My involvement is simply that I'm involved with the museum, and do all the historical / model arrangement side of it. Another regular on here is involved in the maintenance and servicing and trouble-shooting of the operational 00 scale layout. The new model on Monday night will be seen running on it too, all being well, so he'll be in attandance too. Mind you, as far as liveries are concerned, I've a very wide data base of what went with what!
On an unrelated note, that pic above shows Ballyfermot when it was as Senior remembered it - rurality beyond inchicore! he was there the day they rolled 800 out for that photo. It was in works grey, not yet painted green, and not yet fitted with either nameplates nor its GSR crest on the tender.
It was standard practive to photo locos when new in shades of grey and white, as this showed detail up best in photos, which of course were all in B&W. Inside, the painters awaited with the new green paint for the very first locos of either gauge to emerge with anything other than all-over grey for over 20 years. It must have been some sight.
The reason that 800 had no nameplate for its official photos above was that they had planned an English language one, thus "Maeve", and written in roman characters. Someone decided that instead it should have Gaelic script, and the Irish spelling; and thus it was. But on photo day, the new ones weren't ready yet.
Now, back to the event on Monday night!