jhb171achill

Correct, Noel.

Inteesting photo of the double slip - I'd forgotten about that! The story about running out of track, the line being built with bends etc., as well as the version of possible extensions, is utter nonsense from start to finish, as IRM readers would gather, I am sure!

".....Some of the UK enthusiasts/photographers may have recorded the Killala Branch as part of their haj. to Achill, Dingle and other threatened lines during the early 30s....." Neither Camwell or Casserley managed it. I'm pretty sure J I C Boyd (who I knew) didn't either....

Looks good..... Is there a model railway in "the house"?!?!?

Final post for the moment, finishing 1926 off down south in Caark, boyo! This is a re-post of the one above, as the images don't seem to have come out. Narrow gauge heaven.....

And of course the Achill line as the excellent Great Western Greenway... Bits of the Clifden line are now pathways and parts of the widened road.

I carried out a good bit of research on the line some years ago, with the intention of doing a follow up book to "Rails to Achill". There's nothing much to tell! Certainly not enough to fill a booklet, let alone a book! But it would make a good branch line model. I'll do a resume on it when I get home this evening and post it here. The service was mostly two mixed trains, or a mixed and a passenger, per day with no Sunday service. Motive power was whatever was on the Ballina line - generally a J18 0.6.0 or a G2 2.4.0, and the branch set was the Ballina train. This was usually one or two six wheelers with a six wheeled passenger brake. The line closed in 1934.

For me, a grey / yellow and a black'n'tan..... the rest's too modern for me!

Here's one for ye all. I had a dream. I was talking to someone who told me that they were going to make 0 gauge models of the 800 class and paint them black..... Thankfully, I woke up.....! Psychologists: make of that what you will.

An interesting comparison might be how many B101 kits were produced / sold. Not quite the same, of course, as it's a kit - but - a kit can sometimes sell more because it's cheaper, but less because it's not RTR! There were 16 x B101, they were shorter lived, and travelled much less widely. A Mallow - Waterford based layout (long overdue!) would need 121 and B101 classes, as these were the mainstays in the 1960s. Probably the only line where 141 and A classes were LESS common than these classes. A good selection of goods vans, particularly the H, would also be needed. Passenger stock was generally laminates in the 60s, with a few old Bredins and the odd wooden bogie. While I'm sure PRs went there, though no recollection as such, has anyone ever seen a picture of a Craven in a train consist on that line? Cravens appeared in 1963, and the line closed in 1967.

I missed this! Truly excellent model, right shade of grey and very realistic weathering. Superb.

I think someone did a brass kit for the PR - maybe Worsley?

Tis the Tooth Fairy, Garfield.

Well, environmental taxes on cars can only rise in the coming decades; fuel, at any rate, will probably be dearer. Also, Ireland's population, currently 6.2 million, is expected to reach pre-famine levels (about 8.5m) within twenty years, and continue rising to exceed it for the first time. All the above should feed more and more passengers (sorry, "customers") into the railway, (who can load and unload them at "train stations", our latest definition borne of the illiterate....)

That's the official reason, Horsetan. The other is that it was the favourite loco of the designer of that crest!

And the "artists" are a waste of perfectly good space....

Talking of might-have-beens and double track, there are many, many Irish railways which were built single track, and remained single track throughout their lives, but bridges and cuttings were designed initially with room for a second track...

Years ago, I got copies of drawings for Indonesian locomotives which I was writing an article about. These had been built by Sharp, Stewart & Company, while they were in Manchester; this museum has all SS's stuff. There shouldn't be a problem. I would have thought....

Down with this sort of thing! Going back to 171, anyone know why this loco is the one which features on the RPSI's crest?

Exactly, minister. Policing resources are thinly spread in all western democracies these days as the citizens vote for any party that drops tax, without any thought of the consequences of a smaller public purse. So these idiotic morons will continue to flourish. It's good that these particular wastes of space have been apprehended; hopefully an empty DART will run over the rest of them.

I have to say I see graffiti as exceptionally ugly in absolutely all circumstances. The "banksy" character, and all his empty headed aerosol-fuelled moronic followers are all of the one ilk; they should have their arms cut off. The two idiots caught at Inchicore should have been made to clean graffiti all over the icy for a month. The scumbag who kicked the security guard should face a sentence - that's assault. And they have the gall to try to pass it off as an "art project"!!!!!!

Ahh Lower Ormo. The hub of the universe.... COYBIG!!!!!!! Allez allez (That's Ulster Scots for c'mon ya boyzngreen!!!)

Had Ireland not been divided, two scenarios present themselves. First, we remain under British rule, in which case any or all of the above could have happened. One thing though - either Beeching or Thatcher would have seen off much mileage, given that we have one twelfth the population of our neighbouring island, spread out over up to half its area. Blue and grey would certainly have trod through Limerick Junction and Portadown, probably Omagh too. And I'd say the GWR and LMS would have taken in all but the Midland Great Western and a few minor lines. I suggest the DSER and BCDR might have remained on their own too until BR. The other scenario is that the provisions of the Home Rule Bill were carried out in full, with Ireland becoming entirely independent in 1921. In that case, a GSR style amalgamation of all companies would give been all but certain, with the NCC, CDRJC, BCDR and GNR entering GSR / CIE ownership. Donegal tank engines, GNR 171 and 85 in unlined grey just wouldn't be the same!

Another tram, Mr Wanderer! :-)

I knew it. Stick on the REAL 207 - a blue 4.4.0, and some brown wooden carriages with a GNR crest on them. That'll do the trick. Never mind these tin tubes in gaudy colours......