jhb171achill

The second one....I think the top bit reads "Road Transport Act 1933" - am I right? And the lower bit means "licence plate". Thus, it is off a commercial (privately owned) registered lorry. It must be remembered that at that time the GSR had almost a monopoly of road freight. I am not sure if ownership records are still held for that period - if they are, bear in mind that the vehicle could have had many owners in its lifetime. Actually - just thinking - since the GSR was a private commercial company, rather than a state or nationalised entity, it could in theory be off a GSR lorry.

Good piece of detective work, Leslie. Pettigo would itself have seen many a cattle wagon pass through. I know there has been a kit of a GNR cattle truck, but now that we have "H" vans, fertiliser bogies, container flats, bubbles and corrugated opens, the ONLY iconic things not available, and "must-haves" for realism in the period up to 1975, are CIE "Palvans" and the standard CIE cattle truck. In the late 50s, older cattle trucks seemed to disappear overnight, and through the sixties and seventies it was just the CIE pattern. Quite low-roofed; those of us who have had a certain number of birthdays will recall.

B101s and maybe Cs into Omagh! Of course, as we know, 141s made it to Omagh.....

Leslie, he'd need 150 "H" vans for them to pull, plus about 200 GNR vans - maybe you could give him 350 for the price of 349? :-) In reality, CIE did offer at one stage to take over the entire GNR, so the idea of CIE all over Pettigo is by no means far fetched - in fact it's a very credible "might-have-been". If that had happened, it's very probable they would have eaten the SLNCR too, so "Arigna Road" would all have to be repainted (sorry David!!). That would probably have resulted in C class locos taking a three-times-daily mixed from Sligo to Enniskillen, maybe on to Omagh. Thus, the GNR Western District would have its own way into Sligo. Would the SLNCR's Railcar "B" have ended up in green on the Fintona branch?! Had all this happened, and especially had there never been a border, while much that actually did close would have done so anyway, it's at least possible we would still have the Derry Road, and Enniskillen - Clones - Portadown and Dundalk..... that's for another day!

It's certainly close enough. A repaint, some work on the rear door, and liberal weathering will do the trick!

I absolutely WISH that the late jhb171 Senior could see this layout. This was his patch, and had the line survived to go into CIE - which he would have very much approved of - it would have fallen to him to fix up that corrugated monstrosity and work out how much green paint they needed! The arrival of "A" and "C" class locos into Enniskillen to replace steam - now THAT would have been a wholly different matter!

Yes indeed - it is the real deal. And again, I would recommend keeping it indoors.

Bound to have been, Tony! A very different world that they lived in!

Wow!!!!! Outstanding stuff, Glover, truly superb.

A totally realistic goods train REALLY makes a layout come alive! Excellent stuff.

Indeed.... during this time he also took a look over the SLNCR in his own time and made recommendations to them; the SLNCR couldn't afford their own civil engineer. The CDR system was run under both NCC and GNR auspices. While on the NCC he also inspected that system, and his report on the track condition was unreservedly damning! he slapped an overall 25 mph limit on the entire system for railcars, with 20mph for steam engines (in 1949, I think it was), and had previously told them that if the Glenties line was to remain open (it didn't) they would have to replace the entire track; rails, sleepers and all, and renew much of the lineside drainage from scratch. Needless to say, the CDR hadn't the money, and the track became so bad that the branch would have become uninsurable, especially after an engineer's report like that. So it closed.

jhb171 Senior had an identical one! He would have joined the PWI about 1944. When he died two years ago, he was the oldest member of it in Ireland, and the last from the GNR(I) or NCC, as far as anyone was then aware, and also the last surviving GSR white-collar staff member, also as far as anyone knew. (He worked for all 3 companies, as well as the UTA and the LMS in England).

