Old signs on the network

[MTG1]

Are there still stations left with the old style orange and white signage? IÉ are really pushing ahead with the new signage, but I like the way at Clonsilla station they have kept the old sign with the plug logo and CIÉ 2000 font.

[Metrovik]

I could be wrong but last time I checked, Kilkenny still has a few of these signs.

[Mol_PMB]

I'm feeling old now. I remember when the 'new' station signs were the IR set of points logo!

 

[minister_for_hardship]

Still lots of examples of the "three pin plug" logo in evidence. On rolling stock theres still etched glass on mirrors and sliding doors and luggage rack signs with them. Probably literally thousands of trespass and "keep back from yellow line" notices with the old IE.

[irishrailways52]

the sligo line still had some untill recently though i think most are gone now. if i see any i will let you know. whelst its not a sign i remember seeing an old super train sticker in the window of portlaois station

i wonder would IR be willing to give us some of the old signs

[Branchline121]

8 hours ago, minister_for_hardship said:

Still lots of examples of the "three pin plug" logo in evidence. On rolling stock theres still etched glass on mirrors and sliding doors and luggage rack signs with them. Probably literally thousands of trespass and "keep back from yellow line" notices with the old IE.

Don’t forget all the HOBS wagons still with the old logo.

[JasonB]

On 6/2/2025 at 11:28 PM, MTG1 said:

Are there still stations left with the old style orange and white signage? IÉ are really pushing ahead with the new signage, but I like the way at Clonsilla station they have kept the old sign with the plug logo and CIÉ 2000 font.

I took these photos at Ballina station in October 2022.  

Unfortunately, when I returned in 2024, the older signage had been replaced. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Westcorkrailway]

What springs to mind in cork is fota and mallow still have one of the pre blue signs each

 

A few stations from glounthaune to cobh have IE, IR and even CIE signs of trespass, footbridge and parking related nature. Cork car park has a CIE sign (and a GSWR Timber sign!) 

 

As of right now. I believe there are two stations with complete all old signage. Cahir and one of the stations on the DSE 

 

 

 

[josh_]

Drumcondra has old IE logo on both sides of its footbridge

Sligo station have IE logo on a concrete plant pot and have other CIE stuff like badges and even IE too

 

Also where did the old white and orange stripe IE signs go to as id love to be able to buy/get one of my 3 local stations and maybe as well as connolly, heuston, pearse and tara street if possible 

14 hours ago, JasonB said:

I took these photos at Ballina station in October 2022.  

Unfortunately, when I returned in 2024, the older signage had been replaced. 

 

 

 

 

 

Whats with the RPSI cravens in ballina?

 

[minister_for_hardship]

17 hours ago, JasonB said:

I took these photos at Ballina station in October 2022.  

Unfortunately, when I returned in 2024, the older signage had been replaced. 

 

 

 

 

 

An interesting example of reusing the old tubular steel. Haven't seen that anywhere else.

Cork has an ancient faded network map showing the south wexford, no Ennis to Athenry, no midleton either.

[minister_for_hardship]

22 hours ago, josh_ said:

 

Also where did the old white and orange stripe IE signs go to as id love to be able to buy/get one of my 3 local stations 

 

The metal skip most likely. There may be instances where they may get thrown into a store room to gather dust until a clear out.

You would really need to contact whoever is in charge before the old stuff comes down or better still be there on the spot when it's happening.

[Westcorkrailway]

21 hours ago, minister_for_hardship said:

Cork has an ancient faded network map showing the south wexford, no Ennis to Athenry, no midleton either.

It also had a map showing the Burma siding still open amongst other long disused sidings 

[josh_]

4 hours ago, minister_for_hardship said:

The metal skip most likely. There may be instances where they may get thrown into a store room to gather dust until a clear out.

You would really need to contact whoever is in charge before the old stuff comes down or better still be there on the spot when it's happening.

Who and what department in irish rail be in charge of the old signs?

[Mol_PMB]

You may find that in some cases the old signs are still there under the new signs - often rebranding is just done with vinyls these days.

[minister_for_hardship]

19 hours ago, josh_ said:

Who and what department in irish rail be in charge of the old signs?

Enquire locally, in person. Going through departments rarely if ever works. An enquiry through formal channels gets forwarded through a merry go round of people unable or unwilling to do anything for you.

They are definitely missing a trick, they could easily offer obsolete signage that has been replaced  for sale, maybe giving proceeds to charity. Good PR too.

[josh_]

Where would u have in mind to enqiure? and would FOIs work to get details on the old signs?

[minister_for_hardship]

33 minutes ago, josh_ said:

Where would u have in mind to enqiure? and would FOIs work to get details on the old signs?

Just go to your chosen stations, ask around if they still have the older signage still on hands after it was taken down. Maybe it got skipped, maybe got tossed into a back room if contractors weren't sure what to do with it. Worth a shot, don't ask, don't get.

FOI is probably not really of use for small scale stuff.

