exciecoachbuilder

Yep, at the side of the running shed in Inchicore works.

Great photo, a big workshop too. I never knew that the Dundalk carriage shop was that big.

That's interesting, I didn't know single 121s worked on the Rosslare to Waterford service.

This is brilliant, I remember this well. This was a posed photo for An Nuacht (the quarterly C.I.E. newspaper). The lad in the white coat was holding the drawing upside down, I kid you not. I was working in the carriage shop at this time and there was only one mock up built, so it's the same mock up. The powers that be decided that the crappy green colour was a no no. Good decision imo.

Hi, was the bus in the photo sold as an An 68? These buses were always known in the bus depot's and in the BMS in Inchicore works as D cars. The Spa Road built Van Hool buses built in the 70's were always called AN68's, not the one in this photo. Paul.

Inch flat moulding pulled away from the door frame, usually means rotting door pillar. Also door handle should be horizontal when closed. You would have got a slap on the back of the head, if you had have left a door handle looking like that.

Yeah, there was a workshop beside the ramps, where they used to overhaul the generators, I think that it was called the parlour. I'm open to correction, but I think that the Detroit diesels were more of a bus thing than railway. Paul.

Hi Sean, not 100% sure, but I think the generators in the vans were Cummins engines.

Thank you very much, 1145 is the coach that I was looking at. Working in the carriage shop, I don't recall many first full carriages being brought in for repair. I think I remember mk2 first full coaches. Also I have a vague memory of an older coach being fitted with mk2 first class seats, maybe it was an experiment? They seemed to do a lot of experiments with different coaches back then. A silk purse out of a sows ear basically. But thanks for that flange lubricator. Paul.

A great video, Tom Ryan is railway royality at this stage. Also, I am interested in the coach at 2.55, it's looks like a laminate rebuild, but there was never any first class rebuilds. Maybe it's a corridor carriage, but I remember the toilets (on the coaches that I remember working on) were always in centre of the coach. There wasn't many first class 'older'coaches back in 1980 either.

Well done Phillip, again, they look fantastic. You're a bit of a dark horse with the the oul weathering.

It sure is outstanding work Phillip, well done. Like all your work, these locos look the business. Especially loved your Vic Berry resprays, just like they rolled out of the paint shop in Inchicore. Again, well done. Paul.

Ivory and orange , C.I.E roundels,.

Hi, I remember that after they changed the mesh on the doors to plywood, they started to have a lot of problems with the runner wheels that the doors slid on because of the extra weight. I recall a few times, that they would bring in a rake of fertilizers into the carriage for quick running repair, the majority of work being replacing the wheels. The reason for the ferts being brought into the carriage shop, ( because it was not coachbuilding work) is because at that time, the wagon repair shop was just a small area situated within the lifting shop in Inchicore. Also, there were only, as far as I can remember 3 or 4 wagonmakers working there at the time, so they would have been overwhelmed with the amount of work. Eventually, it was decided to do away with the sliding doors, weld plates over the slots where the doors wheeled into, weld the door hinges onto the plates and then you had basically swing doors. There was a lot of body maintenance on the fertilizers, as the plywood panels were constantly being damaged.....

They really are lovely wagons, they look a lot better in the flesh, than on the website.

Ok but, we don't say landlord in the ROI.

Landlord?? You got off lightly. My 'landlord' increased the pint of Heineken by 50 cent.

They look fantastic, well done.

Hi Murph, all C.I.E / Irish Rail carriages and vans that had a black roof, were painted in gloss black paint. Never Matt black or grey, the only Matt black I can remember being used on carriages, was the window frames on the commuter railcars ( sparrows etc) when the new liveries were introduced in the early 2000's. Paul.

I ordered an 071 class loco from DC kits, heard nothing for weeks. Like yourself, I got a bit concerned, so I emailed DC kits to see what's going on? I eventually got a reply, ' order posted'. Poor customer service unfortunately. Wouldn't take a chance with them again. Paul

Apologies for the late reply murphaph, yes indeed they entered from Heuston end ( Dublin end) then exited from the Cork end. Then on to the long siding, exactly as you said. I think they did repair Connolly based locos sometimes, when they had no room in the much smaller Connolly shed. I worked in Connolly shed for a short period , and it was a very busy running shed. A lot of C class locos were maintained in Connolly shed at the time too. About the fueling, I honestly cant remember if they did or not. Paul......

Hi Murph, yeah it was done just inside the shed on arrival from Heuston direction. The loco would be shut down for the refuelling process, when complete, the loco would be started up ( the best part, as nothing beats the sound of an 071 class or the growl of an A class starting up) then moved up the shop for running maintenance. Paul....

Mayner is 100% right with his answer. In the 70's / early 80's , there was no political appetite for spending money on the railways. In fact, i recall there was constant talk of closing railway lines and selling off big chunks of Inchicore works. We even had a coalition government transport minister, saying that had he been in power, he would never have given the Dart project the go ahead, incredible stuff imo. It took two rail disasters to bring the government to their senses. I worked on the mk3 new carriage building ( NCB) project from 1984 to 1989, and I remember the talk at the time, being that there was going to be no more money to be spent on anymore carriage building projects on completion of the NCB project. Irish rail was to come up with a solution themselves and that the finance would have to come from the agreed budget in the existing contract. So they came up with their own push pull ideas. I have to be honest, I think that the Mk3 driving trailers are awful looking things, the carriage side light being used for the windscreen, just doesn't look right, and the cab is so big you could fit an elephant into the bloody thing, appalling. Ok guys, rant over......... Paul.