Bulleid wagons with triangulated underframes: the bolster wagons

[Mol_PMB]

If you thought that IRM had produced all the Bulleid wagon variants, then think again! Fortunately these should be a fairly simple modification to the Bulleid flats.

Thanks to the loan of @mfjoc's 1972 wagon register, here's a photo of LB 23334:

These wagons would have been used in pairs to carry long loads such as tree trunks or telegraph poles. Here's an IRRS photo showing a pair, not loaded:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511501514

In the 1972 wagon register, all the 4-wheel bolster wagons are listed together. The type on triangulated underframes are the 1956 batch; the older types would have been different designs but capable of the same duties:

This photo from Brian Flannigan shows another of the 1956 batch of LB flats. It's missing its bolster but the curved rubbing plates each side are present. Perhaps the removal of the bolster has resulted in 23318 being deleted from the list above?

This IRRS photo at Albert Quay includes a rake of five 4-wheel bolster wagons (just right of centre), which look to be the older GSWR type of wagon (probably the 1918/1919 built types in the list). However, the pivoting bolsters themselves look the same as used on the LB wagons:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509179364/

 

This NLI photo shows the sort of big log loads that would have been carried by these wagons. The in the train are, I think, the GSWR type, whereas those on the left may be LBs. It's hard to tell. 

https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000303837

These logs would have been for the boat yard at Baltimore.

[Mol_PMB]

The IRRS Archives has a diagram of another type of bolster wagon - this one has a timber underframe and the drawing is dated 1948. The number series is 23150-23199, but it seems that none of these survived to be listed in the 1972 wagon register. However, this is useful as it provides a fairly good drawing of the bolster and its supports - these seem to have been a common design used on the earlier and later wagons too.