jhb171achill

If my photoshopping skills were any good, I'd set up a whole album of things like that! CIE locos in GNR blue or UTA lined black, "Maedb" in grey or GNR blue, Midland six-wheelers in redbull, green goddess or tippex...... the list goes on! Many years ago, one of the "youths" at Whitehead circulated an absolutely superb mock up of 171 in NCC maroon and the UFTM's 74 (Dunluce Castle) and an NCC "Jeep" in GNR blue. You'd be surprised how well all looked!

That's a very impressive start! Good luck

True, Wrenn! Sold now - though I think I may have another, if anyone's interested I'll look for it.

This is an interesting document. Every loco then in traffic, including some real rarities, including the unnumbered but named oddballs like Argadeen, St Molaga, Sprite, Jumbo and Sambo. Also preserved 90, 461 & 186. Opens out to large poster size. €10 plus postage if you're interested.

Excellent collection - some really interesting stuff in there.

Amazing! Bit like a BnM turf plant.......!

What's this - a watch that tells time? Next, you'll be telling me that's there's a phone which makes telephone calls! :-)

True, Tony........! So we had part Mk 1's - maybe the 450 class could be "Mk. Half"......! :-)

"Jeep" No. 4 in redbull?

You mean GNR vs. CIE, Jawfin? CIE used their standard upholstery of the day. Latterly it was a dark grey colour but I think it might have been reddish at at earlier stage - perhaps josefstadt or Mayner might remember? The GNR had patterned upholstery, second class being (I remember) a grey and reddish pattern, with first having more brown and patterns. When the GNR fleet was divided between the UTA and GNR, they were eventually changed to those companies' styles. UTA upholstery was common to buses and trains and was mid to dark green with a fleck pattern in yellow and red.

I was in Connolly station this afternoon and noticed the usual 29's sitting about. It just occurred to me that the dark blue on them is not at all unlike GNR coach or railcar blue; perhaps a slight shade darker. It's important for perhaps younger modellers to be aware that the blue the GNR used on some mainline coaches and railcars was not the same as the famous steam loco blue. The solitary diesel loco, 800, was also painted the dark blue but without any cream areas.

The right colours on a model really show it up as well as possible. Each to their own, I know, but personally I think there's nothing worse than an excellent model painted wrongly. But on your layout it's not just the attention given to getting liveries and weathering right, it's the whole atmosphere it recreates. Looking at those pictures, I can almost imagine the smell of turf smoke from the cottage next door, and the coal smoke and hot oil smell from the engine..... the attention to all details is great, down to the puddles on the ground.

Excellent, top quality stuff. As others commented, it's always very refreshing to see unusual designs of wagons. May I ask what the prototype is, or if it's your own design it is just as realistic as a prototypical model!

That is just jaw-droppingly good. Those carriages and the Midland 2.4.0 are absolutely perfect. Superb work as always.

Absolutely fascinating layout. Trains and buses. Whew! I'm not the only desert-sand enthusiast; that's a good few out of the closet now! My earliest memories, of course, were of green buses with "flying snails", and UTA green ones up north.

Can you still get those kits anywhere?

Very impressive start!

Well, that's always the best reason of the lot to run them, Mike! They were a very individual type of wagon.

True, Broithe...

The only BR Mk 1's in Ireland were the CIE genny vans, I think. All else Mk 2, 3 or 4.

Great to meet chevron yesterday!

To all who offered new homes to the above stuff, it was posted yesterday and today. Perhaps I could ask each of you to let me know when you get it.

Italian trains with no graffiti! There's a first......

Indeed, josefstadt. The brown vans in those days weren't even common sights on the former GNR lines - they stayed mostly on home territory. I remember the goods trains in the Belfast / Lisburn area very well, but I personally never once saw one of these vans in a goods train.

I've seen pics taken in the Harcourt Street area in the early fifties showing a siding of spare stock for the line - all Midland six wheelers and a GSWR bogie, as far as I could make out. Even in the late fifties, I've seen a photo of an AEC set with one of these Midland six wheelers tagged onto the end. A photo of a suburban train at Killiney in the 50s shows a mix of just about everything, but as far as I could see only one vehicle was a "native". This is interesting for anyone modelling the Dublin area in this period.