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mfjoc

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Everything posted by mfjoc

  1. My priority wish list if anybody from IRM reads this: GSVs to go with the Cravens and Park Royals, BR vans perferably but would accept an unrebuilt DEW van as an alternative Either a 20 ton or 30 ton brake van to go with all the Bulleid stock now on order. A re-engined C class The footbridge that we were already promised My origonal intention was to only buy what ran in the 1980's but the recent offerings have reset this to 1970's and 1980's I know I will probably buy whatever is produced but the layout is filling up. 10 years ago I did not think I could ever be in this situation
  2. Really interesting video. It brough back many memories as I travelled on that RPSI tour behind 186 in 1972. The dedication that this group of people have shown over the last 40 years really is amazing. It also shows just how powerful the farming/ landowner lobby is and how negligent CIE have been in preserving the right of way for the state. I am probably in the minority here but I am a great beliver in the economic and social benifits of greenways. I see no justification for rebuilding the line to Foynes. Ireland is just too small for rail freight other that a few specific freight flows which are completly dependent on the location of a small number of factories. At the moment we have concentrates in containers from Ballina to Waterford, timber from Mayo to Waterford, Botox from Castlebar? Tara Mines? CIE had a network of container gantries all over the Island but transhipment costs killed the market. Why are we fixated in investing in a form of transport that is 200 years old. Why not think outside the box? At the moment most freight in an out of Ireland travels to and from Europe in standard articulated trailers which are rolled on and off ferries by special tractors. A road tractor delivers the trailers to and from the port. They are currely building a huge number of storage bays in Rosslare for holding the trailers before pickup or after drop off. Why not move the ports inland? My sugestion would be dedicated carriagways for transporting standard articulated trailers from ports to an inland hubs. Instead of diesel trucks the tractors would be unmanned electrical vehicles, powered by low voltage electricity (not batteries) similar to luas trams. The trailers could be transferred direct from the boat to the system. The carriageway could be single width with passing places to minimise construction costs. The whole lot would be controlled by AI to maximise efficiency and reduce energy consumption. While it would not be quite as efficient as steel on steel for that part of the journey, the benifits of a single mode of transport from factory to port and vise versa would far outweigh the extra energy costs which would still be green electricity so no additional carbon. Perhaps the line from Rosslare to Waterford could be converted to trial out the system? There is no reason why the network could not be extended to include city suburb to city suburb carriagways.
  3. Latest update! I bought the 12mm plywood and 2 x 1 softwood in B&Q in Liffey Valley about 10 or more years ago. At the time their standard plywood was very good quality and they would also cut it accurately for customers. Their 2x1 softwood was straight with very few knots or other defects. I screwed 400mm high hardboard directly to the wall for the backscene. The upper part of this will be covered in a cloudy sky wallpaper but I am not yet sure what I will use for the lower part. I have never got this far on a layout before so scenery is going to be something new to me. The track is now laid. For the scenic part of the layout I first laid out the points and track roughly until I had the track layout finalised. I drew a centre line on the plywood and glued Midwest Products cork trackbed down using a spray adhesive. I then screwed the track to the cork using 5mm x 1.2mm screws that I sourced on line. This means that if I change anything in the short term all the track will be recoverable. I will only consider ballasting the track when I am 100% happy with the track layout and operations. In both staging yards I laid the track on two layers of a rubber packing material. Control is a Roco Multimaus DCC master and slave controller. A ring main of 2 x 1.5² solid wire runs under the whole layout. Droppers are soldered to spade connectors and up through the plywood to the rails. The spade connectors are then inserted into crimp connectors clamped to the 1.5² wire. I tested all the trackwork as I went along with my Kato GP35 which