Interesting not-so-early Irish Railway photos

[Westcorkrailway]

Some interesting ones on the rail identification group page 

 

 

 

Does anyone know what vehicle that is behind the two tenders 

[Mol_PMB]

19 hours ago, Westcorkrailway said:

Does anyone know what vehicle that is behind the two tenders 

Nice photos! The green roof above those tenders belongs to a B101 class.

I have a slide to scan and add to this thread too...

[Mike 84C]

That lovely picture of the W class reminds me I did'nt buy a set of parts from Worsley Works. hey ho!

[Horsetan]

13 minutes ago, Mike 84C said:

That lovely picture of the W class reminds me I did'nt buy a set of parts from Worsley Works. hey ho!

Neither did I....

[Mol_PMB]

8 hours ago, Mike 84C said:

That lovely picture of the W class reminds me I did'nt buy a set of parts from Worsley Works. hey ho!

Loosely on that topic, I wish I'd put my hand up to encourage a downsized Alphagraphix F6. These little GSWR Ivatt tankies are growing on me!

I bought this original slide on eBay recently, the photo was taken by Ken Cooper on 13th June 1955 and the slide was sold with copyright.

Also of note in this fairly early colour image are the 30' carriages in the background - a GSWR 6-compartment third in plain dark green on the left, and an MGWR 1st/3rd compo in the late 1940s elaborately lined green livery on the right. 

 

[GSR 800]

2 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

Loosely on that topic, I wish I'd put my hand up to encourage a downsized Alphagraphix F6. These little GSWR Ivatt tankies are growing on me!

I bought this original slide on eBay recently, the photo was taken by Ken Cooper on 13th June 1955 and the slide was sold with copyright.

Also of note in this fairly early colour image are the 30' carriages in the background - a GSWR 6-compartment third in plain dark green on the left, and an MGWR 1st/3rd compo in the late 1940s elaborately lined green livery on the right. 

 

They're gorgeous little tank engines, I'm surprised they didn't do better and make threshold!

[Galteemore]

54 minutes ago, GSR 800 said:

They're gorgeous little tank engines, I'm surprised they didn't do better and make threshold!

Careful what you wish for! Making up that curved footplate was ‘interesting’

[GSR 800]

1 minute ago, Galteemore said:

Careful what you wish for! Making up that curved footplate was ‘interesting’

I have some experience from JMs D17 class!

[Mol_PMB]

10 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

Careful what you wish for! Making up that curved footplate was ‘interesting’

I’ll see if i can think of a better way of designing it… 

[GSR 800]

45 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

I’ll see if i can think of a better way of designing it… 

IIRC @Mayner suggested using the valance as a guide to solder the footplate curves around for the 4-4-0

[lucas]

I have used 3D printed dies in the past to get the curve in coach body sides consistent.

 

These are printed on a very coarse setting on my printer since the surface doesn't matter anyway. The brass etch is sandwiched in between and pressed tight in the vise.

It takes a little bit of trial and error to get the die right since brass tends to 'spring back' a little bit, so the die is designed to have a slightly tighter curve than what's actually needed.

I'm sure something similar could be adapted for those curves.

[jhb171achill]

On 2/7/2026 at 12:51 PM, Westcorkrailway said:

 

Does anyone know what vehicle that is behind the two tenders 

I only see one tender…… this pic of 461 was on an enthusiast trip, I think. If it’s the one I’m thinking of, the train was of green laminates.

Edited July 4 by jhb171achill

[Irishswissernie]

Another view of the same train, its at Dungarvan  showing the first coach. . Dungarvan 461 Waterford - Mallow service 6June 1961 img113

[Galteemore]

7 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

I only see one tender…… this pic of 461 was on an enthusiast trip, I think. If it’s the one I’m thinking of, the train was of green laminates.

He means the pic of No 90, JB. Is it a Sulzer? 

[Mol_PMB]

One for @jhb171achill’s livery files. What colour is this sleeping car, I wonder? And what colour is the snail? The date is 1964.

I may have a go at bidding on this lot of photos on ebay…

https://ebay.io/m/VJGODW

[jhb171achill]

On 21/7/2026 at 7:13 PM, Mol_PMB said:

One for @jhb171achill’s livery files. What colour is this sleeping car, I wonder? And what colour is the snail? The date is 1964.

I may have a go at bidding on this lot of photos on ebay…

https://ebay.io/m/VJGODW

Roof, chassis & ends black; that's the easy bit! Body newly grey - but it looks quite light. I suspect a one-off, maybe using the lighter paint they started painting new wagons in at the same time. But if it's 1964, the "snail" has been replaced a year or more earlier. which suggests paintwork possibly older than it looks.

As for what colour that snail is, it's anyone's guess. It looks darker than the darker shade of green (still then in use on some buses and trucks). The writing on the left may be eau-de-nil. The greater likelihood probably is dark green, left over from buses when they went red and cream?

 

Edited August 15 by jhb171achill

[Westcorkrailway]

Funny as it’s listed as 234A. A coach that survives in preservation. 

[Mol_PMB]

20 minutes ago, Westcorkrailway said:

Funny as it’s listed as 234A. A coach that survives in preservation. 

Good spot!

Also interesting that it is branded for the Chief Engineer's Department. Most were Traffic Department.

From Neil Smith, here is a view of 234A in 1983:

And this IRRS photo shows it when newly converted, which I believe was in 1947:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509192299

 

[Mol_PMB]

When you run out of blue paint on the loco and have to start a new tin for the tender? 

