jhb171achill

I love the light weathering on the locos. It absolutely transforms the realism of anything on rails. Very realistic!

I had a massive narrow gauge empire in the attic for 14 years. Far from not having any scenery, it never had any buildings, nor even platforms! Boards and track. Some people are happy with that, as operation is their interest. I wasn’t happy with it - I wanted full scenery. But I never got round to it, and now all the stuff is sold bar one scratchbuilt loco which I kept. 009 is gone; 00 is in progress.

Very very few had the “high band” orange / tan. I think no more than 2 / 3 / 4. And I don’t know if A39R was one of them. The lower band as shown on A3R above was standard. Even the “high tan” ones got that eventually. This is seriously nerdy, and I wouldn’t even mention it but for the first cveprional degree of accuracy on the IRM models. The font used on the “R” on A3 is not quite right, nor is that used on the preserved A39 and C231. Refer to photos for the correct font, or the preserved G613, G617 and the two “E”s, all on the DCDR.

The dark green would have replaced the silver and further research seems to confirm it was a one-off. It was not dark green previously, and no other “A” was. Thus, no “A” was dark green in the fifties - they were all silver (or more to the point, coated in a greyish filth!). They, the Cs and the B101s were all distinctly UN-photogenic then! All three classes got the light green from about 1959ish. So, if accuracy is wanted, if it’s dark green, it can only be A42, and it can only be 1963-9, and it can only be with a waist level line. Light green locos variously did, and did not have, lining.

There you go. It was A42, not A46. This one WAS unique, so if you're doing a dark green one, it has to be A42 itself! And it had the lining, I believe, so a dark one without lining would therefore not be correct in real life. Clarification solved, before I get round to delving through paperwork; if only all queries were resolved as easily....

Couldn't agree more. I will delve into the Catacombs and find out if A46 was the dark green one or not. Are you planning the one dark green and one lighter green?

I don't think so, Dive - a reference in an old "Irish Railfans News" implies that A46 (or whatever one it was) was the only one to get the dark green. For all railway applications (but not buses), the lighter shade was by then the norm. Nothing railway had received the darker shade in several years. I have no idea why one loco was dark green. Probably leftover paint and / or a mistake by someone in the paint shop.

There's forty! Serious point: a single "A" was repainted out of (filthy!) silver into the darker green (as on buses and carriages pre-'55) with a midway line. I think, but would have to check, that it was A46. The rest got the normal lighter green as on carriages. I may have read somewhere that a second had it too for a very short while, but I've yet to see any verification of this.

Ah, OK. Thanks!

No green one?

Not bad for a tenner!

I will await the next 1st April announcement about a RTR turfburner in supertrain livery.... Seriously, very well done. The stand today at Raheny (good to meet so many people!) was very eye-catching too - excellent job!

Liked the tease: the garbled photo posted last night was of a VERY different locomotive! IRM: Put me down for two "A"s. Probably one black with yellow ends, one "supertrain".

M50 it is from southside..... those marathons (and cycle races!) are a scourge! Wowwww!

Wow!! More expensive than a locomotive! Probably viable for very large layouts only?

Well done. This is a masterpiece of a layout, as is Arigna. What next from this stable! A Blessington tramway branch? Courtmacsherry? Glenties? Achill........... now I'm drooling again. Mop needed. See yiz at Raheny tomorrow!

Brilliant, brilliant stuff! The teak coaches look just right, as I recall them. A point of detail: while the UTA put red hand roundels on a few railcars still in GNR navy and cream, older wooden coaches would only get the UTA logo if painted green. On this scale, though the UTA logo looks a bit overscale, and could at a distance look like a faded GNR crest! Excellent work as always. I have struggled to think of a reason to bring something UTA to my layout, based at the same period - but, while the location is fictitious, it's somewhere in the south - think Mallow-Waterford or South Kerry area. Maybe a visiting pigeon special!

It’s upside down.

Its couplings are compatible with the Tardis.

Have a look at the Worsley stuff, but also regarding drawings, the "New Irish Lines" magazine (Allen Doherty) has had drawings in the past - I think - but has certainly had very interesting articles on Irish model carriages. Look at the absolutely superb work, for example, of Colm Flanagan.

Irish coaches were almost without exception of Irish loading gauge. The few exceptions were a handful of ex-LNWR, LMS and other British lines - carriages brought over here and re-gauged, used primarily by the NCC and GNR. It’s almost easier to scratchbuild. If brass daunts you, try plastic sheet?

This may still be seen on the end of one of the MGWR six-wheelers at Downpatrick. For the eagle-eyed, note the older CIE darker green, and a badly faded later lighter green livery. I might add that in all cases, the paint shown is worn and weathered.

The UTA lined its loco-hauled (but not railcar) carriages in straw, which itself was lined both sides in red. On the BCDR Golfers’ Saloon at Downpatrick, one end still shows this; the only surviving example of UTA lining in existence. The width of the entire line is one inch. Here it is: It might be added that the lining on most of the Whitehead RPSI carriages (yellow and red, separately), is specifically an RPSI livery. It was never meant to be a copy of UTA - it was designed as an RPSI livery.

He did the Schull & Skib; the rocking and rolling of the 4 wheel first class coach, in which he was the sole occupant, made him sick (over the end of the balcony!). He said it was the only time he was ever seasick in a train!

I don’t care how long it takes, but I’ll be looking for one!