A Derry Central Diorama

[Patrick Davey]

4 hours ago, Signal Post said:

Wonderful stuff, very enjoyable to look at. Just wondering about the 25 ton brake van, firstly would I be correct in thinking that this is an NCC van, is this also the type that featured (sometimes) on the spoil trains to Magheramorne? Secondly is this from a kit or scratch built?

The van was a scratchbuild by another mega-talented guy, Gareth Brennan, who is to plasticard what Alan is to brass!

[Mayner]

If you haven't already try and get your hands on a copy of RM Arnold's NCC Saga apart from an image of a "Whippet" in Crimsonlake on the dust jacket, the book is full of photos and enginemen's tales from the NCC including the Derry Central. Not a conventional railway history book more a folklore social history of a railway and its people.

Interestingly the Derry Central had an Irish lanuguage company seal "Céad Mííle Fáilte"

 

[jhb171achill]

47 minutes ago, Mayner said:

If you haven't already try and get your hands on a copy of RM Arnold's NCC Saga apart from an image of a "Whippet" in Crimsonlake on the dust jacket, the book is full of photos and enginemen's tales from the NCC including the Derry Central. Not a conventional railway history book more a folklore social history of a railway and its people.

Interestingly the Derry Central had an Irish lanuguage company seal "Céad Mííle Fáilte"

 

One of the exceptionally rare instances of the Irish language being used on any Irish railway pre-GSR times.

[Galteemore]

As always, the SLNC also blazed a trail in language ….

Edited 7 hours ago by Galteemore

[jhb171achill]

17 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

As always, the SLNC also blazed a trail in language ….

Was thinking that very thing! It's actually the only other one I can think of. Wasn't that yoke a contractor's loco rather than the actual property of the SLNCR?

I've a notion some contractor's loco somewher down south, maybe on the DWWR, had an Irish name - but it was possibly that same one. Not sure - I'd have to look it up.

 

[Galteemore]

Was taken over by SL and used for a bit. MGWR also had a loco of same name, and ‘Erin Go Bragh “. Irish language underwent something of revival in late c19th, and this was presumably a by-product of that.

[Mayner]

1 hour ago, jhb171achill said:

One of the exceptionally rare instances of the Irish language being used on any Irish railway pre-GSR times.

The Cork and Bandon appears to have taken the lead during the early days of Irish Railways. In the "Trains we Loved" C Hamilton Ellis spoke of the railway 'dignifying its engines by Gaelic names, moreover inscribed on plates in Erse and not Latin characters"

1 "Rith Teineadh" 2. "Sighe Gaoithe"  3. Fag an Beallach" all introduced in 1849 appear in the loco list in Ernie Shepherd's CBSCR book.

1 & 2 were Adams patent  combined light locos and carriages that were withdrawn in 1868.

3 was supplied by Tayleur possibly a tender loco that lasted until 1890.

In a way the Adams patent combined loco and carriage were the precursor of the modern railcars for passenger services and were quite popular at the time and used on a number of railways including the Eastern Counties (later Great Eastern) Londerry and Coleraine and Cork & Bandon

[GSR 800]

I suppose theres an aspect of humour in calling a locomotive Faugh a Ballagh, clear the road indeed...

The MGWR were clearly forward thinking calling one of their locos Erin go Bragh!

Built a year before the Rising too.