jhb171achill

Mine is "Dugort Harbour".... Dugort is a real village on the north shore of Achill Island, where there was a one-time and short lived proposal to extend the mgwrs Achill branch to. Such a line would have been commercially about the biggest flop possible in railway history; highly scenic, though! The village has a population of about 30 people...... I chose this because my initial idea was to build something like a scaled-down Achill terminus, or scaled-up Westport Quay. However, the absence of kits, let alone RTRs, of MGWR coaches of any type, and the absence of anything which could be kitbashed, put me off. Thus, I kept the name, but now it's a somewhat run-down looking remote terminus extension somewhere in West Cork or Kerry, as there have been RTR J15s, courtesy of Roderick Bruce, and kits of GSWR six-wheelers, courtesy of Des Sullivan. Thanks to Mayner, a G2 has joined the gathering, in case Midland 6-wheel kits ever appear. I picked up two Woolwiches a couple of years ago which will join once chipped, and accurately filthied. So what I have under way now will be based operationally on somewhere like Baltimore, Kenmare or Valencia Harbour. The name will stick, though; many childhood memories playing on the Golden Strand beach at Dugort.....

I'll take four luggage vans and four hot water bottles....

Another few worth looking at, where the narrow and 5'3 were adjacent but separate would be Ballymoney and Skibbereen, and the dual gauge transshipment sheds at Dromod, Ennis and perhaps Ballymena.

Check out Larne Harbour for track ideas - the station had both gauges for the BNCR and the B & L narrow gauge....

I forgot to say earlier - there's a font you can download called "bunchlo" which is the best available equivalent to the font the GSR used for the bilingual station nameboards. CIE just used plain Roman script, with black letters on a white background. All of those old black signs with "white"* letters were done by the GSR. (* In model form, use cream, as the white - if it ever truly WAS "white" - was discoloured by CIE days to an extent that would make actual white on a layout look unrealistic).

The NCC had no lining - plain black. The UTA livery was very attractive with its lining, crest and red coupling rod.

I can’t be certain on this, but the black ends start appearing about the same time as the white lines - maybe one a bit before or after. In reply to the question about the width of the white lines, about 3 inches.

The ends were black, yes, but the day-glo squares were a later addition. Yes, adding white lining would be suitable. You’d need the “intercity” writing too, though initially many had got the white stripes but not yet this writing. I think Railtec do the writing. Somebody does....

The "Tippex" livery came into being along with the "set of points" IE logo in late 1987. it was the same, exactly, as the "Supertrain" livery, with the following exceptions: 1. Replacement of CIE "roundel", which was ONLY a On the ends of locomotives, with the new "set of points" logo on ends AND sides of locos. 2. White lines, hence the "tippex" nickname for the livery - as if they'd just gone along the side of a train with a "tippex" pen. NIR would soon copy this; in 1988 white lines would start appearing on the light blue and light grey NIR "Enterprise" carriage livery. 3. On carriages, the words "inter city" in a sort of "joined writing" style would start appearing in hitherto blank carriage sides. Many coaches still sported the older livery over the next two or three years, but as Hexagon suggests, they seemed to add the white lines fairly quickly.

Very many thanks, gentlemen. I have just emailed him. I mentioned the "flying snails" above; I have also enquired about alternative numbers for Murphy B141s in the original livery, as I have six.

For some time, the Railtec website has been saying that email contact is currently unavailable. How do we contact Steve with a query about producing a new transfer? Anyone know? I want to see if he can do some wagon "flying snails" of the "stencilled" version seen from the late 50s to the time the "Roundel" replaced them. Indeed, if anyo else is interested, a combined order might be do-able.

You're doing it in silver? That will look amazing!

Ulster Railway, 1865 Engineer’s minute books. I like the way these old volumes are bound.... Many of those who wrote these book up had, as others have mentioned, a very neat and stylish type of writing. As you can see here, there were certainly some exceptions of barely legible scrawl (see last pic!)...

Thought so. John's stuff is magnificent in itself.

From the 1985 Working Timetable (which I didn't think I still had!), this might be of interest to modellers who wish to have authentic numbers on wagon stock. If this is of interest, I have some from earlier years too - PM me if you want me to look something up.

Had a look at their website - interesting. They show a truly superb model of a Donegal tank in original lined black livery. Wonder what gauge it is or who has it!

....................and "Maedb"!

I suppose we all have to start somewhere! The too one, No. 7, was one of a pair which as far as can be ascertained were the first DIESEL-powered passenger carrying rail vehicles in the world..... Indeed, odd they looked, and even odder to the people of Donegal in 1931! But they are arguably the ancestors of every diesel railcar (or DMU, as our cross-channel neighbours would have it) in the world. Meanwhile, the Tara passed Malahide today, and a Mk 4 set likewise (again, he’s got lost and is asking the Enterprise driver for directions to Limerick Junction, where the once-annually Limerick Junction to Waterford train awaits.....)

Donegal “Phoenix” and railcars repose in retirement as the “Enterprise” passes through Malahide this afternoon.

We have morons interfering with the railway today, and 126 years ago their grandparents were at it.....

Might as well post a bit more, then!

We’re in Co Tyrone and it’s 1892....

Indeed - it was make do and mend a long time ago, a bit like the current policy on providing a "service" on Limerick - Waterford red the Nenagh branch. One only has to look at the clapped out rolling stock that ran in West Cork from even mid-GSR days until the railcar set arrived, and then it was only on the Bantry line, and ran but twice a day. I misread the original post, which referred to a "3" on the loco, not the door of the coach. You can just about make it out - it's got worn off.

I would very much hope so. Minister - anything that a "great deal of thought went into", and ended up like that, wouldn't say a lot about the imaginations of whoever did the "thinking"! I never liked the livery that much, personally - I think it's very drab - but of course I am very interested in it from a historical perspective, plus the fact that if I want a 121 to operate within the timescale I prefer on my layout, then it's the only show in town!

I have not come across that story, however, what i might add is as follows. Firstly, the initial experiment with "black'n'tan" was experimental. Had it not worn well (it did!) or had there been some other issue it is likely they'd have "gone back to the drawing board". So, there was a concerted effort back then to completely try to re-invent the railway system in the public eye as something dynamic, modern clean and speedy, once steam was finally eliminated at around the same time. Secondly, the grey and yellow livery was almost certainly another experimental livery, as the 121s were NOT the only things to carry it! The tour buses for CIE tours also wore it. Notwithstanding earlier discussions, once in use for a while, the grey became scruffy, as had the "silver" of the late 1950s (though even more so!), and at first repaint they became black'n'tan. Thus, it is doubtful - though certainly possible - that it originated in the USA. After all, the one-off "brown" 071 livery when new, and that with non-standard CIE emblem, was indeed an American "interpretation" of the CORRECT livery details that they had been given. Again, first repaint was into "proper" CIE livery.