Ernies Massive Irish 1930's to 2005 Photo Archive

[airfixfan]

That coach was 29D and was not withdrawn until 1964.

[jhb171achill]

I'm pretty sure this thing was a conversion, though I'm not sure whether this happened in DSER or GSR days. It certainly has the body profile of a DSER vehicle, and one can just about make out a "D" after the number. I do know that the DWWR had a clerestorey-roofed dining car which survived in that form into CIE times, but was very heavily rebuilt. This may be it - I THINK it was No. 12, but I'd have to check - that would make it 12D at this stage. I never saw any evidence of HOW it was rebuilt, and to what purpose. Could this be the answer? If so, it's lost its clerestorey roof for one thing. 

[DiveController]

12 was one of the longer length 50' bogie coaches and the only one with a clerestory roof. A 'saloon', she was used as a restaurant before being converted to  a second class iirc and then returned to her original usage a few years later. This was in the early 1900s and not sure what further modifications might have occurred later. 

Edited January 26, 2020 by DiveController

[Irishswissernie]

I don't think its a Dining Car, no windows for the Diners!. More likely a Kitchen Car.

 

Ernie

[airfixfan]

29D was built new for DSER in 1922 and converted to a Kitchen car by GSR in 1938.

[Irishswissernie]

I am continuing to add views taken by HC Casserley & Gerald T Robinson to Flickr.

I like this view of ex GNR JT 91 at Broadstone in October 1960

Flickr seem to be having financial problems! They say the site is losing 'millions' and are desperately trying to get people to re-new their pro subs early. Mine is due in June 2021 and they are offering to extend it for 2 years at pre-increase price.

 

All a bit worrying, I've already gone through this with the demise of Fotopic some years ago; if Flickr goes to the wall I don't think I will be starting again.

 

Ernie

[hexagon789]

4 hours ago, Irishswissernie said:

All a bit worrying, I've already gone through this with the demise of Fotopic some years ago; if Flickr goes to the wall I don't think I will be starting again.

Sincerely hope it doesn't, many great selections of photos were lost to Fotopic never to be seen again. Flickr has so many excellent albums and collections of photographs which are priceless historically let alone photographically that it would be a tragic loss.

Particularly of many people, understandably, are put off from starting again from scratch.

[DiveController]

I saw that on Flickr. So many threads on this site alone were ruined when this happened with photobucket and now all you get is that terrible logo in lieu of the photo.

Thanks for continuing to post that GNR steam.I do hope Flickr will continue. Its very irritating to have to do it all again (so if that were to occur so we'd only need you to put up the Irish ones! @Irishswissernie). Yes, I just left and my coat is following no doubt .......

Edited January 26, 2020 by DiveController

[Irishswissernie]

This Casserley image might be of interest to carriage devotees!

1955-04-12 Cork  Rosslare boat train HC img391

from HCC's notes 57'-6'' 12w dining car 353 D10 gaslit wdn 1968

Ernie

[jhb171achill]

One of the "Rosslare Express" set built 1906 for Cork - Rosslare boat trains via Mallow & Waterford.

Sister vehicle of the RPSI's 12-wheel brake tricompo 861, currently undergoing gradual rebuild at Whitehead.

There were VERY few 12-wheelers in Ireland!

[Irishswissernie]

I've been looking at Mike Shannon's negs this morning now held by Dave Dunn. They have suffered a bit since the 1960's but are quite interesting. I have uploaded some at Belfast Central Junction including some interesting P/Way maintenance and also a view of the SS Ballygarvey at Bangor Quay. One of Kellys coal boats there's nowt of railway infrastructure in the shot as the B&CDR didn't serve the quay. However its a scene crying out to be modeled but with a siding for coal trucks rather than the lorries. Probably one of Ballygarvey's last trips as she was scrapped in 1965.

Ernie

[Georgeconna]

SS Ballygarvey - Thats a lovely ship!

