Steam Heating

[Kirley]

I attended the RPSI Meeting last night and one of the presentations was on Locomotive working in the late sixties.

I was intrigued to hear that to prepare coaches for a forthcoming Rugby Special a Jeep was sent from York Road to Gt. Victoria Street some days prior to preheat the coaches, not sure how accountants nowadays would look at this use of resources.

 

Also something that could not happen today, extra coaches were required from CIE and they were brought up one day at a time, tagged onto the back of the ‘Enterprise’ Train.

 

Pictures by Norman Johnston.

[Noel]

I attended the RPSI Meeting last night and one of the presentations was on Locomotive working in the late sixties.

I was intrigued to hear that to prepare coaches for a forthcoming Rugby Special a Jeep was sent from York Road to Gt. Victoria Street some days prior to preheat the coaches, not sure how accountants nowadays would look at this use of resources.

 

Interesting. Would the reason for the pre-heat days in advance be because the coaches might have been in storage and more to do with drying any damp out of the interiors rather than just heat? I can't imagine the coaches needing more than a few hours just to warm up the inside air temperature.

 

Also something that could not happen today, extra coaches were required from CIE and they were brought up one day at a time, tagged onto the back of the ‘Enterprise’ Train.

 

Well I remember flying on 747-100 a few times many moons ago, with a dead 5th engine bolted onto a special wing mount inboard of the no 2 for transport purposes. I guess it made sense to haul coaches on the back of scheduled services in order to reposition them.

Edited January 14, 2016 by Noel

[Broithe]

Interesting. Would the reason for the pre-heat days in advance be because the coaches might have been in storage and more to do with drying any damp out of the interiors rather than just heat? I can't imagine the coaches needing more than a few hours just to warm up the inside air temperature.

 

 

 

Well I remember flying on 747-100 a few times many moons ago, with a dead 5th engine bolted onto a special wing mount inboard of the no 3 for transport purposes.

[jhb171achill]

In those times, train sets of any type - goods, main line or suburban passenger - were never the (boring!) permanently fixe sets of an identical type of vehicle seen since the 1980s.

 

Extra carriages could be tacked onto various trains for various reasons, or taken off them.

[Noel]

There we go

[GSR 800]

In those times, train sets of any type - goods, main line or suburban passenger - were never the (boring!) permanently fixe sets of an identical type of vehicle seen since the 1980s.

 

Extra carriages could be tacked onto various trains for various reasons, or taken off them.

Even on the most premier trains, often no two coaches were the same, six wheelers composites, laminates

Park royals, Bredins, and(until about 1956-7)Pullmans. Often in different liveries too!

[jhb171achill]

Livery mixes were almost the norm 1955-65.

 

I'm not sure any of the trio of Pullmans were still in traffic in the late 50s. If so, you'd never have got more than one in a train. They ended up being scrapped in Naas, I think.

[josefstadt]

Livery mixes were almost the norm 1955-65.

 

Indeed they were jhb, as this photo taken in Amiens Street in, I think, 1961 shows.

[jhb171achill]

Indeed, josefstadt. I have a pic of jhb171 Seniors, showing a scene in Lisburn station about 1970. A three car (ex GNR) railcar is on an all-stops GVS to Portadown evening ommuter run. One car is UTA green, another the sectional UTA light blue and cream, and the third in brand new NIR maroon and grey, all gleaming and clean!

 

I saw many a pair of 121 / 141 / 181 in the 70s, as I'm sure you did, with one loco in black'n'tan and the other in supertrain.

[jhb171achill]

To go back to the thread topic, it was mom on practice in the past for steam engines to pre-heat coaches.

 

UTA / NIR loco-hauled stock from the late sixties on tended to lie aside for long periods, and my memories of them included tired of vandalised upholstery in some, and another occasion a slashed seat cushion with the old horsehair coming out, but above all very musty. No amount of heating can remove mustiness for old, damp, cold cushions.

 

But if near the engine they were toasty warm.

[Mayner]

To go back to the thread topic, it was mom on practice in the past for steam engines to pre-heat coaches.

 

UTA / NIR loco-hauled stock from the late sixties on tended to lie aside for long periods, and my memories of them included tired of vandalised upholstery in some, and another occasion a slashed seat cushion with the old horsehair coming out, but above all very musty. No amount of heating can remove mustiness for old, damp, cold cushions.

 

But if near the engine they were toasty warm.

 

Before the fixed formation train era the GSR & CIE had very low carriage utilisation by modern standards, a high proportion of carriages would have spent most of their working lives in sidings and were only used occasionally to strengthen scheduled trains or when required for excursions or specials.

 

There was a report in one of the Fayle's Journals of passenger complaints and delays when damp/wet coaches were used to strengthen Broadstone-Galway/Mayo trains carrying cross-channel passengers. Passengers (tired and sleepy) had to detrain so that porters could sweep/mop the water out of the carriages.

[Junctionmad]

II always remember the park royals on the junction /Waterford could generate a huge cloud of dust when you smaked the seat hard with your hand.

 

The batteries where all shot too, so you be in the dark when you pulled up in a station

 

They were either freezing or boiling.

 

I loved them. !!

[jhb171achill]

They must have gone to the same training school as MED, MPD or "Castle" class railcars! Though the latter had two other passenger comfort delights: (1) seats designed for midgets, (2) just two speeds on local working - stop and go. It's a wonder nobody got whiplash travelling in one. I know they have their fans, but I'm not one of 'em! No sir, no sir. It's all right seeing one preserved, but sure yiz never went railing in one, from Antrim as far as Coleraine!