From the Catacombs

[jhb171achill]

And finally for now, and equally randomly, as follows:

K801, Inchicore, 1971

Tank wagon - someone was talking to me about tank wagons recently, so there it is!

The third one shows only one of two pictures I can recall seeing of the step contraption that ex-GNR Director's Saloon had when it was in use as the PW Civil Engineer's runabout. It was devised either by Senior or his immediate predecessor, one W H C Stone. It is seen here in use - the idea was that when the coach was used as a PW Inspection vehicle, anywhere the Engineer wanted to stop he gave a signal to the driver and they stopped, whereupon he got down and pottered about with measuring tape and notebook, before proceeding onward.

Here it is seen in action somewhere on the NCC in UTA days - I suspect that it may be Limavady Junction - a long way from the GNR.

Next, GSWR non-corridor elegance, withdrawn c.1962. This may have been taken in a siding at Kildare, but I can't be sure.

"S" class 174 crosses a bridge under repair during Senior's watch. I think it is somewhere between Lisburn and Goraghwood.

Next, spoil train wagon detail (basically, muck), and B144 with new grey bubbles.

Finally, the SLNCR's "Lough Melvin" shunting at Adelaide about 1962, still in SLNCR all-black livery, a former 26ft CBSCR third at Albert Quay, and another faded blue beauty at Adelaide.

Gawd knows what's next. Oh, it's a British class 47 in green...... but it's 02:45 and it's time I wasn't here.

 

[DiveController]

1 hour ago, jhb171achill said:

Filthy Fert passes through Lisburn  

a Hunslet leaves Belfast Central 

They literally cleaned just enough grime from 054's ST livery to apply the new set of points IR logos to the sides and cab ends!

Always loved that earlier NIR coach livery, not to mention the Hunslet. Looks to be 102 Falcon , the class survivor now on static display at the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum

[DiveController]

Forget the Class 47 but keep the rest coming 

[airfixfan]

The BR Green Class 26 is at Wick

[Irishswissernie]

39 minutes ago, airfixfan said:

The BR Green Class 26 is at Wick

Right area Jim but its the other terminus, Thurso

[airfixfan]

Thanks they do look very similar from when I was there regularly in the early 1980s! Did you get Narrow Gauge Steam 3 yet?

[Old Blarney]

MEX - Tank Wagon 207.

Owned by - McMullan Bros

McMullan Bros  own MAXOL. They had a fleet of railway wagons for the transporting their Oil products throughout Ireland.

I have a book with a photograph of their wagon 101. The text accompanying this photograph reads;    "In 1930, the company upped the stakes again, purchasing tank wagons capable of carrying between ten and fourteen tons of fuel. Some of these appear to have been either built or maintained by  Clearance Engineering Company Belfast."

This information is from MAXOL -celebrating 100 years - Page 42.

[Irishswissernie]

2 hours ago, airfixfan said:

Thanks they do look very similar from when I was there regularly in the early 1980s! Did you get Narrow Gauge Steam 3 yet?

Nothing yet Jim

[airfixfan]

Well my second copy arrived today. Must be in the post? Give it a few days next week.

[jhb171achill]

Tonight's eclectic colour selection:

(H C A Beaumont)

1.  Last ever spoil train, Magheramorne, 1970.

2. Permanent Way Institution Convention special at Lisburn, I think 1980? When Senior passed on to that great Locomotive Shed in the Sky, he was Ireland's oldest PWI member.

3. I thought this was at Ballyvary, c.1977. But given the 071 and the number of carriages it has to be on a Westport train, so I cannot be certain of details. Loco in original brownish livery, with non-standard GM Illinois version of the CIE roundel.

4.  PWI trip another time, Dublin - Portrush and back. A highly unusual pairing of CIE Mk 3s and an NIR "Enterprise" dining car.

5. & 6.  Family holidays were at Clonea, near Ballinacourty for a few years in the late 70s / early 80s. Guess where Senior went to take pictures.

7.  One of two pics showing three GNR coaches in three liveries; Amiens St., c. 1962.

8.  NIR (ex-NCC) 53 at a Whitehead Open Day, about 1970. Yours truly in cab, without PTS or day glo socks. The shame......

