Turf Carriages.

[Broithe]

I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, but, having escaped from the clutches of the Train Man Senior ( nice to see him back in action ), I looked into Eason's and treated myself to a copy of Father Browne's Laois - on page 108 is a most interesting picture, a turf train at Portarlington during the Emergency. The picture in the book is from the footbridge and clearly shows the first five "wagons" of the train. They are, in fact, converted passenger carriages, With planks fitted inside the windows and loading doors roughly made from planks, too. The roofs have been removed and they are filled with turf right up to the roof-line.

 

I can't find the actual picture online, but this small image is probably of the same ( or similar ) train.

 

 

You can just make out the sods of turf where the roofs should be.

 

http://fatherbrowne.com/

[heirflick]

facinating pic Broithe - wonder how they emptied them?

[Garfield]

'Trains, Coal and Turf: Transport in Emergency Ireland' by Peter Rigney has a few photos of such trains... including an overhead shot.

 

The vehicle in the foreground of the above photo is one of the GSR's Drewry railcars.

[Broithe]

facinating pic Broithe - wonder how they emptied them?

They seem to have bodged up doorways in the sides, several of them. I do wonder about the weight situation, though, a carriage full of turf must be way over a carriage full of people and a few bits of luggage.

 

Nip into Easons and have look at the real picture - the book is on the stand in the middle of the floor at the far end.

 

The picture shows the first three carriages, and the fifth, to be of one type and the fourth is a similar, but different type.

 

The book also contains some other railway pictures, including one of a fatal mail train derailment - I showed the book to 'my agent' over there - and it turned out that his wife had lived across the road from the unfortunate victim of the crash - small world.

[heirflick]

Nip into Easons and have look at the real picture - the book is on the stand in the middle of the floor at the far end.

 

 

im off to have a peak....