minister_for_hardship

Basically both Britain and here had the same set of basic types. As jhb says they were usually, though not always, marked with the owning company initials but these markings could be buried under coats of paint.

Depends what you mean by guards van lamp, the handlamp carried by the guard or the lamp fitted to or carried by the van. If it's the former, the loco lamp is similar to a handlamp only a lot bigger with a fitting to slip over a lamp iron rather than a handle at the rear. Yes they burned paraffin, but very early lamps would have burned colza oil, a form of vegetable oil, before the large scale extraction of petroleum oil. EDIT a minority of railways here used acetylene loco headlamps; Tralee and Dingle, Schull & Skibbereen, possibly others. Lamps were either bought in from a specialist contractor or made in-house in the railways own workshops. Inchicore would have had a sheet metal shop and would have made most of the loco and handlamps from scratch themselves. The outer cast iron lamp cases for LC lamps and signal lamps were cast in Inchicore, the lamps that went inside these were a bought in product as far as I know. LM&RS (Lamp Manuf & Railway Supplies) London were a big supplier of these.

Not at its current site, no.

The six wheeler was moved to a private site near what used be Farrangalway station. I think the open and the Ruston are still mouldering at Halfway along with a double deck CIE bus slowly falling apart.

It's one of the pieces of rolling stock left over from the ill fated GSRPS Mallow project.

Strange, I'm trying to justify this hybrid. If you want to bring sundries down some branch, attach a closed wagon. It's not like there was a shortage of those. It would take less time to load or unload than fumbling around inside this thing.

No duckets either, but oddly still retains side lamps and perhaps the stove as well. I assume it still functioned as a brake van?

GC I never did see. Blennerville opted for a sterile Thomas the Tank version of what formerly was there. The public treated it as a glorified fairground ride, a curiousity, even the most ardent enthusiast came away with a "meh" feeling about the whole enterprise. Apart from publicity photos with entrants of the Tralee Lovely Girls Festival hanging off of it, I don't recall it being promoted all that seriously.

A railway attraction. Over commercialised? In Ireland? Are you serious? When I see Cultra being commercialised over the faux brewery tour that is the Guinness Storehouse then maybe.

* Viva España...

The "big snow" of '47 in model form.

I'm guessing the cab was made in house as the stand was "Inchicore made throughout" It's odd that two builder for the other two isn't named, and building working large scale locos is a bit more than "amateur".

I have it here. It opens with a satirical verse from Dublin Opinion; This year to come, Dear Dr Drumm You'll drive our cars for such a sum That nowadays some silly blighters Spend upon their petrol lighters

90, at Fermoy/Mallow carried a similar shade as carried by 184, perhaps both were painted in or around the same time? The numberplate was not likely to be its GSWR original. 90 in Westrail service carried a blindingly bright Henry the Green Engine green with coat of arms on the side tanks which GSWR locos never carried.

It would have to be a top brass photo opportunity shaking hands with politicos and ministers or "celebrity" puff piece these days... Bertie's young wan who writes bukes travels on IE scenic route and gets paid to put a positive spin on it.

I've never heard that term being used as such. There is another Rocksavage on the coast near Clonakilty, I would be thinking someone who had connections to that locality, a country retreat perhaps, named the city area after it. Alternatively there were Earls of Rocksavage (A courtesy title of Marquesses of Cholmondeley) so may be named to honour or curry favour with them, and/or an attempt to put a respectable veneer on the area perhaps.

A child could put the beet wagon kits together. It's not like it's a brass etched loco kit. It would help pass the time in this lockdown anyhow.

The "Phony War" was still ongoing, before all hell broke loose.

Is the one with "LMS" only from a regauged wagon?

Some people are beyond shaming, it hardly matters when most locals may not care whether or not they have a steam railway. If locals are indifferent you can forget about help, volunteers or putting on political pressure from that quarter.

A platform, a signal and a footbridge. The rails in the station area were lifted years ago, now the rest is being lifted. The branch is to become yet another greenway although the virus has possibly stalled that. There was talk to make it dual gauge and run 5T there in GSRPS days. 5T went to the Blennerville and everyone knows the rest of that story.

Somewhere to stow a large type staff perhaps? MGWR locos once carried similarly sized tubes on the cab side sheets.

The Greenway fad is far easier than preservation, free money to spend and someone else does all the work. All you need do is rock up with your push bike.

Didn't a Dublin & Blessington vehicle end up as an unpowered trailer on the Donegal? Just copped the reference was to the wagon behind it. It's an odd one alright.

It can all be distilled down to lack of interest and the very small gene pool of people inclined to work and support such things. There has always been an underlying current in this country that railway heritage isn't really Irish, that it's all a bit "foreign". If Richard Maunsell was an All Ireland hurler, I'm sure there would be a statue of him somewhere!