Ernies Massive Irish 1930's to 2005 Photo Archive

Irishswissernie · December 9, 2020

I uploaded this one to this topic back in June asking if anyone could identify the location but without any luck! Well as usual I was checking out something else and the background right details corresponded with it. Pretty sure its Athlone near the loco shed with the junction for the Westport line in the right background

Its that peculiar shaped set of cross members on the telegraph pole and also that building which resembles a signal box but is nowhere near the line also seen in this view below from 1961

Edited December 9, 2020 by Irishswissernie

Irishswissernie · December 17, 2020

I've spent the last few days scanning the Casserley negatives recently acquired. In a mixed batch of Scottish and midland medium negatives there are also 8 Cavan & Leitrim views from 7 June 1932.

Re-painting wasn't a priority as the stock is still in Cavan & Leitrim lined livery. Also No 9 King Edward was still extant in Ballinamore Yard.

Galteemore · December 17, 2020

That King Edward has always impressed me. Amazing to think it still had the name on it 10 years after Saorstat Eireann was founded ... especially given that a C and L loco received tricolour lining in 1920...

Broithe · December 17, 2020

1 minute ago, Galteemore said:

That King Edward has always impressed me. Amazing to think it still had the name on it 10 years after Saorstat Eireann was founded ... especially given that a C and L loco received tricolour lining in 1920...

Named after a potato..?

Galteemore · December 17, 2020

Didn’t save the Queen Victoria nameplates on No 2 and she was named after a pub!

jhb171achill · December 17, 2020

47 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

Didn’t save the Queen Victoria nameplates on No 2 and she was named after a pub!

Well, "Isabel" appears to have been prematurely named after my niece in England.........

Galteemore · December 17, 2020

The Leitrim folk, are very wise, JB. Especially North Leitrim....

jhb171achill · December 17, 2020

8 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

The Leitrim folk, are very wise, JB. Especially North Leitrim....

I will advise my niece accordingly.......

minister_for_hardship · December 17, 2020

1 hour ago, Galteemore said:

Didn’t save the Queen Victoria nameplates on No 2 and she was named after a pub!

It's odd men went to great lengths to hack off and disappear Queen Vic's plates and not touch King Ed's.

Broithe · December 17, 2020

51 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Well, "Isabel" appears to have been prematurely named after my niece in England.........

In Stafford, the only recently demolished Bagnall's factory built "Isabel", who stood outside the station entrance for many years, being clambered over by the local urchins.

She was eventually subjected to a botched 'restoration', before finally being returned to steam at Amerton Railway, out on the Uttoxeter Road,

Part of the old Stafford-Uttoxeter Railway, from near the WCML junction, north of the station, to where it enters an MOD site, is a 'greenway' now and named the Isabel Trail, although she would have struggled on the 4'8½" track...

Galteemore · December 18, 2020

9 hours ago, minister_for_hardship said:

It's odd men went to great lengths to hack off and disappear Queen Vic's plates and not touch King Ed's.

We have a huge capacity for idiosyncrasies in these matters. Many years ago I taught in a primary school deep in hard core Republican Belfast. Before 69 it had been a Protestant school and had changed population almost literally overnight. As a result, it had a few bits and pieces that wouldn’t normally appear in a ‘Catholic’ school. One was the former portrait of HM the Queen which had once hung on the wall - replaced by the Pope of the day. It was now stored in dust and detritus under the assembly hall stage, emerging only on occasion when stored chairs or tables were taken from that location. It amused me intensely that no one could quite bring themselves to throw it out...

Edited December 18, 2020 by Galteemore

Mayner · December 18, 2020

12 hours ago, Galteemore said:

That King Edward has always impressed me. Amazing to think it still had the name on it 10 years after Saorstat Eireann was founded ... especially given that a C and L loco received tricolour lining in 1920...

P J Flannigan's theory for "The King" retaining its nameplate was that the loco seldom left Ballinamore Works yard as the loco tended to spread the track on the curves. No 8 is supposed to have 'lost' her nameplates at some remote spot on the Arigna Tramway. I wonder did the GSR melt down or sell the plates.

Irishswissernie · December 19, 2020

All the latest Casserley acquisitions have now been scanned and captioned but still need cleaning up. There are 5 of Dromahair on 18 May 1950. Railcar B was working a special for HCC and the SLS Group.

Galteemore · December 19, 2020

Brilliant stuff Ernie - thank you. What’s really nice about this sequence is that it shows the passengers arriving for the rail bus and gives a bit more of the ‘social history’ of the line that 3/4 views of locos just don’t.

Edited December 19, 2020 by Galteemore

Irishswissernie · December 19, 2020

This is the SLS Group posed for HCC at Sligo. Given that this is 70 years ago there can't be many of the Group still with us. A bit different from the rail tours I did; only one participant without a tie. Back in the 1980's on the NERA Day Tours organised by the late Chris Wolstenholme he would be the only one wearing a tie!

NIR · December 19, 2020

2 hours ago, Irishswissernie said:

That's a lot of throw on those point blades!

Galteemore · December 19, 2020

On 17/10/2020 at 1:19 PM, Irishswissernie said:

Not about my photos etc for a change!

I was talking to Robin Fell of Trotskee Travel, the source of a fair number of my negative and slide acquisitions a couple of weeks ago and he asked if I bought Irish railway books. I replied that I probably already had them all but he said that they were publishing an Irish railway book by the legendary British railway photographer Dick Riley. Apparently Dick had made a weeks trip in May 1950 in the company of noted Irish railway photographers Henry Casserley, Tom Middlemass and HS Brighty. Its a Print on Demand book and a new venture by Robin under the Transport Treasury umbrella. Compiled by Michael McMahon.

