jhb171achill

I can smell the sea air, cresote on sleepers, and a faint whiff of coal smoke from the UG which has just left with the Dundalk local....... and is that a smell of fish'n'chips from that beaten-up oul van parked up beside the beach, down the road? Mind those seagulls, by the way.

Yes, they are. Some future releases of these vehicles, which had not been finalised at the time Hattons closed, have been abandoned, but the CIE liveries were amongst the batch to go ahead. So they will appear. Latest info suggests later this year. Sadly, the GSR maroon one which was in discussion will not appear, but both green liveries plus the blackntan full brake will. It's 59 years this month since six-wheeled coaches were used in traffic, the very last use being in the Cork area, almost certainly on Youghal excursions. Cork had the distinction of having the last ones still in traffic, by that stage mostly of ex-MGWR origin, but the full brakes tended to be of ex-GSWR origin, and as non-passenger vehicles, half a dozen of them remained in use tagged onto the ends of passenger trains carrying parcels and mails, until various dates between 1965 and 1970. Two officially survived until 1970 in traffic, but I've seen a picture of one of these (in black'n'tan) taken in, I think, 1969, and it was clear that while still technically on the books it had not been in use for some time. The latest date I've seen a picture of one actually in a train was in the consist of a Galway mail train in 1968. Ennnnyway; Rails of Sheffield will be shipping them out, and I am told that orders placed with hattons will be fulfilled by them. I certainly hope so, as several examples are sold out on pre-order and I want one of each. In a pre-1963 rural train, the contrast between a modern Park Royal or laminate, and one of these elderly survivors, was immense - I'm looking forward to being able to replicate this in model form. Six wheel first, Park Royal and tin van, behid a J15 one day, and a C or an A the next; perfect. Just sorry I never actually travelled in one.

Well done, Oisín, enjoy!

Is it allowed in the street where Johnston Cameron-Mogg lives?

Indeed; and therein lies the problem...."if they wanted to". Easy solution, but they seem determined to complete a fifty year long run-down of this route. Next it'll be like the Nenagh branch, with two trains a month, frequent closures, and speeds somewhat below what my grandson achieves on his pedal scooter.

Many of us know that the emulsion on old colour slides can deteriorate with age. Some brands of film were longer lasting than others; both of these images were taken on the same day, 23rd May 1965. A55 is engaged in shunting the morning Tralee goods in one picture, taken on cheap film, but Crossleys being Crossleys, the loco is pictured on the old loco road having failed an hour later; this taken with good quality Agfa film. Sure you’d swear I only took it five minutes ago.

A couple of days train-spotting deep in the Kingdom on 12th April 1957. Shunting of the Tralee goods was in progress…. A30 being in charge. The GNR van had come all the way from a place called Brookhall Mill, who used to send rolls of linen to O’Sullivans Textiles at Dugort, who produced a large variety of linen souvenir goods for the many tourist souvenir shops in West Kerry. Business was good, as Americans considered the finished products to be, like, awesome, man. In the background, Park Royal 1940 and a tin van will form the afternoon passenger local to Castletown West, hauled by a J15.

Yes, you couldn’t make this up. This is West-Cork-ism; it’s as clear as day they want to close it, at least south of Gorey; quite possibly south of Wicklow.

Very well said indeed. The proposal is by far the stupidest thing ever devised; it clearly indicates the utterly moronic view of railways held within the NTA.

I’d actually shtick me neck out and say the railway sequence is 1930s.

Fascinating stuff. The clip of the railway wagons, going by the NCC lettering style, is late 1920s, even up to mid 30s. The GNR vans in particular look very “modern” for this era. I know virtually nothing about things that float rather than run on rails, so I can’t suggest whether the maritime clips are the same age.

The elephant in the room, of course - and it's a BIG one - is that our politicians north AND south have every incentive to think and plan short-term and zero incentive to think long-term; in fact, an absolute disincentive to think long term. Major railway projects of any sort in any country are never quick fixes - unless they are closures!

I know of another J15 owner who encountered this issue. I’ve three, plus a CBSCR tank. No issues so far but none have seen huge running.

Pure GSR! (Though they were a much darker grey)

Superb!!!

