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jhb171achill

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We’re up north today.

A Giants Causeway tram awaits departure from Portrush station, and a strange vehicle is parked up at the depot nearby. This was a wagon for inspecting overhead wires.

These pictures were taken in 1939.

 

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A9F2A1AD-2B91-45EC-99E2-C2FA28314FD4.jpeg

Edited by jhb171achill
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6 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

3ft gauge.  One of the few electric narrow gauge lines.

Quiz question: how many narrow-gauge electric lines were there, including tramways? I can think of six.....

Hmm...

Giant's Causeway Tramway
New & Bessbrook Tramway
Cork Electric Tramway
Belfast Corporation Tramway
Dublin & Lucan Tramway

Does the DUTC system count because it was 5 ft 2 3⁄16 in, not 5ft 3in? :D 
Or are you including the Luas? :D :D 

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Sorry Garfield !  Dimly remembered from an old book my dad had. The most intriguing system I remember in it was Bianconi’s private farm railway in Clare, which even had a full signalling system. Some of the loco wheels allegedly survive at Moyasta. Would make a fun model. 

Edited by Galteemore
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4 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

We’re up north today.

A Giants Causeway tram awaits departure from Portrush station, and a strange vehicle is parked up at the depot nearby. This was a wagon for inspecting overhead wires.

These pictures were taken in 1939.

 

E06C28F4-072F-444F-B85B-73161E716DF8.jpeg

A9F2A1AD-2B91-45EC-99E2-C2FA28314FD4.jpeg

 

There are still quite a number of stumps of the old overhead line poles to be found by the roadside between Portrush and Bushmills, particularly between the Junction of the Ballintrae Road and Bushmills, which is where the photo was taken.

The overhead line poles suffered badly from corrosion due to their close proximity to the sea, and when new poles were needed, to keep costs down, the original poles had reinforcing steel rods inserted, and then were filled with concrete.

Capture.PNG.db3afe48fcdd6adcf7e0f1b657957eb6.PNG   

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3 hours ago, Galteemore said:

Sorry Garfield !  Dimly remembered from an old book my dad had. The most intriguing system I remember in it was Bianconi’s private farm railway in Clare, which even had a full signalling system. Some of the loco wheels allegedly survive at Moyasta. Would make a fun model. 

Bianconi, Annaghmore, Cork City, Bessbrook, Giant's Causeway and Lucan were the ones I had in mind. I did not count Belfast (or Dublin, other than Lucan!) And not the LUAS either....  naturally, by Irish standards, all of these are narrow gauge too!

I have an idea there was some sort of short-lived thing out in the wilds of Leitrim or Longford or somewhere - I remember reading of such a thing years and years ago. Must look it up. 

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Fifty years ago to the day, today, NIR operated the last ever steam train in service with a company-owned locomotive in Ireland. I was there to see it.

Over thirty years earlier, also on the NCC, Senior spotted a gleaming maroon just-out-of-the-paint shop U2 hurrying itself along. Location unknown, but would appear to be either between Belfast and Whitehead, or more likely Belfast - Ballymena, as I think his earliest spin on the NCC was on the main line.

7719606A-0E1B-407D-A4AE-1D63C579F6A5.thumb.jpeg.c0a9d0e5ae0075f02a042bae0db3eb11.jpegI

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1 hour ago, jhb171achill said:

Fifty years ago to the day, today, NIR operated the last ever steam train in service with a company-owned locomotive in Ireland. I was there to see it.

Over thirty years earlier, also on the NCC, Senior spotted a gleaming maroon just-out-of-the-paint shop U2 hurrying itself along. Location unknown, but would appear to be either between Belfast and Whitehead, or more likely Belfast - Ballymena, as I think his earliest spin on the NCC was on the main line.

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What a sight that must have been!! Looks like the number 80, was that a U2 number?

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1 hour ago, NIR said:

Are those suburban carriages the ones known as 'Larne steelers'?

