Blaine

Ah - misread it - thought it was 3 coaches in total

Thats the 'spare' set out of Belfast most likely - 1 standard, 1 first class, 1 restaurant and 1 driving car. Wonder if the Head End Power was used given its a short set

Long gone, yet the sign at the entrance to Boucher Retail Park is still there

Its down too to the the rpsi and a lesser extent the IRRS, IRRS pushed for 131,184 and 461 to be preserved initially although only 131 ended up plinthed for a few years - the original plan was for the 3 to be plinthed in Dundalk, Inchicore and Wexford Irish Railway Preservation is like entrepreneurism - for every 1 scheme that got somewhere, there were many that didn't. Traditional Irish tribalism and people being in things for themselves rather than the common benefit of all messed up more than one organisation and the hard work of some people went overlooked for whatever reason. Be thankful for what's here now and don't dwell too much on those that didn't make it

I was involved in this one too with JB and his merry men, was merely a feasibility study, and it was never a case of 'We are doing this, we are restoring XYZ', was just seeing what was possible and as we found out, not all the pieces of the jigsaw were available to complete it, so no egg on face really as it was all kept low down. Of course if anything was going to happen it would have been publicised well I now reside in the area and there's very little if any reminders of the railway that was here - few buildings in Athboy and what's left of the platform and an old road bridge in Trim along with some pillars over a long gone bridge over the River Boyne. A huge plus was there were no level crossings or underbridges - the hump back bridge on the Trim-Athboy road was the only one, and the road went over the railway. We are not Britain, and population is very small compared to theirs, so less interest Ultimately preservation is about being realistic and not dreaming. Occasionally dreams come through, but not every time. Same in the UK too, theres been plenty of closed/abandoned projects for whatever reason, and other stuff that would be great if it happened, but there's an obstacle or fifteen in the way

The Model Railway Society of Ireland in association with Dundalk Railway Heritage Society is proud to present Dundalk Works in Dundalk on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th July 2025 This is another opportunity to see the iconic model in its home town and in Central Dundalk too More information to follow

No need for it, it is a full on commuter line and a terminus (for now), so only busy at peak times

Almost sure they had no train brake equipment at all, slow speeds and loose coupled trains along with the skills of the crew. Wasn't until the late 70's/early 80's that CIE started introducing air braked stock, the bogie cements and MK3 coaches were first, well after the G's were gone. But lets not divert the thread

They had electric horns, similar to what you would find on a car (beep beep), the air horns are a more recent addition in DCDR days. Less said about the whistle the better They were an off the shelf design, so parts availability was quite easy. Deutz as a company still survive, but no longer making railway equipment

Peter Schweppe was the guy, still going strong. He later opened the Model Shop on Capel Street which sold trains, but later retired and taken over by a new owner, which closed down a few years ago

Time and in most cases you are better to inspect items in person, not everything is 'Mint in Box'

You can almost see the bits of talcum powder/baking soda used in the 'ageing/weathering' process. Plus 'line of tramway' makes no sense, doubt the Hill of Howth tramway had such signs, as I dont think the Fintona branch was considered a tramway - just a lightly used and short line. Fake people buying fake signs....

That's a Swiss Railways BM4/4 II class diesel https://www.trainsdepot.org/en/vehicle/589/bm-4-4ii-18451-18452 Irrelevant to make any Irish comparisons aside from the Sulzer engines Dont forget Oliver Bulleid was pushing for American locos in the early 1950's having seen what was happening on American Railroads even before WW2, Irish Beef Exports to the UK were one of the factors that prevented this from happening - initially at least, so when CIE needed more diesels after the A/C class debacle the order went to EMD. Would have been interesting to see what would have happened if he was allowed to go to EMD in the early 1950's and if the GNR had proceeded with their diesel locomotive plans - they wanted electrification too and if this happened in the 1950's it all would have been sourced from Continental Europe, not the UK

They do, but only at the Rathcoole shop All of this ^^^ Nowhere in Ireland, have attended auctions in Ireland and its usually antiques auctioneers running it along the lines of 'its old, so its valuable'. Not always the case and there is no specialist model auctioneer in Ireland, no market for such a thing, unlike Vectis, Astons or M+M in the UK. Plus auction houses have many fees, you wont get the hammer price at the end A show is the best way of selling - 2-3 days of captive market, you might end up with less than you wanted, but its gone and to a happy home

Yes it will Keep in mind these are at the very cutting edge of whats available now, decades ahead of any kit or other 'RTR' version of the Park Royal coach

1:76.2 - that Point 2 is occasionally skipped and the results show

Its already been announced and the poster was on display at the Clontarf exhibition. And the date was on it too! October 25/26/27 2025

Its a drawing of a Hunslet overlaid onto a photo of the former Adelaide yard

Another train has been added https://www.downrail.co.uk/event/christmastea/

Had some Proof again that you cant hang around for most new releases, 'Ah shur Ill get it again', 'Ill do it later' are national traits at this stage. Not to mention those who were not even aware of their existence

Already sold out, got in early

Thats nice, surprised they did it as the BEMU and not the 2 car 'Ultrasonic Test Train' which was diesel powered with the ultrasonic trolley under the trailer car. Bachmann tooled a few variants of the Derby Lightweight too so the 'green' livery was the correct one to use for the Ultrasonic one. Im sure one of the 3D printing firms will make the parts for Gemini in time, or Rails will heavily discount it as it is not selling......

It was used for buffer impact testing somewhere, so probably was a bit bent afterwards, back then diesel preservation wasnt a thing in Ireland

They were an off the shelf design - the English Electric Stephenson Class, the NIR locos not having a centrally mounted cab compared to some that were built for industrial use. A rare example of an unreliable English Electric loco - the 104 class brought into replace them were slightly older.....