jhb171achill

Here are a couple to start; if anything RTR is needed, it's these..... These pictures were taken in March 1976. The "H" van with the "flying snail" (and modellers note, post-1960 or so it should be a stencil on goods stock, not a "solid" snail) was in the Crossmolina Siding in Ballina. The other two were in Heuston, more or less parked in the car park opposite the IRRS premises now!

It's privately owned by the proprietor of the hotel, and it is his long term aim to cosmetically restore it. While it looks complete, it is in a very bad way indeed, and in order to become roadworthy would require a complete rebuild from rail level up, which at today's prices would cost some €75000 or more.

A couple more. One is from the same GSR 1928 WTT and the other is a DSER advertisement in a MGWR 1908 publication.

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More; GSR 1928.

Fast forward to 1928..... GSR Working Timetable

Now that's artwork!

From the 1884 Working Timetable of the Dublin, Wicklow & Wexford Railway

There's a photo floating about somewhere already of a finished loco - not sure where I saw it, but I have seen it. It has red and purple swirls along the bodyside above, below and across the black band. It'll look great on the Ballina liner....

As you can see, he sometimes travelled third class, just to be able to say he did..... :-) .....and that's about all I have for now. No Dublin & Blessington tickets, though he did overtake it once or twice....

The further meanderings of a railway enthusiast, three quarters of a century ago.

That's a historic photo: newly done coach but with a loco only half finished in the new livery! Interesting.

It certainly would!

Three liveries in twenty years for the Enterprise, all as drab and dull as ditchwater. At least this one has a BIT of colour in it - there's a pic somewhere of a finished loco with a swirl of red on its side. Takes a bit of getting used to but isn't too bad. Oh for orange and black! I always thought the Enterprise should have had a bright livery something like red and cream, orange, maybe like the original 450 class livery or the short-lived NIR "suburban" livery of the eighties....

"The Church"..... thought you meant the bar in Dublin! Excellent model, well done!

Superb stuff, David. Conveniently, the proposed Belmullet terminus would have been quite like your layout, in that it was in a comparatively narrow space and was a dead end facing a street! Had it been built it would have required some sort of Fenit / Killybegs / Ardglass / Bantry type spur to serve the harbour. Now there's a remote Midland branch terminus in the making! A MGWR six-wheel coach kit is well overdue, as is a standard H van of beet truck..... I digress...

There are two of GSWR design at Downpatrick. Detail differences; CIE would have both. UTA had GNR type but obviously not GSWR.

It's got the potential to totally revolutionise model railways. What's the betting that by 2050 you'll be able to scab a few photos of a vehicle and it will "print" out, full colour livery, faded bits, weathering and all?

Correct, railer; just two shades 1962-recently. New 071's, painted in the States, were the exception as mentioned elsewhere, and their browny colour didn't survive first repaint.

The coaches in that picture at Manulla need to be looked at in the context of one lot being in shadow, with t he ones on the right having bright sun shining on them. Like any colour, that will result in a totally different look in photographs. In reality the difference, which as aclass007 says looks considerable, was nothing like as different. The post 1990 shade was more orangey (i.e. less "tan") rather than darker or lighter. While I know this isn't what is being referred to above, but as an aside to this, you will often hear it said that CIE's tan / orange / "golden brown"(!), or the GNR(I)'s loco blue, or earlier CIE green were, respectively "a million shades" of the various colours at different times. That's myth, usually borne of simple lack of accurate research. Actual post-1990 shade paint exists on some RPSI Cravens; the loco blue used at Whitehead is accurate, the light CIE green on C231 on the DCDR is accurate, and actual darker CIE green exists on Maedb in Cultra and on the flying snail crest in Enniskillen railway museum. When referring to colour photos, it's important to consider lighting, the quality of the film (judge by surrounding scenery, sky colour, people's skin colour, plant colours), and the likely degree of actual weathering or fading of the subject matter in the photograph. Reference to several photos will usually give a better idea than one, and will highlight differences (or even cast doubt on theories that there were any!). Eyewitness accounts can be extremely reliable, or totally unreliable / plain wrong, depending on the artistic eye or memory of the beholder, or even the level of interest they had when they initially saw it.

Indeed! But it may soon be possible, by cycle. Kerry CoCo has been given €3m to develop Killorglin to Cahirciveen as a cycleway, a la Achill branch or Newcastle West....

A G2 will fit perfectly on your layout, David. The SLNCR purchased two second hand locos from the GNR at one time, and these ran for some years until the company could afford (to such extent as it ever could!) replacements / railbuses. Maybe, just maybe, using artistic licence, they have a G2 on long term loan from CIE on your branch line........

I've a box of these free passes.... first class to Tullow, Larne Harbour to Strabane via Waterside and Victoria Road, Kingsbridge to Banagher, Amiens Street to Oldcastle, Enniskillen to Bundoran, Enniskillen to Westland Row, Kingsbridge to Kilrush for himself plus bicycle, first class free pass for unlimited travel between Aughnacloy and Maguiresbridge, etc etc.... plus numerous Dublin to Cork etc....

Excellent pics - you can see the colour scheme in the bogie stock, which would be the same as the six-wheeled carriages. A filthy grey engine just caps it! The SLNCR's black locos looked a lot smarter. In the black and white picture the lining on the second and third coaches is clear, but hardly discernible on the first. As Mayner mentioned, no snails, though all would have had their running number, almost always on the left. Class numbers on doors were used most times, but not always on these ancient relics; both versions are clear. Incidentally, the two bogies in the colour pic are GSWR vehicles of 1915-20 period, while the MGWR six wheelers are two firsts with a second in between them. The leading first, like many at that stage, has been demoted, hence no class numbers on the doors. This trio date from the mid 1880 - mid 1890 period, therefore they could have been up to forty years older than the bogies in the other picture!

While this isn't a political board, Mr Putin definitely needs to have serious manners put on him.