or 10ft high, thus in 4mm scale 4cm?

Roughly what dimensions would be appropriate for the large billboard advertisement hoardings normally seen on the likes of railway embankments near road bridges, etc.? Roughly 2.5 or 3m high, perhaps?

Many of us would need to go on diets to stand on THAT platform!

They ran in what nowadays would be called a “block train”, but artistic licence might allow a four-coach set? The brake van was a standard 6-wheel passenger brake. The “3”s on the doors relate to the GSR’s livery which includes the passenger class 1 or 3 (2nd long gone by then) on doors. Probably non existent in many cases as the coaches were scrappers. I think they had already been withdrawn. This was in normal open wagons - but - layout “artistic licence”. Very much so. The sides were all boarded up, doors and all. It’s possible an odd foot still worked, but they were loaded and unloaded by a squad of men flinging the turf pieces over the sides! Labour was cheap then..... Yes, any old grey paint - or just about anything. Some with bare planks too probably. Re. the few W & L vehicles, that’s true, and there were almost certainly a few DSER examples, but GSWR stock formed the bulk. To run on a layout, in reality you’d need a set of them to be realistic - even 3 or 4, plus a van. Turf in small quantities just went in normal open wagons.