jhb171achill

That's early CIE - with same grey as GSR. Some examples were still pottering about into the late 50s.

My final "off-topic" post; banks have "greeters" here too. Yes, BANKS!!!!

A black'n'tan one for me!

Looks really well (as usual!)

Is there a single solitary thing, in all of the Great Lord's Creation, worse than a "train" in "advertising livery"! We get enough of entire rain forests turned into irrelevant, invasive advertising rubbish stuffed into our letterboxes and computers daily. Actually, yes - people referring to the place where you board a train as a "train station"..... or IE calling passengers "customers". It's all part of the grand plan of inane globalisation. Having successfully killed off goods trains since Todd Andrews' time, now we've given up "passenger trains" too. Instead, have we a new phenomenon, "customer trains"? Don't start me on "happy holidays"..... Rant over. For the moment.

You obviously got there early, Garfield, before it got busy.

GSR800... no, from the outset CIE used black and white lining on all green steam engines and also, for that matter, on the early diesels ("D" class and B113 class). Where gold came in was that the "eau-de-nil" numerals and "flying snails" were edged in gold.

In its last days, the passenger train was an 0.6.0 and just two six wheelers, a composite and a brake third. Had it lasted, a bogie and an ancient 6w brake might have been the thing; much after again a Ballina style combination of a 141, Park Royal* and genny van might have run there.... * .... or a Bredin, laminate or Craven (in chronological order!)

I'm afraid I missed 31st - can anyone enlighten me at the AGM on 32nd Septober?

Seriously top class!

A thing like that, suitably "botched" and made look scrappy and worn, patched up and roughly repaired with whatever old planks were lying about, would be ideal. Don't forget a wooden bodied brake van at the end.

BnM announced only the other day that they intend to cease all turf harvesting within a few years and convert to purely Eco-friendly power production. This, of course, means that ALL their railways have numbered days!

'Twas me, Glenderg, as there's a long disused packet of them in the cupboard behind me.... I'll sell each piece of all bran for €2 each, how about that.... Re modelling turf trucks, slatted wooden extensions to the sides are easy. For converted six wheelers, old wooden-body type bogies of just about any type can be cut up. Look at the photos and you'll see that in some cases, what are obviously sides falling apart have been put together again by nailing on several old doors, side by side. Hence the adjacent "3" figures, which were generally on doors only and never beside each other. In other cases, plain planks. Naturally, my thoughts turn to livery! Seriously weathered wood planks, unpainted, with patches of old maroon, long faded to a nondescript pinky reddish brown, with very faded and worn numerals. Ends just a mess of weathering. Chassis similar.....

Fantastic archive - contains a pic of 800 at speed in 1947, still in (tatty) GSR mid green, and a lovely shot of a train at (I think) Emalough crossing the Tralee & Dingle. The are several showing these turf "wagons" plus one of a turf train consisting of a mixture of these old six-wheelers and also standard opens with slatted extensions to the sides, enabling the loading of turf to carriage roof level. Incidentally, on a different point, what we all (including me) refer to as "six wheelers" were never, ever, referred to as such by railwaymen; they were always "thirty foot" carriages, as most were 30ft (about 27m) in length. And, while on THAT subject, not only was Limerick to Sligo / Ballina never referred to as the "Western Rail Corridor" by railwaymen, it didn't even have that title among enthusiasts until long after it was closed! Check out the turf train pics of Fr. Browne's. I must look for one of jhbSenior's - I'm sure I have one somewhere which he took himself.

Fr. Browne was indeed a master photographer. I wonder where his archives are - the may be many more gems there.

It's 99% certain that no turf traffic of this nature - if any at all - ran on the SLNCR main line. However, it might have on the Arigna Road branch ;-) In fact.....

He did indeed - and one of the most amazing conversions I've ever seen on this website. A rake of those behind a SSM J15 would look stunning.

Dead easy! Make 2 six wheelers out of three of these - botch them up with liberal weathering, rough planks over doors and windows and all-bran for turf (!) Interesting that virtually all of those in the pic are ex-GSWR; Inchicore's traditional mistrust of anything Broadstone tended to extend only to locomotives. Despite GSWR six wheelers probably equal at least, if not superior in numbers, most six wheelers surviving into the sixties were ex-MGWR.

It would make a fascinating train on a layout! I always thought round about 1947-51 would be a very interesting period to model accurately. If only the time.....

Correct, Minister.

Many thanks, Brian.

Is there a site showing other buses in your range?

That's a superbly atmospheric layout -saw it at an exhibition a few years ago. Was delighted to see the first train coming in consisting of a couple of Midland 6-wheelers.

Mr Holman, it's your round....

Yes. Some open wagons, but in the "Emergency" old six wheelers were used. Doors and windows were boarded up or screwed shut, and roofs were removed. This practice died out in the early 50s though a line of these, in badly faded GSR livery (plus bare boards!), was kicking about in Heuston for ages - maybe until the late 50s. I never saw any evidence of Bullied opens being used for turf, but it's theoretically possible, however unlikely. Doubtful.