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Glover's Irish Railways Workbench


Glover
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......the then new 'black and tan' livery, which actually suited these old vehicles quite well.....

 

One thing that did strike me about the black-and-tan livery is that it must have been a little uncomfortable in the heat of a summer, since black would have absorbed the heat like it was going out of fashion.

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One thing that did strike me about the black-and-tan livery is that it must have been a little uncomfortable in the heat of a summer, since black would have absorbed the heat like it was going out of fashion.

"......in the heat of a summer...." Em, we're talking about Ireland here!

Although they do say that the summers were better then.

 

Interesting (?) point is that Irish diesel locos never carried carriage heating equipment, at least until the arrival of the 201 class, which I gather has caused all sorts of bother on the Enterprise service between Dublin/ Belfast over the years.

Instead, heating vans/coaches were used but there was a 'season'. Given that most layouts are set in the summer, there is no need to include a specific heating coach.

 

Cheers,

Glover

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Many thanks Kirley.

Yes, the Ian Kirk coach is the 8 compartment third. I think these kits have been off the market for many years. A pity as they could form the basis of GNR(I) 'look-a likes'.

 

Cheers,

Glover

 

They are still about, I looked them up but got a fright at the price until I realised it was 0 gauge.  Cooper Craft list a range of his coaches in 4 mm.

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  • 4 months later...

I have been busy......

 

Much of 2017 was spent building coaches for a CIE excursion set but by definition, such stock is secondary. Therefore, in the latter part of last year, I ðecided that I needed to take a somewhat more strategic approach. To that end, I identified the need for six brake/passenger coaches for trains running through Pettigo station on my model of the old Great Northern Railway ( Ireland) Bundoran branch. Although the line closed in 1957, I have assumed that it actually stayed open at least until the summer of 1963. Operations are assumed to be shared by the Republic of Ireland's CIE and Northern Ireland's Ulster Transport Authority (UTA).

 

I need four brake/passenger coaches for the Up and Down Bundoran Expresses ; I'm assuming that the practice of adding a brake/passenger coach at Clones, which had come down from Belfast via Portadown and Armagh, was continued and thus this would be a UTA coach with the rest of the stock being supplied by CIE.

In addition, both the CIE and UTA branch trains will require a brake/passenger.

 

OK, that's the background and rationale.

 

Glover

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Many years ago, a guy in one of the model shops in Dublin suggested that the then recently released Hornby (or was it Tri-ang then?) LNER Thompson coaches could be used on a GNR(I) layout. His reasoning was that the GNR(I) also used a varnished wood livery.

In truth, there are more differences than similarities between the two companies coaches but with a sharp knife......

 

Anyway, here are the donors/ victims.

 

Glover

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I am for ever grateful to those photographers and note takers who paid attention to what came behind the locomotives. Foremost among these was the late Norman Johnson who founded Colourpoint Books. Norman's posthumous book, "Parting Shot" contains a number of photos of a GNR(I) J11 tri-compo brake. The GNR offered 1st, 2nd and 3rd class until 1950 when they abolished 2nd.

Thus the coach offered compartment accommodation for 1st and 2nd and an open area for 3rd.

The only dimensions I had were that the brake/luggage can section was ten foot in length while the overall length was the GNR standard 58'. However , the 3rd class portion appeared to be the fairly standard GNR K15 layout and I had a drawing for that.

 

Therefore, let battle commence. Given the number of cut 'n shuts likely to be required, I constructed a body side jig. You do learn something from reading the Model Railway Journal, even if I don't understand half of it. Note that the jig is made from cardboard, not some rare precious metal.

Glover

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I reckon there were something like 14 major cut 'n shuts per side plus many minor ones.

The small rectangular windows in the 3rd class section are a real pain. The pain is even worse when you cut yourself.......I should have taken a photo of that but it's hard to think of that when you're bleeding to death from a scalpel wound! Anyway, if that happens to you, I advise that you wipe the blood from the model before it dries. And then deal with the wound.

 

Some shots from the front line.

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After all this carnage (and the danger of becoming addicted to plastic cement fumes), you may end up with this: an ex-GNR J11 tri-compo brake, in UTA green.

I have numbered it 259; it should in fact be 258 but I didn't have the correct numerals.

By the way, can anyone recommend a source for UTA coach numerals?

 

For your pleasure/amusement , here it is.

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Great result Glover.  I use Foxes for the numbers but you have to cut each individual one.  As for cutting yourself with the scalpel blade, I coat the wound with superglue which seals the cut and allows you to keep working without baptising the model in blood.

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Thanks Kirley,

 

I have used Fox's numerals but I was thinking more about the 'script' type typography which the UTA used. Railtec do UTA transfers but they are really for railcars and, to my eye, are too large for coaches.

I should also say that I have been taken to task, by a recognised expert, on my use of yellow for lining UTA coaches. It should apparently be a creamy beige.

In my defence, I would say that virtually all colour photos from the UTA green period (1950-1965 approx) indicate that it was yellow but that may very well be a reflection of colour photography of the time. Because of this, I used yellow on previous UTA builds, so have opted for consistency. I can also offer the excuse that as a Dubliner, my exposure to the UTA was limited.

 

Thanks also for the first-aid tip! I note that this allows modelling to continue, despite the bloodshed. Spoken like a true modeller!

 

Cheers,

 

Glover

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The GNR(I) built three J11 tri-compos. On the break up of the company in 1957, one went to the UTA and two to CIE.

All remained in service until about 1970.

 

Given the amount of spare bits left over from building the UTA coach, I decided to build another; this may be used in evidence to suggest that, when it comes to modelling, I may not be the full shilling!

