jhb171achill

33 minutes ago, Dunluce Castle said:

I recently came across this footage on YouTube of the very line covered in this thread, but from an earlier period. It features a mixture of liveries so could be from anywhere between 1923 and 1930s? Very crisp imaging which is great for viewing. The clip starts at the one minute mark.

https://youtu.be/iXm7qNdZc3w?si=puWjxF7s5VlCl9qT

Fascinating stuff.

The clip of the railway wagons, going by the NCC lettering style, is late 1920s, even up to mid 30s. The GNR vans in particular look very “modern” for this era.

I know virtually nothing about things that float rather than run on rails, so I can’t suggest whether the maritime clips are the same age.

The elephant in the room, of course - and it's a BIG one - is that our politicians north AND south have every incentive to think and plan short-term and zero incentive to think long-term; in fact, an absolute disincentive to think long term. Major railway projects of any sort in any country are never quick fixes - unless they are closures!

I know of another J15 owner who encountered this issue.

I’ve three, plus a CBSCR tank. No issues so far but none have seen huge running.

9 minutes ago, Blaine said:

Pure GSR! (Though they were a much darker grey)

49 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said:

THE DAY HISTORY WAS MADE AT BROOKHALL MILL

The residents of Lisburn and the surrounding area were very familiar with the sounds of the many military aircraft which frequented the skies above this part of South Antrim during the Second World War.  Between the Spitfires flying in and out of Long Kesh, the Coastal Command Catalinas heading across to Lough Erne and the heavy USAAF B17s stopping off at Langford Lodge on their way to Britain, the residents knew them all and could identify the engine sounds with ease.  It was this knowledge which alerted them to an unfamiliar sound which was heard in the skies above the Lagan Valley one dark night in October 1943, a lone aircraft with an engine sound very unlike those of the familiar RAF and USAAF types.  The intruder seemed to be circling around Ballinderry and it wasn’t long before the telephone rang in RAF Aldergrove, and a Hurricane night fighter was scrambled to investigate.  However the suspected enemy aircraft had made good its escape and nothing more was heard of it.

Early the next morning, Mr. Weaver at Brookhall Mill pulled back the blackout curtain of his bedroom in the station house, and was immediately greeted by an unexpected sight - a parachute was wrapped around the small chimney of the boiler house beside the railway platform, and dangling precariously below was the parachutist, whom Mr. Weaver assumed was an enemy combatant who had missed his intended landing spot.  The man was hanging about 30 feet above the ground so Mr. Weaver immediately rang the local police station for assistance, and before long there was a large crowd on the platform, staring up in amusement at the stranded airman.

Eventually the airman was rescued and brought down to the platform, and once free of his harness, he stood perfectly upright, snapped his heels together and identified himself as Unteroffizier Hans Watchimflappen of the 307th German Parachute Corps.

Unteroffizier Watchimflappen was then escorted into Mr. Weaver’s office, where two policemen kept him under close guard until the military could attend and bring him into custody.  Mr. Weaver felt sorry for the unlucky German and immediately arranged for breakfast to be brought across from the mill kitchen, a full Ulster fry washed down with strong tea.  Unteroffizier Watchimflappen was very grateful for this kindness and then noticed that Mr. Weaver’s office grandfather clock was not working.

“As a gesture of gratitude for your vundervul kindness Herr Veever, I vish to be permitted to repair ze clock.”

Mr. Weaver consented and immediately Unteroffizier Watchimflappen approached the clock and barked “I haf vays of making you tock…” - immediately the ancient timepiece rumbled back to life again.

Mr. Weaver and his unexpected guest remained in the office for around an hour before the military arrived, and during that time they chatted extensively, with Unteroffizier Watchimflappen making it clear that he had had enough of the war and had accepted that Germany was not going prevail.  He also freely admitted that he had been sent on a clandestine solo mission to gather intelligence on Brookhall Mill and that he had been dropped by the mysterious aircraft which had been heard in the skies the previous evening.  Mr. Weaver was certainly more than pleased to hear that his humble operation in this quiet part of County Antrim had come to the attention of the German Intelligence, as this assured him that the work they were doing was making an important contribution to the war effort.

Soon a detachment of RAF Military Police arrived from Aldergrove and as they prepared to take Unteroffizier Watchimflappen into custody, the German had one final request to ask of Mr. Weaver:

“Herr Veever, I vonder vud you permit me to make a brief telephone call to ze German Embassy in Dublin, zat I may alert zem to my presence as a guest of ze RAF?  I vill of course ensure zat appropriate recompense is made to you for ze telephone call”.

Mr. Weaver was only too pleased to permit Unteroffizier Watchimflappen to make the call to Dublin, and there was never going to be a requirement for him to pay for the call.  And so, history was made that day at Brookhall Mill, when the first telephone call was made, that could truly be described as ‘Hans free’.

 

Superb!!!

