IRRS Journal 206

[David Holman]

New edition now out and like any specialist periodical, doesn't always tick every box - though is ALWAYS interesting. However, this 75th anniversary issue for me at least, is really splendid. The cover pictures of C class diesels on a mixed train at Skibbereen and an excursion at Courtmacsherry are the wrapping to articles on West Cork railways, the Valencia Harbour branch and VS 4-4-0s, as well as lots of other lovely stuff. A modellers and a historians delight!

[Westcorkrailway]

Amen to that . Mostly 1960s oriented with a huge percentage of that going to west cork!

[StevieB]

An excellent read as always.

Stephen

[jhb171achill]

Excellent one - yes, not every article in every issue is of interest to every member - but it's worth paying membership for the Journal alone. Barry Carse's Valentia article is excellent, and there are many interesting photos of all sorts of things.

West Cork photos of anything will never fail to please.

I remember when the first colour photos appeared in the Journal in the 1970s how it lifted the whole thing.....

If I had one small (constructive) criticism it would be that many interesting photos in some editions could be reproduced in larger format, but overall a great production.

[Mayner]

It arrived yesterday, very nice surprise! Hard to choose which article to read first between Valencia, West Cork, the GNR Vs and "Learning the Road" Leslie Hyland's 1952 exploring the CIE & GNR rail system in 1952 including Leslie's father driving from Dublin to Athboy so his son could catch an Athboy-Dublin GAA special probably the last passenger train to run on the branch. The article covers the Indian Summer of CIE steam operation before the AEC railcars took over mainline passenger diagrams and provides a detailed snapshot of CIE locomotive and carriage workings in the early 1950s with details of train consists. The article includes some excellent photos including 533 formerly Wolf Dog (incorrectly captioned as 544) the last operational Achill Bogie at Loughrea.

[David Holman]

One of the remarkable things about Leslie's article is that he noted so much detail on the trip, in particular the consist of each train AND numbers of each coach.

 Thanks for pointing out Wolf Dog, John - I hadn't noticed, though not as pretty by this stage in its life, perhaps.

[jhb171achill]

17 hours ago, David Holman said:

One of the remarkable things about Leslie's article is that he noted so much detail on the trip, in particular the consist of each train AND numbers of each coach.

 Thanks for pointing out Wolf Dog, John - I hadn't noticed, though not as pretty by this stage in its life, perhaps.

Yes, totally agree - was in touch with Leslie a short time ago and passed on my own congrats on that. I didn’t actually know that a D16 had found its way to Loughrea. I interviewed a couple of well-known ex-drivers yonks ago and was told (by one gentleman, in no uncertain terms!) that ex-Midland engines were not well received on the GSW; hence impressions of a D16 heading from Athlone towards Portarlington tended to uncomplimentary! One wonders what the diehard Midland men in Loughrea made of 533, though…..

Edited October 14, 2021 by jhb171achill