runs jewel like. Ferrybank Yard On the left is the carriage siding, double track main line in the middle, three track yard with headshunt and pallet unloading siding on the right, and oil siding in the corner. Peninsula. Showing the four track north staging yard (Dublin). The kickback siding is electrically isolated so I can use it as a programming track. Junction The main line comes around the corner through the tunnel which will be replaced by a hill and a dolomite quarry in that corner of the layout. There will be up, down and bay platforms, the bay has a run around track. I plan to put a cement silo close to where 142 is in the photograph. The track on the front right may possibly be extended over a disused turntable to a loco shed. Junction and branch The main line curves around passing a beet siding and through the backscene into North staging. The branch line also curves around passing what will be the magnesite factory into the branch station. I have a Walthers ADM grain silo kit which I will install in this area mainly as a view blocker to hide both the tight radius curve on the branch and also the main line exiting to staging. South Staging This is a four track yard behind the backsene shown in the previous photo. The double track main line comes from Ferrybank over the lift out section and into the yard. On the left is the continuous run connection, The centre track has a run around and the right hand track has a kickback siding behind the door. The lifting flap was designed so that it can be installed with the door either open or closed. Main line For the main line between the two stations I lowered the baseboard so I could install a bridge. The next stage is to unbox all my Murphy Models and IRM stock accumulated over the years, fit chips to all ten Irish locomotives, and start to play trains. I am in the process of drawing up a timetable based on the traffic flows that would have been standard back in the 1980’s when I worked in CIE. Typical passenger operations envisaged are: 3 x Dublin Waterford return trains per day – 2 sets will be needed – Mk 2 or Mk 3 or Craven / park royal gen van 3 or 4 x Wexford – Junction return – 1 or 2 may be extended to Waterford 1 set needed craven park royal gen van 1 x Friday only Down train and 1 x Sunday evening or Monday morning only up train Craven Park royal gen van 1 x NIR special – Mk 2Bs Freight Flows Up and Down Scheduled liners – sundries / containers Dublin Junction Ferrybank Waterford Fertiliser paths Dublin Junction Ferrybank Waterford Cement path Dublin Junction Oil/ magnesite train Waterford - Ferrybank - Drinagh Dolomite train Junction - Drinagh Beet pick up Drinagh Junction - Waterford- South Staging Through Trains - Dublin direction to Waterford direction Tara ore Lisheen ore (Dicky Taras’) Up and down ballast Up and down Gypsum Other freight flows will depend on models that become available in the future Traffic generators at each location: Ferrybank: Oil siding Fertilizer or pallet cement siding Container and marshalling yard Junction: Dolomite quarry sidings Pallet unloading siding with cement silo Old goods siding with shed and bank 1 spare siding (possibly Beet?) Drinagh Magnesite factory sidings for oil dolomite and magnesite Goods siding for beet loading
  4. I suspect I know where this rumour came from. Due to a work connection I became friendly with someone who worked in engineering for a company in that area. His family home was built on the trackbed of the old Tullow branch. When he heard I was interested in trains he brought me home to show me the "Loco" that he had built in his garden. It's very hard to describe but it was basically a full size "locomotive" built out of scrap parts that he was given by his company. He had the whole thing set up as an outdoor kitchen and barbeque. It wasn't based on any prototype and owed a lot to his imagination but it looked great and was a real showpiece and talking point.
  5. These carriages really look amazing. I received mine on Tuesday and I immediately set up a test train with my first chipped loco Murphy Models 142. Everything worked fine until I put the driving trailer coach on the track and I then immediately got a short. If I take the carriage off the short goes away. all the other carriages are fine and look really well with the lights on. The instructions say a decoder may be fitted to control the directional lighting. I am already in communication with IRM and they say that if the blanking plug is removed, the directional lighting will be disabled but the interior lighting will still work. Has anyone else tried to use them on a layout with DCC control and got the same problem?
