jhb171achill

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!

4mm..... I will see Jim at the weekend, all being well. I dont know if he has 7mm ones.

An interesting thread, Colin. Very little British stock can do anything other than the very vaguest resemblance to Irish stock. Some English LMS stuff can resemble some NCC stock, and the old Triang GWR brake third with the bowed-in ends resembles a pair of Waterford, Limerick & Western Railway brake thirds built in 1898 and withdrawn in 1955 by CIE. (One compartment too many, though). Thats about it. Worsley Works do a great range of Irish stuff, but as seen elsewhere on this site, they take a bit of skill and experience.

They only appeared on the Derry Road on special trains, and within about a 12-14 month period just before it closed. To the end, all normal routine services were ex-GNR diesel railcars on passenger work, and steam on the goods. I have an idea that an A did a trial run maybe as far as Dungannon, but I’m not sure. No C, B101, 181 or B121 ever went there.

I tried a brass kit years and years ago, when dexterity and eyesight were a lot better than now. I made a pig’s ear of it, so for me it’s a “brassmaster” every time. I still would encourage those of tenderer years to give it a go, however, but on something cheap and simple! The satisfaction gained from completing such a thing would be worth the hours put it.

Excellent! Hope to be there

Absolutely superb stuff, Eoin. Masterclass!