jhb171achill

Question as above! ........or indeed, anyone in the North?

The above is the standard CIE green used to replace the (LMS shade) maroon used by the GSR immediately prior to that. All the photos except the last show it up accurately; the last has too bluish a tint, probably as a result of deterioration of an old colour slide. The actual green is as in my avatar, which is photo of a mounted "snail" with paint straight out of Inchicore. As can be seen in the first few photos above, like any newly applied gloss paint it dulled down a bit when in day to day use. Summary of GSWR / GSR / CIE liveries: Locos: 1870s - 1895 or so: olive green, lined at various times in light green, red and black (the exact livery may be seen on preserved 90 at Dowpatrick; later cream and black lining and also at another time red and black lining. Numberplate black background. No crests or lettering. By 1905 - black with red lining, red-backed numberplates, no crests or lettering. 1915 onwards - apart from buffer beam, unlined grey all over, numberplates, wheels, smokebox, chimney and motion included. Apart from buffer beam shaded number, no markings at all. In the late 1940s, CIE started removing the numberplates and replacing them with light yellow painted numbers, and putting lined light green "flying snails" on most but not all tenders. No tank engines ever got snails. Suburban and main line passenger locos mostly got the lined green now seen on 800 in Cultra, though others remained grey. From about 1955, a few engines becoame unlined black with light yellow numerals. I don't recall any black tenders having snails - if they did, they were light green as usual. There were a small handful,of exceptions, e.g. small non-standard numberplates on the ex-CBPR locos on the C & L - two, anyway, had red backgrounds, which was unique. Carriages From early times, a deep chocolatey maroon shade known as "crimson lake", as daft a name for a colour as the faintly ridiculous name for light green as "eau de nil" ("water of nothing")?!! This was elaborately lined in red, black, gold and yellow. Around 1905-10, most main line stock had off-white upper panels, as seen on Downpatrick's No. 836. After the GSR amalgamation in 1925, this continued simple with the change of coat-of-arms to the GSR one. Carriages from other companies were gradually repainted this way too, effectively into GSWR livery. After a few years, the GSR introduced a chocolate brown and cream livery with black lining, similar to the English Great Western Railway, for main line stock; other stock remaining in the plain crimson lake throughout. In 1933, a much lighter shade of maroon, same as the NCC and English LMS, was introduced and all stock of all grades gradually painted this way. Even the lining was the same as the LMS. I know from jhb171senior(departed) that there was much to-ing and fro-ing between Inchicore and Derby in those days; doubtless someone saw a newly turned out coach over there in Blighty and thought it would do well here. Some narrow gauge and secondary stock weren't lined. CIE introduced the alive green in 1945 and by degrees everything was thus painted. The lighter green with simplified lining was applied to coaches first in 1955, by all accounts, but with the short-lived unpainted stock ending traffic at the same time. This lighter shade was ONLY applied to diesel locos and carriages, never to steam engines or buses, which retained the above green until the "black'n'tan" began to be used from 1962. The C class would need to be the lighter green - see above. The Hornby Staniers would sort of approximate to laminates, so again the lighter green rather than the above would be correct. It would make the job of lining a lot easier too!

Pity...... at one time I was thinking of a large (attic space was then plentiful) CDR layout.....

Do Backwoods have a website? I can't seem to find one.

The GSWR painted coaches a very dakf browny /maroon with elaborate lining (details on request!). GSR started similar, lighter after1933 , thereafter post-1933 maroon.... ....

Ah sure a day's volunteering at Downpatrick will sort 'em all out.

There's a siding for them.

An NCC "Jeep", and a decent AEC / GNR / CIE / UTA / NIR railcar are musts for a future time. Fert bogie - a perfect companion for bubbles and Guinness wagons! Midland six wheeler Cattle trucK I'll be there, see you then. I can travel into town on the Harcourt St line; most appropriate.

If you're looking for NCC coaches, these of course would be steam era (which on the NCC was up to 1970). There are many cheaper LMS coaches for sale (ebay, Hattons, Mark's Models, etc) which are suitable for repaint, but would probably need a "Jeep" to hail them. NCC locos - the "Jinty" crops up fro time to time, though as far as I know it only ever shunted Belfast docks.

Long gone. Nobody at all was posting any more, or reading it.

I knew it. It's GNR No. 50, the erstwhile Director's Saloon, latterly used by the GNR's Civil Engineer as an inspection car.