 

Samuel Kelly set up business on Queen's Quay Belfast in 1840 - initially as a "grocer and commission coal merchant". By 1861 Kelly owned his first ship, and from then until the 1980s, the Kelly Fleet carried the names of Kelly and Belfast around Europe with "Kelly's Coal Boats" becoming part of language in Coastal towns around Britain. The ships serving with distinction during two world wars.

When Samuel Kelly died in 1877 aged 57, control of the business passed to his 37 year old son John Kelly after whom the present day parent company John Kelly Limited is named.

In 1911 the firm became a limited company and, a few weeks later, took over the rival company Wm. Barkley and Sons Limited. This was the beginning of a process of growth and acquisition which resulted in the company becoming the most prominent solid fuel importer and distributor in Northern Ireland.

The business prospered under John Kelly who built a substantial trade using the fleet to bring coal to Northern Ireland. The company diversified to take account of trends in domestic heating and entered the oil business with their first road tanker in 1983. Steady growth followed with the oil business being introduced to other coal depots until Kelly Fuels became one of the largest oil distributors in the province. In 1993 Kelly’s merged with Lanes Group Limited, another significant player in the oil and solid fuel markets and used the name "Kelly Fuels".

In 1997 the acquisition of Bruce Lindsay Coal, based in Edinburgh and the Highlands of Scotland made Kelly Fuels the second largest solid fuel distributor in the U.K. The company continues to grow.

Ships

[Irishswissernie]

A couple of slightly rarer shots added to flickr today

Rather grainy negatives taken at Greenore late 1940's GNRI JT 94 and AL 55.

The wife, daughter and son-in-law managed to be in contact with the first person in the North East to catch CV-19 over a fortnight ago and as a result I havn't been able to do anything with them under my feet for 14 days although Public Health advised me that I wasn't confined to "quarters" as I hadn't been in direct contact. Consequently the day after it blew up I was cleared to go to the Keighley & Worth Valley Gala for 4 days. The family all tested negative! Now I have 3 months self isolation to look forward to!

The good news is I have acquired some 250+ Irish negs etc including a fair number of Cavan & Leitrim & County Donegal. Quality ranges to from grainy similar to the Greenore views through prints acquired with copyright to 80 top quality JG Dewing black & white negs.

I have also started doing some work on Glengarriff so the next three months might be quite productive provided the family don't have to self isolate!

Ernie

[Irishswissernie]

Here are a couple more.

Ballinamore C&L 1956 JGD

 

Thurles A45 + 309 5June 1956 from a print with copyright.

 

One bit of good news or maybe not - they have cancelled the Eurovision song contest!

 

Ernie

Edited March 18, 2020 by Irishswissernie

[Irishswissernie]

OK Anyone know the location of the following, all from around 1950. Captions refer to the photo below.

 Identified Tralee, D19, 7

Identified, Belfast Queens Quay  after the demise of the County Down Class 1, 218

Confirmed as  Rocksavage , I think the loco is G1 No 423

This seems to be out in the wilds but locos look like OOU J26, 557 This was at Thurles 1945 and it could well be where this photo is.

T'm pretty sure this is Limerick coal stage J15, 181

Possibly Limerick J11, 219

Not much to go on this one but the open top Cattle wagon is interesting! loco E1, 279

 

Identified as Inchicore 42

Edited March 19, 2020 by Irishswissernie
some identified Loco numbers also added where known

[jhb171achill]

1st & last Inchicore

2nd Queens Quay

3rd Rocksavage

The van in the 3rd last is a standard covered van - there's a plank thing in front of it making it look like a cattle van. 

Edited March 19, 2020 by jhb171achill

[Irishswissernie]

Thanks, the open top cattle wagon is in the second last photo. 4 down, four to go! The negs have scanned a bit better than what I thought .

[Galteemore]

Lovely ! My dad confirms Queens Quay. That’s a nice early shot of No 42 -cast numberplate and no door wheel. 

[patrick]

I think the first is Tralee.

[Irishswissernie]

Just found another photo of Tralee plus loco 7 was shedded at Tralee in 1945 so yes you are correct. Many thanks.

 

Ernie

Edited March 19, 2020 by Irishswissernie
confirmation of location found

[Irishswissernie]

Four more recently acquired negs.