  6. I have been a member of this forum and indeed its previous incarnation for many years and while I would log on most days I have only posted sporadically. Your posts have been a source of both inspiration and information to me. Currently Mayner is posting on the on successes and failures in layout building which I find utterly fascinating. He has a track record if you will forgive the pun. Finally I am now in the process of actually building my first proper layout at the grand old age of 65, I thought I might share some of my thoughts and ideas. I was born in the 1950’s and grew up in Dublin in the 1960’s and 70’s. I was always interested in mechanical things. At five years of age my grandmother bought me a train set for Christmas. At six years of age she brought me on the train to visit my cousins in Galway. I have vivid memories of a grey and yellow 121 pulling us around the city from Westland Row through the phoenix park tunnel and down to Galway via Portarlington. I joined the IIRS junior branch at 12 years of age. I used to think I was unlucky in that I never got to see steam locos in operation, apart from going on several RPSI tours. In reality, the railway I observed in my youth was still very much the Victorian steam railway in almost every other aspect apart from diesel locomotives. The infrastructure had hardly changed. Most stations still had mechanical points and signals and sidings to goods sheds and cattle banks were still in place. Most of the branch lines had been closed but the trackbed was often still in place. There were still some six wheel carriages around and it was still possible to spot the odd MGWR or GSWR wagon although these were very rare. H vans and Bullied opens were everywhere. Freight trains left North wall every evening on the radial routes to Belfast, Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Limerick, Cork, Waterford and Wexford. They stopped at every station to drop off or pick up wagons. In IRRS headquarters in Dromcondra you would head the unmistakable beat of a Sulzer engine on a Heuston north wall transfers several times each evening. Often no two vehicles on a passenger train would be the same or even have the same profile. A passenger train could consist of four-wheel luggage or heating vans, GSR stock, non corridor stock, repainted GNR stock, laminates, buffet car, park royals and cravens. I travelled often on the railcars some of which still had first class seats behind the driver when on the Dublin suburban. I observed loose coupled goods trains with brake vans shunting single wagons into sidings. On a holiday in Killarney I walked up to the signal cabin and spent hours watching the signalman at work. Using the phone to ring the gatekeepers, pressing the lever on the ETS, remove the staff and take out the key for the mechanical interlock on the home signal before pulling the signals off. He even let me pull the lever for the starter signal. I couldn’t pull the crossover, it was just too hard. Needless to say, no kid could ever experience that nowadays as, even if the cabin was there, no member of the public would be let near it, let alone a 12-year-old kid. With another IIRS member we spent two weeks on a rambler ticket to travel on every line open at the time including a Sunday special to Fenit. In Claremorris one day we tried to persuade the driver to let us travel on the loco of the goods up the Burma road to Sligo. We didn’t have loco passes, but they did allow us travel in the guard’s van as long as we got off at Coolloney and not go into Sligo where we might have been spotted by management. We walked up the track to the midland station where we got on the up Sligo back to Dublin. I never had a good eye for photography and so the quality and quantity of the photos I took is poor. Instead I mainly observed and soaked everything up into memory. Every time I see a photograph taken by Barry Carse or others who could take proper photos, it brings back the memories of an era and a time that I experienced but has now disappeared for ever. As a kid I had a Triang train set with various British locos and rolling stock but as I got older I was not satisfied. Any layout I built had to be Irish, not alone that it had to be either 21mm gauge or 00n3, consequentially nothing got built. From the mid 70’s on, other distractions such as rugby, university, hiking, career, marriage, mortgage, family, etc pushed railway modelling into the background. I did actually work as an engineer in CIE for much of the 1980’s both on the road side and the railway before leaving for the private sector. I have fond memories of my time in CIE. In retrospect I didn’t use the benefits, such a personal loco pass and first class travel pass as much as I should have but the 80’s were tough times in Ireland. I was one of the lucky ones in my class who got jobs in Ireland. My efforts were concentrated on my career, raising my family and keeping a roof over our heads. In all this time I remained a member of the IIRS, going to meetings, library nights etc. but the main reason for being a member is the journal. My collection goes back to the 1960,s any historical query can normally be answered by referring to some past journal. I would advise anyone who even a passing interest in Irish railways to join. The picture archive that Ciaran Cooney has created is phenomenal. I have never lost the love of trains, if I am beside a railway line anywhere