jhb171achill

Most tracks were removed in the 50s, though a few stretches can still be seen about Sandymount where the tarmac has worn away.

Aaarrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Me being STUPID! Getting them mixed up - both uninspiring halts.....!

Very misleading layout. A passenger - sorry, "customer" - will assume that a train can get you from Docklands to Pearse in two minutes.

Just curiosity - is there a reason the trains cross on opposite sides to normal? There were a few rare examples in real life.

Lovely. Brilliantly atmospheric. What a layout should be. I'm looking at that scene and thinking that if I can find 35p in my pocket, I can get a pint of Double Diamond and a packet of King Crisps in Foley's down the road, before the long drive back to Dublin through small towns and villages on narrow potholed roads in my Morris Minor. And there's the daily "E" class red and cream CIE bus in the square delivering bundles of the Irish Press to the newsagents....

Wow! That's quite a beast!

Twenty? So it's going to be out and about almost constantly? Fair play to the operators.

Absolutely, totally right on all counts. Irish or not, nobody has any grounds at all to tell a company they ought not to provide a service to someone who wants to pay for it, nor to tell a potential customer that they shouldn't buy it - irrespective of the reason. If it's our thing, fine. If not, we move on and leave them to it. I wish them the very best - passengers and Belmond alike.

VERY nice.

Not sure, OB, hadn't thought of that. Though, if the wrong brakes, nothing to stop Belmond paying to have dual braking fitted....

In theory at least, presumably the maroon RPSI one would do?

Late reminder: Steam trains continue on Saturdays and Sundays until 11th September. If you want to travel behind steam on the DCDR before Hallowe'en, now's the time! Locomotive No. 1 is the planned loco, with carriages CIE 3223 and UTA 728.

True - another reason to have a spare! Maybe there's a long term plan for a spare...? No reason why they couldn't get any sort of British 2nd hand Mk3 bodyshell and put gennies in it....

Superb stuff! Never seen that one before....

Absolutely superb and historic photos, Neil. is this the first time that a "proper" sleeping car has been used in Ireland ever, rather than a convertible day coach?

There are in the older ones that the DCDR and RPSI have. But there can be instances of the whole car failing - many a time.

Wow!!!!!!!!!!

So what will they actually do NOW if their genny fails????

Saw the carriages in Killarney. Looked well, though cabins are smaller than I thought.

None of those figures surprise me, which is why a preservation outfit has to think of money, money, money first. Whims of enthusiasts often are put forward in the sense "why doesn't the ITGRPSIDCDR do XYZ?". the answer almost always is volunteer time, money, and the likely financial return from the restored loco. This is why, for example, the restoration of No. 27 "Lough Erne" will never take precedence over, say, Nos. 4, 171, 131, 85, or 461. Similarly, restoration of a diesel to working order, crew training and certification for main line running has to be very strictly analysed in advance; will the thing attract a few enthusiasts for a few trips before the novelty wears off, or will it earn its keep long term? If the answer if the former, no sensible treasurer would set a red cent near it. Personally, I suspect (and hope) that it's the latter. After some 20 years dealing with both RPSI and DCDR finances, I hear the cries of the treasurers.....

That's an interesting photo. Left to right: "H" van (grey, heavily brake dust weathered, snail) GSWR open 3rd of about 1902-5 vintage, black'n'tan Tin Van (silver; but for modellers beware - the roof is not black or grey - they were unpainted always - but it looks that way due to weathering and, remember, even then sometimes steam train soot / coal dust) Tin Van, post-'55 green GSR Bredin, post '55-green Unidentified van - either early CIE or GSR mail / guard van (post-'55 green) "C" Class loco, post-'55 green. The picture is right at the end of the steam era, so a work-stained J15 would fit in well with the scene, as would locos of A, B121 (grey), B101, or early G class. Within a year, 141s would be a common sight. Train make-ups then were not the boring fixed-set-of-same-type-of-stock that we've seen since the introduction of the Mk 2 "Supertrains" in 1972. Prior to that, it was very rare to get a train all of the same type of coach. Couplings were standard between all stock - something designers today have regressed on. It makes zero sense to have incompatible couplings sharing the same railway. The above also shows that to walk between the only two passenger coaches would require a walk through not one, but two, tin vans. I encountered this once on a Rosslare - Limerick train, which had a van between two carriages, then another carriage, then another van. The van had cardboard packages of something or other in them and made for an unstable and noisy short walk from one coach to the next..... For the benefit of modellers of this very interesting period, from recollection here are a few combinations on trains I remember travelling on. All were in the 1972-1980 period. Rosslare - Limerick; as above, plus on another occasion a Dutch van, three laminates and a Park Royal. Dublin - Cork; a Bredin, three laminates of two different types, two Park Royals and about three Cravens - all mixed up. A BR or Dutch Van was at one end and a six-wheel hot water bottle at the other. Tralee line - a train with one Craven in between several park Royals and Laminates. Loughrea - the one and only Loughrea coach, nothing else! Hauled by a "C". Lisburn - Antrim; a "70" class set with the centre car being ex-GNR open 3rd 727*, the very last GNR coach in traffic, now unchanged from from GNR condition but in maroon and blue. Also, at the same time (1978, I think) one of the last MED sets had the last NCC coach in traffic, which I think might have been 526*. (* These were the UTA / NIR numbers. Original numbers were different). This last NCC coach had been externally repannelled by NIR in tin, but its interior was still old NCC with wooden seat frames. A beauty.

Wow!!

Will the Belmond visit Tara Junction on its first journey, I wonder? It might cross the Railtours Emerald Isle Express, for all I know, though I haven't seen the circular, of course....... ;-)

A plain colour will always show the dirt, as will light coloured roofs. Dark blue, like black, is especially sensitive to this. I'm sure at the start of each trip it does, it will be absolutely spotless, but will it remain this way even before each trip ends?

Outstanding photo, Wanderer! Perfect scenery for it too. I'm hoping that in real life, and depending on the weather and lighting conditions, it doesn't look as drab as so many pictures make it out to be.............