minister_for_hardship

It's interesting the dalliance with US practice early on in NZ instead of the expected colonial British offerrings as in Australia.

The other type of CIE headlamp with piecrust top, the design goes back to GS&WR days and the short dumpy tail lamp as used by CIE before the BR type. Headlamps did have a red filter inside so that it could act as a tail lamp but most of those would end up broken with rough handling.

The LMS lamps look close enough for GNRI or NCC.

Never heard of CIE having bicycles, apart from the inspection type.

By coincidence, I found a Return of Plant form with all types of lamps listed.

A few pics. In order of appearance. CIE Loco headlamp, CIE handlamp x 2, GSR gauge glass lamp (illuminating loco water gauge glasses), Duck lamp (inspection), Bardic (successor to oil handlamp), CIE brake van lamp reservoir and burner, oil tail lamp, pot lamp (pre elect and gas coach lighting), signal and LC gate lamp interior.

First pic, brake van lamp with removable red filter. Side mounted on van and you place the filter behind whichever lens you want to show red. Second, red tail lamp for rear of train. Both of these are British, although CIE bought in some of the British style tail lamps latterly, they didn't use the brake van lamp. CIE brake vans had the lamp housings built into them, the oil burners and red filters were changed around within the van.

I'm certain I've come across a period colour postcard of Naomh Eanna with snails on the funnel, possibly the broken wheel logo carried subsequently was made by flame cutting off the 'wings' and adding 'CIE'. The CIE river cruisers also carried snails, canal boats were simply lettered 'C.I.E.' on the stern.

The GSR had 13 pages on Whistle Codes alone.

As an aside, the DW&WR and WL&WR had systems of loco carried discs with symbols for different types of train or perhaps destinations that fell out of use before the Deluge.

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.