jhb171achill

It does indeed look like a dome!

In recent weeks I have encountered a fair number of colour photos of grey 121s in connection with a forthcoming book. Something quite interesting emerges in relation to their livery. The pictures concerned are all from when these engines were absolutely brand new, and clearly show NO lining round the numerals and "snail". This is at variance with conventional wisdom that they were lined! Somebody here post a pic of one clearly showing black lining. At the time this surprised me as I don't remember black, but you can't argue with a photo. I had seen pictures in the past of them with WHITE lining. So - we have CLEAR photographic evidence that grey 121s had, at times, no lining; white lining and black lining. I wonder is it a bit like modern grey 071s or Enterprise stuff, where no two examples seem to have the same font, same exact position, etc. of numerals? Modern variations in lettering, logos etc look more like just laziness, but in the past - certainly in 1961 - absolute uniformity was the norm. Wee they deliver u blinded, and maybe some examples got black lining, others white? Two got r buffer beams - we know that. Any thoughts or ideas? Such is doubtless relevant to the finish that will be on the production models.

They were built beside the railway near Derriaghy halt and there was talk they'd be carried by rail....

Members will be aware of the MGWR Attymon-Loughrea branch, and the short-lived Parsonstown (Birr) and Portumna branch which only ran from 1868 to 1878 before going bankrupt and having much of its track stolen by people it owed money to. In the closing years of the 19th Century there was a proposal to rèbuild it, and continue via Tynagh to Loughrea. This would have resulted in a cross country line from Bàllybrophy to Attymon, with a Newcastle West style reversal at Birr... Cue for modelling idea; such a route survives to the 1980s with trains of ore from Tynagh mines and a three time daily passenger train, the odd cattle or fert special....

Ever so slightly dry for, well, Ireland! Am I alone in never having been remotely impressed by those cars, and less do by that tedious and pretentious advertisement! Or maybe I'm just grumpy and old....

Interesting solution, Broithe.... I ask because I'm in planning stage for a thing based on 1975-85 narrow gauge Austria....

No. It was purpose built - but it certainly looks very "steam-engine-ish"! On close inspection, the cab hasn't the right profile for an ex-loco one. It wasn't part of the Bretland thing, I'm nearly certain. However I have seen one old MGWR bogie flat in the flesh, and photos of at least one different one, with that type of bogie. There was some sort of old GNR bogie goods vehicle, the details of which I don't remember, which also has bogies of a quite American looking style, though not the same as these. And yet, I'd be extremely surprised if they actually were American.

I'm not sure myself. At least one RPSI carriage maintenance person posts here and might know, as the society has one Bredin.

Would it be fair to say that a 009 gauge loco would need a shallower climb, due to smaller size and smaller weight?

It was the oddest looking thing, wasn't it! I remember the first time I saw it (about 1968) the support coach was an old W & L bogie. It was red and cream, which made me wonder if it had been one of those old camping coach.

Drab as it sounds, it actually suited GSR / CIE steam engines very well too, for the same reason. It looked workmanlike....

Mayner, just getting your message now after a mad weekend in London with several other posters from here.... The exact date of the last revenue earning trip isn't known, but it appears to have been late 1974 for a through goods, though the occasional trip working from Tralee was later, probably early spring 1975. If I can pin it down exactly I'll post it here.

It looks as if someone's been sick over it. I would hope that the dark blue on the carriages gets lightened up by some other features....

It remembers mine on this iPhone but not the iPad.....

Below is a pic of it. It's in all-white livery, in a snowstorm....... What ye think of that!

Exactly what I was thinking, Railer! (She's not fitted for the "Enterprise", though?)

I suspect there'll be a few surprises with where it turns up during tests!

Well, the Wanderer won't be there - he's in Angleterre, where I hope to have a pint with him once I get this plane....

The GSR's wagon grey was the same pretty standard stuff used by the GNR, DSER and NCC also. BCDR grey was slightly darker. The C&L ballast wagons (of which I think there were about 3) inherited the sandy yellow colour from the C & L itself. Lettering was black on these instead of white. To my knowledge they were the only exceptions to the normal grey anywhere on the GSR. There's a pic of one in Paddy Flanagan's book. The GSR, with it's apparent love of all things grey, painted all PW, loco and other departmental stuff the same grey as goods stock. I think, but I'm not certain, that the weed spray tanker was black, with support vehicles grey. CIE continued this until the advent of yellow for things other than track machines, into the 1980s. A point here - if anyone is modelling a weedspray train in anything other than recent 2 decades, it may be grey, not yellow!

Noel's idea of 141s and Cravens is an excellent one.

Off topic I know, but do buyers have any comeback on ebay?

Buying anything on eBay can have its issues. I bought one Austrian narrow gauge loco, and paid well for it, and it didn't work at all! (got it fixed).

Thomas the tank becomes Bruce Lee the Buddhist temple....

Assuming 3ft is wide enough for the curves at the ends....? If the layout was intended to be something like a small country terminus or a branch line type of setting, platforms as short as two carriage lengths were to be seen here and there.