My dad was based in Enniskillen from the early 50s until closure, as District Engineer, with responsibility for track, bridges and other structures Omagh - Enniskillen - Dundalk, Portadown - Cavan, and the branches to Carrickmacross, Cootehill, Belturbet. Fintona and Bundoran. So Omagh was where he crossed over with whoever looked after Foyle Rd - Portadown and Cookstown / Keady - Portadown, and Antrim / Belfast / Newcastle to Amiens St. / Howth / Oldcastle was the Eastern District. he passed away just over two years ago, and Selwyn got him recorded.

Fantastic, Tony, well done. He probably knew my late father. Ex-GNR men are fewer and fewer now. You should interview him at length and introduce him to Selwyn Johnston in the railway museum in Enniskillen. Selwyn has recorded many old railwaymen, particularly from that area and has some priceless collections on tape of many railwaymen now gone to their well deserved rest.

That's what it's all about, Tony! Well done...

Superb stuff, Roxy. Thanks for sharing. Very dramatic!

Yes, Kirley. The partitions in the vestibule areas either side, i.e. both those which opened into the 1st and 2nd class sections were not of glass. They were of the same cream coloured panelling as can be seen on the sides in your photo. The glass partition, which is actually better described as a partition with windows in it, was between the driver's compartment and the 1st class section.

As you can see, these ones aren't stepped, as (a) it's the main 2nd class saloon and (b) as such, you wouldn't be able to see ahead anyway. That type of upholstery shown was, as far as I remember, some sort of red and grey mostly. That's GNR original.

I remember looking through those windows! Yes, there was a door between the 1st class and the driver, and yes, there was a seat on both sides. The car above is in an "in-between" livery - a one off. Despite still being in GNR navy and cream 9the blue was a lot darker in real life than that pic suggests), a UTA yellow panel has been added, but as yet no black "wasp" stripes. The GNR lettering and crest have been painted over in (GNR navy blue!) and UTA numerals added instead. Interesting. With regard to the grilles, as can be seen above, by the time the UTA and later NIR inherited their share of these railcars, the bare engine was generally exposed with the entire panels off, grilles and all. I never remember seeing one with a grille (or side panel), and for a time I travelled on them regularly. The front partition between driver and 1st class was indeed all glass (waist up) but more often that not the driver kept blinds down - don't know why. As children we thought it was because the driver was a killjoy! In terms of the tiered seats, I could be entirely wrong on this, but I have a theory: I have seen definite photographic evidence of tiering, but from recollection I suspect this may not have been the case in ALL of the 1st class sections, as I never remember seeing it, or sensing that some seats were higher. Maybe someone out there might know for certain? Where the tiering did exist, as may be seen in at least one photo, it didn't amount to much and wouldn't have made much difference. We're not talking about cinema or Croke Park tiering here, and these railcars had high enough seat backs, so only the front two pairs of seats had any meaningful forward view. The others didn't. The seats in those cars were extremely comfortable, although the engines were noisy and in later years the window openings rattled (though not even remotely as badly as in the power cars of 70 and 80 class railcars). My recollection of AECs is also that they seem to be the only railcars, apart from the 70 class, ever to run anywhere in Ireland where the temperatures setting were comfortable! Well ventilated in summer, cosy in winter. Now we have the NIR CAFs as probably the best temperature wise, and the ICRs set at stuffily tropical extreme heat almost all the time. I am assured by an extremely reliable source that this is not, as I first wondered, a design fault, but a conscious decision to keep the blue-rinsers happy! (I would tell them to buy a jumper, but that's for another day!). For interiors of GNR AECs, the walls were covered in a sort of vinyl-like stuff, painted cream in UTA days - probably also in GNR days. At least a couple in their very late NIR days were a light grey. not unlike the upper panels exterior above the NIR maroon. The first class upholstery was a flowery pattern on a mid green background, and the standard class was the standard dark green UTA upholstery as may today be seen on several preserved UTA buses. The UTA used this on main line stock too. The GNR sets which went south ended up with CIE upholstery which was a mid to light brown plastic stuff, same as in many buses. And as push-pulls, of course, the dreaded bright orange plastic seats!!!

Normally it's entirely 100% the road vehicle driver's fault. Not here!!