One of several negatives just listed on eBay, not my core interest but might appeal to others.

https://ebay.io/m/OwC2b0

[Galteemore]

That’s interesting. I am working on a blue engine next and noticed that there was a rather pleasing shade of dark blue that appeared in the late 40s/early 50s. Quite how it weathered to the tender’s shade has attracted all kinds of speculation. In his seminal book on loco painting, Ian Rathbone singles out GNRI blue as a colour no one seems to agree on! 

[Mol_PMB]

6 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

That’s interesting. I am working on a blue engine next and noticed that there was a rather pleasing shade of dark blue that appeared in the late 40s/early 50s. Quite how it weathered to the tender’s shade has attracted all kinds of speculation. In his seminal book on loco painting, Ian Rathbone singles out GNRI blue as a colour no one seems to agree on! 

The loco and tender have different lining styles as well as the colour difference. Is that a clue?

[Galteemore]

The tender has probably been used with an S class, as it has the slots for fitting single line tablet collectors on Derry Road trains. 

Edited August 16 by Galteemore

[jhb171achill]

34 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

The tender has probably been used with an S class, as it has the slots for fitting single line tablet collectors. 

Exactly.

The lining style varied from design to design. yes, it's a mis-matching tender, which was actually common.

As for the colour difference, there isn't one. One is faded and the other is fairly fresh. the GNR used a single shade of loco blue; but like supposedly varying shades of anything as apparently indicated by old colour slides with varying qualities of emulsion, and varying degrees of care in their conservation over the last sixty or seventy years, the tales we hear of such and such a colour having myriad varieties are largely incorrect. ACTUAL variations will be documented, such as the 1980s (very slight) change in CIE orange, or the two main shades of CIE green (one with the DOCUMENTED variations that Mol's research has touched upon).

On 22/7/2026 at 10:22 AM, Mol_PMB said:

Good spot!

Also interesting that it is branded for the Chief Engineer's Department. Most were Traffic Department.

From Neil Smith, here is a view of 234A in 1983:

And this IRRS photo shows it when newly converted, which I believe was in 1947:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509192299

 

I saw one somewhere with "P W DEPT" on it.....

[Mol_PMB]

There’s a lot of interesting old Irish negatives appearing on eBay at the moment from this seller:

https://ebay.io/m/cCWD1a
 

The first couple of batches were mostly GNR and DNGR (not of so much interest to me), but there are some CIE shots now being added. 
I particularly like this one, presumably in the carriage shops at Inchicore:

 

This is unfortunately cropped but a photo of a Queen I hadn’t seen before:

https://ebay.io/m/VTu7sY
 

Or if you’re into the ancient history there are several like this:

https://ebay.io/m/HhNQYh

[Mol_PMB]

An interesting MGWR image showing a derailed train in 1923:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/206523386670

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/o80AAeSwk1Jqkyb6/s-l1600.jpg

 

[jhb171achill]

3 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

An interesting MGWR image showing a derailed train in 1923:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/206523386670

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/o80AAeSwk1Jqkyb6/s-l1600.jpg

 

Interesting to see a rear view if the once-common, but photographically-elusive, Midland brake vans (on the left). The MGWR painted these dark green at one stage, though I suspect they were latterly normal grey…

[jhb171achill]

On 8/12/2025 at 10:26 PM, Mol_PMB said:

Many thanks - good to know that a GNR 20t van was in Cork for a while. I expect they were a fair bit newer than the GSWR and CBSCR vans which were still around. 

The GNR opens and goods vans seem to have got everywhere (as one might expect). Somewhere I found a photo of a bogie Guinness grain van at Albert Quay. 

There was a clerestory-roofed GNR coach - probably a composite - in West Cork in 1959, and on the main line too. It was still in GNR brown livery, complete with lettering and crest! 

A similar vehicle, possibly the same one, was on the Loughrea branch the same year, hauled by a Midland J18 0.6.0, and I’ve seen a picture of a GNR brake van on the DSER. 

“Provincial Leslie” offered one of these with an option of a flying snail instead of “G N” markings. I’ve seen a solitary picture of one like this, but it was short-lived. At the rate that Inchicore were churning out new standard CIE vans at the time, and the closures of 1959-63, the GNR brake vans that CIE inherited were all gone within a few years, almost all still in dingy GNR markings. 

[Mol_PMB]

34 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

“Provincial Leslie” offered one of these with an option of a flying snail instead of “G N” markings. I’ve seen a solitary picture of one like this, but it was short-lived. At the rate that Inchicore were churning out new standard CIE vans at the time, and the closures of 1959-63, the GNR brake vans that CIE inherited were all gone within a few years, almost all still in dingy GNR markings. 

I've found 5 photos of these with snails, and not all the same van as they have different lettering arrangements. Some were still in use in 1963 and number 84N was photographed at Inchicore in 1971 still in good nick (with a snail). So I don't think Leslie was too far off the mark.

I have 3 different Irish brake van kits in my stash - too many things to do!

[jhb171achill]

17 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

I've found 5 photos of these with snails, and not all the same van as they have different lettering arrangements. Some were still in use in 1963 and number 84N was photographed at Inchicore in 1971 still in good nick (with a snail). So I don't think Leslie was too far off the mark.

I have 3 different Irish brake van kits in my stash - too many things to do!

1971 was certainly late for the likes of that - probably out of use. But, yes, as long as even one had a snail fur one week, it’s certainly a valid livery option. 

When the UTA, or its bus-obsessed political masters, ceased all internal goods trains in the north in 1965, there were still 2 or 3, along with several ex-NCC ones, retained for ballast and works trains. Two saw use into the 1980s. 

Whitehead has a GNR one, while Downpatrick has an NIR-modified NCC one.