O'Dea Collection - now digitised

[Eiretrains]

The National Library of Ireland recently announced that a huge amount of digitised photos have recently been made available online. Amongst them includes those from the late prolific Irish railway photographer James P.O'Dea. Up to now only a fraction of his pictures were online, but now over 4800 of the 5342 pictures of his are now available. They feature nearly every corner of the rail network from the 1930s to 1970s.

Link to his Collection here.

Plenty of hours to enjoy looking over!

[Garfield]

This is fantastic news! Thanks for the link.

[Kirley]

Thanks for the link, great pictures, love the one with the A Class under construction.

[StevieB]

People may be aware of my interest in Manulla Junction - some nice photos in the collection.

Stephen

[scahalane]

Fantastic resource, here's some of my favourites from the Cork yard.

 

http://catalogue.nli.ie/Collection/vtls000148612/Home?lookfor=cork&type=AllFields&filter%5B%5D=digitised%3A%22Digitised%22&filter%5B%5D=%21id%3A%22vtls000148612%22&page=1&view=list#

 

http://catalogue.nli.ie/Collection/vtls000148612/Home?lookfor=cork&type=AllFields&filter%5B%5D=digitised%3A%22Digitised%22&filter%5B%5D=%21id%3A%22vtls000148612%22&page=9&view=list

 

Its such a shame they knocked that water tower and chimney, it looked spectacular. Although not my era it would be a great one to model.

[David Holman]

Be still my beating heart. Fabulous link - thankyou!

[Glenderg]

Be still my beating heart. Fabulous link - thankyou!

 

+ 1 ..and my girl Sambo on page 3!

[ei6jf]

Some fantastic stuff. Great set of shots of the interior of Albert Quay cabin.

 

Captions (by National Library staff) are more than a little off the wall in many cases though.

 

Mark

[minister_for_hardship]

Some fantastic stuff. Great set of shots of the interior of Albert Quay cabin.

 

Captions (by National Library staff) are more than a little off the wall in many cases though.

 

Mark

 

Was intrigued by a caption along the lines of 'New Dutch locomotives, Inchicore'....only to find a shot of G classes.

[jhb171achill]

Good to see it all available. It was Jimmy O'Dea's wish that his collection would be made as public as possible instead of being salted away or jealously guarded by whoever ended up with them.

 

Other photographers still living have very generously made their collections available over the internet - these have been mentioned here in links from time to time. My own experiences, before NLI managed to get any of Jimmy's stuff, was that their staff were more than helpful in making material available to anyone who made an appointment to view it. I am sure most photographers would be keen to see their collections shared in to way after they had gone to the Great Loco Shed in the Sky.....

[Eiretrains]

Was intrigued by a caption along the lines of 'New Dutch locomotives, Inchicore'....only to find a shot of G classes.

Yes there's the occasional error or two in some captions and geography, it might have read original as 'New Deutz' locomotives which was translated to Dutch.

 

O'Dea was great at recording the track diagrams in signal cabins, in fact nearly every cabin he visited he duly recorded with great discipline. I've a soft spot for Clonakilty Junction, I'd love to see someone model this someday.

http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000304732

[Glenderg]

. I am sure most photographers would be keen to see their collections shared in to way after they had gone to the Great Loco Shed in the Sky.....

 

A book on wanderings in south africa/burma road/belfast in the 70's with plenty photos to come so, before that "fat controller" gives you the curly finger?

[Southern Yard]

Any idea what this train was for?

 

Edited April 27, 2014 by Southern Yard

[jhb171achill]

Not sure, probably a Presidential jaunt; brand new laminates behind. Whatever it is, it's the only pic I ever recall seeing with double headed "A"s, unless that was just a photo opportunity.

[Eiretrains]

That train was a special run on 20th June 1961 with green liveried A Class locomotives A27+A38. The Irish Railfans News covered this in their July 1961 issue.

Cardinal’s Special

His Eminence Cardinal Agagianian, Papal Legate to the Dublin Patrician Congress, travelled by train

from Dublin to Cork and back on June 20. In the down direction a special portion was attached to the

08:45 “Sláinte” express and this train was double-headed by two A class locos: A27 and A38. The

Cardinal’s train was scheduled to return as a special in advance of the 15:30 Cork - Dublin “Mail” -

deferred 5 minutes - and to be attached to the 13:40 Tralee - Dublin at Mallow. In fact, however, the

Cardinal was delayed and his train ran as a special throughout, leaving Cork at 15:40 and, with a ten

minute stop at Thurles, reaching Kingsbridge at 18:55. The Tralee train ran ahead of the special and the

“Mail” left on time and was overtaken at Mallow.

 

Leaving Cork, the special comprised locos A27 and A38, bogie van 2558, Saloon 351, the new buffet

car 2402 (described elsewhere in this issue), tabled bogie second 1361 and LV 2731. It will be noted

that the locos were turned in Cork to enable A27 to carry a green shield inscribed “Carbad Phádraig”

(Patrick’s Chariot) surmounted by the Papal, Irish and Patrician flags.

