Tail Traffic

[Mol_PMB]

A major advantage of railcar trains is their reversible formation, allowing rapid turn-rounds at termini with no shunting. 

However, a disadvantage is their relatively fixed formation - it is more difficult to adapt capacity for short-term traffic needs. 

When the AEC railcars were introduced by CIE, they replaced traditional loco-hauled trains on a very traditionally-operated railway. Staff would have thought nothing of tacking an odd van on the back of a loco-hauled train. This could also be done with a railcar; in the UK it was termed 'tail traffic'.

However, tail traffic would become a headache down the line. As well as preventing an easy reversal at the terminus, railcar sets were not easy to shunt with owing to their length - they wouldn't fit in many headshunts, and the driver would have a long walk between the two cabs, or if they remained in one cab they would have very poor visibility in the opposite direction. So you would normally need another loco (or perhaps a horse?) to shunt the tail traffic off the railcar.

Nevertheless, CIE's AEC railcars did haul rail traffic, especially in the 1950s. I've found about 30 photos showing a variety of tail traffic and I'll provide links or references in this thread, hopefully as a modelling inspiration.

This photo by Ernie shows the North Kerry railcar arriving at Limerick in 1956, with a horsebox as tail traffic:

More posts will follow...

[Mol_PMB]

When the first AEC railcars arrived and were tested in early 1952, the earliest photos I've found show them hauling tail traffic. At this time there may not have been any carriages through-wired to work with them.

These two IRRS photos show the pair 2600/2601 hauling a bogie carriage, a 6-wheel van and a 4-wheel van:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53507783362

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509190709

The bogie carriage appears to be GSWR 'Tea car' 838, seen in closeup here a few years earlier. It was one of the old catering cars through-wired for AEC railcar operation but presumably this modification post-dated the photos of it running as tail traffic.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509061459

The 6-wheel van looks to be a fairly standard GSWR type passenger brake, and the 4-wheel goods van bringing up the rear must be vac-fitted so it may be a fruit/meat van.

 

 

By early 1953, a few more railcars were in service and some of the old catering cars had been re-wired to work with them.

The photo linked below (from another thread on the forum) appears in 'Chasing the Flying Snail' (Burges) p52 and is dated 2 April 1953. The carriage formed within the railcar set is GSWR diner 343, which is also illustrated in 'Irish Broad Gauge Carriages' (Coakham) p16 - that photo is dated just 6 days later and also shows 343 sandwiched between two AEC railcars.

But for this thread, it's not the diner that interests us but the 6-wheel van tacked on the back. Again, this looks to be a fairly standard GSWR type passenger brake. I am not aware that any passenger brake/luggage vans (ancient or modern) were through-wired for use with the AEC railcars, so to cater for an excess of luggage or parcels they had to be tacked on the back.

 

[Mol_PMB]

We'll stay in 1953 and move on to a couple of interesting photos posted by Ernie on Flickr.

It's 19th August 1953 and 2604 leads a Sligo train. Two vehicles form the tail traffic - a 6-wheel van and something else beyond that which may be a horsebox or fitted goods van: 

I have not yet identified the middle carriage; I think it is another GSWR catering car. Any ideas?

 

21st September 1953, and 2616 leads a Rosslare-Dublin train. The middle carriage is one of the open thirds built in 1953 specifically to work with the AEC railcars; these were the 1356-1371 series. 

The tail traffic on the back is indistinct but interesting. I think the first vehicle is an old 6-wheel travelling post office, complete with net. Beyond that, I think a bogie van or possibly bogie brake third, but unidentifiable at this distance.

 

[Mol_PMB]

Moving on to 1954, AEC railcars were introduced on the West Cork lines. 

'The Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway' Vol.3 (Creedon) page 27 shows the first regular railcar service leaving Albert Quay for Bantry - it is a pair of railcars hauling a 4-wheel goods van. The detail of the van is indistinct.

On page 30 of the same book, and also in 1954, there is a photo of a railcar set crossing Chetwynd viaduct. A pair of railcars with a CIE compartment third (1351-1355 series) haul two goods vans. They're not entirely clear but I think they are cattle wagons.

Staying with the CB&SCR theme, this photo from Ernie also shows a pair of railcars with a 4-wheel van on the back at Bantry:

Whilst this IRRS photo from November 1958 at Clonakilty Junction shows a fitted H van as tail traffic on a railcar set; a CIE compartment second (1351-1355 series) is the middle car in the set:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/54253199453

[Galteemore]

Most interesting. Perfect way to move bespoke loads such as horse boxes. The UTA, of course, aspired to predicate its entire freight traffic on such methods! 

[Mol_PMB]

Looking elsewhere in the country in the 1955-1956 period, there is only a book reference for 1955: 'Railways in Ireland' part 4: GS&W (Bairstow) page 71 shows a Sligo-Limerick train at Ennis.

A pair of railcars with no intermediate are hauling a bogie passenger coach and 6-wheel passenger brake van. It's a roof shot so a little hard to distinguish the vehicles, but from the long curved rainstrips and the pattern of roof ventilators I think the coach is likely to be one of the 1930s GSR main-line compartment coaches (which were not through-wired for railcar operation).

 

This IRRS photo dated 6th January 1956 shows a lengthy railcar train entering Mullingar. The formation probably includes 4 power cars and several CIE-built passenger coaches between, but tacked on the back is a 6-wheel passenger brake van:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53498866623

Here's another shot from Ernie showing just a pair of railcars, again with a 6-wheel passenger brake van on the back. This is a Rosslare-Dublin train on 4th June 1956:

We've already seen the horsebox at Limerick in the first post, so I won't repeat it here.

