minister_for_hardship

Back in the 50s, he hadn't foreseen the rise of the middle classes, the so-called "people who get up early in the morning" with the cash and leisure time to put bums on seats plus the active retired living longer and again, with money to spend. Back in 1950-squat, if you made it to retirement, you *might* have at best a decade before you shuffled off the stage. I don't think anyone could grasp back then that a set of children's books about talking engines would spawn a multi million animation and merch industry thus bringing younger enthusiasts in the door!

By and large kick started by a hodge podge of the public schoolboy set, clergy, assorted middle class with time on their hands and wealthy folk. We did not have such a mix in critical numbers.

Just for comparison, an industrial theme attraction in the same region (Belfast) about some ship that came a cropper netted some 624,000 odd visitors in 2022, pre Plague they had a high of nearly 837,000 coming through their doors in 2018!

Again, they have the interest in the uk to see these things realised, we don't.

I think it's regarded in some quarters as a glorified fairground ride, but it does have to conform to the fairly serious rail safety regulations just like the 'real' railway. Personally, as it has no old interesting (to me) stock or recreate an atmosphere like the olden days I'd only have marginal interest in it. Likewise I'd gravitate towards a NYMR or a SVR before I'd visit a line with industrial loco haulage, that's not to denigrate the hard work put in by the people involved that's just my preference. To be fair, the WSVR doesn't appear to suffer from the one man band nature of much of Irish Preservation, ie what happens when that one man isn't around to manage things anymore, and the tendency for disaffection: volunteers leaving and/or picking up their ball and going home.

Indian. They are appearing at antique shops lately at inflated prices. A lot of them crudely constructed or repaired.

Just that some letters look a bit odd, like a repair over damaged enamel.

What's going on here? They were usually enamelled, not painted timber? Or is it painted over enamel mounted on a timber backing?

We had a neighbour, long since gone to his reward, but prone to yarning told one about when CIE were getting rid of old steam locomotives they sold them to big farmers up the country who put them to use in the task of drawing out farmyard manure...

My very thoughts when I saw the stock and the distance involved, doubtless people will enjoy the experience, it's just not for me! The 21st century version of standing in an open wagon enthusiasts' special.

Re councils and railways, if CIE didn't have a monopoly and councils got a disused line or trackbed for free in this country, it would likely be handed out / sold / rented to surrounding landowners/"friends and family" in days of yore or made into the current in-thing now, greenways. Again, there's more interest in "what can you do for me?" clientelism here, and that's usually something that can be turned into a thing that makes money with minimum effort. Quickly. Railway preservation can add value to a locality, but it's a slow burn.

Heaps of people give hours of unpaid, unglamorous background work for GAA, Tidy Towns, beach litter picking etc etc here. Of course local pride/environmentalism comes into it, it's regarded as a social outlet, they don't dig into their pockets much apart from the odd draw or purchase of inexpensive clothing or equipment and doesn't require training as such. You would struggle to find people prepared to do likewise on a heritage railway. Granted there's some specialised knowledge involved that the general public may not have, but most anyone can wield a paintbrush. The interest just isn't there though.

Plus you will be unlikely to prise it from the grasp of Kerry County Council, doesn't want to run it, doesn't want anyone else to run it either!

Probably more suited to something like the C&L's "Dromad" or a 4-4-0T a la the original C&L. Both 5T and 5C are huge beasts. At the risk of being called a "wibbler", thrown around as a term of abuse these days, I'd be in agreement with Mayner as to whether this is a suitable choice and wise use of resources, a ground up restoration vs a new build. Will the addition of steam attract enough bums on seats to make it worthwhile? Plus what experience and facilities do the W&SV have to look after it? A steam loco is for "life", a long term commitment, not just for Xmas.

Not Welsh. Not a "train". Top journalism.

Unless there's arrangements made for the future of the site and contents it could well be Blennerville mk2

I think the interwar years are looked upon as a sort of golden age in the uk and kept alive in popular culture whereas here seen as "bad times" of economic and cultural stagnation, unemployment, emigration and best forgotten. I think if you asked the average person they probably have never heard of the GSR, it having just about passed from living memory.

Maybe flaking paint and streaks of green stuff down the walls? Maintenance seems to be an afterthought here with modern developments! One for the weatherers.

Oddly enough, the GS&WR Clerkship examinations had an Irish exam, in that hard to read script. Granted it was about 1920 and perhaps the writing was on the wall (excuse pun) of the old regime at that point? If I recall, they did refuse to handle parcels with addresses written in Irish at an earlier stage.

Shame. It was good PR when turned out like that. Now it's just another grey loco.

A 4-4-0 or 2-4-0 wouldn't have both pulling power and speed to have max bums on seats and not hold everything else up on a modern railway. Something like a go most anywhere, modestly sized new build 4-6-0, perhaps a version of the 400 or 500 class. The new build Mogul may be a good compromise.

The "wouldn't it be lovely if..." or "someone should do something" Facebook comments. There are heaps of preservation projects up and down the country in dire need of funds and boots on the ground help. 800 is fine, it's not under threat, it's under cover and being looked after.

The difference between here and the US are more generous clearances and (again) the level of interest. The general public here, say on Santa trains, are maybe a faintly interested Daddy and a Mummy looking for a vaguely "old timey train" experience for the kiddiwinks with Santy. They couldn't care less if 800 or 131 or an 071 hauled it. Hell, one of those road train yokes going to a Santa village would do them just as well. Apart from visiting enthusiasts mainly from uk, these are the people that help pay the bills and keep the heat on for the RPSI, not Irish enthusiasts.

It can be both. There is a common misconception that the word Xmas stems from a secularizing tendency to de-emphasize the religious tradition from Christmas, by "taking the Christ out of Christmas"; nevertheless, the term's usage dates back to the 16th century, and corresponds to Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Church of England, and Episcopalian liturgical use of various forms of chi-rho monogram. In English, "X" was first used as a scribal abbreviation for "Christ" in 1100; "X'temmas" is attested in 1551, and "Xmas" in 1721.

The retina-burning old IRRS page, had forgotten that.