9.  No. 800 "Maedb" at Inchicore, with dismantling commenced JUST before being saved for Cultra. Some cab fittings, cab windows and nameplates had been removed.

10.  Strabane, 1966.

11. Non corridor NCC 3rds awaiting scrapping at Antrim, 1970s. Vandals were doing the job for NIR anyway.

12.  NCC Railcar 1 on a Belfast - Ballymena local, about 1962 - I think this was taken near Cookstown Junction, as Senior was replacing a bridge there at the time.

13. B130 arrives in Gorey, 1970; yours truly taking my second railway photo ever. I still have the print I took there - crooked and blurry. Senior's might have been crooked - as almost all of his were - but at least it's not blurred!

14.  Strabane, I think January 1960, not long after closure of the CDR.

15.  A UTA "Jeep" gets away with a heavy train - Ballymena? This is about 1964.

16.  Caark, boy.

17. Narrow gauge thing in the Island-across-the-pond.

Edited August 7, 2021 by jhb171achill

[jhb171achill]

More;

1.  Lifting train on the "Derry Road" (RIP) between Portadown & Dungannon, c. 1966.

2. GNR Crane tank, withdrawn, date unknown.

3. Claremorris, c.1969

4. Filthy "Jeep" with spoil wagons.

5. & 6. Withdrawn GNR beauties.

7. Omagh, 1961.

8. The GNR weedspray train stationed at Antrim, mid-1960s.

[jhb171achill]

(All c. H C A Beaumont).

1.  One of the very few bogie coaches owned by the Waterford, Limerick & Western, in ex-departmental use, still bearing "Camping Coach" livery, awaiting scrapping at Mullingar in the 1980s. The bow-ends, for modellers, are the tell-tale sign of WLWR stock; while this feature figured a lot in the GWR & LMS in Britain, only the WLWR used it here. A crying shame it didn't survive - perfect for DCDR!

2. CIE railcar set, mid-60s. Location unknown, but the GSWR brake 3rd in the middle is interesting. Both CIE and the UTA tended to use "re-purposed" old steam-era wooden stock in their railcar trains, this being perpetuated into NIR days. As late as 1980/1 a single GNR K15 was in a 70 class set on NIR (No. 727, the last GNR passenger vehicle in traffic anywhere), and the venerable wooden-interior 526, an old 1920s NCC third, was in an MED set. IRM will be bringing out a ready-to-run GSWR main line bogie coach this week, I think.

3. MPD railcar out'n'about on the NCC main line. Not sure where, but Senior was involved with the bridge rebuilding adjacent to it.

4. Three GNR railcars, three liveries, somewhere on the DSER. Date unknown but obviously early to mid 1960s.

5. Drogheda.

6. Macmine Junction. Might put that in a forthcoming book. I think this is about 1961. The branch closed 18 months later.

7. NIR 595, a former GNR brake 3rd; this, too, ended up as a railcar intermediate and later a loco-hauled brake standard. It was withdrawn about 1974, one of the very last steam-era coaches in use. And yes, that's supposed to be MAROON livery; see what weathering does!

8. WLWR 935, the company's beautiful Director's Saloon, at Mullingar. I took this one in the 1980s, just before the passage of time, lack of care and vandals put paid to it. I had already surveyed and measured it up as a possible Whitehead restoration project, when I was more involved with the RPSI. Had it survived, another PRIME candidate for Downpatrick or Whitehead Train Rides.

9.  Side-on, CDR "red wagon" at the ill-fated museum in Derry. Still in original condition. I took this one in the early 1990s.

Edited August 8, 2021 by jhb171achill

[Dhu Varren]

Picture 3 with the MPD, I believe to be the rebuilding of the arched bridge over the A6 just outside Templepatrick. The screen grab from Google Earth below shows the house in the top right of the  photo relative to  the rebuilt bridge.

 

 

[jhb171achill]

25 minutes ago, Dhu Varren said:

Picture 3 with the MPD, I believe to be the rebuilding of the arched bridge over the A6 just outside Templepatrick. The screen grab from Google Earth below shows the house in the top right of the  photo relative to  the rebuilt bridge.

