jhb171achill

Wowwww!!!!

Depends on the era, company and in the case of the GSWR, the line. CIE tended to use larger buffers - initially on anything allocated to the Valentina line, then AEC railcars, then many other things.

Interesting! Should make for interesting viewing. What about an equivalent here along the Wild Atlantic Way?

What's that O gauge chassis for? Outstanding craftsmanship.

She was plain grey from build date until about 1951, when she was repainted green for her last 4 years or so. The grey livery depicted on both front and rear covers of the book is incorrect in two significant ways. While the shade shown is more or less correct, the smokebox and chimney are shown black; no GSR engine was ever like that, and no CIE one either; all was grey. There's always an exception to every rule; a single Cork-based J15 was repainted in its normal grey as late as about 1960/1, but with a black smokebox. This was both unique and very short lived - the loco in question was withdrawn 18-24 months later. The other incorrect detail, despite an assertion as to its validity in the text also, was the numberplates, shown as black with red letters. Numberplates were also always grey, usually with numerals picked out in pale yellow, though sometimes just painted over and occasionally bare whitemetal as on 186 currently.

Much of what DID go the way of the Public Records Office in the north was lost, jumbled up, or discarded in the 1970s. I have been researching aspects of the Lagan Canal in recent years and have encountered the same. Even some sorting and indexing of volumes of randomly jumbled up stuff, carried out by volunteers in the seventies, was subsequently lost.

The last GNR wagons in traffic were their 1954-vintage equivalents of the (slightly later) CIE "H" vans. These were very similar overall but had corrugated metal ends. I noticed 77N, by now with standard CIE cast numberplate and all-brown livery, at Templemore in 1975.

The CIE one is an absolute essential for ANY 1960-75 layout.... would be a great addition.

Now that we've found a use for Wagon Wheel or Wonderwall CD cases, what can we do with the CDs? (Anything to stop them playing......!)

Ah! Way later. Interesting thing, though - any possibility of posting the pic?

...apart from cattle wagons!

Nelson - have a look at the real thing at Downpatrick. They have one, and the RPSI has two in Dublin.

Absolutely top class job, complete with prototypical tatty roof! Not easy to get a convincing look with that. Well done!

My dad's probably travelling with it, if it's within 1953-7 period!

Very good thinking!

Be wary, though, about anything that this "organisation" might have to say about others in the entire preservation world, and even more wary of the endless and bizarre plans outlined on the website. I notice, incidentally, that the website has been revamped. This is doubtless due to the removal of some potentially libellious content in recent times!

I'm a member myself, Tony, but rarely get the chance to delve; at least a few others here are reasonably regular attenders - though best to try to visit yourself some time if possible?

It's a lovely little layout, full of atmosphere and technically excellent too.

Typical opportunist rural politicians' drivel, like the Sligo - Letterkenny - Derry fast freight line devised by some amadán up there years ago. They'd be better off campaigning for better rural health and post office services.

Is there any sort of online presence to see what stuff they do?

Appears to be very little Irish stuff at that exhibition!

Would the tender off an LMS 4.4.0 be any use? If so, there are bound to be ones in somebody's scrap box!

That book shown is my own, from my grandfather who worked in Inchicore Works from 1900 to 1946. There is a bigger one, produced by the IRRS's Herbie Richards and others in the 1970s, of photocopies of all that and more. It's long, long out of print but you can view it in the IRRS.

That scene looks SOO realistic. Pretty much everything in real life is weathered. A loco straight out of the paint shop will pick up at least a little dusting on its first ever run. Station buildings and road vehicles - especially lorries, cranes, fork-lifts and farm or construction machinery actually look like toys on layouts if they are pristine. My own next attempt at a layout will have everything weathered. CIE did indeed keep things very much cleaner than on other railways in the "black'n'tan" era, but always some weathering, however light.

There is a GSWR carriage diagram book which shows drawings - though not all to scale, and all simplified, of almost every GSWR carriage ever built, plus horse boxes.