[josh_]

Ill try it today thanks very much for the tip, point u made on FOI, id say they refuse as it might be older than 2008 as that is a limit they can only give for locomotive drawings yet they give out 071 drawings but unsure abt other stuff in general 

Also my local station coolmine doesnt really have staff around but ill try clonsilla as there is the fella who manually opens/closes the crossing

Another whilst im here, there is an old white and orange stripe 'mind the gap' on one the pillars on platform 5 in connolly

[MTG1]

On 23/2/2025 at 10:35 PM, Westcorkrailway said:

What springs to mind in cork is fota and mallow still have one of the pre blue signs each

Rushbrooke also has some at the end of the platforms

[skinner75]

There's an old, faded Irish Cement sign with the IR logo on the pillar down near the old goods shed in Athlone (new station, not old station)

 

Old CIE station sign in Gertie Brownes in Athlone:

 

Edited February 26 by skinner75

[josh_]

UPDATE ON CLONSILLA:

So yesterday i went clonsilla as coolmine and castleknock have no staff at those stations and clonsilla had, i dont know the actual name of the job, lets call him the 'crossing man'.

So I askedn him what @minister_of_hard_ship told me he told me the IE signs are stored in museums, i mentioned if inchicore would too?

He said yes there too and they be worth thousands and held as relics in glass cases 

But a friend of mine said they went white with the slightest bit of sun and were all fucked into a skip due to their condition

[Barl]

Old signs can be found in loads of places all over the network. Many of the 'Do Not Trespass' signs will have the CIE roundel on them. As has been said above, all (bar one) of the existing HOBS wagons still have the IE logo - not sure what logo, if any, the new HOBS plough wagons will have. 

Spotted this flying snail logo at the bottom of the low mileage end of the long platform in Limerick Junction a while back. Not sure what the purpose of the sign actually is/was though! 

 

 

[Westcorkrailway]

48 minutes ago, Barl said:

Old signs can be found in loads of places all over the network. Many of the 'Do Not Trespass' signs will have the CIE roundel on them. As has been said above, all (bar one) of the existing HOBS wagons still have the IE logo - not sure what logo, if any, the new HOBS plough wagons will have. 

Spotted this flying snail logo at the bottom of the low mileage end of the long platform in Limerick Junction a while back. Not sure what the purpose of the sign actually is/was though! 

 

 

Electrical box 

[minister_for_hardship]

With the passage of time, the longest lived and once seen everywhere logo is now the rarest of all to spot in the wild.

[Mol_PMB]

21 minutes ago, minister_for_hardship said:

With the passage of time, the longest lived and once seen everywhere logo is now the rarest of all to spot in the wild.

Genuine question: which was in use for longer, the snail or the roundel? i.e. actually current and being applied.

My gut feel is that the roundel wins, whether we're talking about rail only or the wider CIE.

[Westcorkrailway]

17 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

Genuine question: which was in use for longer, the snail or the roundel? i.e. actually current and being applied.

My gut feel is that the roundel wins, whether we're talking about rail only or the wider CIE.

Roundell was in use for longer. 24 years very 16-20 years (depending on if you count DUTC)

[exciecoachbuilder]

On 27/2/2025 at 9:26 AM, josh_ said:

UPDATE ON CLONSILLA:

So yesterday i went clonsilla as coolmine and castleknock have no staff at those stations and clonsilla had, i dont know the actual name of the job, lets call him the 'crossing man'.

So I askedn him what @minister_of_hard_ship told me he told me the IE signs are stored in museums, i mentioned if inchicore would too?

He said yes there too and they be worth thousands and held as relics in glass cases 

But a friend of mine said they went white with the slightest bit of sun and were all fucked into a skip due to their condition

 

On 27/2/2025 at 9:26 AM, josh_ said:

UPDATE ON CLONSILLA:

So yesterday i went clonsilla as coolmine and castleknock have no staff at those stations and clonsilla had, i dont know the actual name of the job, lets call him the 'crossing man'.

So I askedn him what @minister_of_hard_ship told me he told me the IE signs are stored in museums, i mentioned if inchicore would too?

He said yes there too and they be worth thousands and held as relics in glass cases 

But a friend of mine said they went white with the slightest bit of sun and were all fucked into a skip due to their condition

 

[exciecoachbuilder]

Speaking of things getting f**ked into skips, years ago there were two buildings in Inchicore works where they stored disused railway stuff. I heard that one of the buildings ( a big shed beside the foundry) was being demolished, and everything was getting thrown out, in fact the contractor ( hammond lane) had started clearing the shed out. A mate and I took a ramble down to have a look, and what a treasure trove we found. I got old carriage plates , an old guards lamp, flying snail buttons and other bits and pieces. My mate found old signal cabin staff poles? with names of disused stations on them and a semaphore spectacle part. I shudder to think what was eventually thrown out in the end? A few years later the other building, which stored files , photos drawings etc, was being cleared out. This time it was C.I.E staff clearing it out, and I knew the lads, so I got some interesting stuff from there. One very interesting item I pulled out of the skip was a GSWR board minutes 1902 to 1904, really interesting, Robert Coey's signature on some of the pages and a guy who's surname was Ormsby? little notes pinned to some of the pages, the whole shebang. People have no idea what was thrown out, it's almost criminal. Then again not everyone, both managers and staff were interested in railways, it was just a job. Of all the people who I got to know over the years there was only one or two who had a strong interest in Irish railways past and present. Although, let me rephrase that. I have absolutely no interest in the present Irish railway system. The nail in the coffin for me was back in the mid 2000's.. Paul.