 

 

That would fit perfectly. Senior was in charge of that job, and some of the old black & whites are also of that location, I think.

 

 

[David Holman]

Remarkable photos - many of which could easily grace another book.

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, David Holman said:

Remarkable photos - many of which could easily grace another book.

A very small few of them will!

[Patrick Davey]

Wowwwwwww............

[Mayner]

The 3 car BUT Railcar Set and 4w Hooded Van may be at Macmine Junction.

There is a  1962 John Langford photo of a similar(possibly the same set) in the Waterford platform on what appears to be a southbound working with a Green 901 Class car leading, Cream and Blue ex-GNR Brake 3rd and Black and Tan 701 Class car trailing hauling what looks like a Black and Tan 4w PO van.

There also appears to be a connecting train in the Waterford Platform in the H C A Beaumount photo

Its possible the Railcars are exchanging Mail Traffic with a Wexford-Waterford passenger, during its final years most North Wexford passenger trains appear to have ran with 2 4w Hooded Vans and a single coach.

The ex-GNR BK 3nd appears to have been re-built by NIR with new windows with rounded corners and new body paneling. 

Modern GNR flush sided stock were originally built with windows with square corners similar to the BUT and AEC railcars, this lead to problems with leaks and decayed (wooden) body framing especially on coaches built during WW11 which apparently had hardboard rather than steel body panels.

[Patrick Davey]

JB I would suggest Trew & Moy on the Derry Road for this one - GNR signals, single line, the goods shed looks correct, the classic Mills stationmaster's house is at right angles to the line and there's a glimpse of the station building between them, and there is what appears to be a footbridge spanning the tracks - it all fits!

Edited August 9, 2021 by Patrick Davey

[jhb171achill]

42 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said:

JB I would suggest Trew & Moy on the Derry Road for this one - GNR signals, single line, the goods shed looks correct, the classic Mills stationmaster's house is at right angles to the line and there's a glimpse of the station building between them, and there is what appears to be a footbridge spanning the tracks - it all fits!

In which case this must be a Lough Derg pilgrimage train! 141s also very briefly appeared on these in 1964.......

[josefstadt]

On 7/8/2021 at 10:34 PM, jhb171achill said:

Tonight's eclectic colour selection:

(H C A Beaumont)

1.  Last ever spoil train, Magheramorne, 1970.

2. Permanent Way Institution Convention special at Lisburn, I think 1980? When Senior passed on to that great Locomotive Shed in the Sky, he was Ireland's oldest PWI member.

3. I thought this was at Ballyvary, c.1977. But given the 071 and the number of carriages it has to be on a Westport train, so I cannot be certain of details. Loco in original brownish livery, with non-standard GM Illinois version of the CIE roundel.

4.  PWI trip another time, Dublin - Portrush and back. A highly unusual pairing of CIE Mk 3s and an NIR "Enterprise" dining car.

5. & 6.  Family holidays were at Clonea, near Ballinacourty for a few years in the late 70s / early 80s. Guess where Senior went to take pictures.

7.  One of two pics showing three GNR coaches in three liveries; Amiens St., c. 1962.

8.  NIR (ex-NCC) 53 at a Whitehead Open Day, about 1970. Yours truly in cab, without PTS or day glo socks. The shame......

9.  No. 800 "Maedb" at Inchicore, with dismantling commenced JUST before being saved for Cultra. Some cab fittings, cab windows and nameplates had been removed.

10.  Strabane, 1966.

11. Non corridor NCC 3rds awaiting scrapping at Antrim, 1970s. Vandals were doing the job for NIR anyway.

12.  NCC Railcar 1 on a Belfast - Ballymena local, about 1962 - I think this was taken near Cookstown Junction, as Senior was replacing a bridge there at the time.

13. B130 arrives in Gorey, 1970; yours truly taking my second railway photo ever. I still have the print I took there - crooked and blurry. Senior's might have been crooked - as almost all of his were - but at least it's not blurred!

