jhb171achill

A 29 outside a commuter setting is an abomination, saith the lord. The Gatwicks were similar in comfort terms to a 450 or a 2600.

I was working in Belfast then and commuted in them every day. They were seriously uncomfortable - flat hard seats that would almost make a 26 class railcar seem luxurious, seats too low, windows too high, stuffy in summer and cold in winter. Very spartan inside. Less comfortable than British or CIE equivalents…. I actually though the CIE ones were ok.

Certainly never regularly. Latterly they did a single daily run; Newry - P’Down - Lisburn - Central, even working out empty.

I’m following this with interest! Will we see an 800 class in GNR blue, or a De Dietrich set in CBSCR olive green? A Lough Swilly 4.8.0 in Donegal red? (Airfixfan, what ye think?) Lined CIE green on NCC Jeeps? NIR Red Bull livery on Cork 26’s or Drogheda 29s? CIE Black’n’tan on an NIR “wokfru” 4K set? The sky’s the limit….

The DVT - assuming it’s the same one we’re talking about - did arrive, but sat at York Road and never turned a wheel in traffic. It is now “preserved” at Downpatrick; the only railway vehicle in Ireland to have seen 0% of its (Irish) life in service, and 100% of its operations in preservation as a barrier vehicle!

Wooohooo!

Sure the whole idea of them taking on was a load o'hot air..........

I think they're going for scrap eventually, after they've stripped them for spares. They're of zero historical interest here anyway, and there's probably no room for them anywhere.

You'd need some head for heights to walk across that gangway!

I'm listening to the dog barking downstairs...........

This has got to be the single, solitary most stupid proposal ever put forward. It puts decisions like abandoning freight, selling goods yards, closing West Cork, Tramore, Harcourt St, the BCDR and the Derry Road into third place. It’ll kill the line, already hamstrung by having filthy 29s on some services, and Castlegregory branch speeds over the entire route. Maybe that is what the No Trains Authority wants?

Some of these ads on things like fleabay or done deal are borderline fraud…… Indeed. Listing it as “vintage model locomotive” might be better.

Is that clown STILL trying to sell that thing!!!

I knew it. The Brexiters invented all that stuff........ SUPERB! Greeat work.

That’s the trouble with terminology today - it has to be gobbledegook to “impress”. Back in the day, when the English language was used on the railway, you had brake standards, open composites, side corridor seconds, corridor thirds, six wheel lavatory firsts, and the like. Obvious. Now, it has to DBSO-2F, BSK(II), SGHT MK 2-SO(T) and the like…… No doubt when the De Deitrichs and Mk 4s go, we’ll be faced with an array of identikit vehicles, but called “A”DFGH-1, “B2”-EV, SSD5 and so on. Rant over.

Even by the NTA’s standards, this is a several light years beyond stupid, as are the Cavan & Leitrim style speeds over the entire route.

The Enterprise is probably the most comfortable of all these days.

Tis true; “Dunluce” was / is No. 74. Good to meet you again yesterday, Galteemore!

Re-liveried LMS loco as NCC

It would take three weeks, probably!

As far as I’m aware this is underground. Probably looks like a massive underground car park, wherever it is.

Yes, there is space thus allocated, but no actual construction. The area is, as I understand, used for storage.

On the main lines nowadays the only steam locomotives which are feasible to opetare are those which can do all of the following: 1. Haul a train with sufficient seats to pay the colossal cost of the operation, between IE charges, crews and coal. That instantly rules out several RPSI mainline locois, never mind shunters. 2. Haul a train at a sufficient line speed to fit into a timetable slot. This also rules out many RPSI locos which are bigger and faster than shunters. 3. Have sufficient coal and water capacity to travel longer distances than any shunter 9or 90) were built for. Gone are the days when many rural lines here had only one or two trains - or none - on a Sunday, and perhaps only 3 or 4 each way on a weekday. The railways are (happily) getting busier by the day, and with the population predicted toi go on rising for the next 20-30 years at least, this one ain't gonna get easier, Consequently, the emphasis will increasingly be on reliable larger locos which can keep time. Downpatrick os the place for 5'3" gauge steam long term. There really is no other likelihood of that anywhere. Plus, technically it's "main line"; the line from Downpatrick out as far as where the Inch Abbey line diverges to the right, plus North Junction to the southern limit of the line, is part of the former BCDR main line from Belfast to Newcastle! No. 90 will return to traffic as soon as finance and manpower allows there, and there are always the two Sugar Co. locos. The RPSI's two no. 3s have both worked there in the past - in fact the Guinness loco was the first steam loco to operate there in preserved days. Bottom line: 3BG, LPHC3, CSET3, 1 & 90 will not be able to operate tours on the NIR / IE systems again.

Ah - thanks for that (and apologies, Gareth, if you're reading....!)

Good to meet so many familiar faces last week. A few pics from Brookhall, and Alan’s outstandingly good BCDR models! IMG_0531.mov