Cork 406 5 March 1949 looking quite smart!

Edited March 24, 2020 by Irishswissernie

[Edo]

Great finds Ernie - that 40s to 60s Irish Collection is coming along nicely - fantastic resource - thank you very much.

[Irishswissernie]

This is another JG Dewing negative taken in 1960 at (I think) Thurles .

Van A 15 which appears to be still lettered for the Great Southern & Western! Someone has cleaned round the letters.

It doesn't look like a re-lettering .

[Irishswissernie]

I have added to Flickr over the years extracts from a bound copy I have of the GNRI Working Timetables & the Working Instructions for July and October 1917 which appears to have come from the Superintendent of the Line's office. 

Adding this one today which covers the exchanges between Dundalk Barrack Street and Dundalk Junction with around 19 services each way. There were also extra shipping specials etc. This was at the height of the First World War with little road competition and before partition. The first DN&GR down train is shown as a boat train in italics probably because the steamer service to/from Holyhead was only on alternate days due to the loss of the LNWR steamer in a collision with a collier (passenger services ceased altogether in 1918) There were more than 3 passenger services each way on the Greenore line but the others started/terminated at their Quay Street station.

If you are interested I have added the Warrenpoint-Newry-Armagh 1917 Working Timetable to Flickr and of course if you are not interested but suffering from insomnia I can recommend  that studying it may also prove beneficial. 

Edited April 12, 2020 by Irishswissernie

[Galteemore]

Ernie - loving the latest SLNC uploads - thanks. The rear of train shots are fascinating - they show parts of the line never featured in classic lineside shots. I’m pretty sure that the most recent two depict the Manorhamilton to Dromahair section, which rarely gets snapped beyond Cleen crossing. The curvature suggests somewhere near Lisgorman, which the engineer Mr Egan regarded as one of the most taxing parts of the line. Just off the phone to my dad who pointed me to a pic in ‘Fermanagh’s Railways’ which may help identify what he was up to!  Some pics were possibly taken on the afternoon goods out of Enniskillen hauled by ‘Lough Erne’ - hence the two steam locos crossing at Belcoo. The train had stopped in mid-Fermanagh to unload ballast by the trackside en route - no point wasting money on a special PW working! 

Edited April 12, 2020 by Galteemore
Fact-checking!!

[Irishswissernie]

THanks for this its prompted me to get the titles correct. I've done some digging In Henry Casserleys records, the date is correct as stated 22 April 1953 and he describes views as near Dromohair. I just acquired the one lot of GNRI/SLNCR negs and the negs were in 6's strips, the others tie in with the records.

The 1955 negs havn't been auctioned yet, the auction has been postponed until the early Autumn thanks to the current  pandemic.

[jhb171achill]

2 hours ago, Galteemore said:

 Some pics were possibly taken on the afternoon goods out of Enniskillen hauled by ‘Lough Erne’ - hence the two steam locos crossing at Belcoo. The train had stopped in mid-Fermanagh to unload ballast by the trackside en route - no point wasting money on a special PW working! 

Yes, that was absolutely the norm - I think I referred to that in a recent post too, when my father had been involved (unofficially) in just such an operation. Crossing keepers and station staff would be advised that a goods train might be running a certain amount of time late, and it would be because they had stopped along the way at a point identified previously.

The SLNCR was a truly fascinating railway indeed. In the mid 1990s - I may have mentioned this somewhere before - there was funding available to restore a 2km stretch near Belcoo, and it came very very near to fruition - more so than any other "didn't happen" potential scheme I had ever heard of. If anyone is interested in the details, ping me.

[jhb171achill]

On ‎3‎/‎24‎/‎2020 at 7:31 AM, Irishswissernie said:

Four more recently acquired negs.

Cork 406 5 March 1949 looking quite smart!

PRICELESS stuff, Ernie, well done!

Observations:

1.  GNR Dundalk - what is that grounded body on the right? A former Drover's Van, perhaps? I recall one of those in someone's back garden in a house in Lisburn in the 1960s, but it had its original planking.

