GNRi wagon, what is it ?

[Moogie-69]

Anyone any ideas what type of wagon this was and what did it carry ?

Thanks, Noel.

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, Moogie-69 said:

Anyone any ideas what type of wagon this was and what did it carry ?

Thanks, Noel.

It's a turf wagon. Dundalk built a series of them in the early 1940s.

[Moogie-69]

@jhb171achillThank you.

Edited yesterday at 02:53 by Moogie-69

[cheesy_peas]

On 13/11/2026 at 1:14 AM, jhb171achill said:

It's a turf wagon. Dundalk built a series of them in the early 1940s.

Never saw a photo of one before, a tad more upmarket than the GSR's shabby old 6 wheeler with the roof torn off.

[Mol_PMB]

12t turf wagon, 9 built between 1942 and 1945.

GNR diagram 7 in the 1940s diagram book, which includes a fairly well dimensioned drawing number 161.C

4323, 4326, 4375, 4377 and 4379 went to the UTA

4327, 4376, 4378 and 4380 went to CIE

 

[Mol_PMB]

The GNR also converted some of their normal open wagons with turf cribs, more than doubling the useable height of the load space. 

GNR diagram 3 in the 1940s diagram book shows the conversion of a 4-plank wagon.

GNR diagram 6 in the 1940s diagram book shows the conversion of a 6-plank wagon.

Quantities and running numbers are not given for the conversions.

The GSR / CIE had similar conversions of open wagons, and there are photos of them in the IRRS collection.

[Moogie-69]

@Mol_PMB thanks for that. What is the 1940 diagram book ?

[Mol_PMB]

11 minutes ago, Moogie-69 said:

@Mol_PMB thanks for that. What is the 1940 diagram book ?

The GNR (like most railways) issued diagram books showing outline drawings of their wagons and coaches. They were updated from time to time, with the pages representing old wagons being replaced with new pages for new designs. 

Two copies of the GNR wagon diagram book have survived, originally prints of the same document but one was updated a few years later than the other. I suspect they were originally produced in the 1940s but the later one has annotations up to at least 1959, though not all the later wagons are included.

The detail and dimensioning of the diagrams is fairly good, some better than others depending on date etc. In many cases (but not all) the wagon numbers for each diagram are listed, sometimes with build dates.

Both versions are available for sale as a digital download from the IRRS, along with other drawings and diagrams including GNR carriages and locos.

 

Volunteers have put in huge amounts of time and significant cost to get these old documents and drawings scanned/photographed, and there are many more drawings and diagrams still to do (for example the GSR wagon diagrams). So they are sold at a price that represents the effort put into creating them, and supports the ongoing costs of continuing the work. 

 

I'd recommend that you should join the IRRS - this will give you access to their Flickr archive of about 10,000 old Irish railway photos and will enable you to purchase the drawing sets of interest to you. These resources are invaluable for modelling Irish railways.

 

Some other wagon diagram books have also survived outside the IRRS Archives - for example another forum member has lent me his hard copy of the CIE 1972 wagon register, which is effectively a diagram book and number listing with photo illustrations too. I am working through scanning it and sharing it on this forum - see for example my recent posts on grain wagons and bolster wagons. It's a lot of work as there are hundreds of pages and they're foolscap size so some need to be scanned in two parts. Bear with me! There are a couple of later GNR wagon types in there that do not appear in the earlier GNR diagram book.

[Moogie-69]

@Mol_PMB thank you, I'll chase that up, sounds like a good source of information. 

[Mol_PMB]

Here's a GNR wagon diagram from the CIE 1972 wagon register. This one is too new to be in the GNR wagon diagram books. 

Interestingly, this wagon type was closely based on contemporary British Rail vans and used some standard components from them. For example the 17'6" length over headstocks and the brakes and buffers are British RCH standards rather than the IRCH equivalents. The body construction and roof shape is also very British Rail and these can be quite easily modelled from Parkside kits of BR vans.

 

[Auto-Train Original]

7 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

Here's a GNR wagon diagram from the CIE 1972 wagon register. This one is too new to be in the GNR wagon diagram books. 

Interestingly, this wagon type was closely based on contemporary British Rail vans and used some standard components from them. For example the 17'6" length over headstocks and the brakes and buffers are British RCH standards rather than the IRCH equivalents. The body construction and roof shape is also very British Rail and these can be quite easily modelled from Parkside kits of BR vans.

 

Looks like an easy conversion from a UK van? How many of these were in service like this?

[Mol_PMB]

4 minutes ago, Auto-Train Original said:

Looks like an easy conversion from a UK van? How many of these were in service like this?

This many:

Anyway, that will give @Moogie-69 an idea of the sort of information you get in a diagram book.

[leslie10646]

27 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

Here's a GNR wagon diagram from the CIE 1972 wagon register. This one is too new to be in the GNR wagon diagram books. 

Interestingly, this wagon type was closely based on contemporary British Rail vans and used some standard components from them. For example the 17'6" length over headstocks and the brakes and buffers are British RCH standards rather than the IRCH equivalents. The body construction and roof shape is also very British Rail and these can be quite easily modelled from Parkside kits of BR vans.

 

Come on Paul.

Pay attention at the back!

I've been producing this van for NINETEEN years now in over half a dozen livery / number combinations - there are well over 600 of them out there.

[Mol_PMB]

10 minutes ago, leslie10646 said:

Come on Paul.

Pay attention at the back!

I've been producing this van for NINETEEN years now in over half a dozen livery / number combinations - there are well over 600 of them out there.

Sorry Leslie! My intention in posting the GNR cement van data was to illustrate a GNR wagon diagram without breaking the IRRS copyright.

I made my model from a Parkside kit because I get pleasure from making things, and it was also easier to build to 21mm gauge than converting one of your RTR vans. I thought you had pretty much retired from that venture now anyway?

[leslie10646]

I am running things down. When the stock reaches zero, I'm done.

You are quite right, the Dapol van would be a pain for 21mm.

I will be sending out Spoil wagon kits all next week.