[WRENNEIRE]

Ciaran, pity about the height, you would have made a great Detective

[Southern Yard]

Thanks Ciaran.....I wonder what the cardinal made of the fumes from the crossley A classes! They sure did have some exhaust and it must have been something else with two of them up front.

 

He has some great photos of the A class in their early years, this view of inchicore works with a load of them in for repairs says it all about their lack of reliability.

http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000303946

 

Another rare one of an A heading to Naas:

http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000303894

Edited April 27, 2014 by Southern Yard

[Garfield]

Without meaning to be pedantic, can I remind folks of the following site rule:

 

[9] Please respect the copyright of other members, photographers, publications, websites, etc. Use embed codes where available (e.g. Flickr images). Only post entire articles/chapters or upload images after permission has been granted by the copyright owner. If in doubt, play it safe and post a text link to the original file.

 

I'm not sure of the legal status of the O'Dea collection, so it's best to err on the side of caution...

[Warbonnet]

That train was a special run on 20th June 1961 with green liveried A Class locomotives A27+A38. The Irish Railfans News covered this in their July 1961 issue.

Cardinal’s Special

His Eminence Cardinal Agagianian, Papal Legate to the Dublin Patrician Congress, travelled by train

from Dublin to Cork and back on June 20. In the down direction a special portion was attached to the

08:45 “Sláinte” express and this train was double-headed by two A class locos: A27 and A38. The

Cardinal’s train was scheduled to return as a special in advance of the 15:30 Cork - Dublin “Mail” -

deferred 5 minutes - and to be attached to the 13:40 Tralee - Dublin at Mallow. In fact, however, the

Cardinal was delayed and his train ran as a special throughout, leaving Cork at 15:40 and, with a ten

minute stop at Thurles, reaching Kingsbridge at 18:55. The Tralee train ran ahead of the special and the

“Mail” left on time and was overtaken at Mallow.

 

Leaving Cork, the special comprised locos A27 and A38, bogie van 2558, Saloon 351, the new buffet

car 2402 (described elsewhere in this issue), tabled bogie second 1361 and LV 2731. It will be noted

that the locos were turned in Cork to enable A27 to carry a green shield inscribed “Carbad Phádraig”

(Patrick’s Chariot) surmounted by the Papal, Irish and Patrician flags.

 

Close up to confirm here http://catalogue.nli.ie/Collection/vtls000148612/Home?lookfor=&type=AllFields&filter%5B%5D=%21id%3A%22vtls000148612%22&filter%5B%5D=digitised%3A%22Digitised%22&filter%5B%5D=geographic_facet%3A%22Dublin+%28County%29%22&sort=year&page=18&view=list

[Glenderg]

Without meaning to be pedantic....I'm not sure of the legal status of the O'Dea collection, so it's best to err on the side of caution...

 

Garf - From the FAQ - http://www.nli.ie/en/faq/faq-rights-reproductions.aspx

 

Do I need to obtain permission to put an image from the NLI website on my non-commercial website?

 

Yes, you will need to order a digital copy of the image by emailing: copy-orders@nli.ie, and then completing the Permission Request Form. We do not charge a reproduction fee for non-commercial websites.

[Southern Yard]

I tried to copy the links to the photos on their website earlier but for some reason it didn't work. I assume that is ok as its a direct link to their site? Here they are now. Feel free to delete the previous post and this if in appropriate.

 

He has some great photos of the A class in their early years, this view of inchicore works with a load of them in for repairs says it all about their lack of reliability.

http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000303946

 

Another rare one of an A heading to Naas:

http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000303894

[Mayner]

Lots of detail for the wagon gricer 1938 photo when of Broombridge was a pleasant rural spot.

http://catalogue.nli.ie/Search/Results?lookfor=liffey+junction&type=AllFields&submit=FIND&sort=year

[Weshty]

Be still my beating heart!! This is magic.

[Eiretrains]

Ciaran, pity about the height, you would have made a great Detective

Ah I sort of knew a little of that one before hand.

 

I remember looking at this one plenty of times in the NLI as it always fascinating me; B134 running bonnet-first on a Galway service, one of a few recorded 121s seen working mainline in this fashion before it was largely discontinued early in their career.

http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000305313

[enniscorthyman]

A super collection I must say.I enjoyed the photos taken

around Borris in the Carlow section and the Wickham inspection

car crossing Currabaha LC near Kilmacthomas.

On viewing the Wexford section,I think some photos are from

the Sallins-Tullow branch as it mentions a lifting train on the

Slaney bridge which as from what I know is not on the Rosslare line.

[Mayner]

Ah I sort of knew a little of that one before hand.

 

I remember looking at this one plenty of times in the NLI as it always fascinating me; B134 running bonnet-first on a Galway service, one of a few recorded 121s seen working mainline in this fashion before it was largely discontinued early in their career.

http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000305313

 

Interesting that it on the Galway Line, there is a legend that crews used to turn B121s to run long hood forward while working Galway-Tuam local trains. Presumably the B121s worked the locals on lay over from the mail trains