1 hour ago, DiveController said:

That’s what they said verbatim to me in early February which isn’t very reassuring. Wouldn’t Hattons just want dump this electronic data to Rails, thank them and be done?

 

You'd think so.......... there can't be any incentive within Rails themselves to do it, I would have thought.........

I asked Rails to advise on update re ordering hattons Genesis CIE six wheelers. This is what they said:

On 8/4/2024 at 5:53 PM, StevieB said:

There seems to be a belief amongst planners that people are ok with having to change trains multiple times. Am I in the minority who believe that puts people off train travel?

Stephen

I'd say you're amongst the vast majority! Three family members of mine, lately the proud possessors of free travel passes, are finding the joys now of long distance BUS travel, where changes from one pedestrian train to another are unnecessary. One relative has recently moved to Co Wickla. By express bus from Dublin city centre it's 48 minutes. By train it's over an hour. Another relative has had the misfortune to have to go to Rosslare every month or so in the last year. She wouldn't touch the train with a bargepole. Wexford Bus all the way. I did this journey once recently myself. It was horrific. Had I not been an enthusiast, I would have genuinely made a point of never setting foot on a train again. An absolutely FILTHY 29, no wifi, and crawling at what seemd 30mph the whole way until it got to bray; thereafter a trundle at walking pace to Connolly, arriving a good hour after a parallel bus would have done.

And now they're talking about terminating this service half way, and putting people into even slower darts?

As others say, we're playing catch-up. Big time.

One must recognise good planning etc., and compensation for those inconvenienced, but nothing short of a massive root & branch upgrade, and hundreds of billions spent on it, will remedy the public transport in the east coast area. And if that means knocking down half of Ballsbridge and Killester to quadruple Drogheda - Bray, removing the Aviva Stadium to somewhere near Blessington, putting a tunnel under Merrion Gates, levelling Bray Head to double the track from Bray to Wicklow, and ignoring those in the city centre who say that tunnelling beneath them will keep their cat awake, so be it.

1 hour ago, Ken K said:

Just recieved some lovely Black n Tans thansk to all for such amazing models. Did i miss something regarding decoders? was there to be an announcement regarding dedicated decoders for the new 141/181's?

Recalls to mind a story from my long-ago youth; I was in Kildare cabin with my dad talking to the signalman, who he knew. A train went speeding through without stopping. All the carriages were green, bar the very last one which was onbiously only newly repainted in black'n'tan (all were Bredins and laminates of varying types).

Senior says to the signalman, whose name i forget, "Oh! Is that the new livery!!" as the whole thing sped through.

"Yeah", say signalman, in deadpan voice. "ye'd think we'd seen the last'o'the black'n'tans by this stage...."

Seems like only yesterday, but it has to have been summer 1962, given which relative we were visiting on the day.

The earlier Murphy 141 rolls into Dugort Harbour one afternoon in 1964.

1 minute ago, Flying Snail said:

I've bought recently from Rails. Its relatively straight forward - no customs charges (and no UK VAT), but you will have to pay Irish VAT and the customs handling fee

Thanks for that, Flying Snail. In that case they go to the north!

3 hours ago, IrishTrainScenes said:

7 October what year?

So first class & catering only on selected services?

2 hours ago, Flying Snail said:

I got in touch with Rails' customer service  today to see if there was an update on the pre-orders for the Hattons Genesis coaches. This was their response:

"We haven't yet started to raise the orders for the Genesis coaches but will be doing so in the near future. As long as you had a confirmed preorder with Hattons, we will fulfil this preorder."

So, no updates yet but it looks like we can expect to hear from them soon

The info I had tends to concur with this; summer to early autumn.

I had ordered a single example of each. When I did so, the full brake in black’n’tan was sold out on pre-order - I think I got the last one. 

it’s just occurred to me - if Rails are posting these things out instead of Hattons, what’s the situation with customs charges? Should I get them sent to my “safe house” address in the north?

4 hours ago, Patrick Davey said:

Mr W is a committed to teetotaller until the dreaded lurgy strikes, when he consents to taking a medicinal hot whiskey (he likes to have lots of lurgies).  He’d be happy to go to the pub as long as there was a mad session of shlides and shlip jigs?

That’s for sure, boy, and if yer man from the Co-op is in, he does a mad oul brush dance, boy…..

3 hours ago, Westcorkrailway said:

From what I have heard it is indeed possible to do this as long as you have somone on the other side of the cab. of course maintaining a turntable is much cheaper then paying for a 2nd man to be there (remember these were the days where they were trying to bring costs down) to get rid of the fireman and the driver to just the driver. 

And it’s not like all of the cravens have to be in use either. I know that effects finances but my interpretation is diesel is cheaper to run then steam!
 

 

No, unfortunately. Irish Rail charges overall would make many diesel trips hopelessly uneconomic. I’m aware of the quotations given in some cases recently and they’re higher than ever. A second man on a vintage diesel will add to this. Dropping carriages wouldn’t be an option, I’d say, for the reason you mention - munny€€€!