[Westcorkrailway]

18 minutes ago, exciecoachbuilder said:

Speaking of things getting f**ked into skips, years ago there were two buildings in Inchicore works where they stored disused railway stuff. I heard that one of the buildings ( a big shed beside the foundry) was being demolished, and everything was getting thrown out, in fact the contractor ( hammond lane) had started clearing the shed out. A mate and I took a ramble down to have a look, and what a treasure trove we found. I got old carriage plates , an old guards lamp, flying snail buttons and other bits and pieces. My mate found old signal cabin staff poles? with names of disused stations on them and a semaphore spectacle part. I shudder to think what was eventually thrown out in the end? A few years later the other building, which stored files , photos drawings etc, was being cleared out. This time it was C.I.E staff clearing it out, and I knew the lads, so I got some interesting stuff from there. One very interesting item I pulled out of the skip was a GSWR board minutes 1902 to 1904, really interesting, Robert Coey's signature on some of the pages and a guy who's surname was Ormsby? little notes pinned to some of the pages, the whole shebang. People have no idea what was thrown out, it's almost criminal. Then again not everyone, both managers and staff were interested in railways, it was just a job. Of all the people who I got to know over the years there was only one or two who had a strong interest in Irish railways past and present. Although, let me rephrase that. I have absolutely no interest in the present Irish railway system. The nail in the coffin for me was back in the mid 2000's.. Paul.

Thr signal poles you found are “railway staffs” what a treasure trove you did indeed find. Hopefully preserved thanks to you and your buddy 

 

but your right. An awful lot of stuff gets thrown out

[Mol_PMB]

There's a very fine display of Irish staffs at Castlerea 'Hells Kitchen' alongside A55.

There were two common sizes of the ETS (electric train staff) - standard and miniature, of which miniature were the more common.

Obscure fact of the day - there were only 6 patterns of rings, termed A to F.

So there was a potential safety risk that a staff would fit in the 'wrong' machine if you found one with the same pattern, and could therefore indicate a clear line when it was in fact occupied. 

To minimise this risk, any station had to have different patterns for each route leading from it. I think it was Athenry that had all 6 patterns.

This was also the reason why over-carrying a staff into the wrong section was considered an offence almost as serious as going without the staff, because the over-carried staff could potentially be misused at the next station.

Again, another risk mitigation was to make staffs of the same pattern visually different, such as using a different shape for the portion where station names were inscribed, or attaching a ground frame release key. That wouldn't stop anyone putting a staff in the wrong machine, but it would make it very obvious at a glance that the offence had been committed.

 

Some former Irish miniature ETS machines have been refurbished for use on the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways.

 

[Westcorkrailway]

2 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

There's a very fine display of Irish staffs at Castlerea 'Hells Kitchen' alongside A55.

There were two common sizes of the ETS (electric train staff) - standard and miniature, of which miniature were the more common.

Obscure fact of the day - there were only 6 patterns of rings, termed A to F.

So there was a potential safety risk that a staff would fit in the 'wrong' machine if you found one with the same pattern, and could therefore indicate a clear line when it was in fact occupied. 

To minimise this risk, any station had to have different patterns for each route leading from it. I think it was Athenry that had all 6 patterns.

This was also the reason why over-carrying a staff into the wrong section was considered an offence almost as serious as going without the staff, because the over-carried staff could potentially be misused at the next station.

Again, another risk mitigation was to make staffs of the same pattern visually different, such as using a different shape for the portion where station names were inscribed, or attaching a ground frame release key. That wouldn't stop anyone putting a staff in the wrong machine, but it would make it very obvious at a glance that the offence had been committed.

 

Some former Irish miniature ETS machines have been refurbished for use on the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways.

 

There quite a nice railway memorabilia as they were a part of the station and the train! Always on the lookout for a ballinhassig-Crossbarry one myself. They seem oddly numerous 

[minister_for_hardship]

6 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

Genuine question: which was in use for longer, the snail or the roundel? i.e. actually current and being applied.

My gut feel is that the roundel wins, whether we're talking about rail only or the wider CIE.

Flying snail 1945-1964 (1941-1964 if you count DUTC use)

Broken wheel 1964-1986, continued as is as group/tours logo until 2000 makeover. Stand corrected.

The IR Killarney junction logo was quite clever but short-lived. The IE one didn't last much longer. Gotta keep those design consultant boys in a job I guess.

Edited February 28 by minister_for_hardship

[Westcorkrailway]

6 minutes ago, minister_for_hardship said:

Flying snail 1945-1964 (1941-1964 if you count DUTC use)

Broken wheel 1964-1986, continued as is as group/tours logo until 2000 makeover. Stand corrected.

This bag which I got recently, maybe from the 1990s (?) still has the broken wheel as your say 

[WRENNEIRE]

Forgot about this:

[exciecoachbuilder]

I never liked the later CIE broken wheel. Just leave it as it was, end of.