exciecoachbuilder

CK prints are very good. I got a few of the two different cement wagons Enda is selling, plus the chassis to go with them. All painted up, and transfers from studio scale models they look really good and run well too. Paul.

It's a shame that you have to cut the brake pipe. Im going to watch this one with interest and see how you get on. Im having problems with some curves, all peco flexitrack. No problems with the peco stream line points or the odd set track points though. Like I said in my last post, the bogies don't seem to be able to swivel enough to take the curve.?

Hi, I'm having a problem too with the park royal coach bogies not being able to swing enough to negotiate some of the curves. It seems to be catching on the coupling mechanism with some of the curves on the layout, and derailing. I have similar problems with the bogie fouling on the curves on two northern Ireland coaches. All the other coaches that I have, Murphy, silver fox, converted hornby, bachmann, when run fast, slow, reverse ,forward over points on different curves doesn't seem to have this problem. It's a pain in the a**e to be honest.

The roof panels were never changed. They had 8/ 10 inch straps riveted over the original roof panel joints. I have posted before that the original plan was to strip the complete coach. But cost, and time was a factor. So the powers that be, wanted new panels fitted over the existing panels. It was a bit of a Mickey mouse job to be honest, to get coaches back into traffic quickly. Paul..

It was like that on most, if not all of the carriages. I had actually forgotten about the vestibule three seaters. Mol's modification looks great in fairness. When the carriages were 're skinned ' in the early 80's, a toilet was fitted on one side, and the three seater was retained on the other side. Just to say too, my Park Royals were delivered this morning, and initially when I looked at some of the photos over the last few days, I thought that they looked a bit too modern 2 pack "orangey". But no, they are the dogs b****x, im delighted with them. Well done to all at IRM. Paul..

Thanks for the info Mol. Some great stuff to read through there. Cheers, Paul..

Hi guys. I remember a coach in the carriage shop in the mid/late 70's? that had brake and driving controls at one end, and very cramped looking too.I thought that it was very unusual at the time. Could it be this coach? The railway back then had a few oddities, including a full kitchen car. No seats just cooking facilities. It was no doubt an old carriage because of the really old style buffers on it. It's a shame that with all the Irish railway books and photographs, that there are very few photos of coach interiors. The photographers back then didn't seem too interested in taking coach interiors. Maybe they couldn't gain access? I don't know? Paul.

Hi MoI, just seeing your question now. Spray painting, using airless spray equipment in Inchicore works started in 1971. The black colour would be sprayed first, the golden brown (orange) and the single white stripe on top would be then hand painted in the paint shop, and the carriage shop. Hand painting in the carriage shop was discontinued in 1972. They changed the painting technique to pressure pot spraying mid/ late 80's? and sprayed the orange first, on both locos and carriages. Then hand painted the black bands and white single stripe. There is a picture of an A class locomotive just after being sprayed on page 21 in the book Irish railway rambler. Everything changed when the new paint paintspray facility was built in inchicore in 99/ 2000... Paul.

Hi guys just to say, and remember that these carriages were completely refurbished between I981- 1983. Blue asbestos was removed by a private contractor. Steel panels were fitted over the existing panels, the porthole windows ( side lights) were removed and covered with a panel, completely rewired etc. Roof straps were also riveted on over the existing roof panel joints. Paul..

Wow, they look fantastic. Well done my friend..

The key with the red arrow was also used sometimes to lock / unlock GM locomotive doors. If a new door was fitted to a loco, the lock would have to be tested that it does work properly. Or some guys doing electrical work in the cabs would occasionally lock the doors with this type of key. But locking loco doors by drivers, was in my time in the railway (70's, 80's, 90's) not common.

That is true, like I said in my comment, I have only seen traces of the grey and sometimes the yellow.

Hi, the grey paint on loco 134 is actually anti corrosive primer/undercoat (ICI fastbuild) that was used when the new paint shop was opened, 1999- 2000, and when Irish Rail started to use 2 pack polyurethane paint. The loco would have had filler put on the body, then sanded down to an accepted level, then given two coats, possibly three of this 'fastbuild' primer. Loco's , and most of the other rail vehicles were never stripped down to the bare metal. There was generations of black and orange paint on the loco body and older coaches ( Craven , MK2's) so getting it back to the bare metal , while doable, would have taken too long in the eye's of the Irish rail traffic controllers, who were always screaming out for coaches and locomotives. The white stripe that you see, was one sided adhesive tape that was stuck on the loco sides ( and coach sides ) except the front which was handpainted with white undercoat then finished with white gloss as it wasn't possible to bend the white bands. I have only seen traces of the original paint on these 121 class loco's in the Inchicore paintshop and workshops. The grey that we see in the photo is too pristine for something that was painted in the early 1960's. Paul.

Thank's a million Popeye, that's the info that I was looking for, much appreciated. I actually have the blue gloss and light grey, so I'll head into Marks tomorrow , and hopefully they have the other colours in stock.? Thanks DJ, MOI and thanks Popeye for the replies... Paul.

Thanks a lot guys for the replies. I knew about the phoenix paints, but I'm not sure where to get them here anymore? I don't really want to go the UK way to be honest, it's too much hassle. If somebody could come up with advice for me on similar colours that are readily available here ie, humbrol etc , that would be great. Thanks. Paul....

Hi guys, just wondering if anyone can tell me what shade of blue was on the irish cement wagons? I got some CK prints wagon bodies at the Blackrock show at the weekend. What shade?, matt or gloss? Was the chassis painted blue also. The only ones that I remember were a very faded blue, and the chassis was covered in all sorts of sh**e, so it was almost impossible to tell what the colour was. Answers would be very much appreciated. Paul.

I went to Blackrock yesterday, its always an enjoyable day, some great stuff there. I was very impressed with CK prints, I picked up some cement wagon bodies, both curtain sides and 'guillotine' door cement wagons. I couldn't resist one of their 30 ton brake vans too, a very impressive model. The "elusive" Park Royals looked really good, as did the 800 class, and I look forward to them being delivered to me. A book, and some other bits and bobs, and yes, my bank card got hammered. A good days shopping was had. Paul........

The silver key on the left was a more modern type of key used for opening smaller interior doors, with smaller locks ( budgie locks) and electrical boxes on carriages. They were also used for opening removable panels , doors etc on C.I.E buses and other road vehicles... Paul...

It's definitely a carriage key, the 'side bar' is very similar to the key for locking/ unlocking locomotive doors. But if GSWR is stamped on it, then I'm not sure? There were a few different types of keys around years ago.

Regardless of the Dart running or not, you are spoiled for choice with the amount of buses going out that direction from the city centre. I mean you are in the real capital city of Ireland in fairness

Thank you, you're welcome.....

Hi, back in the 70's and the early 80's only one red lamp was used on both wagons and carriages. They were paraffin lamps, so they never changed colour. I'm not sure about the side lamps on the guards van? Because I've never seen them lit in my experience in the railway, and I can't ask anyone anymore because any of the older guards and shunters that I knew, are all gone to the great shunting yard in the sky. I know during the MK3 new carriage building program( 1983 -89/90) that drivers at the time had an issue with the red lights that were on the MK3 carriage skirts ( under the body). They were being mistaken for signal lights seemingly, so they changed them to clear/ white lights. Paul......

This is brilliant Paul, and very interesting too. Well done sir... Paul.

I like sidings, and these photos are just brilliant. The photo with the overgrown laneway and the abandoned wagon is superb.

I love photo all the same. It captures perfectly the absolute mess that railway yards etc were before the health and safety rules came in. Inchicore works was very similar, if not worse in the 1970's.