Extracts from old Working Timetables

[jhb171achill]

A trip into the past.

 

 

 

 

[jhb171achill]

Into the Wesht

 

 

 

 

[jhb171achill]

GNR coaches now clad in dark UTA green (a lot still in brown, though, or navy and cream), while blue 4.4.0s are still going to be around, albeit increasingly uncared for, over the next few years.

 

Talk of closures hangs in the air like cordite. Railways are inefficient, costly and old fashioned. Sure they'll all be closed in a few years. Buses and cars are the new way; the swinging sixties approach. You can buy a new Morris Minor or a Ford Zephyr. Much better than the smoky old trains.

 

By the way, isn't it hard to believe it's over ten years since the war ended! Sure the men who came back from it are hitting 40 now.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jhb171achill]

A Midland interlude.

 

 

 

[jhb171achill]

This one's from a public timetable, to show a picture of a flagship 70 class railcar, and the sort of running they did. Compare with the pedestrian 2015 timetable!

 

 

 

 

[jhb171achill]

The Irish North West. Imagine that a few years later if it had survived to see 141s and black'n'tan laminates!

 

This is 1953.

 

 

 

[jhb171achill]

It's 1938, passenger engines are almost all blue now, and the coaching stock remains varnished and wooden!

 

The golden era of the GNR. Not a pesky diesel in sight.

 

 

 

 

 

[jhb171achill]

It's 1969. Steam rules York Road, with quite a few Jeeps about still on the spoil trains. Elsewhere, the railcars are being repainted into maroon and grey, while elderly musty-smelling old steam-hauled stock, most still in old UTA green, choke the sidings in Antrim where they've been moved to facilitate the shrinkage of York Road in preparation for building the M2.

 

Up the road, a group of youngsters have former a train society of some sort called the RPSI. I wonder how long that will last! They actually want to run real steam engines - that'll be all very well till they need a few new boiler tubes, I tell ye. Sure if they can keep steam alive 3 or 4 years into the 70s, well and good.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

CIE bring the goods to Lisburn. NIR railcars take over to bring it up the otherwise disused Antrim branch to Derry.

 

[jhb171achill]

24 to follow now, in two lots of 12; it's starting into the black'n'tan era. Much is green, some is BnT; steam clings on for a few months more, with a few dingy J15s, mostly in Waterford, the odd shunt in Dublin, and that's about it. Ballaghderreen, Ballinrobe and Waterford - Macmine will cling onto steam until closure.

 

Grubby silver (actually dirty grey!) C class locos potter about, awaiting either green or black paint.

 

At Amiens Street, the odd GNR 4.4.0 is still lurking. GAA, rugby or pilgrimage trains can still bring a surprising amount of steam out of the woodwork, but within a year it'll all be history.

 

The swansong of steam on CIE.

 

The Newmarket branch goods is designated for "D.E." haulage, i.e. a diesel electric, as is Fenit, but "G" class haulage was more usual, especially on the former.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2015 by jhb171achill

[jhb171achill]

More from 1963..... including the B101 class, new grey 121s, and on beet a few old J15 steam engines on the Mallow - Waterford. What a mix, what a line. It's got to be a top seller - a 1963 based layout on that line. Scenery included.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2015 by jhb171achill

[GSR 800]

Jayus the lads in CIE must have really regretted the silver livery! I think there was one or two J15s shunting at Limerick at the end of steam. Amazing how they outlived their supposed replacements the J15as and Bs.

[jhb171achill]

Black'n'tan. 1972. Look at all the goods!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jhb171achill]

More 1972, Loughrea included. G and C heaven!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2015 by jhb171achill

[jhb171achill]

Back to 1942. Grey steam engines and maroon coaching stock era.

 

 

 

 

 

[jhb171achill]

By November 1975, Loughrea was gone. But there was still lots of interest. See how much goods there is on the main line - I've enclosed a few page headings to show this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jhb171achill]

A few more from the 1975 / 6 working timetable.

 

 

 

[Mike258747]

Really interesting collection of timetables. The Bundoran line is of particular interest to me as I used to be taken on it as a child to the seaside, including the 'tea and suger' Sunday evening trains! My recollection is that all the trains were steam hauled but is there any record of AEC/BUT railcars ever reaching Bundoran?

Edited November 11, 2015 by Mike258747

[jhb171achill]

Great Northern, 1955. Blue locos, brown carriages, still a good few varnished. And brand new navy and cream railcars on Belfast - Dublin, Belfast - Banbridge - Newcastle, and Belfast - Enniskillen via Clones. The artic sets are on the Howth line, and the oddball collection of Gardner engined railcars of 1930s origin are to be found on the Bundoran line, Derry to Omagh locals, and Scarva - Banbridge.