You'd think so.......... there can't be any incentive within Rails themselves to do it, I would have thought.........

I asked Rails to advise on update re ordering hattons Genesis CIE six wheelers. This is what they said: Rails of Sheffield Hi Jonathan, the orders are due to be fulfilled by us, however i am afraid the order details have not yet come through from Hattons. as soon as they do we will be in touch.

I'd say you're amongst the vast majority! Three family members of mine, lately the proud possessors of free travel passes, are finding the joys now of long distance BUS travel, where changes from one pedestrian train to another are unnecessary. One relative has recently moved to Co Wickla. By express bus from Dublin city centre it's 48 minutes. By train it's over an hour. Another relative has had the misfortune to have to go to Rosslare every month or so in the last year. She wouldn't touch the train with a bargepole. Wexford Bus all the way. I did this journey once recently myself. It was horrific. Had I not been an enthusiast, I would have genuinely made a point of never setting foot on a train again. An absolutely FILTHY 29, no wifi, and crawling at what seemd 30mph the whole way until it got to bray; thereafter a trundle at walking pace to Connolly, arriving a good hour after a parallel bus would have done. And now they're talking about terminating this service half way, and putting people into even slower darts? As others say, we're playing catch-up. Big time. One must recognise good planning etc., and compensation for those inconvenienced, but nothing short of a massive root & branch upgrade, and hundreds of billions spent on it, will remedy the public transport in the east coast area. And if that means knocking down half of Ballsbridge and Killester to quadruple Drogheda - Bray, removing the Aviva Stadium to somewhere near Blessington, putting a tunnel under Merrion Gates, levelling Bray Head to double the track from Bray to Wicklow, and ignoring those in the city centre who say that tunnelling beneath them will keep their cat awake, so be it.

Recalls to mind a story from my long-ago youth; I was in Kildare cabin with my dad talking to the signalman, who he knew. A train went speeding through without stopping. All the carriages were green, bar the very last one which was onbiously only newly repainted in black'n'tan (all were Bredins and laminates of varying types). Senior says to the signalman, whose name i forget, "Oh! Is that the new livery!!" as the whole thing sped through. "Yeah", say signalman, in deadpan voice. "ye'd think we'd seen the last'o'the black'n'tans by this stage...." Seems like only yesterday, but it has to have been summer 1962, given which relative we were visiting on the day. The earlier Murphy 141 rolls into Dugort Harbour one afternoon in 1964.

Thanks for that, Flying Snail. In that case they go to the north!

So first class & catering only on selected services?

The info I had tends to concur with this; summer to early autumn. I had ordered a single example of each. When I did so, the full brake in black’n’tan was sold out on pre-order - I think I got the last one. it’s just occurred to me - if Rails are posting these things out instead of Hattons, what’s the situation with customs charges? Should I get them sent to my “safe house” address in the north?

That’s for sure, boy, and if yer man from the Co-op is in, he does a mad oul brush dance, boy…..

No, unfortunately. Irish Rail charges overall would make many diesel trips hopelessly uneconomic. I’m aware of the quotations given in some cases recently and they’re higher than ever. A second man on a vintage diesel will add to this. Dropping carriages wouldn’t be an option, I’d say, for the reason you mention - munny€€€!

A 121 on its own would struggle with eight packed Cravens and the RPSI's "red van". I once saw a 141 trying to lift nine loaded Mk 2s on a Portadown - Belfast morning commuter local. Boy, did it make a noise! It was standing in for a failed NIR 111 which normally did this - at the time, it was the last 071-hauled train on the island. The 141 had been commandeered off the Dundalk goods, I think. However, even if a 121 was well able to lift 18 bogies, never mind 8, there's the small matter of turning. there's no way under the sun they'd allow it to go nose forst, so pairing will, I guess, be mandatory. The DCDR considered taking 124 some years ago, but opted for 146 instead, as the curves around the north junction area and elsewhere would have necessitated a 2-man crew; not always possible on a volunteer-run railway. If nose-first won't do on the DCDR, it certainly won't do on the Cork main line.... Plus, an 071 would be well able to haul a train of eight plus a potentially failed 134. Mind you, if the 071 threw its toys out of the pram, the whole lot would be stuck.