in the world and a train is passing I will stop and watch. I do find it very hard to get excited about the modern Irish railway system. It really is more like a tramway than anything else. Railway Modelling I have been dabbling in model railways since I was a child. In the 1980’s it had to be Irish and proper gauge, not four foot nothing. I bought some kits off Terry McDermot, joined the scalefour society to get 21mm track parts. I half built a MGRW E class 0-6-0 but never had the skill or determination to finish anything let alone build a layout. I went to most of the model railway exhibitions held over the years, bought magazines, kits etc. I was your typical armchair modeller, criticising other peoples work while not actually producing anything myself. I probably should have joined the SDMRC but never did. Model railways was always a third or fourth hobby after hiking, rugby, family etc. I have always been interested in operation, ever since I watched an operating session on Sam Carse’s County Donegal layout. Scenically it was very basic but Sam didn’t care, he wanted to operate his layout as the real railway did. All his stock was hand built but the whole thing ran on Hornby Doublo three rail mechanisms and track, and consequently was very reliable to operate. The session included operating all the regular trains both railcar and steam from Strabane to Stranolar, Donegal, Ballyshannon and Killybegs. This included three railcars meeting in Donegal town and a coal special from Killybegs to Ballyshannon. I was also lucky enough to see the whole of Richard Chown’s Castlerackrent in operation in Edinburgh in the 1980’s. This left a lasting impression on me, at one stage I dreamed about scratch building a 7mm layout. For years I subscribed to Model Railroader as I always found the American attitude to model railroading fascinating. In particular, I liked the way layout design was almost always about a railroad and how the railroad would be operated as much as the era or the trains themselves. Compared with British models of the time American locos and stock were much more realistic, reliable and slower running. Over the years I bought a lot of American rolling stock as I just love first and second-generation diesels. My favourite railroad was the D&RGW which up until the 80’s as an all EMD railroad. Most American models run really well and Kadee couplings are great. Twenty years ago, we had orange coloured Hornby Hymecs or Lima class 33s and they were not for me. About 15 years ago I built an American shunting layout based on a design by Dave Barrow that appeared in Model Railroader. I bought a lot of building kits and intended to complete it scenically but while in a way it was interesting to operate, I got bored with it and never developed it. I wanted to run trains through multiple stations not just shunt a few wagons. I skipped on Paddy Murphy’s original Lima models, as at the time I was committed to modelling American in HO. But then he brought out the 141/181 which is what I would consider the first proper scale model of an Irish loco. The situation has now gone from famine to feast and it has become really difficult to resist what both IRM and Paddy produce. Paddy set the bar so high and IRM have raised it even higher. The new Layout This is my first serious attempt at completing a model railway. Looming retirement and jibes from the family about when I am going to stop talking about building a model railway and actually build one have forced my hand a little. We are now empty nesters and the domestic authority have granted a lease at a very expensive price (lots of grovelling and lots of DIY around the house) to a downstairs room that measures approx. 3500x2500 or 11’6” x 8’6” in old money. This is probably very generous compared to what other people may have but I would have liked at least double this. It has taken me years to come up with an acceptable design. For many years on the other side of the pond John Armstrong was the ultimate guru on all things track planning. In his preamble to producing a design for a client he always spoke of the “Givens and Druthers” summarised simply as things that you can’t change such as space, scale etc and then the wish list. For me the emphasis of the design of the layout has to be on operation over scenic realism. This leads to compromises on station design, lengths of passing loops, minimum radius curves etc. etc. The biggest compromise of all is that the track gauge is four foot nothing not five foot three. On the other hand I wanted the line to go through the scenic part of the layout once. The layout is dual purpose, while the scenery will be Ireland of the 1980’s I intend to have operating sessions where I can run my American stock. Era will be 1970- 1980’s so virtually everything will be in supertrain livery. I have resisted the temptation to buy either 201s or ICRs. Newest stock will probably be Mk3s. I now also have to accommodate a visiting special from NIR as I have taken the plunge and bought an IRM mk. 2 b set. It does help that having worked for CIE in the 1980’s I have loads of memories that I will try to recreate. Alternatively, on American nights the layout will become the Denver Terminal Railroad so I can run my Yampa Valley Mail, my California Zeypher, and various hotshot freights out through the Denver suburbs and up the Front Range to the Moffet Tunnel. Layout design The design has been in gestation