jhb171achill

He took several pics that day, but that was the best. If I ever get around to it I might put them in a book. He was still based in Enniskillen at that stage, tidying up loose ends. Some alterations had to be made at the station to provide a temporary fuel point for UTA buses which were replacing trains, and a survey had to be done of the line as far as Clones to list steel girders and bits and pieces, track and bridges, that could be re-used after lifting. On the day the tram was taken away, there were two locos in Enniskillen. I have a note somewhere (gawd knows where) of which they were. I think the Bundoran railcar had gone to Dundalk, or possibly Derry. The engine was steamed and went light to Fintona, lifted the tram, and towed it to Omagh. I am not sure how he got back - it might have been on a UTA bus! I have no recollection of him telling me of the loco going back, but a few days later he went with the other loco, light, to survey the line to Clones. On arrival, it was coaled and watered and went back. Just outside Clones, just after turning right onto the INW line, they stopped. My father and a track ganger got down and undid the fishplates joining the rails behind the locomotive, to mark the point where lifting gangs were to stop, as the Clones - Cavan line would remain. Then off to Enniskillen, and into history. Nothing traversed that line again until the lifting train.

Stranorlar, 1947. I believe that this was mt father’s “chariot” when he did a track inspection of the Glenties branch. Sadly, the report was unforgiving about the state of the track and the recommendation could only be “rebuild from ballast up or close without delay”. The CDRJC had no money to relay the track so it closed. The second picture was taken from the top deck of the Fintona tram as it was towed away from Fintona station for the last time ever. It would be towed to Omagh, from where it was later towed to Belfast. Senior took this pic through the smoke of a GNR 4.4.0...... October 1957.

A thing like that - perfect. One GNR loco and one “industrial” - something the factory bought 2nd hand from the GSR in 1940!! A dozen goods vans and you’re good to go.....

Just had a long yarn with Roderick, and he’s done a huge amount of research into these locos..... The Irish one will have two different numbers, representing the last two in traffic (withdrawn 1939 & 1940). In Britain, equivalents were primarily shunters but here they’d be suitable also for a fictitious West Cork branch. They’d be ideal for a 1920-40 shunting layout, as it seems the three that the GSR inherited* were used to shunt the Quay lines in Cork, and Albert Quay goods yard. Given that they could have been seen over in Glanmire Road goods yard, and the Penrose Quay sidings, they will have occasionally mixed and mingled with J15s, as already produced by 00 Works. A nice and unusual little model. There weren’t that many saddle tanks in Ireland.... (* The GSR inherited all five but two were withdrawn straight away). Roderick assures me that the different cab design and different external piping will be reflected in the Irish model.

Well, there'll be no need for various livery options anyway - nothing but grey! It would be good to see the wheels grey too.... my two J15s are grey but have black wheels. Filthy weathering will eventually put manners on that, though! Looking at the 00 Works site, the cab on the mock-up isn't remotely like the West Cork loco - presumably the Irish model will have an Inchicore cab....

I have since found the negative of that one, Popeye. It might stand some clarification / enlargement but probably not much - it wasn't taken with a top-notch camera....

That story is true! The spy ended up being arrested when locals were suspicious.

Castlegregory, 1939 (c. H C A Beaumont) jhb171Senior went there two weeks before it closed. Travelled one way on the loco, carriage the other way.

Just age. The thing was stored outdoors for years at Inchicore and it's actually very fragile.

I'm eating dry biscuits with cheese. I counted three on the plate. I've been counting them for hours and hours, and by sheer coincidence, it's ALWAYS three. Actually there are two now. Think I'll go and look out of the window. The tree is still there.

The first was taken on the Derry Central, I think at Magherafelt, though I'd need to look that up. The date is about 1944. It may be the lifting train from Draperstown - again, I’d have to check. The other was taken in the fifties at York Road.

Very true. Of course, there is an extremely fine model of "Hibernia" being built at the moment...... !

Now imagine THAT in steam!

Indeed; five steam locomotives have operated on it so far: O & K Nos. 1 & 3, GSWR No. 90, and the two RPSI No. 3’s - Guinness & LPHC. (Thus, of the five locos used, three are numbered 3!). Hypothetically, the following could be used too: LPHC No. 1 in Cultra GNR 2.4.2T in Cultra ..... That’s seven in total!

Today, we’re off to 1956, and heavy rain has resulted in an embankment being washed away near Castlecaldwell on the Bundoran branch.

An SG3, certainly - maybe two in the late sixties? I remember seeing them. I think I've met your character! Trouble is, it wasn't CIE's job to preserve things - the unfortunate fact was that there just wasn't anything like the interest in what was then just seen as old-fashioned dirty, slow trains.... this was the "swinging sixties" and everything had to be shiny and new! Pity!

A number of engines were to be retained, rather than preserved, in case of emergencies. There were probably about that number or thereabouts - I've a note somewhere. No. 800, by this stage had already ben donated to the Belfast Transport Museum, so it wasn't one of them. Apart from the 1964 7-day enthusiast's tour, the last steam in normal use ended on CIE in 1963, and NIR in 1970. The CIE locos were stored and officially withdrawn in 1965. 184 and 186 were among them; 186 going to the RPSI straight away, and 184 following some years later, along with 461.

They did, but far too small fuel capacity for the RPSI!

