minister_for_hardship

Snail on second pic is incorrect, it was convention that the upper "wings" should point towards the cab, a reversed mirror image snail should go here.

Howth has another OB, ex Aherlow Bus Service, has a large destination box and in half restored condition. Hard to tell what it once was, probably grey and red judging by the very few pics of it online. Judging by the production run, there should have been reasonable numbers on the roads here at one time in the hands of small private operators. One appeared in that awful Irish set film High Spirits with Peter O'Toole.

A recreation/reboot of the original privately run Connemara Bus which gained some fame though a popular song. This particular bus is a swimmer, ie came over in recent years from the UK, hence the modern ZV reg. I don't know if it's still operational.

Probably depended on the painter, if they were bothered filling in the gaps left by the stencil, or not as the case may have been.

The Waterford & Kilkenny did. "Even in the 1890s the passenger stock was four wheeled, of antiquated design, and regarded as among the worst in Ireland; but a few vehicles lasted a fair time, and one survived, in departmental service, until the 1960s" The Great Southern &Western Railway (McNeil/Murray)

Extending to Youghal apres the Midleton reopening was an open goal. But then we have to consider; A current government that are pro road, anti rail, in spite of making climate change noises. Lack of local interest reinstating the rail link, contrasting with Midleton. Once a greenway, always a greenway. You can't give someone a leisure facility and take it off them again and expect them to be fine with it. Anyone who has heard of Sustrans in the UK will know this. I'm not agin' greenways per se, I have cycled a few and they're perfectly fine for an alignment that will never have a snowball's chance in hell of seeing a train ever again, Westport Achill and North Kerry etc. I'm sceptical as to how "green" they are and how many cars, if any, they take off the roads.

https://www.accucraft.uk.com/products/kathleen-lady-edith-cavan-leitrim-4-4-0t/

Looks like an active rail line, hope they got IE permission.

https://ifiplayer.ie/monsignor-reid-collection-castlerea-train-station/ Have a watch. Early CIE days (1947) but chances are it hadn't been painted since GSR days given shortages were still an issue even by then.

No this is fake, a 'replica' of a sign that more than likely never existed. It shares features with other known fakes, tellingly they only show up at car boot sales, garden centres and general antique auctions (always minefields for the uninitiated); never at a specialist auction.

Enniskillen, Bundoran & Sligo Railway. Again, another piece of rubbish.

Did they hang around that long to get into a Barry Scrapyard state?

One man bands and private 'train sets' are doomed to eventual failure without a hardcore of helpers and the backing of the community. T&DR 5T would have been better off going to the UFTM, the public could at least view it there.

At the risk of derailing(!) the thread title, I think there is an interest in railways in this country but not so much as to support a heritage line with elbow grease or funding as an armchair supporter. Heritage railways are great, provided 'someone else' does the work, that's why greenways are an easy win, 'someone else', the council or whoever, does all the work.

Not aware of any Land Rovers with CIE, although the ESB were (and still are) big users of those vehicles. Many years ago I came across what looked like a furniture removal truck in a scrap yard, still had faded Orange paint and CIE LOCO DEPT writ large on it. The make I did not take notice of but looked 50s or 60s in origin.

Light rust and marks from a few years outdoors fixed to something. Still a fake.

Not at all, named after a sandwich innit?

The urinal was still on the site 2 or 3 years ago, but in pieces, perhaps a tree had fallen and hit it.

Hopefully the new owners will take care of it and not gut and modernise the place out of all recognition.

I'm a great believer in "if it aint broke, don't fix it".

Looks like something that was paired with or adapted from a steam wagon or WW1 era truck.

I may be able to assist. PM me.

https://www.oxforddiecast.co.uk/products/saro-bus-county-donegal-railways-76sb004

Well, gricers have no business being anywhere the public isn't allowed to be fair without official permission or supervision. Not on a modern rail way operating at high speeds. Have heard of photographers/phone photographers doing really stupid things to get that Instagram cool pic, sometimes literally on IR metals. The past is a different planet, I don't think we should tolerate gricers swarming all over per way like they did in days of yore. If you saw the photos of the Buttevant aftermath with public wandering and gawking around cranes and lifting gear, no one in their right mind would think that's ok now, but par for the course back then. Don't think people could have been that bothered reporting them, even if someone did, by the time the law came out they would be long gone. There was a near miss with a few graffiti lads a couple of years ago, they are lucky to be still in the land of the living. For what it's worth the law isn't taking these offences as seriously as they should. There's a bit of boys will be boys about it all.

They're hardly 'kids', these appear to be at least late teens if not 20 or 30 somethings with money to spend on cans of paint which aren't that cheap. Questions would have to be raised on where they get current branded IR vests. Further IR should pressure YouTube to remove any movies showing them at 'work' as this only gives them the oxygen and publicity these guys crave. Its also vital, where possible, to remove vandalised stock from service for cleaning. If it gets cleaned asap it's going to be a fruitless exercise for them. I do like well executed urban art, like in Waterford and elsewhere, in a proper site, this stuff is only an imitation of what gets plastered on trains from New York to Naples. An illegible mess, the artistic equivalent of a dog p*ssing on a wall.