for about 10 years. Railway modelling is only one of my hobbies so while I was working I never found sufficient time to allocate to it. I retired in June 2023 and finally started construction of the baseboards last October. The layout is point to point but with a continuous run option for when I want to run in stock or just play trains. The emphasis of the layout is on operation as opposed to scenic fidelity. It will probably take years to add scenery so initially the aim is to get the baseboard and track built and operational and take it from there. In my imagination I have assumed that the line from Waterford to Kilkenny via Thomastown was not built but instead the line was built up the Barrow valley via New Ross and Borris meeting the GSWR at Bagnelstown. There would also have been a branch to Kilkenny from a junction at Goresbridge and a junction to Wexford and Rosslare close to New Ross. The assumption is that the south Wexford line was never built as by the 1880’s there was already a line in place from Wexford to Waterford. The layout design is very loosely based on this idea. My model railway runs from north staging which is a four track yard on one side of the peninsula past the continuous run connection and into the scenic area around to the junction, the branch line from Wexford (Drinagh) makes a trailing connection here. The Junction has up and down platforms and a bay platform for the branch and down trains. It also has a few sidings for freight traffic. The branch curves around from a small terminus Drinagh (Wexford/Rosslare) on the same peninsula as the north staging. This station has a single passenger platform one general siding and one large industry with two long sidings and a separate run around. I plan to site my Walters grain silo here which will become a Magnesite works. It the future it will probably have its own shunter. The main line continues around to the other side of the room over a lowered section of the baseboard where I plan to put a bridge and into the approach to Waterford station. The layout here consists of a station throat with yard and sidings. The entrance to the south end staging is over a lift out section as the door into the room is conveniently situated in this corner. To mask the curves I intend to build the outline of an overall roof as the end of the scenic section. I will call the yard area Ferrybank. There is a three track marshalling / container yard a headshunt and pallet unloading siding. On the other side if the main line there is a carriage siding and oil siding. The south end staging is a four track yard along the wall behind the main line. Also the continuous run connection will allow me to run in locomotives or just play trains. The plan is to operate passenger trains to a timetable with various paths for freight trains depending on the time and people available for the operating session. Dublin Waterford passenger trains will run from Dublin (north staging) to Waterford (south staging). It will be possible to cross trains at the junction and, also local Waterford Wexford trains which will normally be made up of one or two cravens and a GSV van( Hint! Hint! IRM). Later I may add a boat train. I plan to develop a timetable for an operating session that realistically portraits the typical passenger and freights movements that would have taken place in the 1980’s. Baseboard height is about 1300mm, mounted directly off the walls except for the peninsula. There are no gradients. Track passes through each scene once. Baseboard is 12mm ply mounted on 2 x 1 framing except for the peninsula which utilises much deeper plywood box from the old shunting layout. A 400mm high hardboard backscene has been attached directly to the wall with a 200mm high backscene between the terminus and the north staging. I had a basic track plan drawn out, but waited until I could physically fit each piece of track or point in place before finalising the layout in each station. The track is screwed to Midwest cork roadbed which is glued to the plywood baseboard. For the moment this looks ok. Down the line I may ballast the track but certainly not before I have operated the layout for a while and am sure that everything works. Minimum mainline radius is 700mm but down to 600mm on the branch. Over the years I have bought a lot of model railway equipment so I haven’t had to purchase too much new stuff. Track is a mixture of Bachmann code 100 flexible track and Peco points many of which are 30 years old, and still in perfect condition as they were never really been used. I also bought a job lot of second hand Peco points in poor visual condition as they had been pulled up from a painted and ballasted layout but are still ok operationally so have used these in the staging areas. For control I have a Roco DCC multimaus master and slave controller. I have a pair of Kato GP35 which are not very detailed but run like jewels. I have used these to test each section of track as it is laid. I may upgrade to sound decoders down the line but I am not sure if sound will enhance the operating experience and that I can justify the expense. Baseboard construction was largely complete by the end October. The picture below is taken from the doorway across the lift-out section to the peninsula and the site for the junction station. Tracklaying commenced in November and is now approaching completion so I hope to post an update when I have everything running.