I suspect you're onto a good thing there, Galteemore. However, the big issue for future steam is turntables and restricted speed for tender-first running. It surprises me that the RPSI, if it must build a new engine, didn't go for a second "Jeep", because though not my own favourite engine, it is undeniably a very good design, very versatile, and not called a "jeep" for nothing. A second one of these would perhaps have been a better bet in practical terms, albeit perhaps with a larger bunker of that was possible. One hopes that 105 doesn't inherit the one Achilles' heel of "Jeeps" - their injectors' ability to dump a tank of water on the ground! I have no information on how "W"s performed in that area - one assumes the same equipment. While I am not the expert, I have been told by those who were that much as a BCDR "Baltic" tank might look the part, and have speed and strength, these engines were heavy on coal and unreliable. So, is there any other tank engines out there? Perhaps Bredin's never-built 850 class?

Staying north, here’s the Giants Causeway station, about 1944/5. And staying narrow-gauge, here’s a convertible road / rail wagon on the Bessbrook & Newry Tramway the same year. And I got them ALL the right way up!

As always, Noel, an absolute masterpiece of detail!

Sadly, there's nothing remotely close to the money available, nor anything close to the manpower. There aren't the workshop facilities. I'm on your page, though, in terms of "wish list" - we may all keep buying euromillions tickets! Of locomotives not currently in working order, the easiest and smallest will have a price tag to restore of €50k - €100k each. Bigger ones and you're edging very close to a million. Also, in some cases the work would take many years. Oho! NOW you're talking - what a sight. But she still couldn't go to Westport or any of those places because she's too big to fit under the bridges. There probably is no turntable in Ireland left that is suitable for her. And you're looking at a VERY big bill to restore her, as she was in woeful order when CIE withdrew her. Needless to say, she wouldn't be too economic to operate at Downpatrick!

Dunluce Castle is the “one that got away”. In the late 1990s, as RPSI Treasurer, I was approached by a member who I also knew outside the RPSI too. He was a man of means and had just seen No. 74 in Cultra. He recalled having been taken by his parents on one of those old Sunday School excursions in the 1930s (poor man has gone to his reward now) and on arrival, been invited up onto the footplate of that very engine, which he had remembered. What they put an engine like that on a presumably heavy excursion for is beyond me; while fast, these engines, in the words of the late Harold Houston, probably the greatest ever authority on NCC engines, "couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding"! Our friend told me that if the Society sought grant aid, he would match it pound for pound. At the time, the ERDF funding was in full flow, as was IFI funding. I informed the Society's Loco Officer, and a major inspection was organised. The report was brutal. Like No. 30 beside it (the BCDR engine), the UTA had absolutely run it into the ground. Polished up though it is, from memory, this is what No. 74 "Dunluce Castle" looked like 25 years ago; it's condition won't have improved since. 1. Boiler - scrap. Straight to skip; new one needed. 2. Smokebox - not good, probably better replaced. 3. Cylinders - one scrap for sure, other one looks ok, but just about ok. 4. Driving wheels - one scrap, other 3 badly worn. 5. Tender - from floor up, scrap, entirely; floor down in need of serious TLC. 6. Motion - while I cannot recall the details now, there were major issues here too. There was more, which I can't remember. I have a note somewhere, probably. Basically, the loco requires a total, and very substantial rebuild. It is held together with shiny paint and Mr Sheen. Once restored, No. 74 is not a strong engine - they were not one of the NCC's finer moments design-wise. Whereas, the 2.6.0 "moguls" very certainly WERE. Thus, yes, you're right, a new "W" class 2.6.0 would very certainly be a much better bet operationally. but also no more expensive. The bill at the time worked out at £250,000. Recent rebuilds of 4 and 461 had cost less than £100,000. At today's process, you're looking at the guts of a million euros / sterling. The new No. 105, if that's what it will be, will come in cheaper! I agree that 184 and 186 are unlikely to run again, though it's a pity. I have always had a soft spot for 186. They are too small for mainline and too big (only in a coal consumption sense) for Downpatrick. Often, in the preservation movement, hard decisions have to be made and the stark reality is that 27, 184 and 186 are museum items. Unless the Society literally wins the EuroBillions, there is zero financial case to be made for restoring them to working order. Whitehead train rides can adequately be taken care of by the Guinness loco, or (if you're wearing sunglasses!) the Derry engine No. 3. Talking of "soft spots", in my carriage restoration late teenage years, all shunting at Whitehead was done by the clapped-out suitcase-sized Planet diesel No. 23. I'd love to see that quaint little thing operational again! ANYWAY........ I applied for and got the approval for the funding. Our generous benefactor, God rest him, was unperturbed. But the paperwork..................................the PAPERWORK!..............to get a loan agreement drawn up with UFTM and approval for the RPSI to gain grant aid for something it didn't own, was so interminably drawn out, that the funding offer period had expired by the time outline agreement was reached. By now, funding rules had changed and it was no longer possible (this is still the case) for anyone to get any grant aid of any sort from any fund for something they don't own. So that was that. Given the great limitations of this loco, it was probably as well in the long run. 131 is much better machine.

To distract from cabin fever, I was delving through Senior’s photos today. Let’s go Northwest in the late 1930s, when he made his only foray to Burtonport just before it closed. No. 12 was out that day, though I’ve an idea he came back on one of the big 4.8.4T tanks the next morning. Footplate ride both ways! View from the tender looking back on one.

I believe that no two were exactly identical as a result, Irishrail201 - is that correct?