14.  Strabane, I think January 1960, not long after closure of the CDR.

15.  A UTA "Jeep" gets away with a heavy train - Ballymena? This is about 1964.

16.  Caark, boy.

17. Narrow gauge thing in the Island-across-the-pond.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No. 2 is the IRRS 50th Anniversary special to Derry. Not sure of exact date, but definitely not 1980 as loco and train in post-1987 IR livery.

No. 4 is the PWI Convention special at Portrush. Not sure if it was the actual special which ran from Portrush to Dublin (being attached to the 09:00 ex-Belfast at Lisburn, or the trial train to clear MkIII stock to Portrush sometime earlier. 

8 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

(All c. H C A Beaumont).

1.  One of the very few bogie coaches owned by the Waterford, Limerick & Western, in ex-departmental use, still bearing "Camping Coach" livery, awaiting scrapping at Mullingar in the 1980s. The bow-ends, for modellers, are the tell-tale sign of WLWR stock; while this feature figured a lot in the GWR & LMS in Britain, only the WLWR used it here. A crying shame it didn't survive - perfect for DCDR!

2. CIE railcar set, mid-60s. Location unknown, but the GSWR brake 3rd in the middle is interesting. Both CIE and the UTA tended to use "re-purposed" old steam-era wooden stock in their railcar trains, this being perpetuated into NIR days. As late as 1980/1 a single GNR K15 was in a 70 class set on NIR (No. 727, the last GNR passenger vehicle in traffic anywhere), and the venerable wooden-interior 526, an old 1920s NCC third, was in an MED set. IRM will be bringing out a ready-to-run GSWR main line bogie coach this week, I think.

3. MPD railcar out'n'about on the NCC main line. Not sure where, but Senior was involved with the bridge rebuilding adjacent to it.

4. Three GNR railcars, three liveries, somewhere on the DSER. Date unknown but obviously early to mid 1960s.

5. Drogheda.

6. Macmine Junction. Might put that in a forthcoming book. I think this is about 1961. The branch closed 18 months later.

7. NIR 595, a former GNR brake 3rd; this, too, ended up as a railcar intermediate and later a loco-hauled brake standard. It was withdrawn about 1974, one of the very last steam-era coaches in use. And yes, that's supposed to be MAROON livery; see what weathering does!

8. WLWR 935, the company's beautiful Director's Saloon, at Mullingar. I took this one in the 1980s, just before the passage of time, lack of care and vandals put paid to it. I had already surveyed and measured it up as a possible Whitehead restoration project, when I was more involved with the RPSI. Had it survived, another PRIME candidate for Downpatrick or Whitehead Train Rides.

9.  Side-on, CDR "red wagon" at the ill-fated museum in Derry. Still in original condition. I took this one in the early 1990s.

No. 4 is Macmine Junction. Grey 121 on the other side of the platform, presumably on a North Wexford service. 

[airfixfan]

Photo of CDR Red Van 19 at Foyle Road os from about 1989. Have some similar colour photos when the Foyle Valley Museum was being prepared for official.opening in May 1989. Used some in my article on the CDR 1960 to 1989 for current issue of Narrow Gauge Steam 3 by Kelsey Publishing

[NIR]

18 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

 

The quintessential 1970s NIR siding as seen from a passing 70 Class - cut-down open, spoil wagon, ex-railcar hauled stock

Edited August 9, 2021 by NIR

[h gricer]

9 hours ago, josefstadt said:

No. 2 is the IRRS 50th Anniversary special to Derry. Not sure of exact date, but definitely not 1980 as loco and train in post-1987 IR livery.

 

The exact date was Saturday 1st June 1996, it was the June Bank Holiday weekend and was indeed the 50th Anniversary IRRS special to Derry, the 50th heading is clearly displayed on front of the locomotive.

Regards

hg

[NIR]

11 hours ago, Mayner said:

The ex-GNR BK 3nd appears to have been re-built by NIR with new windows with rounded corners and new body paneling. 

Yes, it looks a bit MPD

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, h gricer said:

The exact date was Saturday 1st June 1996, it was the June Bank Holiday weekend and was indeed the 50th Anniversary IRRS special to Derry, the 50th heading is clearly displayed on front of the locomotive.