  7. Held off until now as my layout is based around CIE in the 1980's away from the Belfast line I have been trying to limit purchases to models that will actually run on the layout. These models just look too good to pass on, so have ordered a trainset I will now have to include a path for a visiting special in each operating session
  8. Has the footbridge project been shelved completly ? I need on for the layout
  9. I love the picture of the G&SWR Baltic tank at "Inchicore"
  10. Thought I would bump this topic up. Any rumor's about when any of the new models are going to be released? Last update on Murphy's website is March 2021 with just the announcements.
  11. If I remember right there was a problem with the EMD engine in that when it cooled down, it would dump the lube oil. After the first oil crisis special heaters were fitted to keep the lube oil warm but they became a maintenance headache and usually was easier to leave the engine idling away, even overnight rather than risk it cooling down and not being able to start in the morning.
  12. mfjoc

    new murphys products

    Now that our appetites are about satiated by the A Class being actually delivered is there any news from Paddy I badly need a Mk 3 set in CIE livery
  13. When the Cravens were introduced they were fitted with belt driven generators and battery boxes for lighting which meant that they could be run during the summer months without a GSV. Often only with a laminate or GSR bogie coach with a break compartment. Loosing belts was a really common problem in that era and coupled with the hassle of maintaining batteries led to the TL conversion in the 1970's. The ride quality of the four and six wheel vans was terrible. The four wheel vans were gone by 1980 at the latest and while the six wheel vans survived a bit longer and I think they were fitted with a gen set. The shortage of bogie vans with gensets led to the conversion of the 3200 class from ex GSR stock.
  14. What's the history of the model? Where is it? Who built it?
  15. The blue Tara's looked like that for about a week I will have to bite the bullet and weather them!
  16. I was in Corsica in 2014 walking the GR20 long distance trek with my daughter. We went by train from Vizzavona to Corte on a rest day and then from Calvi to Bastia after completing it The scenery everywhere is amazing. Yes, the old railcars had been replaced but the railway itself is still magnificent and well worth a visit.
  17. Its not this - this is an OPW funded project for Rosslare Strand village, they are still dithering about the funding. What I am talking about is much closer to Rosslare Harbour where there has been serious erosion of the cliff and fields have vanished into the sea over the last few years. Along a half kilometre stretch the line is now only about 20m from falling into the sea. This is the area where the work is going on.
  18. There seems to be a major costal protection scheme ongoing between Rosslare harbour and Rosslare strand. The line is closed south of Wexford during the day. I can't find any details about it on line. Anyone her know the details?
  19. The cracks were in the main frames of the locomotives above the bogie bolsters. A repair program was agreed with EMD involving strengthening the frames by welding reinforcement tubes into the frame above the bolsters. At one stage half the fleet was out of service either undergoing repair or waiting for repair.It only got into the public domain when a revised timetable had to be brought in as even a pair of 181's couldn't keep up the sectional running times of the 071's on the main line.
  20. "I wonder can anyone, meantime, help with 3406M? Similar to the wagon to the right, very "American-looking" bogie rail flats. I recall seeing one derelict many many years ago somewhere round the North Wall area. Senior pointed it out to me. " War surplus, bought by the best bargin hunting railway in the country. i think some were later incorporated in the Bretland relaying train.
