jhb171achill

Totally right, Snapper; both organisations have working parties at Downpatrick every weekend, and ITG guys also operate in Carrick-o-S. More new bodies would be very welcome at both places. In the case of Downpatrick, you've the choice of two preservation groups on the same site!

Indeed, Mayner - I remember going through a 1960 WTT once with the intention of finding out exactly how many locos, crews etc were needed to do a day's work on that system. As you say, it was an odd working. The Bandon tanks were indeed needed on beet specials. A recent DVD shows none other than an 800 class (802, I think) taking beet empties from Mallow to Cork, where a Bandon tank took over to ferry them to the junction. At that point a MGWR J26 (552) set sail with them for Clonakilty; the return journey being a mirror image as far as Cork anyway. Further interest could be added with 90 or 100 trailing 2 or 3 wagons into Courtmacsherry. If that's not fodder for a fascinating model railway setting, I don't know what is! Towards the end, beet was handled on the Cork - Clonakilty Junction with Bandon tanks or on occasion, a C class loco, but Midland J26 0.6.0Ts ruled the branch to the end. You are right about the INW turns. There is no way they would have sent an "A" class out to Carrickmacross unless it was spare for a while in Dundalk. And it was generally (if not always) a GNR "A" class 0.6.0 which operated the "rump" INW goods. The locomotive used between Inny Junction and Cavan was generally a "C" class, so it may well have been a Mullingar pilot. The railways were undergoing a fascinating period of change at the time, as we all know. I am surprised more model layouts don't concentrate on this period, but with the growing number of truly excellent kits available, there is no reason why this might not change in time.

Yes - it will be 461 & 85 before too long. 186 is a great oul girl though.

Book in process, heirflick.... finding time is the issue, though!

I'm in for the lottery winning tickets! In all reality, the price tag for her restoration would probably be of the order of 750k to a million.....

171 will require a considerably greater amount of work, and lots of money. It is planned to have her out again, but it will be some years before it happens.

Incidentally, hammer blow wouldn't be an issue.

Nobody on this island would like to see "Maedb" back in traffic more than me! But I have to say (and with benefit of RPSI experience for many years) that it is safe to say it won't run again. Theoretically, of course, it could; theoretically anything can happen. The issue which would need to be faced are the size of the locomotive, which would make many bridges tight, the colossal cost of retoring it and training crews, and the economics of running it. The RPSI operates in a much smaller marketplace than UK train operators, and even if the market was there things like platform lengths come into play. How many stations in Ireland could take a 15 or 20-bogie train? Modern H & S regulations wouldn't allow a train to operate which was longer than the passenger platform at which it stopped. Cultra have a live steam model of 800, though not on display. It is one of a number built by the late model maker from Dublin, (someone) Montgomery. I think it is 7 inch or 10.5 inch gauge. THAT could operate!

Is it €620 for a full RTR model including painting?

(.....hanging my head in shame.....).... I'll have to take to the drink....

A bit like the orange and black window frames on NIR's 112!

Hahaha!!! That nun, Glenderg, will give me nightmares for a month! Better hit the beer to recover....

That weathering is so very realistic. Looking at the way many models seen on these boards are treated like this, i.e. exactly as they are in real life - makes me wonder why anyone would want a shiny model when attempting to achieve realism! A loco straight out of the paint shop in real life will have at least a little weathering after its first trip! Most 141s and 071s in recent years had the day-glo patches on each end - but in most cases these had degenerated to a dirty salmony pink, as we can see.

I've a horrible confession to make; if I get banned from here and ostracised by the entire civilised world as a result, so be it; here goes. I have got used to that logo now. Sorry. :-)

Yer wan with him is also a nutcase! Neither of them looked...... There's another youtube clip somewhere of a guy doing that in England while taking a pic of a preserved steam train going the other way.

There goes a man with no PTS....... nor hard boots, or dayglo vest - but do ye know what! He survived....

Must check that out, Weshty - it's one of the very few books I don't have at the moment. Interesting.... I remember seeing a pic of a Woolwich which looked like it had darker than usual green, but it was very dirty. Another pic of the same loco somewhere else, taken about the same time, showed it much lighter... same with railcars sometimes. I remember the UTA green could look a lot darker in certain light if it was dirty. I'll know what it is when I see the pic!

The UTA's MPDs are a modellers paradise!

Interesting, Weshty. I was aware of the one-offs in black or blackish colours, and the green one, though earlier when I posted that I was away from my own research records so couldn'nt quote exact loco numbers from memory. But the "blue-green" intrigues me. Is it possible to direct me to the pic showing it? I suspect it might have been the standard green, but very dirty, possibly allied with a distorted colour rendition in an old slide, but I'd be interested to see it anyway.

The grey on RPSI's 186 is correct - described in GSR days as "dark battleship grey". Occasional variations, according to those who were there to witness it, would see an occasional locomotive painted even darker, and many appeared dirty black when heavily weathered. At least one J15 was turned out in a colour little darker than wagon grey in the 30s. Towards the end of steam in the late 50s, a few locomotives were painted black. A list of them is in the late Bob Clements / Drew Donaldsons book on CIE locos which was published in the 70s. The RPSI for some reason "dirties" the smokebox and chimney on 186, while maintaining clean paint on the rest of the loco, to make the smokebox look black. In traffic, it was all grey - one of extremely few liveries in the world where the smokebox and chimney were not black. Wheels were also grey.

In CIE days, Park Royals would often turn up as intermediates - even wooden ex-GSW coaches also could be seen in AEC sets in the 50s. The GNR and UTA also used ex-loco hauled stock as centre coaches in AEC sets.

In CBSCR days they were green, probably a shade of olive green, lined in yellow. After 1925 they were all over grey, smokebox, wheels & chimney included until withdrawal. One (maybe 2 - have to look it up) of the class received lined CIE green as seen on 800 in Cultra, in the mid 50s. Pre-CIE days, from 1925 they had the standard cast GSR numberplates. Later CIE used the then-standard painted numerals.

Damn!!!!!!!!!! You'll laugh at this, but this iPad turned "josefstadt" into "upsets tarts"!!!!!!! Did you see that?

As upsets tart says, I would check out that info. Generally, small country termini would have one goods platform with separate area for loading cattle and a goods shed, and one passenger platform at which the run round loop was generally situated. Perhaps 3 or 4 sidings. Compared with GB you wouldn't have much in the way of private owner sidings, though some existed and one would make a nice addition to the layout. A small loco shed, maybe one or two roads, and a turntable would complete the picture, as would an adjacent station master's house....

Anyone modelling one? ,!!