 

Elsewhere - steam, steam and steam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jhb171achill]

"......Really interesting collection of timetables. The Bundoran line is of particular interest to me as I used to be taken on it as a child to the seaside, including the 'tea and suger' Sunday evening trains! My recollection is that all the trains were steam hauled but is there any record of AEC/BUT railcars ever reaching Bundoran?....."

 

I'm pretty certain they didn't, but the old 1934-era Gardner engined cars worked the line. Jhb171senior often used them to go there and back when he was District Engineer in Enniskillen. They had a special diesel fuel store there for them and the local GNR buses.

[jhb171achill]

Grand finale for the moment, though if anyone has any requests there's a great deal more where this came from.

 

The truly golden, if impecunious age of Irish railways. This is the first of two GSR posts from 1926.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2015 by jhb171achill

[jhb171achill]

Final post for the moment, finishing 1926 off down south in Caark, boyo!

 

Narrow gauge heaven.....

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20972[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20973[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20974[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20975[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20976[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20977[/ATTACH]

[jhb171achill]

Final post for the moment, finishing 1926 off down south in Caark, boyo! This is a re-post of the one above, as the images don't seem to have come out.

 

Narrow gauge heaven.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[iarnrod]

Jonathan, unsure if you are still taking requests, but if so, any chance of a few pics of the section covering the Athlone-Mullingar (Midland) route from the CIE 1972 timetable please?

[jhb171achill]

2 hours ago, iarnrod said:

Jonathan, unsure if you are still taking requests, but if so, any chance of a few pics of the section covering the Athlone-Mullingar (Midland) route from the CIE 1972 timetable please?

Will do. To follow.....

[jhb171achill]

Several posts follow, to accommodate this lot as it won’t transfer in one go.

[jhb171achill]

[jhb171achill]

They’re not going to be in the right order, due to problems uploading, but you’ll get the picture! 

These are from the June 1972 WTT.

 

[jhb171achill]

Branch lines in 1972

 

 

[jhb171achill]

That’s it for now!

I have only just got a 1948 CIE WTT, which makes interesting reading. When I get round to it, I’ll post some stuff.

[iarnrod]

9 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

That’s it for now!

I have only just got a 1948 CIE WTT, which makes interesting reading. When I get round to it, I’ll post some stuff.

Many thanks for uploading the Galway line pages, Jonathan.

[jhb171achill]

We’re off to Enniskillen.

[jhb171achill]

The Midland Great Western’s Enfield - Edenderry branch was one of these sleepy rural backwaters (like Cashel, the T & D, or Mitchelstown) which only came alive for a weekly or monthly cattle fair; beyond that, the odd GAA special.

However, despite its size and proximity to Dublin, it lost its regular full service as long ago as 1931. 

Here’s the 1930 WTT, the last full one, and the November 1931 equivalent, with just the daily goods and a weekly cattle path.

Over thirty years would elapse until it closed entirely in 1963; weeds would see more activity than the rails within this period.

A strange one here. In the same period in 1930, look how busy the Newmarket branch is, compared to Kenmare; yet the former closed first!

 

[jhb171achill]

It’s 1970 and we’re deep in Kerry. Black’n’tan (and black!) locos are everywhere. No “supertrain” will be heard of for a couple of years. The “Swinging Sixties” fade into history, as do the sanctimonious John Lennon and his Oasis tribute band (or was it the other way round?)...

All passenger stock in normal use is of the Laminate, Bredin, Park Royal and Craven type. They all run mixed up. There are a few old GSWR wooden bogies still in spare use in Cork (and Dublin). On summer excursions they still make an occasional appearance, mixed in with the rest, of course.

All goods stock is grey, though a few brake  vans and a few covered vans are reported to have been seen in a new all-brown livery. Also, some of the new cement wagons are being repainted orange and grey.

And here’s what’s to be seen on the daily North Kerry goods, and the few “as-required” trains on the Fenit and Castleisland lines.

And not an ICR, digital display or a yellow hobs machine to be seen, let alone graffiti and lineside discarded mattresses and shopping trolleys.... 

Gawd be with the days.

Ending with some goods trains in Cork to show what was going on....

[jhb171achill]

This one was missing from above.

Now, we’ll look at 1976. Not much different, and the Castleisland line closed (from memory) about April that year.

 

Edited April 26, 2019 by jhb171achill

[jhb171achill]

Back in time, this is for Edo.

The Waterford area including Dublin trains and the DSER branch. This is 1957-8.

The first page creeps in, out of interest; a quiet day at the office on all these lines, still technically open but seeing nothing but field mice in regular traffic, and the odd cattle or GAA special....

Above of interest to anyone doing a late 50s / early 60s branch. In this case it was at that stage worked by a C class.

Edited April 26, 2019 by jhb171achill