Interesting, Mike - was it working then? I think the reason they laid it aside was that they needed a more powerful loco for whatever trains they were operating. In retrospect I wonder might it have been working over there with a reduced boiler pressure or something, as it could haul a serious amount of coal between Derreenavoggy and Dromod, via (on the branch) some savage gradients and twists and turns.

I can reassure you, Roxyguy. I'm just back from the pub, and nothing happened beyond a conversation about passenger train make-ups in the 1970s with a partner-in-crime, known to those here. Thursday night; now that's different; that'll be a longer session.

Never mind the diesel, Roxy; (a) it's yours and your call, (b) it's a light hearted and fictitious thing, and © it looks great! Fun is what this hobby should all be about. Keep 'er lit! :-)

To answer a few points above, the RPSI is indeed registered as a charity and has been in the south for some 20 years, and in the north about 30. So, incidentally, is the DCDR, though that's another matter. The RPSI is also registered in the south (only) as a train operating company and thus, bona fide railway operator. The C & L coaches at Dromod are sides and ends only and would require as big a rebuild as a new-build, if you know what I mean. The derelict operation at Blennerville is subject to attention by a new group, who assure enquirers that they are making great strides, though nothing has happened, Local stories - which I have no way of verifying one way or another - seem to suggest that vested interests in the local authority may be making it difficult for what's really needed - a skilled enthusiast group - to take over. A carbon copy situation exists with the badly managed and equally defunct Foyle Valley operation in Derry. 18T and the C & L loco are indeed still in the USA, and the loco at any rate requires very substantial work, including a brand new boiler. The one member of their operation who took a great interest in it, having been involved in its move from here, has now passed away. The remains of the SLNCR coach - one half if it - have now almost totally decomposed back to nature, along with the last remaining cattle truck, which fell apart about 15 years ago. Based on the RPSI's and DCDR's experience, extremely few fare paying passengers are enthusiasts. Thus, exact accuracy isn't a big deal; if it was, who would travel behind a CIE diesel or CSET steam loco in a 70 class trailer on a part of the BCDR, or in a BR Mk.2 coach behind an NCC tank engine on the MGWR! Studies have shown that a Severn Valley style operation, with a seven-train-a-day timetable with maybe three main line steam locos out, would be utterly unrealistic for Ireland. Economically, for 5ft 3, as well as 3ft gauge steam, the optimum length of line here is 2-5 miles. Shorter, and you won't get as many people as you might, and you'll have to pitch the fare quite low. Beyond 5, and you'll find the public won't pay a fare sufficient to deal with track maintenance costs for a longer line, and more coal per journey. You also need a good population centre. Moyasta survives because Co. Clare is quite busy tourist wise. Tralee was a mess because it was run by a county council and was thus almost doomed to failure. Finntown has wobbled financially because, again, wages have to be paid; this is utterly unsustainable in a set-up like that. Downpatrick is sufficiently close to Belfast, just as Suir Valley is to Waterford plus a good tourist area. Suir Valley manages a longer run because of much lower operating costs; a turf or ESB diesel will run thrice round the world on the amount of diesel that would take A39 to Inch Abbey and back. An Alan Keef loco of that size will run for three years on a bottle of PC correct, eco-friendly, no-emission, low sugar, non-sectarian vegetable juice. May contain traces of nuts; do not try this at home. And there we have it. Now; to old coach bodies - DCDR has numerous ones, but until and unless $$£$$£$£$£€€€€€€€€€€ appears, a laminate and 70 class trailer will operate public services. Accurate? No. Popular with the paying public? Yes.

No, they're correct, believe it or not! "Back to front" ones, i.e. facing the other way, were used on the driver's side of lorries and buses, and that side of steam loco tenders, but never on trams, carriages, wagons or diesel locos. If you look at the other side of the tender, provided they've done it correctly, it should face the other way, i.e. the "normal" way with upper bit pointing left. Actually, to be strictly accurate, the snail should also be lined in gold....