Brake fitted CIÉ wagons on NIR

[Markleman]

I am looking forward to the brake fitted H-vans when they arrive.

After 1965 when the UTA gave up on internal goods traffic wagons originating on CIÉ continued to work to Belfast and Derry. Freight at Belfast was handled at Grosvenor Road depot before moving around 1970 to Adelaide near where a Guinness depot had opened earlier. The Derry trains had traffic for Donegal and CIÉ maintained a freight depot at Stranorlar at the time.

The requirement was that all of the wagons coming North of the Border had to fitted with vacuum brakes and either screw or Instanter couplings. The trains appeared in the WTT as "Ftd". "Fitted" in the parlance of the time meant fitted with vacuum brakes as most CIÉ ordinary goods wagons then had no continuous brakes, just side levers to be worked from the trackside.

The Belfast fitted trains continued to have brake vans at the rear for the guard to travel in until that was done away with on CIÉ in the 1970s. I have no clear recollection of a brake van on the Lisburn - Derry section in the early days. There is a Derek Young photo of an MPD-hauled overload goods at Coleraine in 1966 with a brake van on the back. I do recall that whatever the rules were the guard (in NIR days a Conductor) always travelled in the railcars rather than the freezing bumpy brake van. This meant that in theory they could exchange the tablet, a duty they usually discharged by sleeping across the seats in the passenger section. Rules were often bent in the middle of the night.

The most common wagon I saw in the 1960s and 70s was the brake fitted H-van. Oddly enough I never saw an ex-GNR van, I suppose because few of them were fitted.

Cement wagons were of course all fitted from the start and so were the container flats as they became more and more common. A typical freight heading for Belfast in the late 60s and early 70s had a long string (20 or 30) fitted H-Vans with the odd container flat and bulk cement wagon. A regular container traffic was Irish Raleigh cycles container which seemed to be exchanged every day. These looked like the standard Raleigh container which ran on BR at the time, but not painted like the Peco one around now. At the time the ones on BR were dark blue but the Irish Raleigh ones were grey, though the lettering was the same. Standard BR containers would appear from time to time, but usually inside a Bullied open wagon rather than on a container flat. Pallet wagons also appeared - I believe that these were used for cement and Guinness traffic. I certainly saw them in the Guinness yard at Adelaide.

Another Belfast-bound traffic I saw regularly was crashed cars being returned to NI for repair. I guess this happened when people had motored South and pranged their vehicle which then had to be returned to NI to be fixed. These cars were seriously mangled, and it seemed to happen a lot. They were always placed inside Bullied open wagons and tied down.

The overnight Derry goods services were much the same to start with but later they tended to have more containers and cement wagons. They were handed over to NIR haulage at Lisburn. Starting in 1965 the Lisburn - Derry section was two MPD hauled trains each night. These trains put huge strain on the MPDs causing a lot of failures. Once the 70 class arrived one of the trains was turned over to them which worked very well. The operations were pretty complex and I would try to explain if anybody is interested. It was all a lot of hassle really and nobody was too concerned when they could get by later with just one 70 class hauled train which had the route to itself.

NIR had the bright idea of stationing a DH loco at Derry for shunting and to haul one train to Lisburn and back. On a long run they overheated and this plan failed - though many of us recall a DH hauled overload goods passing Limavady Junction while we were there on an RPSI tour. An MPD power car (often non-corridor) was based in Derry for shunting purposes until shunting there became a thing of the past.

Run-offs were frequent during the days (and nights) of the four wheel wagons, especially on the Derry route where the track might have been a bit iffy. There were the nargled remains of H-Vans lying by the trackside at several points. The vans were emptied and left where they ended up, but cement wagons were always recovered and returned to CIÉ. I do not plan to take the wheels off a nice IRM H-Van and plant it at an angle at the bottom of my embankment, but that would be pretty proto-typical. Anyway, after 1975 bogie wagons started to take over and they held the track a lot better.

It must have been a pain finding fitted H-Vans at any point on CIÉ when something was destined for Belfast or Donegal, but it seemed to work.

So there it is - 1965 to 1975 - fitted H-Vans mostly, but some pallet wagons, bulk cement wagons, 20foot flats and brake vans. There must have been a few fitted or piped Bullied open wagons kept just for heading North - does anyone know about this?

After 1975 these trains looked like standard CIÉ freight trains save that they were usually mixed traffic (often containers, Guinness, cement, fertiliser, all on the one train) rather than running as a block train. At one stage this reached 5 trains to and from Adelaide per day before tailing off in line with such traffic everywhere. The Derry traffic tapered off into occasional daytime loco-hauled block timber and fertiliser trains before finally expiring.

Finally - I have one recollection of other wagons heading North after 1965. Around 1968 I was at Lisburn one evening when an AEC set arrived from Portadown towing some (four I think) ex-cattle wagons. These were adapted to carry homing pigeons in baskets. The air gaps below the roof had been filled in. Some had what looked like plywood with holes drilled in it, another had chicken wire in the gaps. The platform staff at Lisburn unloaded the baskets and placed them behind the buildings on the loop platform near the signal cabin. They checked the birds and watered them. The labels said they were from County Cork, giving liberation times the following morning. The staff were to do the liberating, mark the labels with the time and return the details with the baskets. This is the only time I saw anything other than the usual wagons, though the regular swapping of the steam cranes added a bit of interest then too.

Once we have the IRM fitted H-Vans we will be well on the way to making an rtr OO-scale Belfast or Derry goods. All I need now is an MPD to haul them, though a pre-transplant A class will do for now.

