jhb171achill

I would agree. It’s the only period where you such a huge variety of stock, plus both steam and diesel. Many, many one-off local operations like the two horse tramways (Fintona and Shannonvale); brand new modern diesel railcars, coaches, tin vans and wagons, operating not just alongside; but intermingled WITH, stock which in a large number of cases was pre-1900, even in a few cases pre-1880. Some locos and rolling stock long predated the actual lines they were running on, while others were so new their classmates were still being built in Inchicore. And with so many branch lines still open - even on the basis of a thrice-weekly goods and little else - you’ve a modelling prototype for anything. And several narrow gauge lines are still operating. Donegal and West Clare railcars were able to glimpse new shiny tin vans and new “H” vans across the tracks at Strabane and Ennis.

I have to confess it was me that got them the bottles. You know - THOSE bottles. They’ve drained the lot of’em…..

And there was me thinking it was an outing of the Tullywellan, Ballyroney & Ballygowan Pigeon Worriers Club!

Original - so, yes, the mix is available in model form. I see a few of Leslie's Provincial "H" vans in tere too, in this case probably to carry beet pulp. There's another brake van in the middle, so gawwd knows what's going on - was my first thought. But: The then Wexford - Waterford goods had a guard's van at each end to save switching one from one end of the train to the other when it reversed at Rosslare strand. And the ferts have just ended up being added on somewhere.

Wonder when those first appeared and finally disappeared? There must have been quite a few as there was a time they seemed to be everywhere….

It is. They all were. The RPSI has a beautifully and expertly preserved van if this type at Whitehead, but as so often, livery details are wrong. It has this cream-painted inner balcony; this should be grey. It’s right inside the van - out of sight - that was cream, at least on the upper half. Worse, all of its vertical steel framing is painted black, none of them ever having tin like that - it looks like a zebra! Not just CIE, but the GNR too, painted them all grey.

The cream interior is an RPSI invention!

Superb! The beet season is obviously in full swing!

Someone told me once that they thought only one was repainted by CIE, but I have no way of verifying that. What we do know, however, is that very few of them survived long with CIE, as they were churning out brand new 20T vans like nobody's business. many without doubt went to the scrappers still with "G N" on them. I never saw one in use other than with the UTA / NIR, but I would say the one mentioned above in 1966 has got to have been about the last of them on CIE. You've got me thinking about the one that ended up on the Dugort Harbour branch! Next time I see Leslie, I'll see what coins I have..........!

From Capecastle to Brookhall Mill to Clogherhead, these layouts are a master class in mini / shunting layouts and show what’s possible ina small space.

Yes. Like much of CIE tradition, and the GSR before, wagon makers / numberplates followed old GSWR Inchicore tradition. So, in the later days of the GSWR, they changed from oval plates to the “D” shaped ones, with “G S W R” on them. The GSR simply copied this, using “G S R”, of course. In 1945 CIE did the same. CIE plates can still be seen everywhere. I wonder will we ever see the same type of plates with “I E” on them? There are examples of these standard Inchicore plates with “N I R” on them, on PW bogies that were either built or modified in Inchicore.

That explains that then - not carriage trucks. Both those wagons are MGWR in John Edgington's photo - both have MGWR builder's plates - same type exactly, presumably.

This is just awful. Good luck with remedial measures.

I think those may be old MGWR carriage trucks, built for carting the horse carriages of the gentry about.

I have a notion that all Fords sold in the north were shipped in from Britain. Senior used to drive Fords in the 50s and 60s, when living in the north, and they all came from Dagenham. Only exception was a Ford Prefect - but he bought that in Dublin in 1951 as he was living there then.

You wouldn't have got GNR ones down in Cork........

Awful. Long dry spell needed. I'm wondering if there is some future way of creating some sort of flood barrier round the station? Or sealing the shed doors? Only long term solution is one which jhbSenior encountered a couple of times during his civil engineering days - raise the entire track level by a couple of feet!

Built by a certain be-capped person's very own JCBs!

Its "alternative history" has it surviving to the 1975 closures, probably due to brown envelopes, Healy Raes and cute Kerry wizardry............!

Fascinating stuff, folks - thanks!

Oh, it will. It's also sending out sugar beet now! And I've a pile of Provincial McAllister cattle wagons awaiting construction when "real life" allows a bit of time....

Got me flats ordered now anyway!

Corrugateds and flats now ordered. There's going to have to be a car dealer somewhere near Dugort Harbour which will keep the flats busy with incoming Ford Populars all the way from Caark, boy. Interesting point; as referred to before, and also in connection with the NCC's two second hand "jintys"*, it is seeming clearer and clearer that a wagon (or loco or presumably coach) does not at all have to be "mainstream" to warrant production. Thus, the idea that "you'd never sell those" takes a big hit in many an example. Mainstream items sorely missing now are timber-bodied bogies - many of which were very long lived into the 1970s - and tin vans and AEC railcars. I'm saving up.

1. The view of E429 - where exactly is that? 2. "....linked to the old Cork & Blackrock railway..." - No! While it's close to where the original broad gauge City Quay terminus of the BROAD gauge Cork, Blackrock & Passage line was, it was never "linked" to it; what I suspect they mean is that it's linked to the former Cork and BANDON railway line. Newspapers, eh...........!

The “snail” era was up to 1963 but many, many wagons of this type wouldn’t have had a repaint until long after that. All wagons were grey then and well into the “roundel” era. The “broken wheel” roundel started appearing in 1963, and the brown livery after 1970, by which time the “black’n’tan” era was in its end days! With the “supertrain” livery first appearing in 1972, they’re fine for that purpose on a 1970s layout as well!