minister_for_hardship

WW1 part 2 was always going to mean that materials to expand or at least keep that going were to be in short supply.

No offence, but (usually said by those who tend to offend) the 800 class were a waste of resources given their limited usefulness and smack of a vanity project. As far as I can see built for just one purpose, to start out of Cork without a pilot. Perhaps with a bit more thought, the J15 Nua class could have been improved from the disappointments they turned out to be? A Jeep-like loco would have been an ideal, go most anywhere loco, but unlike today there was no shortage of operational turntables for tender engines. OHLE was tried and trusted by the 20s and 30s, perhaps that could have been adopted for Dublin suburban rather than the Drumm units in a what if scenario?

Not even a hint of yellowing, and a rail worker going to the effort of writing 'Ford' in that company's font, really? It looks like it's written with a black Sharpie, first sold in 1964! If it was an excursion for Ford employees only, why put it on a poster (intended for general public)? Everything about the second one is suspect! Rail and Bus. But the whole thing looks fabricated.

I'd say the poster is genuine, a little sceptical about the pencilled in details. Why would they go to the trouble of writing that out and not paste it up?

+1 for another J15 breakdown, worm slipping on the shaft if I recall. Fixed free of charge.

I suspect bunker capacity may have limited usefulness on longer runs and aprés amalgamation there was no shortage of handier locos available to poke around the city quays and Courtmac.

Tacked on to production of the identical British based locos, just a different coat of paint and number plates. If it were a stand alone Irish obscure model, it may not have fared as well.

Safety lamp? Probably not railway.

Apart from a brief exhibition on travel posters at NM, the powers that be up in the NM haven't the faintest interest in railways. Even in that exhibition, the emphasis was placed on the history of the tourist trade and the poster artists rather than the railways themselves.

It's not even that. The money was there for the initial steam railway, and in a rich country now money shouldn't be a problem, but interest to keep it alive/interest in a reboot is the rock it founders upon. Always.

Usual kicking the can down the road. Wash, rinse, repeat for next meeting.

I find it useful to complain about things when I'm out of options, most, not all, companies tend to take notice of public shaming when they ignore direct emails.

"But until such time as we know how good or how bad the condition of the tracks and train is, we can’t make a decision." Sadly nothing will, that bunch haven't a Scooby Doo.

On today's "someone should do something" news, Blenderville is brought up at a council meeting... https://m.independent.ie/regionals/kerry/tralee-news/no-sign-of-tralee-blennerville-steam-train-coming-down-the-tracks-just-yet/a1367704916.html

My aunt in the uk was a great one for picking up second hand books and passing them on to me, some really old ones too; I was convinced that Ceylon and Rhodesia still existed. I was given one book from the original Railway Series (which somehow survived to this day) and bought maybe a handful of later Ladybird style of Thomas books in the 80s, the illustrations looked like stills from the Ringo era shows. I never watched the TV shows, as we had a two channel house.