jhb171achill

The compartments were removed and the brake added when it was in departmental use. It was a give compartment third in traffic, no brake. Similar to the ones at Whitehead and Downpatrick. Yes, it was brought there by John Sweeney, owner of hotel.

yes - always.

Negotiations are not yet complete! Half a dozen pics of the place in a certain publication "Rails to Achill".... including 001 itself there.

Maybe.....

Maybe..... prefer somewhere to suit steam and diesel. Diesels never got to kenmare; it was steam right to the end, one of the last 100% steam strongholds with faithful old J15s.

I always do that with iPads and iPhones. My desktop one won't do it - not geared up. Anyway - back to writing about Clifden. I was up to 2:30 last night and at it again this morning at 10. Me head's melted. I'll persist tonight, unless someone pings or rings me for a gargle. I'm in the mood for a gargle. Now where was I....

I'm not sure if I'd go exactly for W Quay, 800, as it certainly wouldn't warrant a visit from "Meaedb"! Personally my favourite period is early fifties to late sixties. Depending on space, something like Westport Quay might do, though Castleisland, Foynes and Fenit interest me too.

Unless they improve the track, they'll only do 367 kph....

Really annoys me, Garfield. Nothing I do - including following good advice given here - works. It's actually putting me off posting a lot of stuff.

The attached was designed and built by the GSR in Inchicore in 1933 for use in areas such as Connemara and West Mayo, where closures were being planned. Designer's initials are on it.

This may be of interest to someone designing a small terminus or a large scale one which can't have too much in it for reasons of space.

Congrats, gents.

True, Weshty, true...... Tis a case of "be careful what you wish for"....... well, if she did, I could have subcontracted part of Chapter 1 of "Rails Through Connemara" to her.... Incidentally, if anyone's interested in 009 / Austrian, I joined the 009 Society and the Austrian Railways Group many harvests ago and find them both very helpful. If you're selling or buying any 009 stuff, the 009 Society negotiates mass discounts etc., and like minded members will always be interested in anything you have to sell. As always, the dilemma is - track wise, an interesting and intricate 9mm gauge layout, albeit of foreign basis, or a domestically-based 00 gauge which in the space I have will be little better than a fiddle yard / shunting terminus thing. Jury's still out. Meantime, I'm getting a grey 121 just in case.

Looking at the forthcoming 121 and a few other available gems on these boards, I am submitting a planning application to the Dept. of Redeemed Brownie Points, Domestic and Household Affairs, for a branch line of 00 gauge, to be constructed under the provisions of the 1889 Light railways (Ireland) Act. I'm not sure, though, if the Ministeress of Domestic Matters has ever heard of Balfour....... I think my 009 collection is going to have to be sold.

Should I mention the 1.5 billion I won in the USA lottery the other day?

As far as I'm aware, GSR, it was just superstition. It was indeed a different time.

I suppose we all have our reasons. I'm not a collector, though I know those who are. I've an 800 as a display thing - occasional forays on layouts where it'll shine. Apart from that, a relative has a layout and anything I want to run I can always bring there. I've an unbuilt J15, and a grey 121 would be a nice contrast because if I ever get round to an 00 gauge terminus type of thing (no room for anything else), I'd be looking at 1960-5 period. So one grey one, plus the two black'n'tan 141s I have, plus the J, will do nicely. A green 101 or C might eventually join them.

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".