From the Catacombs

[jhb171achill]

Some more odds and ends....

1.  Authentic GSWR "crimson lake" and lettering; this background colour also being initially used by the GSR before they had their "main line" brown and cream, and post-1933 lighter maroon liveries. This is on a model in Cultra which was made by Inchicore apprentices back in the day.

2.  Oughterard water tower; typical MGWR style for modellers! Good to see Mr Holman has an Achill-based example "in use"!

3.  Ballycastle beauty. These originated on the Ballymena & Larne section of the NCC, where the five of them were the only corridor narrow-gauge carriages ever to run in Ireland. The NCC removed the gangways before they went to Ballycastle, and those purchased by the CDR remained sans gangways. Modellers may care to note a livery detail on NCC stock. While owned by the British LMS, and "LMS maroon" featuring on locos and carriages, some differences in markings were perpetuated. Many narrow gauge and main line secondary stock, as well as much suburban stock, had neither lining nor an LMS crest, and in some cases (such as this), not even the letters "L M S  N C C". This vehicle is plain unlined maroon.

4.  Donegal view, I think late 40s, but I haven't a date.

5.  "Maedb" slowly inches towards Cultra.

6.  Actually, one of my favourite pics, albeit of probably the most uncomfortable rail-borne vehicle ever to run in Ireland - these MED sets were truly awful to travel in, even worse than the 450s of NIR, which had two speeds - stop and go, and two temperature settings - Baltic and microwave. Lisburn, c.1977 / 78.

7.  Some sort of yellow thing. With senior being a PW engineer, doubtless he knew what this thing was; to me, it's a rail-borne scorpion, perhaps, or a lobster on wheels. Nice "H" vans, though.

Edited August 23, 2021 by jhb171achill

[airfixfan]

Photo 3 shows NCC coach 353 at Ballymoney. This coach ended up at Ballycastle along with NCC 350. When the other 3 coaches sold to the CDR in 1951/2 they were not sold due apparently to the cost of moving them to Ballymoney where the 3 coaches sold were located. Photo 4 Strabane and agree with date as I have many photos of same location from about 1948

[Andy Cundick]

I'd be inclined to say that Photo 4 is prewar as 12 has not been fitted with a front vac pipe yet and there are photos of her in 137 so fitted,also the use of one of the Red opens points to an earlier date incidentally the wagon is No2 which the books tell is supposed to be one the vans,but has never made sense from a dating point of view.Andy. 

[jhb171achill]

3 hours ago, Andy Cundick said:

I'd be inclined to say that Photo 4 is prewar as 12 has not been fitted with a front vac pipe yet and there are photos of her in 137 so fitted,also the use of one of the Red opens points to an earlier date incidentally the wagon is No2 which the books tell is supposed to be one the vans,but has never made sense from a dating point of view.Andy. 

Could ŵell be - he was there first about 1937... 

[airfixfan]

Following up on Railcar 12 and well spotted by Andy. Have been distracted by future of Railcar 18 today.

[airfixfan]

Photo on page 38 in County Donegal Railway Companion showing Railcar 12 in August 1937 at Killybegs with vacuum brakes. In regards to question regarding CDR wagon No 2 will check CDR Diagram book next Thursday.

[jhb171achill]

Just watched a youtube video of this railcar. WHY oh why has it got a deafening, and COMPLETELY inappropriate American-sounding train horn? Do a few sheep need a walking-pace railcar to announce its presence as if it is a 90,000 hp mile long Union Pacific coal train headed by nine of GM's biggest locomotives across the Rockies?

Absolutely, totally ridiculous. Disgraceful, like the butchering of the inside of one of the handful of surviving Donegal carriages in Derry into some sort of stupid-idea 1990s "club car"!

What's next - a "Thomas" face on it?

These people shouldn't be let out.

Rant over.

[jhb171achill]

One of Senior’s quirks was to keep a copy of all rubber stamps he came across. This was one…..

[Irishswissernie]

My leatherbound copy of the July & October 1917 Working Timetables plus Train Alterations Notices has this stamp inside the front cover dated 4 March 1925; some 8 years later.

 

[jhb171achill]

From Senior's travels in the land of Narrow-gauge Brexit-locomotives..... I do not know locations, but I think they're all 1964-6.

Not a blue 4.4.0 to be seen, but still nice stuff!

[Irishswissernie]

First one is Stirling and the last one Yeovil Junction the rest look like that boring bit of England south of Geordieland and north of Salisbury

[jhb171achill]

4 minutes ago, Irishswissernie said:

First one is Stirling and the last one Yeovil Junction the rest look like that boring bit of England south of Geordieland and north of Salisbury

Wow! He got about more than I thought. I did know that he’d been in Scotland, though.

[jhb171achill]

When built, the "Turf Burner" was initially in standard CIE locomotive grey. Latterly, it was repainted in the (then) standard CIE post-1955 green, complete with waistband line.

