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 7 hours ago 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. 

[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.....