jhb171achill

I thought you meant the "intercity" thing as in the initial pic - they never had those. The thing on the door, yes, I was aware that a small number had for a short time.

Oooh Fitz that looks SCARY!!

I wonder what a modern one would look like in 1950s green with snails!

DCDR New Year's Day trains Train engine: O & K No. 1 ECS / Shunting: A39 Downpatrick dep 1400 1445 1530 1615 1700 Inch Abbey dep 1420 1505 1550 1635 1720 Hope to see you there!

Ahh! well i will certainly agree thaat black'n'tan was the bst looking livery any CIE loco ever had.... would have looked great on an 071! I think I'm probably also the lone(ly?) person ever who liked the "biscuity brown" on Dublin buses in the late 70s / early 80s... :-)

That shot of the A in Inchicore in "201" livery... I was told that only the one side was done! There was another variation they considered (can't remember details) and they just painted one cab... I actually think that livery suits an A class. I wonder how it would have transferred to 071, 141 or 121 classes - there's one for someone who is good at photoshopping...

I'd be surprised - it's quite possible a few might have been done as an experiment but I'm pretty certain none ever ran with either this or any logo at all. Despite their long life in traffic they only ever basically had the one livery, albeit with variations towards the end, i.e. the addition of the whilte line below window level, and the white above the windows giving way to white and orange.

John - I'll try to get you a pic of one. I know someone who has it - taken on a GAA special in Tralee about thirty years ago.

Folks - somebody was talking about both these recently - see this:

Had a few bottles last night of a new thing - wonder if anyone's tried it - Jeremiah Weed Root Brew - like a gingery flavoured beer.... good shtuff. Hic.

So many modern railcar models just don't look right. And you'd think it would be simple. These look simple, but can't be - because they look so good!! Excellent stuff!

Mayner, I wonder if you have details of the PO vans that were converted to heating vans - I think only 2 or 3 of them were thus treated. The only external difference was the fuel tanks underneath - at the ends, as far as I recall. I saw a pic of one somewhere - might be able to find out the numbers... Inclusion of the tanks as an extra in a kit would allow (yet!) another variety!

Absolutely brilliant stuff - love the Enterprise and Hunslets - well done... and the model of the Cork line Mk 4 must have been an awkward one to make too.

Absolutely superb... it's 1966, somewhere on the WRC or North Kerry!

Maybe wash his mouth out with Guinness? Might get the taste for it.... (No, I don't have shares in them, but the amount I've consumed over forty years, i propbably ought to!) :-)

Excellent stuff! Some vehicles arrived at Whitehead or Downpatrick back in the day with "RPSI" or "DAR" (as they DCDR was then) crudely painted on them.

Minister, waht happend was that in 1955, when the earliest laminates, Park Royals, and of course the "A" class locos arrived, they decided that they might look wll in silver and it would save paint and time. As photos show, they couldn't have been more wrong - anything left unpainted deteriorated almost as soon as it entered traffic. How they could expect loco bogies to remain silver is a mystery! Subsequent deliveries of the three G601s and the B1013 were also initially unpainted. Interesting livery detail: locos had a snail and number in "eau-de-nil" but at least some carriages and tin vans had numerals in red, possibly all at first. No silver rolling stock ever carried "snails" - just the numeral. By the early 60s, silver was dying out. It is likely that some stock went straight to black'n'tan. In all cases, at first repaint, they received the post-55 lighter green.

Several of those coaches can be photo'd from the down platform at Lisburn, as they are parked in the PW siding there. These include the solitary Mk2 genny van specially adapted for them.

Wow! Very interesting! A new one to me.... I'm never too old to learn (!!) :-)

I saw someone photoshop one into lined NCC maroon one time - looked well believe ot or not!

Laminate, Bredin, Laminate, Bredin, Laminate*, Unidentified wooden bogie-possibly ex-GSW suburban, GSW bogie, "tin van*", wooden covered van and finally ex-MGWR postal / guard's van. What a gathering! Today's train at Downpatrick behind an "A" class, if it's running, is a laminate style brake genny, a high-roofed GSWR tri-compo and a non corridor low roofed GSW 3rd... I remember seeing a 10 vehicle train passing Port Laoise as recently as the late 70s, with an 071 hauling an eclectic mix of various types of laminates 9no two the same), a couple of Cravens and Park Royals, a BR van and a "tin van". If you like such collections behind a loco, look at pics of West Cork or the WRC in the 50s, and you'll regularly see things like a brand new laminate or Park Royal paired with an 1880s-built non corridor birdcage roofed brake third (inevitably of MGWR origin) or the like. the last full train of six wheelers (based in Cork) was in use until 1963 and possibly a while later, not being officially withdrawn until 1964. (* in silver; rest in green)

For a long time I thought the recesses in the cab sides had to be for tablet catchers, but when you think of when they were built... so to this day I don't know what those recesses were for...... unless they were at one time planned - but if so, why did later engines not have recesses?

The B113's didn't, heirflick. I don't believe the 101's did either but I wouldn't be 100% certain. 101s spent most of their working life way south - occasional forays also onto the WRC. They were certainly synonymous with the Waterford - Mallow line.. (a nive subject for a layout!).

When injustice becomes law, rebellion becomes moral imperative..

Excellent! Very atmospheric... like the CDR stock...