 

One improvement was to modify the doors by extending the height while bringing the bottom of the door window up above the general window line. This does help to improve the overall GNR 'look' of the coach. This photo might explain better.

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This coach was slightly easier to build as I had learned some lessons from the previous work. And no bloodshed this time!

 

I have painted it in CIE green on one side, with the 'Flying Snail' logo and CIE black 'n tan on the other. My payout, Pettigo on the Bundoran branch, is set in 1963 and thus coincides with the livery change over period. I have also given it different numbers on each side.

CIE, unlike the UTA, did not renumber the Great Northern stock which it inherited but, initially, added a small 'c' before the number and 'n' after it. The green side of the coach seeks to replicate this.

In the black 'n tan livery era, they simply added an 'n'.

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Thanks Kirley,

 

Current project is an early 1950s CIE brake/standard. I thought it would be fairly straightforward after the J11's but.......

It's making progress but don't wait up; another 2/3 weeks, I'd say.

Next up after that should be another UTA (ex GNR) brake/standard. I'm thinking I might scratch build that; I'm beginning to get a little tired of endlessly cutting up old coaches!

 

And then, the branch trains. For the UTA train, I have two possibilities in stock: the Bachmann/Mainline LMS coach and an old Graham Farish repaint which I bought some time ago from Colum Flannigan, although this is possibly more suited to an ex-NCC environment .

 

Either way, enough to keep me going for a while. I can't work at your speed!

 

Cheers,

 

Glover

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  • 4 weeks later...

The third of the five or six brake/passenger coaches for service through Pettigo on my model of the Bundoran branch is now finished.

It's based on the series numbered 1904-1908 built by CIE in Inchicore in 1953.

Base model is the old Hornby LMS Stanier coaches but lengthened to the correct 61'6", with new widened ends and roof.

Doyle & Hirsch's Locomotives & Rolling Stock book of 1979 says they were running in that period on a mix of Great Southern Railway

(GSR) bogies and Commonwealth's. I imagine that they originally ran on GSR bogies but I have used the Bachmann Commonwealth bogies.

 

I'll start with this photo and then follow up with some notes that may be of interest to others.

 

Cheers,

 

Glover

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The coaches built by CIE in the early to mid 1950s had an almost verticle body side profile with just a turn under at the bottom. As such, the Hornby Staniers make a good base.

The sides are a mixture of the Hornby composites and brake/thirds. The photo below should indicate the main cuts required. Handily, the two coaches I used were in two different liveries !

 

One fairly major change was to file off the representation of the gutter on the Hornby coaches and thus increase the height of the sides, above the windows.

I also cut windows into the luggage van doors.

 

Cheers,

 

Glover

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A characteristic feature of these coaches was the lines of rivets on the outside, joining the various sheets of metal.

I represented these using tiny strips of thin corrugated plastic which I bought years ago; I've no idea where.

The roof strapping was also quite prominent. These were made from thin, narrow strips of Evergreen plastic (#110), over which I rolled a small screwdriver with a serrated handle. I think it works.....sort off!

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I used South East Finecast flush glazing which together with a coat of brown paint around the window reveals makes a very substantial improvement. These are supplied with the sliding vents embossed but without thinking, I painted these black, using a permanent marker. They should be the same colour as the body side.

The roof (only the second I've ever scratch built ) is made following the method described by Geoff Kent in Model Railway Journal issue 228. I can't claim that I have been successful as it doesn't in truth capture the profile of the prototype which was a very shallow curve across the body with a sharp curve where it met the body sides. I haven't glued it in place so I might,might have another go.

 

Glover

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And finally.....

The corridor connectors were built again following Geoff Kents method. The photos below should explain. They are a bit fiddly to make but actually easier than the usual interlocked concertina method.

Buffers are actually BR heavy duty wagon buffers (from MJT) but with slightly larger buffer heads which were produced using a paper punch; real 1960s modelling!

 

Glover

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Many thanks Kirley.

One point I forgot to mention is that I constructed window frame surrounds from Evergreen strip, again using the serrated screwdriver handle method ( photo of screwdriver attached!). This also adds to the somewhat 'industrial' look of these coaches.

 

Cheers,

 

Glover

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  • 5 months later...

I keep a quarterly record of work done, which shows that Q2 (April-June) this year was very unproductive. A combination of much travelling and the snow is my excuse. However, I did manage to get one score on the board, at the tail end of June.

 

The inspiration came from seeing a photo, taken in the early 1970s I reckon, by a Brian Flannigan on his Flickr website ('Irish Rolling Stock'). The photo shows a wood planked van but what caught my eye was the fact that the side and end planks are laid horizontally ; different to the usual vertical layout, although the door planking is vertical. The van was painted in the then new CIE freight brown livery, which suggests that the van was considered worthy of keeping in service.

 

In my 'never throw anything away' box, I had an old Hornby-Dublo GW insulated meat van ( bought, according to an old notebook, in 1961 by my parents for 5/3; that's five shillings and three pence. Younger readers may need to ask their grandparents!).

This has vertical planking on the sides.

So, a combination of the Hornby-Dublo sides, spare Parkside doors, scratch built ends and roof and mounting on an Airfix chassis, I have a reasonable reproduction of a somewhat unusual CIE goods van.

I have painted it grey, which was the standard colour in my modelling period (1963). You will note that it was painted green; I did this many years ago to reflect the fact that CIE did upgrade and repainted some vans to run with the AEC railcars on some longer distance routes.

It is sobering to think that the basic ingredient of this little van is getting on for 60 years old. I like to think I am heeding the plea to re-use, recycle and cut down on the use of single/one time use plastic. That or I'm going nuts!

 

Q3 was a lot more productive.........

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