Old Irish Rolling Stock

[wexfordloco10]

Hi all

I am enclosing 2 photos which may be of use to membership

Happy New Year to All

David

Wexford

[jhb171achill]

The top one is a gunpowder van.

[heirflick]

great pics david and many thanks for posting. any idea what the wagon was used for? the word fuel appears on the bottom left, so i am assuming that the pipe beside the wording is for fuel discharge....maybe? the mind boggles! happy new year to you:cheers:

[heirflick]

hi johnathan, just saw your reply. can you fill me in on the pipework?

[jhb171achill]

Not sure, heir flick. The steel sides indicate that it was a gunpowder van (like the one in Cultra) used for carrying explosives to places like Lisduff quarry. However, the vents on the side and the pipes as you say would suggest that this one was converted to some sort of mobile generator possibly also for use in a railway quarry. Do we know where the pic was taken?

[heirflick]

when i hover over the pic it displays the following message

 

'store van roslare harbour 1986'

[jhb171achill]

Ok... Prob sat there a while. Looks as if by that stage it's out of traffic. Interesting. The GSWR built things like this as long ago as about 1910, but the one in the pic has more modern buffers and draw gear, so it might be a modernised GSWR one, or of GS or (less likely but possible) CIE origin.

[wexfordloco10]

Sorry folks I should have been more specfic

The Van was in fact in the same position for a very long time

I will check with some local railway people as to its exact reason

for being stored there

thanks for comments

David Wexford

[heirflick]

thanks J! david, if you have any more jems like those , please post them up!

[Mike 84C]

The pipe at the near end is definately for fuel. Its a 3"/2.5" bsp which would attatch to a roadtankers hose reel gun end. I think there is a fuel tank in both ends maybe connected. Its a mobile bowser. My view as an ex tanker driver.

[Mayner]

The van appears to be similar to the Cultra van which used to live off rail near the oil storage area at Inchacore. The Cultra van is fitted with a bed plate and ventilation for a portable generator.

 

 

As far as I remember the van is ex-GSWR possibly re-bodied by CIE as a portable generator/heating/ steam cleaning unit for use at loco depots like Inchacore or Waterford.

 

It can be difficult in pinning a van or wagon down to a specific era as the GSWR/GSR/CIE basically turned out the same design of van from 1915 to 1946, later vans were mainly distinguished by the use of plywood instead of planking and Bulleid triangulated underframes.

 

Interestingly although the Waterford van is only fitted with hand brakes, it is piped for running with vacuum fitted freight or passenger stock.

 

Although most of the earlier steel framed vans were planked, and later CIE vans used plywood cladding, some of the earlier vans appeared to be smooth sided with sheet aluminium cladding obscuring the planking.

 

There is a photo off one under construction in the "Works" by Greg Ryan and I came across one of these in a field on the Dublin side of Kinegrad about 15 years ago but did not have a camera.

Edited December 30, 2012 by Mayner

[jhb171achill]

Totally right, Mayner - that one's the same as the initial one, vents in side too. I believe they used ex-gunpowder vans for these gennys as they had more solid sides, which might drown the noise a bit. There is a standard "H" van preserved at Downpatrick which has a generator inside it, but that was fitted by the DCDR. When in operation it is known as "Roaring Meg" with good reason - you'd probably hear it in Australia!

 

It's clear that CIE converted a few of them in this way, possibly as the need for taking explosives by rail diminished. I wonder, though, if CIE actually BUILT any of them new for this purpose? As Mayner says, the standard design of van went back to GSWR days, and until CIE stopped building standard vans the basic design didn't change.

[minister_for_hardship]

On the first pic you can see an imprint of where an oval plate (about the same size as the GSWR Inchicore Works plate) was carried.

Usually they were centred on the solebar, bit odd to see one bolted to it off-centre.

 

The sligo leitrim railcar looks to be in limerick junction shed?

Edited December 30, 2012 by minister_for_hardship

[jhb171achill]

Well spotted, Minister - I hadn't noticed that. That definitely makes this one ex-GSWR, as the GSR used the same flat-topped wagon numberplates as CIE did later - in fact to this day CIE's are still a direct copy of the old GSR ones, as are those on a few NIR ballast wagons. The word "fuel" can also be seen painted just above it.

 

The SLNCR railcar was indeed ion LJ - I photographed it in that exact position in 1978 and already it had been there years. It's under a tarpaulin at Downpatrick now. I got a quote for rebuilding it some years ago - let's just say that on the good side, it's not as nasty a job as it looks, but on the less good side, just think £160k sterling.... (2004 prices)!!!

[heirflick]

great info lads!...can always count on the old stock to answer questions on the old stock ..

[jhb171achill]

Hahahaha yes...... long memories under grey hair I suppose!!!! (Now where did I leave my teeth?)

[wexfordloco10]

Hi All

I am glad the pics were of interest

the comment regarding the grey hair amused me as I will be 73 on Thursday next with

almost no Hair but with some teeth I am hanging in there

 

David Wexford

Edited December 30, 2012 by wexfordloco10

[minister_for_hardship]

still has own teeth, shame about the hair tho...

[Guest hidden-agenda]

Hi All

I am glad the pics were of interest

the comment regarding the grey hair amused me as I will be 73 on Thursday next with

almost no Hair but with some teeth I am hanging in there

 

David Wexford

If you have more pictures pop them up for those of us following close behind you in the almost no hair dept.

Happy new year,

Regards Gareth.

[enterprise207]

every time i see a railcar like that my heart breaks a little

[Guest hidden-agenda]

every time i see a railcar like that my heart breaks a little

 

Its in Downpatrick so who knows may-be at some stage it may re-appear fully refurbished.(on the to do list when i win the lottery).

[minister_for_hardship]

Well spotted, Minister - I hadn't noticed that. That definitely makes this one ex-GSWR, as the GSR used the same flat-topped wagon numberplates as CIE did later - in fact to this day CIE's are still a direct copy of the old GSR ones, as are those on a few NIR ballast wagons. The word "fuel" can also be seen painted just above it.

 

The DSER also used oval plates, but I don't think they built steel bodied vans(?) GSR/CIE as you say had a 'D' shaped one with flat side up. MGWR had either small brass ones or a cast iron 'D' shaped one. GNR vans usually had tiny little tonnage plates bolted onto the body rather than the solebar.

[jhb171achill]

And there were many ex-GNR wagons - particularly covered vans and grain wagons - which received standard strsight-topped CIE plates with the same number and "N" suffix.

 

I saw a wagon being scrapped about 40 years ago with a plate with "CIE" and "66N" - went back to retrieve one or b oth plates but they had gone... pity. It was one of the standard 1950s covered vans built by the GN - much the same as CIE "H" vans but with corrugated metal ends. There are LMS-type Hornby models of a very similar LMS van which is easy to just repaint as a CIE one (with an "N" suffix, and maybe faded "G N" showing under the CIE emblem!). Incidentally, the wagon was grey, not brown, though I am sure some got the brown treatment. These vans could still be seen kicking about in sidings until about 1980.