  21. Maybe I can add some background to cement traffic as I was involved in it when I worked for CIE in the 1980's Cement wagons were loaded by gravity in either Platin or limerick. The hatch in the top of the bubble or bogie wagon was opened and a circular canvas chute was lowered in contact with the wagon. The chute was double walled as air was drawn up as the wagon was being filled to contain the dust. I think the loading silos had multiple chutes and could load several wagons at a time. A loco was still needed to pull the train through as each set of wagons were loaded. When the train reached the destination storage silo the operator connected the compressed air supply to the wagon and also a large diameter rubber hose to the unloading pipe. this was via a Bauer connection.The air blew the cement up through the hose up a pipe to the top of the silo. The train engine stayed with the train while it was being unloaded as only 4 wagons could be unloaded for each shunt, two at a time if I remember rightly. Hence why the bubbles were marshaled pipe to pipe so when the first wagon was empty the operator just moved the air and unloading hoses to the second wagon. Cork was different as a gantry with multiple hoses ran down between two sidings so the train could be split and left there. Wagons were moved using a capstan in Cabra but not anywhere else. Road tankers where driven in under the silo onto the weighbridge and were loaded using a similar telescopic chute to that for loading the wagons. The silos at Tullamore and Waterford were 1000 ton while the one at Athenry was 2 x 500 ton as there was a local customer how used a lot of rapid hardening cement rather than the normal portland cement. So they had to be careful to unload the correct wagons into the right silo. All three were built a company called IMC . The much larger silo in Cork was built by Kocums who had supplied the original bubble bodies. The one in Sligo was built by Portosilo and was 4 250 ton silos in a row There were also storage silos at Adelaide in Belfast. These were owned by Blue Circle but if I remember right were just mounted on the ground and the cement was blown in and blown out.
  22. Yes bubbles could be discharged anywhere using the compressor mounted on the back of a cement lorry to fluidise the cement and pump it directly into the bulk road tanker. This was not ideal as the wagons spent a lot of time sitting in sidings and not earning revenue. This changed when bulk cement silos were built in Cork, Waterford Athenry Tullamore and Sligo. All were up and running by 1980 and from then on all cement was dispatched in block trains either from Limerick or Platin. In the early days the bogie bulk cement wagons only ran Platin to Cork as they were too heavy for the branches. All the others were supplied by bubbles. The only exception that I remember was Tegral in Athy who at the time were owned by Irish cement. Wagons were shunted down the siding and left until they were unloaded. They built a storage silo sufficient to take a full trainload in the mid 80's. During this period Cabra cement depot was closed for several years due to a strike by operatives, but when it reopened it never got back its market share as most Dublin customers had got used to driving direct to Platin to load
  23. During the 1970's after both the A & C class were re-engined and loco reliability and availability improved pilot engines were generally withdrawn from around the country. Railplan 80 called for fixed rakes of coaching stock and block liner trains creating the so called "No Shunt " railway. Most maintenance was centralized in Dublin. During the 1980's Heuston passenger station always had at least one pilot engine generally a Maybach until they were withdrawn and after that usually a 141 with worn wheels due a bogie exam., All trainsets were pulled out of the platform road either to the wash, carriage maintenance depot or just to release the locomotive. The locos released usually went up to the running shed in inchicore for fueling and daily exams. An interesting feature of that time was that often two 071s would couple together for the run down the gullet to Heuston, one towing the other. I think Connolly had a passenger pilot as well for both Dundalk and Belfast trains but i think the Sligo train was run through to the Boston sidings to run around. While Cork used to have locomotives based in the shed there all mainline trains pulled out towards Cobh through a carriage wash where the train locomotive ran around. I don't think there was a passenger pilot based in Limerick and I am pretty sure that all passenger trains were propelled out of the station to run around and propeled back in. All other country locations either ran around at the platform ( incl. Waterford, Kilkenny, Tralee Dundalk) or propelled out the line to run around ( incl Galway & Sligo). Rosslare was interesting in that the train continued on empty all the way onto the pier to run around before pulling back towards the platform.
  24. Next most important is a BR van for all those lovely cravens out there and also for the weed sprayer.
  25. Just check with the IIRS journal. The modifications were carried out in 1986. Pipes were added to TPOs 2972-2981 and 8 GSVs The vacuum braked stock had to be marshalled next to the loco. Mails were carried in 20' containers on the bogie wagons not sundries. They were used on both the Cork and the Galway mails.
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