6 hours ago, 228RiverOwenboy said:

I'd imagine something like that, didn't the 121s have a bit of a struggle when pulling 6 Mark 3 Suburbans by themselves (as in one loco)?

A 121 on its own would struggle with eight packed Cravens and the RPSI's "red van".

I once saw a 141 trying to lift nine loaded Mk 2s on a Portadown - Belfast morning commuter local. Boy, did it make a noise! It was standing in for a failed NIR 111 which normally did this - at the time, it was the last 071-hauled train on the island. The 141 had been commandeered off the Dundalk goods, I think.

However, even if a 121 was well able to lift 18 bogies, never mind 8, there's the small matter of turning. there's no way under the sun they'd allow it to go nose forst, so pairing will, I guess, be mandatory.

The DCDR considered taking 124 some years ago, but opted for 146 instead, as the curves around the north junction area and elsewhere would have necessitated a 2-man crew; not always possible on a volunteer-run railway. If nose-first won't do on the DCDR, it certainly won't do on the Cork main line.... Plus, an 071 would be well able to haul a train of eight plus a potentially failed 134.

Mind you, if the 071 threw its toys out of the pram, the whole lot would be stuck.

11 hours ago, Patrick Davey said:

Here's a video showing typical rail traffic at Brookhall Mill during the 1940s.  First a GN T2 442t locomotive is seen working the morning staff shuttle before bringing some covered vans up from Lisburn.  Later on, there are appearances by BCDR and NCC/UTA trains, both of which were often seen at Brookhall during the war years and after.  The soundtrack for the video features the music of Glenn Miller, and I have only recently discovered that Miller and his orchestra gave a concert at Brookhall in July 1943, just over a year before his tragic disappearance.  The 'Miller at The Mill' concert was arranged by the US Army in Northern Ireland as a gesture of gratitude to the staff of Brookhall Mill for the contribution they made to the war effort, and by all accounts it was a memorable evening - the musicians had to retreat deep into the mill once blackout time was reached but the music and dancing continued well into the small hours.

 

 

NOTE: I have just spotted typos in the above video......... yikes

 

SUPERB back story! I'll have to concoct a visit of Mr Weaver to Dugort Harbour, to where Brookhall Mill sends three or four vans of linen every two weeks, to keep the Wisht Kerry Tourist Hanky & Awwsome Errin Jumper factory in supplies. Would he like to be taken up to the local pub for a lock-in, or does he not approve of the Devil's Buttermilk?

On 30/10/2022 at 10:16 AM, minister_for_hardship said:

They will have as standard an 00 scale awkward passenger in your booked seat who pretends not to understand the notion of seat reservations and will refuse to vacate.

Sets have optional figures involved in unchallenged anti social behaviour 

They’ll have bits of soggy toilet paper on the floor outside the jax

It’s absolutely one of the best layouts of any type in existence. Saw it a few years ago, can’t remember where, and was transfixed!

4 hours ago, Broithe said:

Perhaps you've lost a bit of padding over Lent..?

Probably put more on!!!

If the thing ever takes to the rails they’ll have to pair it with some other loco. Possibly an 071 these days…..?

15 hours ago, fergalm1 said:

Bridge is cut down Hornby R076

Looks perfect!

7 minutes ago, hurricanemk1c said:

They are exactly the same seat they were built with. Only covering changed, and refreshed cushioning were required.

Just seemed a bit hard……

Just now, Westcorkrailway said:

Ironically lilt and the last commuter liveried 29k both went extinct around the same time

 

I think Fanta cans compared to “cattle trucks” which is what Wikipedia said there nickname was, is slightly more humerus and I’ve actually heard people call it Fanta cans in the wild even 15 or so years after they last wore orange. Maybe one day there will be another Fanta can 

Hopefully these things will be replaced by something more comfortable!

12 hours ago, Westcorkrailway said:

I’ll always recomend this thread which has not quite those things, but pretty close

 

(I think if you click on the image it brings to northern blue 109s flickr with some fun and some serious “what ifs” in Ireland and beyond) 

 

 

 

I tried contacting him once but no reply…..  was going to ask him to do No. 90 in each of the actual liveries it carried, to assist the DCDR in choosing its eventual livery at the time when it was being restored for use there.

He didn’t answer, but DCDR ended up finishing 90 in the livery it would have had when new.

Yes, the “tippex” name refers to the last livery they carried, either with the “set of points” logo or the “three pin plug”.

Since the new entity Irish Rail hadn’t any money for a new livery when CIE was split up in 1987, the new admin traction just put white lines on the existing livery. Hence “tippex”.

All three of these nicknames (and many others) originated amongst workers in Inchicore Works.

When the 2600s were new, Connolly drivers christened them as the “Fanta Cans”; one suggested to me later when the navy blue, white and lime green livery appeared, that they were niw turning them into Lilt cans!