jhb171achill

Indeed there was. I don't know the details, but they were built about the same time too. I think they. too, were 4ft 8 1/2.

Yes, you read that right. In 1961, the year the 121s were delivered, General Motors built a prototype six-wheeled version of one of these, which would spend its entire working life shunting within their works at La Grange. They offered the class for sale but the only customers they ever got were an industrial site who bought one, and the Lebanese Railways who bought 4 - which were used on passenger services just like our 121s. So there were only ever 6 of them. One, apparently, remains in storage somewhere there, though long out of use. All of them were 4 fut 8 1/2 inch gauge. They had 600hp engines - GM 567 type. This would presumbaly have resulted in them being categorised as "C" class - thus (probably) the C241 oir C251 series? In the parallel world of Rule 1, CIE got one as a demo along with the "real" 121s, and it ended up shunting at Dugort Harbour until it went on fire in 1970 and was scrapped. I thought that a beast like this might make a nice rainy-day project some time, if my eyesight holds up. So, I obtained a MIR 121 body kit some time ago, and if time EVER permits (which it may not!) I would like to hack and botch this body - which is cast metal and weights almost as much as the real thing - by shortening it a bit (I think these engines were about 30ft long) and putting some sort of 6-wheeled power bogie under it. It would need to be capable of DCC conversion. Which type of bogie wouldn't matter - the "real" thing is not real at all - no 5'3" equivalent ever existed. I was thinking maybe a power bogie off a British class 31 or something.... the other thing is that you can't actually SEE what type of power bogie it would be, as these engines in real life had a large, thick, heavy bar alongside, so whatever gubbins are below platform level are invisible anyway. I throw this out as what it is - any suggestions or comments appreciated, especially re a suitable bogie (121 body is narrow!), with both space and technical suitability for DCC.....

Wow! That depot itself is a masterpiece in its own right! The fact that its creator is a lifetime professional railwayman shows through in bucketloads…..

Coming along very nicely indeed!

Good to see ye! Looking forward to the pics........ (We can forgive the Liverpool stuff...)

Indeed they were, yes - but again they got filthy, especially in steam days.

Absolutely brilliant news, Leslie! Looking forward to seeing them. Yes, indeed, all brown-painted wagons had brown roofs, though these tended to weather to a nondescript dunduckety-mud colour!

There were no 4-wheelers (of old style) after the 1890s - bar one or two which made it to the 1910s, and which kept their footboards. In terms of the "new" 4-wheeled "tin vans", none of these, nor the handful of 1965-built 6-wheel equivalents, had footboards at all - these were only on wooden bodied stock. Six-wheelers - the default design of coaching stock from the late 1870s to the 1920s, with survivors in use until 1963 - all had footboards initially, though a very small number, usually specialised one-offs, seem to have lost them (Waterford & Tramore line springs to mind, plus one at least in Wisht Caark).

Wow! Has to be some sort of chemical reaction. Possibly, in order to expose the culprit component, do some experiments with the glue or the sand on the bent (scrap) bits?

Wow……..!! The AI thing will indeed revolutionise life - dunno whether mostly good or bad! My fear would be that it will be used commercially to try to make us buy certain things……

Indeed - jhbSenior was one - but of the “AND Sullivan” variety….

No, they’re in O’Donoghues pub; it’s the guard’s birthday.

Given that it’s supposed to be in the early 50s, perhaps this is better!

Many thanks, Gabhal Luimnigh! Dunno where she got the "expert" bit from!!! I had actually forgotten about that interview.... it shows the model railway museum off nicely though; hopefully more visitors. Serious point of course - people in general DO need to be more aware of their local, social and economic history - and the role of their local railway is a very important part of that - it's from where their Great Aunt emigrated in 1929 to go to Melbourne, Manchester or Massachusets............. and if you get a young mind engaged, IRM and others will produce more models in 10, 20, 30 & 40 years' time!

Wow - this is looking very promising! What area of the country are you planning to replicate? GSWR territory probably easiest due to the 00 Works J15s, and forthcoming Hattons Irish six-wheelers. Plus, the GSWR was the biggest company, covering the largest area.

I think that Mr. William Posters has got enough out of us all by now............

Murphy’s?

Party at your house, Westcorkrailway!

If I can eventually get Dugort Harbour to anything like that standard, I'll be very happy. What I like is to see just how much is going on among the scenery in the background. Those farming scenes are an absolute masterpiece, each one.

…………………………. Finally some rural scenes around both Macmine Junction and Rathmichael. Finally, I would very strongly encourage anyone living in the south-east to join this excellent club. Friendly reception, excellent clubhouse and excellent layouts too. Go see ’em at the next exhibition, details of which will be posted on IRM, I am sure.

……………………… Next, we moved on to Macmine Junction where we saw the Wexford Mail, consisting of a Park Royal, a laminate, the inevitable tin van, an an elderly MGWR mail coach. The Woolwich in charge had failed due to a dodgy injector, and had been sent in disgrace to the Palace East branch platform, while a goods engine had been commandeered from Wexford to take it on to Rosslare. Just as well the Fishguard boat is an hour late tonight.

————- Next, we hopped back across the Irish Sea and were lucky enough to get not one, but two, light engine movements in Ballybeg. It was August 1961. Quite a few lads in Ballybeg’s Railway Bar celebrating the local club’s win over Dugort Gaels in the club championships….. IMG_8229.mov

Thanks to the excellent hospitality of Gerry and others today, while Barry Carse and I were in Wexford to do a book launch for “Rails Through Wexford”, I was fascinated to see the wide range of 0, 00 & N modelling bith in the club and also that if Irishrailwayman, of this group. I was struck in particular by the very high level of work in the scenery, which I’ve attempted to capture here. Absolutely outstanding stuff, gents; very many thanks again! First, we’re in Wales…..

Very many thanks indeed to all who came today - especially to Irishrailwayman, the Wexford Model Railway Club, Eamonn Redmond and others who helped organise it and gave Barry and I such a great welcome. It was great to put faces to several names from this parish. Thanks also to Gerry for a tour of Wexford’s best layouts both at home and in the club. I will be posting some pictures under “layouts” of Ballybeg, Macmine, Rathmichael and Welsh-themed layouts. Truly excellent stuff, and I’m looking forward to seeing them in action at shows in the not too distant future.

Very many thanks, Leslie, yes, his books were an absolute masterpiece.