jhb171achill

Go for six-wheelers, 27ft - 30ft length. While the GNR(I) had nothing whatsoever to do with the British GNR, by sheer coincidence it not only shared a name, but due to at one time a common engineer, similarities in some loco and coach designs. The long wheelbase type of four wheelers, with "modern" 1890s-style body shapes, never ran in Ireland in general and certaintly not on the GNR, so the best thing is Hattons six-wheelers in the LNER or GNR teak livery. The sort of typical make up will be similar to that on other rural Irish lines, namely (in the case of the GNR) typically something like a full 6w brake, a first, second and third, or more likely a third and a 1st / 2nd composite. Lines like Cootehill and Belturbet had mixed trains too, so add an old GNR brake van, a van or two, one open, and a cattle wagon or two.

A great day out in Omagh. Thanks to Tony for your customary hospitality, and meeting a few oul cronies there today, i8ncluding one gent with whom I used to watch "Jeeps" on ballast trains over fifty years ago...........!

Tankers - good question; but unlike rural areas in Britain, we didn't have milk tankers hyere - milk travelled in churns in vans, ideally ventialetd ones but in winter any sort of goods van would do. As for petrol, little or none; petrol was carried in canisters, again in wagons. In my next book I will be describing a raid on wagons carrying petrol for the British Army use in Loughrea in 1920 - this cargo was of significant size, but was housed in ordinary goods vans. Hopper wagons were all 4-wheeled and only used (perhaps obviously!) on ballast trains. In a rainy country, the vast majority of wagons on normal trains were goods vans, either with full roof or the so-called "soft-tops" - officially convertible vans. Opens of all numbers of planks were on most goods trains too, but would usually be in the minority. 4 and 5 planks were the most common. On fair days, out came the cattle trucks. Depending on local cattle marts, these could be just 2 or 3 in the regular goods train, or perhaps 100 or more loaded at a single location and despatched in a number of special trains, which could load to over 40 wagons and van. And yes, Leslie's GSWR goods brake is superb; two of these are at Dugort Harbour.

With the best will in the world, they’re having a laugh. Just OVER €70 for a book!! This is worse than some of those 071s online for €750…….! Colourpoint or Stenlake would have done that for €25. I’m afraid I won’t be buying any book at that price!

A lot of railwaymen had (and have!) quite offbeat nicknames, so away ye go with the imagination!

This promises to be a GOOD one!

Well done, Tony, a mighty piece of work. Looking forward to the launch in Omagh.

Only seeing this, Derek. You've put a lot of work into that - it's looking very well. Only (constructive!) suggestions I would make is that there doesn't seem to be a physical connection between the inner circuit and the rest - a connection would add much flexibility. Also, for Ireland, platform ends were never tapered (not all that much in Britain either)..... your idea of green paint on buildings, especially railway ones and post offices, is very much the way to go!

I had thought it was 3ft gauge.....no?

The 29s seem good big solid things. If they had decent spacious quality seating and first class in them, they'd be fine for main line services......

Only seeing this now; hope you recover well and soon, Northroader.

They’re not CLOSE to anything that ever ran here, but they are LIKE some sort of generic van, in particular the corrugated ends resemble the GNR cement vans which would become part of normal CIE wagon stock not many years after they were built. I’ve one or two though I would replace them if there’s ever a RTR one - but might I recommend the Provincial Wagons kit of a standard CIE van. John Mayne (Mayner) also has several Irish goods vans on offer. The most glaring and obvious inaccuracy about the above is not the body but the black chassis - it should be grey like the body.

Wondering if anyone will be travelling to this from Dublin? Thinking of sharing transport.

I like experimenting with light, but this is just with an iPhone. Once the whole thing is finished I’ll let Daughter-the-Elder loose on it with her high-end cameras….!

And finally, to show how the nights have stretched, here’s a B121 ambling past Carrowmore with the last train of the day in early April 1965….

An experiment; I waited until a late early summer bright night provided the unique sort of lingering daylight seen after 10 p.m. at this time of year, to step into my time machine to visit Dugort Harbour at 22:12 on 30th May 1965…… these are the results. 1. Among the last Park Royals still in green, and the very last tin van still in “silver”, this neglected pair sit on a warm night at the cattle dock at Dugort Harbour along with a shut-down B141, which will form the morning train to Castletown West. —- 2. Looking round this deserted West Kerry outpost, an old “soft top” of DSER origin can be seen in the back siding. It’s been there for 2 years now and will soon be scrapped on site. —- The only other stock on site are a wooden-bodied open and a “H” van, both empty - they’ll be tacked onto to the back of the morning train and dropped off at Castletown; plus a spare “tin van”.

? .... existing, and open to passenger traffic today............

WOWWWWWW!!!!!! Amazing stuff! Indian railways are VERY under-represented in the model world. Any chance of a YP Pacific or YG 8-wheeler? (Or a YL?)

Looking good!

Could be the lighting / image, but your coach looks to be the (accurate) post-1955 colour. which of course was to be seen in West Cork after that year. So, for a green steam loco, it's always going to be the darker colour - steam locos (and buses and lorries) retained the darker green until 1963. If it's a coach, prior to 1955 you've the darker colour but with broad lining above and below windows. If it's after 1955, in West Cork you've two options. One is the new standard of the lighter green with a single thin line at waist level. Some carriages in this livery had snails, some didn't. Darker always did. But in West Cork there was another local variable in that Albert Quay painted a small number of ex-Bandon stock, and a handful of ex-GSWR stock in plain, unlined DARK green. I know that personally you're not keen on the standard grey livery, but if youre running green and black locos, and perhaps a "C" class thrown in, you might consider basing your layout on 1955-60 rather than 1945-55, as nothing was black before that in West Cork (in other words, when the dark green carriages were prevalent) - all grey or (one or two Bandon tanks green.

Couldn’t agree more. I’ve three of those, one an ancient thing with coarse type 1970s bogies which won’t run on code 70 track. It cost me €3. Like you say, it’s for experiments. It will eventually end up as a locomen’s dorm, a grounded body beside Castletown West loco shed. And by the way, your two shades of green are fine for the 1955-63 period.

My thoughts exactly. As 22D, it is most definitely ex-DSER, and in the short-lived chocolate and cream livery applied to main line stock - therefore it's a main line coach. Likewise, the full ducket confuses me - I have been unaware of any DSER vehicle built like this. Therefore, it is almost certainly a GSR rebuild.

Ray Good might have information on this.

SUPERB stuff, Bob49!

Snipers needed, with guns in correct livery……… (I’ll show myself out….)