It arrived today and is a superb good quality hardback volume of some 80 photos . coverage is roughly Belfast (3 main termini) Greenore Dundalk Connolly, WEstland Row Bray Mullingar C&L Clones SLNCR Sligo CDRJC Strabane Stranorlar, Derry, L&LSR Waterside Colerain Ballycastle.

https://totempublishing.co.uk/product/riley-in-ireland-by-michael-mcmahon/

Price £12-50 postage in the UK free. Looks like £5-99 to Eire (Europe) unfortunately

Ernie - your latest SLNC photos cast interesting light on this book, as some of the snaps above looked oddly familiar. Riley was on that SLS trip, it now seems, as the dates check out. Reconciling the Casserley and Riley info, looks as if the railcar left EKN at lunchtime (after snapping ‘Enniskillen’ shunting). Crossed the 1115 ex Sligo goods at Manorhamilton, which was booked to leave there at 2pm, with a few hours to visit the workshops etc. Then crossed the railbus at Dromahair c 1640, arriving Sligo c5:20pm.

Edited December 19, 2020 by Galteemore

jhb171achill · December 19, 2020

So is Mr Riley in that group photo?

On ‎18‎/‎12‎/‎2020 at 10:43 AM, Mayner said:

P J Flannigan's theory for "The King" retaining its nameplate was that the loco seldom left Ballinamore Works yard as the loco tended to spread the track on the curves. No 8 is supposed to have 'lost' her nameplates at some remote spot on the Arigna Tramway. I wonder did the GSR melt down or sell the plates.

Correct. "The King" was used so little she never lost her livery of brand-new delivery! In general, yes, the GSR did melt down nameplates - one must assume that the "King's" were thus disposed of when she was eventually scrapped.

Galteemore · December 19, 2020

Chances are he is !

Irishswissernie · December 19, 2020

2 hours ago, Galteemore said:

Ernie - your latest SLNC photos cast interesting light on this book, as some of the snaps above looked oddly familiar. Riley was on that SLS trip, it now seems, as the dates check out. Reconciling the Casserley and Riley info, looks as if the railcar left EKN at lunchtime (after snapping ‘Enniskillen’ shunting). Crossed the 1115 ex Sligo goods at Manorhamilton, which was booked to leave there at 2pm, with a few hours to visit the workshops etc. Then crossed the railbus at Dromahair c 1640, arriving Sligo c5:20pm.

Yes my negs LOT covers EKN to Sligo on the 18th then back to EKN then Omagh & Strabane (GN& Donegal) & the Lough Swilly at Derry on the 19th

Edited December 19, 2020 by Irishswissernie

airfixfan · December 20, 2020

That tends to happen a lot when you see similar photos on the same date/place by some photographers who have travelled together. For example for an August 1959 weekend on the CDR 3 of the 4 photographers who travelled together have since published their own books/articles of the same weekend.

Galteemore · December 20, 2020

Absolutely, Jim. And sometimes these multiple angles give a ‘cross-bearing’ on the visit, adding a lot more depth. The Riley book implies that RCR simply travelled on a service train with a few mates. No mention of a special working. Railcar B was generally EKN based and worked the 0620 to Sligo - would be interesting to see if it ran home empty that night. Such one way empty railbus/Railcar runs were an occasional feature of SLNC practice.

I have the WTT for 1950 and it’s fascinating (to me !) to reconstruct the group’s movements, using the sunlight as a rough time gauge.

Sorry folks -I trained as an historian and it occasionally emerges in such nerdish geekery - especially when the SLNC figures....

Edited December 20, 2020 by Galteemore

airfixfan · December 20, 2020

Have the same problem as an Historian trying to identify and date photos correctly. Acquired a CDR photo last week labelled Ballyshannon but actually an unusual angle of Stranorlar

Angus · December 20, 2020

21 hours ago, Irishswissernie said:

All the latest Casserley acquisitions have now been scanned and captioned but still need cleaning up. There are 5 of Dromahair on 18 May 1950. Railcar B was working a special for HCC and the SLS Group.

Thanks for posting these Irishswissernie, there a couple of views of Dromahair I haven't seen before.

Irishswissernie · December 20, 2020

My interpretation of Casserley Records. Arrived at Enniskillen 17th from C&L via Clones and spent night. 18th EKN to Fintona Jc - Fintona then back to EKN. Railcar B on 1.45 special for group to Sligo and then on it back to EKN in evening for another overnight stay. 19th depart for Omagh, Strabane and Derry. I have the negs from EKN lunchtime after arrival back from Fintona.

The records are on GWRA Auctions web site for the Casserley Auction and can be downloaded as a PDF The Trip is in the 7th PDF on first line and the neg numbers covering the Irish Tour are 72616 Page 89 to 73146 Page 105

https://www.gwra.co.uk/h-c-casserley-collection-of-negatives-auction.html

This will enable one to work out RC Riley's Trip.

Edited December 20, 2020 by Irishswissernie

Galteemore · December 20, 2020

Thanks Ernie. DCC and its intricacies I cannot get my head round but this stuff I can begin to understand ! Also helps explain why - if they were on a tight schedule - they opted for railcar hire rather than doing what various English enthusiast parties did then - have a bogie stuck on the back of a goods working. Given that the UK was still under very tight rationing in 1950, would be interesting to see what the customs men made of a party of Englishmen making a quick trip in a privately hired train across the border and back!

Edited December 20, 2020 by Galteemore

Irishswissernie · December 21, 2020

A few more which possibly havn't seen the light of day as the film has a serious fault across the sky which resembles a volcanic ash eruption but doesn't affect the actual scene. I have cut out most of the offending black cloud but the remainder is a useful area to put on a caption.