Green, Maroon & Blue, Orange & Black

PLEASE NOTE : It will probably be necessary to publish some mini-blogs this week due to pressures of other events, necessitous domestic activity and preparation for Fellowship meetings this coming weekend. Oh, yes; and old age!!!

105 Years of History

In 1921 part of the United Kingdom became totally disunited. Under an Act of the UK parliament, The Irish Free State a k a The Republic of Ireland came into being. The tensions that caused this momentous split still resurface in Ireland from time to time.

In some ways, Ireland is different from the rest of the UK. In other ways things look very much the same as across the sea. 

Rail transport immediately exposes a difference. The gauge of the railways throughout the Island is 5 feet 3 inches, 4.5 inches broader than the rest if the UK.

The Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846 or the Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846 or the Gauge of Railways Act 1846 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that was designed to standardise railway tracks. It was granted royal assent on 18 August 1846, and mandated that the track gauge – which was the distance between the two running rails' inner faces – of 4 feet 81⁄2 inches to be the standard for Great Britain and 5 feet 3 inches to be the standard for Ireland.

As far as fbb can gather, the anomaly arose from the fact that an early Irish railway engineer chose 1600mm (rather than non-metric 5'3") for his first lines.

It Started With A Model ...

fbb has bought one if these for Peterville Quarry Railway ...

... because he liked the colour orange. More of this expenditure later. But the old buffer realised that his ignorance of anything and everything public transport on The Island of Ireland was limited to omnibological snippets from Belfast (UK) and Dublin (Republic).

Railway coaches in the Republic were orange for some time, but in the past were a glorious shade of green ...

... very different from UK's Southern malachite ...

... and the more sombre BR diesel unit green.

Some Irish Railway coaches were a darker shade ...

... although fbb has failed (abysmally!!) to find details of when, where and why.

He did, however, find these in model form ...

... which found themselves on the "Enterprise" services between Dublin and Belfast ...

... operated jointly with Northern Ireland Railways (NIR).

The Parent Company of much of the public transport in the Republic is CIE ...

Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ), was founded on 1st January 1945 under the Transport Act 1944.  It united the Great Southern Railways (GSR) and the Dublin United Tramway Company (DUTC). The GSR operated rail, bus and lorry services.  It had come into existence in 1925 when all the railway companies lying wholly within the Free State were amalgamated into one concern.  Under the Transport Acts of 1932 and 1933 the GSR was given the right to compulsorily acquire its road competition. It’s most notable acquisition was the Irish Omnibus Company - the ancestor of Bus Éireann.

The logo on the green coaches ...

... is known colloquially as "the flying snail".

Buses also appeared in green with flying snail ...

... in different shades, it would appear.

Dublin buses also used to be adorned with the flying snail ...

... but are probably better known for wearing the CIE logo.

But we digress ...

... as the orange will feature further in tomorrow's blog.

There will be more logos to explore! 

This may well be obvious ...

... but this less so.

This one is very Irish c/w hat and shamrock ...

... although, mostly, the headgear and foliage do not appear.

Can you guess this one?

But orange and black dominate tomorrow's blog!

  Next Irish railway blog : Tues 28th April 

Sunday Variety (mini-blog)

 It Is A Small World!

A few days ago, fbb discovered that Phil, a fellow worshipper at church, trades in diecast model; cars, lorries etc. That is mainly Dinky and Corgi but includes others like Spot On.

Spot On never achieved the success of Dinky, which died with the collapse of Meccano Ltd in the late sixties. Improbably, Corgi still exists, being a brand of the modern Hornby. Some of Corgi's biggest sellers are models linked to film and TV shows.

Ron's Ford Anglia (remember?) ....

... will set you back just a penny short of £34. 

What the Diamond Gems site shows, yet again, is how much wealthy old men will spend to secure the rarest of models.

When fbb was nobbut a lad, he owned one of these.

He cannot remember whether it came with cars ...

But it certainly came with an utterly unrealistic tim plate loading ramp.

Sadly, fbb's did not have grey decks.

The big question, however is how many rivets did it have on each side. The above version had one above the back wheels of the tractor unit, one behind the two trailer wheels; two on each side, four in total.

The one Phil is selling has six rivets, three each side.

It does have grey decks but doesn't have cars or a tin loading ramp, so no play value at all. But it does have six rivets and not four! See the extra rivet just below the word "TOYS".

The box ...

... has minimum base scuffing!

The model itself ...

... has never been part of a child's play box.

And it has been "lamp tested" (UV light?) to make sure no one has committed the cardinal sin of touching up the paint with modern paint of a different recipe from the original.

It will cost you a snap at ...

... £480. Presumably plus post and packing.

Yikes!

But then there are people who collect OO gauge tank wagons!

At least Phil's trade is geinuine ...

Helpful On-Line News

Keir and his chums seem to have had a jackpot idea; something that will really encourage public transport use!

There is a picture of a couple of trains to whet our appetite.

Some readers may have trouble in identifying the station served by double deck trains. In the UK, there isn't  one!

