jhb171achill

That wouldn't be for the faint hearted, Mayner.... can you imagine the health and safety police nowadays, if the driver of the Galway to Clifden ICR reported seeing such a thing!

Never heard that one - but appropriate! They were also, for obvious reasons, known as "yanks" by the railwaymen - even long after the 141 and 181 class had arrived... On a vaguely related note, one of the GSR's (ex-MGWR) "G2" class locos was numbered 666. The loco men called it "The Beast" (as in 666 being the "number of the Beast" in the Book of Revelations....) Some locomotive nicknames probably aren't suitable for a family forum like this...

Fair comment, Junctionmad; better a tartan one that can be repainted in the jhb171 tartan, or oldBlarney tartan, than none at all. Someone mentioned cab height. Yes, they were a good foot higher. I footplated one years ago which was part of a pair (B130, I think). The other loco was a 141, and from sitting up there in 130's cab it looked shrunk! In model form the difference will look even more stark, I would imagine, as the modeller is looking at his models from above, rather than platform or ground height. That photo a few posts back is taken with a long telephoto lens, so exaggerates it to best effect. In reality they didn't "look" as tall as that, but there was certainly a difference of a foot in height, I'd guess. Lovely engines. (Often wondered what one would be like in plain green, but let's not go there!)

I'll be getting one anyway, Noel, unless it's tartan!

Incidentally, before these things go into production, I wonder if the detail of the lining has been properly settled, as I'm not sure. Some photos appear to show a light coloured lining - possibly white - round the yellow numerals and snails, and edging the yellow stripes below the buffer beam. Others appear black. The yellow stuff WAS lined. I wonder if both black lining and white were used on different locos, or one or the other? This is a detail I'm not sure of but which manufacturer would do well to check, especially with the exemplary accuracy in all other details. Maybe it's the photos. Photos can play tricks - unless you were there, saw the thing and know better! I never recall seeing a grey 121. I saw green, silver and black'n'tan things many a time, but not grey! If certain locos had black lining, others white, it would be helpful to know which loco numbers had which. The lining was very thin, but unlined snails and numerals wouldn't look perfect...

Through the ages, it's certainly too much to expect logic from CIE! It may well have been a factory finish, though it was properly finished rather than, say, undercoat. If it was, CIE just added the snails, numerals and other yellow bits, presumably. In terms of weathering, the B121 grey was much lighter than then wagon grey, although H and Pallet vans would soon appear in a lighter grey. A clue might be the touring coaches which were grey and yellow. I think they might have come out before the 121s, in which case CIE copied the livery from those. B121s and those road coaches were the only examples anywhere on CIE of yellow "snails".

Closer inspection does indeed reveal that, DiveC. It's definitely wagon grey then. Which means that the lettering on the tipping part is white, instead of the "eau-de-nil" on the cab side and snail.

That's it - I thought there were two. I remember seeing a colour photo of one some years ago and it stuck out like a sore thumb..... Personally, I don't think the grey suited them - though I'll buy one! If one makes its way to the DCDR ever, perhaps the ITG will paint it grey out of interest.... Black'n'tan seems to suit everything. Often wondered what an 071, 201 or Mk 4 set would have looked like that way.

I know that Roco 009 stuff is very reliable.

I think just 2 or 3 got the red buffer beam. I have a note somewhere but goodness knows where......... The black'n'tan repaints were never going to be far away. A grey one is suitable for 1962-8. I think the last one was repainted in 1968.

Well done IrishswissErnie again. Absolutely superb stuff, and great to have it widely viewable by all.

All it needs is a more youthful jhb171Senior peering at the track, clad in long brown trench coat, pondering what on earth to tell Manorhamilton about the maintenance regime... whole idea is to get SOME money out of Stormont and Leinster House. And is that Bill Haley or Elvis on the wireless receiver?

Looks very well indeed. Those fuel tanks tended to be finished "galvanised" (i.e. "silver"). Obviously, they'd look grey in a black'n'white photo. The tipping body of this thing looks as iof its green too, though it's hard to tell. Lorry bodies in "green snail days" were as far as I remember painted wagon grey. I'm nearly sure - but could be wrong - that wheel centres were green.

Aaaaaarrrghhghghg such a superb model! Don't worry, a spell in Manorholman Works will fix it. Cue a diorama showing a loco rolled down an embankment on the SLNCR (as happened in the 1920s!)

NOW I know where my hen went, back in July 1957...... it's beside the turntable. As always, this layout is absolutely the epitome of excellence. So is the lighting and photography.

Some Mk 2's got a black roof in this livery. Mk 3 as above, of course.

That track looks SO much better.

They must have gone to the same training school as MED, MPD or "Castle" class railcars! Though the latter had two other passenger comfort delights: (1) seats designed for midgets, (2) just two speeds on local working - stop and go. It's a wonder nobody got whiplash travelling in one. I know they have their fans, but I'm not one of 'em! No sir, no sir. It's all right seeing one preserved, but sure yiz never went railing in one, from Antrim as far as Coleraine!

Silver heating vans, coaches, and locomotives - all. The "silver" (in reality, unpainted) livery weathered spectacularly badly. Locomotives especially, just looked absolutely filthy and very uncared for. Even more utterly ghastly than many of the "trans-euro-connex-western-first great pennines train company" fairground garishness to be found threading the rails on our neighbouring island..... Incidentally, as I think Mayner pointed out at one stage - numerals on silver coaching stock was RED, while on locos it was "eau-de-nil". Bogies, roofs, ends, chassis, gangways, all unpainted - plain silver-grey bare metal. (Arguably, with the absence of any paint, it wasn't a "livery" at all!). Coaching stock turned out thus never had any "snails" on them.

??

Any new pics of silver locos or stock looks very spectacular new. But eyewitnesses said "one single journey" and they're already looking dull; two and they're filthy. It would have been quite impossible to keep clean - photos bear that out.

I have to edit virtually every post I do, as the auto-thingy puts up different words, often changing most of a sentence. Maybe I type too fast..... but whoever invented predictive text needs to be sadistically tortured, then shot, then forced to travel from Whiteabbey to Larne on a 450 on a cold wet winter Tuesday morning.

Original contract to built the Galway to Clifden line, plus a notice for replacement bus services. Now that "Rails Through North Kerry" is done and dust, guess what I'm working on now.... And another thing I found.....

Same here....