[jhb171achill]

33 minutes ago, Markleman said:

I am looking forward to the brake fitted H-vans when they arrive.

After 1965 when the UTA gave up on internal goods traffic wagons originating on CIÉ continued to work to Belfast and Derry. Freight at Belfast was handled at Grosvenor Road depot before moving around 1970 to Adelaide near where a Guinness depot had opened earlier. The Derry trains had traffic for Donegal and CIÉ maintained a freight depot at Stranorlar at the time.

The requirement was that all of the wagons coming North of the Border had to fitted with vacuum brakes and either screw or Instanter couplings. The trains appeared in the WTT as "Ftd". "Fitted" in the parlance of the time meant fitted with vacuum brakes as most CIÉ ordinary goods wagons then had no continuous brakes, just side levers to be worked from the trackside.

The Belfast fitted trains continued to have brake vans at the rear for the guard to travel in until that was done away with on CIÉ in the 1970s. I have no clear recollection of a brake van on the Lisburn - Derry section in the early days. There is a Derek Young photo of an MPD-hauled overload goods at Coleraine in 1966 with a brake van on the back. I do recall that whatever the rules were the guard (in NIR days a Conductor) always travelled in the railcars rather than the freezing bumpy brake van. This meant that in theory they could exchange the tablet, a duty they usually discharged by sleeping across the seats in the passenger section. Rules were often bent in the middle of the night.

The most common wagon I saw in the 1960s and 70s was the brake fitted H-van. Oddly enough I never saw an ex-GNR van, I suppose because few of them were fitted.

Cement wagons were of course all fitted from the start and so were the container flats as they became more and more common. A typical freight heading for Belfast in the late 60s and early 70s had a long string (20 or 30) fitted H-Vans with the odd container flat and bulk cement wagon. A regular container traffic was Irish Raleigh cycles container which seemed to be exchanged every day. These looked like the standard Raleigh container which ran on BR at the time, but not painted like the Peco one around now. At the time the ones on BR were dark blue but the Irish Raleigh ones were grey, though the lettering was the same. Standard BR containers would appear from time to time, but usually inside a Bullied open wagon rather than on a container flat. Pallet wagons also appeared - I believe that these were used for cement and Guinness traffic. I certainly saw them in the Guinness yard at Adelaide.

Another Belfast-bound traffic I saw regularly was crashed cars being returned to NI for repair. I guess this happened when people had motored South and pranged their vehicle which then had to be returned to NI to be fixed. These cars were seriously mangled, and it seemed to happen a lot. They were always placed inside Bullied open wagons and tied down.

The overnight Derry goods services were much the same to start with but later they tended to have more containers and cement wagons. They were handed over to NIR haulage at Lisburn. Starting in 1965 the Lisburn - Derry section was two MPD hauled trains each night. These trains put huge strain on the MPDs causing a lot of failures. Once the 70 class arrived one of the trains was turned over to them which worked very well. The operations were pretty complex and I would try to explain if anybody is interested. It was all a lot of hassle really and nobody was too concerned when they could get by later with just one 70 class hauled train which had the route to itself.

NIR had the bright idea of stationing a DH loco at Derry for shunting and to haul one train to Lisburn and back. On a long run they overheated and this plan failed - though many of us recall a DH hauled overload goods passing Limavady Junction while we were there on an RPSI tour. An MPD power car (often non-corridor) was based in Derry for shunting purposes until shunting there became a thing of the past.

Run-offs were frequent during the days (and nights) of the four wheel wagons, especially on the Derry route where the track might have been a bit iffy. There were the nargled remains of H-Vans lying by the trackside at several points. The vans were emptied and left where they ended up, but cement wagons were always recovered and returned to CIÉ. I do not plan to take the wheels off a nice IRM H-Van and plant it at an angle at the bottom of my embankment, but that would be pretty proto-typical. Anyway, after 1975 bogie wagons started to take over and they held the track a lot better.

It must have been a pain finding fitted H-Vans at any point on CIÉ when something was destined for Belfast or Donegal, but it seemed to work.

So there it is - 1965 to 1975 - fitted H-Vans mostly, but some pallet wagons, bulk cement wagons, 20foot flats and brake vans. There must have been a few fitted or piped Bullied open wagons kept just for heading North - does anyone know about this?

After 1975 these trains looked like standard CIÉ freight trains save that they were usually mixed traffic (often containers, Guinness, cement, fertiliser, all on the one train) rather than running as a block train. At one stage this reached 5 trains to and from Adelaide per day before tailing off in line with such traffic everywhere. The Derry traffic tapered off into occasional daytime loco-hauled block timber and fertiliser trains before finally expiring.

Finally - I have one recollection of other wagons heading North after 1965. Around 1968 I was at Lisburn one evening when an AEC set arrived from Portadown towing some (four I think) ex-cattle wagons. These were adapted to carry homing pigeons in baskets. The air gaps below the roof had been filled in. Some had what looked like plywood with holes drilled in it, another had chicken wire in the gaps. The platform staff at Lisburn unloaded the baskets and placed them behind the buildings on the loop platform near the signal cabin. They checked the birds and watered them. The labels said they were from County Cork, giving liberation times the following morning. The staff were to do the liberating, mark the labels with the time and return the details with the baskets. This is the only time I saw anything other than the usual wagons, though the regular swapping of the steam cranes added a bit of interest then too.

Once we have the IRM fitted H-Vans we will be well on the way to making an rtr OO-scale Belfast or Derry goods. All I need now is an MPD to haul them, though a pre-transplant A class will do for now.

Most interesting recollections and certainly I can corroborate…..