Sadly it is not Mr Starmer on a hunt for votes at the forthcoming local elections!

It's  Nederlandse Spoorwagen, innit?

Do note that the above is a non-news item; This is a proposal, not yet deifinite.

Potty Potholes?

Thankfully this picture introduces a mildly satirical video about the sterling and much-loved work of our hard-working local authorities.

Terrifying Tower Blocks

This is a "picture headline" for a YouTube video about 'spectacular buildings in the far east.

Needless to say, the above building does NOT feature in the video!

Wonder why!

Well Bread : Use Your Loaf

Another headline picture which is utterly ludicrous.

Even fbb would struggle to scoff a two slice cheese and pickle sarnie of the above bulk!

Don't you just love the joys of the internet - so useful!

And Another One!

This time the small print tells us it is Portugal.

Dunkirk Deception

OK, so do people travel on the Waverley because it helped at the Dunkirk landings?

Where?

Bet you wish you could have a new station like this near you!

The article appears in The Stroud Advertiser.

Coming Soon To A Blog Near You

Orange Coaches

Inconsistent Bus Routes

New Tram Stops

An Electrical Problem

Here:-

A Clearance Problem here:-

And a Derailment Problem here:-

  Next Orange blog : Monday 27th April 

Saturday Variety

Fredrikstad Electric Ferry Experiment

Central in the above picture is the former moated defensive settlement of Fredrikstad. For those of fbb's readers who are not fully 'au fait' with Norway's geography, Fredrickstad is due south of the Capital, Oslo.

There is excitement on-line as the town has just enjoyed an experimental electric boat on one of its ferry routes. The distinctive red vessels ...

... are a familiar site puttering across the sea inlet that marks the town's waterfront.

Norwegian company Hyke has just wrapped up a 14-month real-world test of its F-15 electric passenger ferry in the city of Fredrikstad, and the results suggest that small, efficient electric ferries could play a much bigger role in urban transportation than we’ve seen so far. 

The Hyke F-15 Shuttle isn’t a massive ferry. It’s a relatively compact, 15-meter (49-foot) vessel designed for short urban crossings, carrying up to 50 passengers at a time. But what it lacks in size, it seems to make up for in efficiency.

Somehow fbb doesn't see .a ferry replacing bridges at Fredrikstad. There aren't any! 

Neither does fbb see many cities demolishing bridges that are free to use and replacing them with ferries which aren't.

The boat has generated (GROAN!) some pretty impressive efficiency numbers, too.

According to Hyke and the municipality’s final report, the electric ferry used up to 88% less energy than comparable diesel vessels – roughly eight times more efficient. Even more surprising, the total energy consumption is so low that the ferry reportedly uses about the same power as five household hair dryers. 

Really? fbb doesn't think five domestic hair dryers could possibly drive a heavy metal ferry and 50 people. Maybe Transport for London should try a hairdryer powered bus?

London Beats Fredrikstad

Already featured in this blog is the ferry served by the above electric vessel.

It runs from Rotherhithe across the Thames to Canary Wharf.

The service is not easy to find but is amazingly frequent. It began life as a courtesy link from hotel to the fleshpots of Canary Wharf but latterly has accepted all comers.

Talking Of Ferries

The long-flying hovercraft service from Southsea to Ryde Isle of Wight is very well known. But its star is somewhat faded these days with service cut-backs, staff reductions and rumours of ' financial challenges'. 

The consequence has materialised in the disposal of a ferry.

True, it did carry the largest number of passengers, but ...

Extreme operating conditions? Tell that to Vectensians who often see their 'commute' cancelled when a biggish wind blows; or the sea is a bit lumpy.

The Caspian Sea is the Island's loss, but Hovertravel joins Redk Funnel in wuahtching its ja8ssets go overseas!

A Model Bus : But Of What?

It was a picture that popped up on fbb's  screen a few days ago.

It looked like a London Transport RF, but in blue? It had roof boards like an older style Green Line coach. 

It even showed a possible Green Line 7xx route number!

Was there ever a 746? Apparently 727 was the highest in "the good old days".

What about the bus itself?

it wasn't blue!

it probably did run Green Line services before being demoted to bus use. Eagle-eyed readers will have spotted the operator ...

... but maybe not the brand!

Fortunately Wikipedia helps.

In the summers of 1994 and 1995, Metrobus operated their 'Wealdsman' service, numbered 746, to complement the Surrey Hills weekend leisure bus network. Metrobus used a specially painted blue and yellow AEC Regal IV (RF-class) vehicle for the long service between Bromley and Tunbridge Wells, connecting with other leisure services at Westerham.

Bromley is top left on the map extract below; Tunbridge Wells is bottom right, with Westerham west of Sevenoaks.

It seems that the bus was in the hands of a preservationist and was loaned to Metrobus for this lengthy Summer Sunday (and Bank Holiday) route.

It has recently been fully restored but still carries Metrobus blue and all the trimmings.

Nice!

  Next Variety blog ; Sunday 26th April