Looking closer at that wartime film coach..... it is NOT the GSWR one shown above. I don't know what it is myself, though the design of it looks vaguely GNR. The balcony ended coach was 352, I believe, not 353, and it was scrapped in 1964. I had thought 1966 was a bit late for that vehicle, as was the green livery for a vehicle like that (though green was still to be seen on Park Royals and other "ordinary" stock). I wonder if that pic was taken on an IRRS trip ("outing", as they still quaintly, and somewhat worryingly, call it!) to Castlecomer in the early 60s? That was, I believe, one of the last times - if not THE last - that this beauty saw a day out in traffic.

Well, I've no idea what an "Attymon Carriage Enniscorthy" is....typical ebay drivel caption.... That last scene is clearly for a film, but which one? What's the carriage? The dull grey / green (certainly not CIE's) maybe intended to be wartime Italy or Germany?

......... and ..... a little more research tonight confirms that the container parts were indeed dark green. the black ones must have been on the Asahis - I'll check that too.

I found one old photo which appears to have standard brown wagons (as presumed; bogies naturally also brown). The container is an extremely dark green - almost black. I am pretty certain that some others were black, but at least this one was definitely a very dark green - probably the shade applied to the lower parts and bogies of the Anhydrous Ammonia tankers. The word "WATER" was stencilled on its side, midway, in letters which I suspect were about a foot high. No other markings or logos are on the actual tank container.

Superb. Did you make the actual tank out of plasticard or buy it? And if so, where, because I might like one like that!

Correct, folks. This project is indeed subjected to a "can't do" attitude; not because of the comments of the naysayers, but because of the truth on their statements and the unrealistic, albeit well-meant proposals of the promoters. It's a case, unfortunately, of "don't shoot the messenger"!

My recollection is black, but they were dirty. The chassis of the ammonia tanks themselves was in a very dark green like UTA green - maybe slightly darker, so it's possible they were painted in that. Old black paintwork can fade to just about anything, depending on the undercoat below it (and Inchicore used a lot of undercoat in various greenish shades); and the compounds within the particular brand of paint. I have seen badly faded maroon paint which looks brown, other examples pink, or a salmony colour. I have seen badly faded green paint looking bluish, or brown, or even a nondescript yellowy colour. Thus, photos of green-looking barrier wagons could be just black faded to that. I will delve a little more and try to find a definitive answer. The bogie wagons the containers were carried on were standard CIE brown, heavily weathered in brake dust.

Now, boys and girls, if THAT doesn't look amazing in N gauge, I dunno what does!

I understand that ECM Trains are planning a RTR 141. Since the 141s were for years the mainstay of many lines, in some cases almost to the exclusion of all else, a layout populated by half a dozen of these beasts would do well. My understanding is that it won't come cheap, but will be of exceptionally high standard, as per all from the ECM stable.

If it is going to be a kit, easier to get an actual Irish kit rather than xmend a British one. Studio Scale Models, Provincial Wagons and others here will go a good starting place.

If only ballast trains were still steam hauled! I remember them that way many moons ago.......

Correct, Noel...it was 1970s (1971 specifically, as mentioned) so the 1960s were indeed all about four wheelers. And naturally, a black'n'tan loco could be seen on later container trains until the very last ones got Supertrain livery, which wasn't until about 1979.

I am sure I am not the only one who watches the extremely high standards of modelling of the likes of Mayner, ECM Eoin, Messrs Holman and many others here. As others have said, much of what the better modellers here do is not so much modelling as fine engineering. Unfortunately, not all of us are anywhere near that league - I'm certainly not. Thus, like many, I outsource the more complicated things. One such item has been with the maker-up now for several years..... The completion date keeps getting put back and back and back and back. And it's not a cheap thing either, and I've paid for it. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. I'll elaborate on that in the future should it be something to warn others of. So, the question: is there a good list somewhere of who can take on commissions? And, of what type? Some prefer to work with plastic, some brass, some both. And I accept that time doesn't exactly grow on trees when model-makers often have day jobs too, though at the least a realistic timescale should be given on commencement. Indeed, if anybody is available and in a position to deal with several matters for me, might I ask you to PM me? No harm in asking.....!

Which one is that, Wrenn, and is it 00 scale? I could paint it in 1970s orange and white.