Here it is about 1962, after withdrawal, at Inchicore.

[Patrick Davey]

Those GNR tenders..........

[DERAILED]

Here's a later view of the Turfburner on the occasion of the IRRS Works Visit - September 1974. Pic is for sale on eBay.

 

 

And here's a recent acquisition. I'd be interested in comments on this one.

Edited August 24, 2021 by DERAILED

[Broithe]

18 minutes ago, DERAILED said:

And here's a recent acquisition. I'd be interested in comments on this one.

Portarlington?

[DERAILED]

Correct. What about the railcar?

[Broithe]

33 minutes ago, DERAILED said:

Correct. What about the railcar?

That is beyond my remit, but it must be around 1950, I would think - that track may not have been there for long after the construction phase.*

I was there in 1976 and I don't recall there still being a connection.

More competent people may be along shortly.

*Having said that, the tower looks well weathered...

Edited August 24, 2021 by Broithe
Thoughts...

[jhb171achill]

The railcar is one of Bullied’s monstrosities.

But is the location not the Ardnacrusha siding?

[Galteemore]

The famous steam tour of 64 visited this branch but I think this image is c 54-57, when the REC had a number of Irish visits, including a run on the 1115 Sligo-Enniskillen goods, behind the SLNC’s premier loco  image below courtesy @Irishswissernie

9 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

The railcar is one of Bullied’s monstrosities.

But is the location not the Ardnacrusha siding?

That’s what I thought at first but for the cooling tower….

 

Edited August 24, 2021 by Galteemore

[leslie10646]

Sorry, JB, I don't think it's Ardnacrusha - see attached Lance King's photo of the IRRS tour to there in 1962.

PS, I thought that it was here as well, but the architecture is different!

The REC is based two miles from my home, these days - principally a modelling club now - but important enough to have a "proper"sign on the main road!

The photo could have been taken in Hampshire this year, it looks wet enough!

[Broithe]

I would be fairly confident of Portarlington - I just don't remember seeing that track still there in '76.
 

[DERAILED]

The date is 1950 and the weathering is just the poor photographic reproduction. It's not Ardnacrusha - what about the railcar?

[Garfield]

One of the AEC sets with the Bulleid-designed bodies fabricated at Inchicore. I think most of these were later converted into powered intermediates.

[DERAILED]

The power station is Portarlington and the photograph came with a souvenir booklet for the opening in April 1950. However, the date of the photograph and the railcar details are what puzzles me. What does REC on the railcar indicate and can anyone make out the number.

 

[Galteemore]

REC is ‘Railway Enthusiasts Club’ - GB based group which did a lot of Irish tours - you’ll see the headboard on the SLNC pic above. 2661 may be the number - the unofficial REC archive records a Bulleid of that no in one of their photos. 

Edited August 24, 2021 by Galteemore

[DERAILED]

So that would date it post 1953 - their foundation date on the website.

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, Garfield said:

One of the AEC sets with the Bulleid-designed bodies fabricated at Inchicore. I think most of these were later converted into powered intermediates.

Correct. Ghastly looking things, rivalled only in their ugliness by NIR 450-class things!

I think the railcar is 2641?

[Galteemore]

The Bulleid numbers were 2660-2665….but I agree re the looks….:) 

Edited August 24, 2021 by Galteemore

[jhb171achill]

6 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

The Bulleid numbers were 2660-2665….but I agree re the looks….:) 

Then it's maybe 2661. Hard to make out, and I think that the number has got worn off a bit anyway.......

[Garfield]

I actually quite like the appearance of the Bulleid-bodied AECs. Not exactly handsome, but there's still a lot of character there...

[Galteemore]

From a scratch builder’s perspective, I’ll grant you that it’s a lot more of an enticing option than the compound curves of a regular AEC….and it does have an offbeat appeal, like one of those Neilson tanks - another case of putting straight lines where most designers put curves !

Edited August 24, 2021 by Galteemore

[leslie10646]

6 hours ago, DERAILED said:

The date is 1950 and the weathering is just the poor photographic reproduction. It's not Ardnacrusha - what about the railcar?

Sorry, but the photo must have been taken after 1956/7 when the "Bulleid-bodied" AEC railcars were put into service (IRRS Journal No.20, Page 243 refers to their entering service).

The REC, being Farnborough-based, with Mr Bulleid's pacifics racing past their door every hour of the day and night possibly requested the set specifically! After Mr B's fine coaches on the Southern Railway - they must have been a bit of a culture-shock!

[Broithe]

1 hour ago, Garfield said:

I actually quite like the appearance of the Bulleid-bodied AECs. Not exactly handsome, but there's still a lot of character there...

Priming us for the next announcement..?

[jhb171achill]

Back poking about in the old photos. Dunno if I posted this before, but here we go, for our Donegal modellers: