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.

A bit of a blood bath for what is a kids book, no?

Catering would be "nice to have" but if the costs don't stack up, well then. The way people go on you'd swear it was Michelin starred grub, that it was not, certainly not in the 90s at any rate. Journeys here are short compared with elsewhere so I don't think there is a need for it, especially to humor people who either never travel or hop on board once in a blue moon just to complain. Curtains on windows, a near useless piece of fabric to be dragged around, get grubby or gather dust and needing replacement. People don't even have curtains in modern houses anymore! Other railways have pull-down blinds but our sun is rarely strong enough to warrant these and knowing the public, they would be wrecked in jig time. The one thing I do miss is the ability to order or bring my own beer on board like most any other country in the world but thanks to a minority of people who are chronically unable to behave themselves and a lack of deterrents here we are. This is a society wide problem and not exclusive to rail. If AGS are unwilling or unable to provide anything more than a sporadic, reactive patrolling of public transport, a dedicated transport police is needed like most other countries, I don't see why we have to be an exception. 80s nostalgia. 1984, when it was a few years since they had the worst accident on this island in living memory? A cash starved system sometimes literally held together with baler twine? Do we really want to return to that??

Proving my point that the public are rather dense.

I don't think the Irish public outside of enthusiasts pay much attention, there are adults now who won't remember orange and black anyhow.

Likewise I don't think the public really care all that much what colour scheme the trains are provided it takes them from a to b in comfort and on time at a reasonable cost. It's more image consultants trying to justify their fees and a way of hoodwinking people into thinking they have a "new" train until they hop in and find out it's the same stock with a lick of paint that still arrives late!

At first glance I thought (Eamon) Von Ryan's Express, but capacity on the existing units for bikes etc was sorely lacking and like it or not, growing numbers of people will want to travel with bikes. Now, there is a certain looking at the so-called Good Old Days through rose tinted specs for the folks who dislike "modhern" things simply because they're "modhern", but remember the Cravens when one was a sauna you couldn't see out through the windows in and the next one was Siberia? Broken windows flopping down leaving in wind and rain? Leaking roofs? Stinky smoking coaches? Would the same people whinge about air travel because the toilet is tiny and they can't open the windows??

At a guess, I'd say there's more As than Cs in circulation and with the new A, lads more likely to move their SF A on.

You can pick up a Silver Fox A for buttons and butcher that instead.

I'll drink to that.