jhb171achill

Can't wait to see that one finished - a stunning model indeed.

I think Old Blarney's comments above are absolutely spot on. All have different levels of skills, different interests - some based on absolute accuracy and some based on what to all intents and purposes is a fantasy - a piece of art we create or admire ourselves. I've always felt that the overall tenor here is supportive to all. We can all exchange views here in a fun and informal, but informative way. There is much very valuable information here, but entertainment as well. Long may it continue. At exhibitions, though, I've seen what Old Blarney mentions.

Always loved that railcar, and the original having survived is a miracle - due of course to the CDR's Henry Forbes. On the CVR the railcar (their No. 1) was mid brown, with gold lettering and a white roof. The "Unit" thing, according to Patterson was grey; eyewitnesses I spoke to don't remember definitively, though I've no reason to doubt Patterson. There were two distinct green liveries for CVR locos, and No. 3 ended up in lined maroon. Carriages were maroon, and a sample of actual paint can be seen as the background to the crest hung in the Headhunters Railway Museum in Enniskillen. Initially carrying the full crests, carriages latterly had an attractive gold monogram. I can't wait to see the CVR given the Arigna Road treatment!

That old model is broadly based on a generic GSWR 0.6.0 like a J15. The upside down ones are 51J's.

Love their hashtag... Hopefully the driver will be sacked and banned from driving for the max time possible. Roads are bad enough without morons like that.

Well done!

I have recently come across several misleading or incorrectly described photos for sale on the internet and have challenged their sellers....

Yes, Garfield. We heard ALL about that...

Orange door! The black'n'tan era isn't over yet..... I wonder how many 071s there are with orange window frames, wipers or cab doors? Actually, how many are now grey and how many silver/black?

Y u m

White on the edge, Joe, but a yellow line about 18ins "inland", with warnings about staying behind the line.

You're in D wing,then, Broithe? :-)

Ballygunge???????? Is this for real?

Leslie - I'm sure you're aware of this but just in case not - CIE's wish to eradicate GNR stuff wasn't entirely complete by the time loose coupled goods vans were all retired. I saw what at first glance looks like a "H" van, but was one of the 1954 GNR corrugated-ended standard goods vans right at the end, about 1977, in a train at Templemore. It was one of those built for cement traffic originally. By this stage it was brown and carried standard CIE roundel and standard cast CIE numberplate with "C I E" and "66N" on it.

That's a jolly good cinematic projection, old chap.

Another cross country one might have been Belfast - Galway (for a number of reasons, particularly if Galway became a major transatlantic port). The GNR extends beyond Cavan to Roscommon, Athenry and Galway. Trains operate Great Victoris Street to Galway and reverse; after 1958, it's split into UTA and CIE.....

Could be, UP; I'm not sure. Limerick and Cork had a habit of having their own variations livery wise - for example, coaches in the pre-55 dark green with no lining at all, but two snails (Cork; on two Bandon bogies) or no snails either (Limerick; on some West Clare vehicles). I would have thought that the red buffer beams were Inchicore origin, but I don't know for sure. As to the lining, I remain puzzled!

An outstanding layout idea.....

Is it because I'm using an iPad, I wonder....

Come to think of it, bsgsv!

Only thing about Flickr, it's desperately slow to view and freezes up after a couple of dozen images. Anyone else find that?

The two lines on which I'm loosely basing my project would have had 0.6.2T steam, or Bo-Bo (2095 class) diesels, and passenger loadings tended to be 3-4 bogies. In 009 scale, even a bogie is only about 5-6 inches long, so not heavy.

Excellent stuff, Old Blarney. I would think that if built, it might have been used as an Attymon - Ballybrophy line with connections at Roscrea. obviously, to the Nenagh branch. Unless traffic had developed a great deal more than expected, I wouldn't think through working from Galway might have happened....but.....it's a "what-if"! I did think it would make an interesting layout project for a cross country line; here's another: Inny Junction - Cavan - Monaghan, survives the GNR Armageddon and becomes a CIE line throughout.....!

I know, Garfield! There's always something new to find out - the photos I saw over the weekend make it clear. Now, it's quite possible that lining was added before they entered traffic, as the pics show them "just out of the box". The silver and green liveries followed each other, i.e. silver first, then repainted into green, and steam engines were mostly the same colour 1915-63, so the actual existence of variety isn't the same thing. the 121s were only grey until first repaint (into B'n'T), so it puzzles me as to why there seem to not two, or three - but counting red buffer beams - FOUR detail variations of the one short-lived delivery scheme.

It does indeed look like a dome!