Again from Ernie and it's 28th August 1956, probably the Sligo-Limerick train at Ennis again. A new Park Royal coach is between the railcars (replacing the GSR coach as tail traffic in the equivalent 1955 photo), but the 6-wheel van is still needed on the back.

To complete 1956, there are two more book references to look at:

'Railways in Ireland' part 4: GS&W (Bairstow) p2 also shows the Sligo-Limerick service in August 1956, the same formation as above but with a different railcar leading.

'Rails around Dublin' (Murray) p14 shows a 3-car railcar set (CIE open second 1356-1371 in the middle) with a 6-wheel van on the back, forming the morning Kilkenny-Dublin service on 9th June 1956.

 

8 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

Most interesting. Perfect way to move bespoke loads such as horse boxes. The UTA, of course, aspired to predicate its entire freight traffic on such methods! 

Indeed! I decided to limit myself to the CIE railcars for now.

[Mol_PMB]

Next, a few examples of passenger coaches as tail traffic in the late 1950s into the early 1960s

The book 'Cork Bandon & South Coast Railway' (Shepherd) page 38 shows a nice photo at Clonakilty junction in 1957. The same photo also appears at lower quality in 'The Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway' Vol.3 (Creedon) p67, which also includes another photo of the same train.

The formation of the Cork-Bantry train is an AEC railcar, a Park Royal coach, a Wedgehead railcar and finally a CIE corridor second as tail traffic. Of the early 1950s corridor seconds, 1350 to 1355 were through-wired for railcar operation but 1339-1349 are not listed as being fitted to work with the AECs. It's possible that the one being hauled in this photo was not suitably fitted, but there may be another explanation.

Also in West Cork, Ernie has a nice pair of photos staed 5th June 1958 with a railcar set strengthened with a pair of 6-wheel coaches as tail traffic. Clearly the Park Royal intermediate was insufficient for the traffic on offer:

Working north, Roger Joanes has a nice photo of a train at Clonmel on 28th March 1963, just a pair of railcars and something else coupled behind that is well-hidden behind the footbridge:

And so to Sligo on 21st June 1961, with a 3-car set (CIE open second in the middle) hauling another unidentifiable CIE coach as tail traffic. This colour photo shows different shades of green in the rake; the leading car is light green with large numbers on the front:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53570702493

 

 

[Mol_PMB]

Finally for now, a group of photos showing tin vans as tail traffic. The luggage version of the tin van (2700-2765) were introduced in 1957 so they post-date most of the photos we've seen upthread. But they dominate the tail traffic from 1959 onwards.

'Railways in Ireland' part 3: DSE/MGW etc (Bairstow) pages 26 and 28 show two photos of a Rosslare-Dublin train formed of a Wedgehead railcar, a GSWR corridor second, an AEC railcar and a tin van as tail traffic.

'Rails Through the West' (Beaumont/Carse) page 83 shows a Limerick-Sligo train on 7th June 1961. The formation is a 3-car set with a GSWR corridor second in the middle, and a tin van as tail traffic.

Ernie provides us with a nice colour photo of a 2-car railcar set with a tin van behind, at Limerick on 15th March 1961:

The IRRS archive includes three photos from the mid-1960s and the black and tan era, each of which comprise a 3-car set and a tin van on the back.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53445962837

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/54419866325

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53447203394

All of these appear to have a CIE corridor second as middle car (1350 to 1355 of this type were through-wired)

 

That's all I've got, but there's quite a variety amongst them.

What we need now is some IRM AEC railcars, but I got the impression yesterday that we might have a long wait.

[Westcorkrailway]

2 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

The book 'Cork Bandon & South Coast Railway' (Shepherd) page 38 shows a nice photo at Clonakilty junction in 1957. The same photo also appears at lower quality in 'The Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway' Vol.3 (Creedon) p67, which also includes another photo of the same train.

The formation of the Cork-Bantry train is an AEC railcar, a Park Royal coach, a Wedgehead railcar and finally a CIE corridor second as tail traffic. Of the early 1950s corridor seconds, 1350 to 1355 were through-wired for railcar operation but 1339-1349 are not listed as being fitted to work with the AECs. It's possible that the one being hauled in this photo was not suitably fitted, but there may be another explanation.

Also in West Cork, Ernie has a nice pair of photos staed 5th June 1958 with a railcar set strengthened with a pair of 6-wheel coaches as tail traffic. Clearly the Park Royal intermediate was insufficient for the traffic on offer:

On a Thursday, the railcar set was almost always strenghtened by 1 or 2 - 6 wheel coaches attached to the back of a 3 car railcar set. This was due to a promotion on the west cork lines where return tickets could be bought for the price of a single (original poster below, @jhb171achill might like to see this one! 

Poster

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxQF4Buudcm6Fpt_QuezPg38y0eB_trIBC?si=zd1tSo9ybV6je8Qy
 

Footage of the Thursday railcar passing Bandon station with a single railcar in towe

 

Usually a van being sent out on a railcar set was a horse in a cattle wagon. Often these would be left at the station for the goods train to shunt them later on! This actually happened on the 17th of march 1961 and the IRRS no.464 had to shunt it out of the way causing a delay, albeit some photographs to be taken 

I don’t have the high resolution versions, but some wrecks also served as intermediates in West Cork. 
a john Langford shot outside Drimoleague - that coach certainly isint new! 

there is a reason this was chosen as a book cover…2 green railcars and a dark green Park Royal crossing the viaduct 

[Mol_PMB]

Super - thank you! 

[Mol_PMB]

I have another thread in preparation on the intermediates. There were a few GSWR corridor thirds (as shown in your pic above) as well as the old catering cars. Even a couple of non-corridor suburban compartment stock.