Regards

hg

Senior took a pic of a 1980 PWI jaunt on exactly the same spot; I mixed them up when writing the caption without the benefit of my Dealz €1.99 reading glasses! Hence the error. Must post the other one!

1 hour ago, NIR said:

Yes, it looks a bit MPD

Sure does! That carriage ended up at Whitehead but weather and vandals put paid to it before there was ever a chance of restoring it….

[murphaph]

Did those PWI trains ever run in the 90's with mk3 + NIR mk2 stock?

[jhb171achill]

One special charter for the Permanent Way Institution train operated with CIE stock and an NIR dining car. As far as I am aware, it was an absolute one-off; certainly, if it DID happen any other time, that was an extreme rarity.

 

 

[jhb171achill]

A few more at complete random..... modellers may find some inspiration in some of it!

1.  Details for container modellers!

2.  The last surviving item of rolling stock from the Ulster Railway Co., grounded as a store at Portadown from - I believe - about 1905, until rescued by the DCDR. It is currently undergoing full restoration!

3.  Train in Lisburn, early '60s.  Could be a Warrenpoint - G V St., or it could be an excursion (probably from Portadown) to Bangor, before the Belfast Central Line shut.

4.  A grey 121 and filthy "silver" tin van at Macmine Junction, 1961 or 2.

 

[Galteemore]

15 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

One special charter for the Permanent Way Institution train operated with CIE stock and an NIR dining car. As far as I am aware, it was an absolute one-off; certainly, if it DID happen any other time, that was an extreme rarity.

 

 

Wasn’t there a special for the PWI with RPSI wooden stock, steam hauled with a number of loco changes? 

[Lambeg man]

On 8/8/2021 at 7:02 PM, jhb171achill said:

MPD railcar out'n'about on the NCC main line. Not sure where, but Senior was involved with the bridge rebuilding adjacent to it.

I think this is the relevant bridge prior to rebuilding to allow 'standard' double deckers (as opposed to the 'low bridge' type seen in the photo) to pass under. Like so many other rail over road bridges at the time, e'g' Derriaghy and later Balmoral. Done for the benefit of UTA buses, wonder who bore the cost of these reconstructions? (Photo by R.C. Ludgate)

22 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

That would fit perfectly. Senior was in charge of that job, and some of the old black & whites are also of that location, I think.

Edited August 9, 2021 by Lambeg man

[jhb171achill]

9 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

Wasn’t there a special for the PWI with RPSI wooden stock, steam hauled with a number of loco changes? 

Possibly, but one at least that he went on had a Mk3 genny, two Mk 3 coaches (all CIE) plus an NIR dining car.

6 minutes ago, Lambeg man said:

I think this is the relevant bridge prior to rebuilding to allow 'standard' double deckers (as opposed to the 'low bridge' type seen in the photo) to pass under. Like so many other rail over road bridges at the time, e'g' Derriaghy and later Balmoral. Done for the benefit of UTA buses, wonder who bore the cost of these reconstructions? (Photo by R.C. Ludgate)

He did the Derriaghy bridge too, but he has separate pics of that - must dig them out. Who paid for that bridge? The bus side of the UTA probably charged the railway side of it, though I don't know for certain!

[Lambeg man]

18 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

2.  The last surviving item of rolling stock from the Ulster Railway Co., grounded as a store at Portadown from - I believe - about 1905, until rescued by the DCDR. It is currently undergoing full restoration!

Built 1862 and classified 'O 1' in 1916, No. 33 was withdrawn and grounded in September 1920. Sold to a farmer 1965?

[Galteemore]

10 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Possibly, but one at least that he went on had a Mk3 genny, two Mk 3 coaches (all CIE) plus an NIR dining car.

 

Tracked it down. RPSI PWI special was 1985…..https://www.geograph.ie/photo/3789663

[jhb171achill]

19 minutes ago, Lambeg man said:

Built 1862 and classified 'O 1' in 1916, No. 33 was withdrawn and grounded in September 1920. Sold to a farmer 1965?

I think it stayed at Portadown longer than that?