2.  Strabane, 1958. What is that bogie van on the left? I don't think it's one of the two grain vans that went to Whitehead 9or is it?) but it is certainly similar. What is it, what was it used for, and what is it doing in Strabane?

3.  West Clare, Ennis. I had forgotten there was an awning on the up platform! On the down side, the girder on the WCR side is still extant, and would be for many more years - but has anyone ever seen a pic of the roof that at one time it supported - I have no recollection of any such picture. I presume the WCR built it? Does anyone know?

4.  406 at Cork - above. Clearly just after getting her green paint. Must have looked absolutely magnificent.

[jhb171achill]

On ‎3‎/‎25‎/‎2020 at 1:04 PM, Irishswissernie said:

This is another JG Dewing negative taken in 1960 at (I think) Thurles .

Van A 15 which appears to be still lettered for the Great Southern & Western! Someone has cleaned round the letters.

It doesn't look like a re-lettering .

Yes, I believe it is Thurles - not long after, this relic appeared in Inchicore.

And yes, it was a remarkable survivor in its lettering and livery, as well as the more obvious fact that it even existed at all. From recollection, it was built as a passenger brake in - I think - 1878, though the panelling style suggests a decade earlier. It remained in what looked like black, but was in fact a VERY weather-worn old GSWR crimson lake. I've seen a colour picture of it, and it looks a nondescript dirty black at first glance. The old paint was, of course, perished as well as worn by then. It was tragically scrapped shortly afterwards; yet again, when i see a beast like that, I think "Downpatrick"!. You can see where someone has tried to clean over the letters "G" and "W"  "R", either side of the central door - maybe the "S" was less visible. So it hadn't seen a paintbrush in at least 35 years, and probably a lot longer.

The only modernisations seem to be vac brakes and blocked-in "birdcage".

[Irishswissernie]

17 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

3.  West Clare, Ennis. I had forgotten there was an awning on the up platform! On the down side, the girder on the WCR side is still extant, and would be for many more years - but has anyone ever seen a pic of the roof that at one time it supported - I have no recollection of any such picture. I presume the WCR built it? Does anyone know?

Page 101 Patrick Taylor's West Clare book bottom photo A W Croughton photo 31 May 1924. The roof is in the background, had a plain timber ^ shaped end.

Ernie

[Irishswissernie]

Found a short video I took in 2014 at the Isle of Man Railway workshops in Douglas of the ex CDRJC railcars 19 & 20. Their re-building has been stalled for a number of years now. 

They were still in working order when I photographed them in 1995

Edited April 14, 2020 by Irishswissernie

[jhb171achill]

It would be great to see these two out again. Obviously the IOMR has to prioritise what brings money in, and that's steam engines and old wooden coaches, but the other side of the coin is their use in certain events, off-peak services, and what surely by now (with most work seemingly done) must be a reasonably low cost of finishing the job....

Put them in heritage CDR livery too!

[Irishswissernie]

For the last fortnight I have been busy converting my 35 hours of  2000-2006 Irish video from Hi8/Digital 8 to MP4 and have also converted some of the UK material from 2001 around Haltwhistle & Carlisle. The better parts of the Irish stuff are already on  Flickr  and I will upload more exerpts . Today I have added a couple of videos covering mainly Carlisle from 2001. The Thornaby Crane appears and there are plenty of 37's  56's and 92's plus an 08 with a long train of repaired wagons from the now closed Currock wagon works. Royal Mail piggy back trailers plus the ex Cawood 4w flats on Gypsum. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/49862016188/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/49862335776/in/dateposted-public/

This one of Belcoo & Black Lion, 1953 added yesterday

 

[Irishswissernie]

Now that I have converted all my Irish video to MP4 I can now go through it systematically and upload some more extracts starting in May 2001. This one is from 9 May returning to Limerick City from Ballybrophy behind 164 and then leaving on the shuttle for Limerick Junction.

As usual with it being 4:3 aspect please double click on the video to see it correctly or you wont see the bottom  third.

  

 

[popeye]

That was brilliant, great sound and rocky track.

And all kinds of stock sitting about. Lots to look at.