No, the coach behind the loco is not a 'Larne Steeler'. The Larne Steelers were steel, flush sided coaches, the one in the picture is a wood panelled coach, probably one of the 1924 or 1935 built batches.

If the 30 years quoted by JHB is correct, then this would date the picture as 1940 or before, which means that the coach could not be 238 or 241, as they did not arrive on the NCC until 1941 as replacements for stock destroyed in the Blitz of that year. 

Edited by Dhu Varren
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40 minutes ago, Dhu Varren said:

No, the coach behind the loco is not a 'Larne Steeler'. The Larne Steelers were steel, flush sided coaches, the one in the picture is a wood panelled coach, probably one of the 1924 or 1935 built batches.

If the 30 years quoted by JHB is correct, then this would date the picture as 1940 or before, which means that the coach could not be 238 or 241, as they did not arrive on the NCC until 1941 as replacements for stock destroyed in the Blitz of that year. 

Correct - the pic was some time in the mid 30s - after 1940, any "shiny" engines would have been in the unlined black livery too. I would certainly think it's one of the 1924 stock. Hard to make out 100% though.

I noticed a white patch on the smokebox door - anyone have any ideas as to what that might be? I don't.

52 minutes ago, airfixfan said:

Yes they look similar to coaches 238 and 241 preserved by the RPSI. 50 years since the end of the spoil trains today even though one book said May 3rd!

That would be a typo - very definitely 2nd!

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No, the 1889 Percival/Burke indoor electric railway, Christian Bros Exhibition, Corn Exchange, Cork.

A Curtis electric motor from this should be still up in the North Mon, it was used afterwards for classroom demonstrations and, used at least once, to provide storm sound effects in a weeks run of The Tempest at the Opera House.

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4 minutes ago, minister_for_hardship said:

Actually come to think of it, there were electric Siemens locos used at Ardnacrusha.

There was a considerable railway constructed from Killaloe all the way to Ardnacrusha down the 10km head race canal and on down to limerick. It was removed after the 5 year construction project was completed on time and on budget. Germans don't you know. There was a broad gauge railway line from Limerick to the face of the dam until about 40 years ago. There are photos of a pax special B&T stock at the dam.

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8 hours ago, Midland Man said:

I wounded whitch batch it came from the Belfast the crewe or the Scotland batch? I know Duluce castle is a Scottish engine and all the Belfast engines were once 2-4-0s.

Three of the Class U2 Belfast built locos were built new, with eight being rebuilds of Class A and U 4-4-0s. Seven were built in Glasgow by the North British Locomotive Co..

The easy way to tell whether a U2 is a Belfast or a Glasgow engine is to look at the cab roof. All the Belfast engines have square corners to the rear of the cab roof. The Glasgow engines have a curved cutaway on each corner.

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6 hours ago, airfixfan said:

Yes they look similar to coaches 238 and 241 preserved by the RPSI. 50 years since the end of the spoil trains today even though one book said May 3rd!

Still, we have the second spoil contract to look forward to. I remember passing a spoil train in a siding at Kilroot mid-70s, there seemed to be a conveyor belt heading out to a new jetty being built.

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27 minutes ago, NIR said:

Still, we have the second spoil contract to look forward to. I remember passing a spoil train in a siding at Kilroot mid-70s, there seemed to be a conveyor belt heading out to a new jetty being built.

Now that's a good point, NIR.

After the Shore Road motorway was built, with the stuff that the last few "WT" class tank engines hauled down from Magheramorne, there were further movements out of there, using diesels. I have seen a pic of a Hunslet with a string of spoil wagons behind it and while I could be mistaken, I don't think it was a ballast train. I also seem to recall being told of the little Hunslet 0.6.0 shunters hauling them about somewhere, but that probably WAS ballast. 

Any ideas?  As Michael Caine, or Trumpty Dumpty might say, "Not a lot of people know that"!

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