[Our man in Havana]

146 is looking well.

[end of the road]

Originally Posted by Karsini

It seems to me that they were intentionally left to rot in their later years.

hit the nail on the head. glad i'm not the only one who believes that.

[Losty Dublin]

Originally Posted by Karsini

It seems to me that they were intentionally left to rot in their later years.

On the contrary, a lot of Mark 2's suffered badly from varying levels of rust damage at the carriage ends. The worst affected models required a lot of engineering to address and partially accelerated their demise from service in the UK as well as here in Ireland.

[Judgement Day]

^^^^How come the RPSI are able to maintain MkIIs then?

[flyingsnail]

Originally Posted by Judgement Day

^^^^How come the RPSI are able to maintain MkIIs then?

When the RPSI acquired the mk 2s they had to deal with the rust. There is some information about what was done on the 547 Dinning car page.
http://www.steamtrainsireland.com/carriages/547.html

By December 2005 the steel body of the coach had been painstakingly cleaned back to bare metal in rusty areas, cleaned, repaired and painted. Next to go in was the fibreglass insulation, and later the new wooden panelling was to go on top of that.

also remember the cost of doing this work would be much less than for BR/IE due to wages.

[Losty Dublin]

Originally Posted by flyingsnail

When the RPSI acquired the mk 2s they had to deal with the rust. There is some information about what was done on the 547 Dinning car page.
http://www.steamtrainsireland.com/carriages/547.html

also remember the cost of doing this work would be much less than for BR/IE due to wages.

You beat me to it

Something else to bear in mind; the RPSI had their pick of what was available so they could pick out some of the less corroded carriages. This was also the case with the Cravens when some of them in poorer condition were not taken on.

[end of the road]

so will the RPSI be getting their pick of mark 3s or have they any plans to preserve some? or are they all to bastardised at this stage?

[Judgement Day]

So preservationists with rudimentary equipment are able to turn end of the road MkIIs into serviceable carriages but CIE/IE are not - speaks volumes!

[end of the road]

Originally Posted by Judgement Day

So preservationists with rudimentary equipment are able to turn end of the road MkIIs into serviceable carriages but CIE/IE are not - speaks volumes!

not able to, not willing to, don't want to, when they can get lots of shiny new ones to run into the ground so they can plead poverty to the government. sad but true in my view.

[gobnaitolunacy]

Originally Posted by end of the road

so will the RPSI be getting their pick of mark 3s or have they any plans to preserve some? or are they all to bastardised at this stage?

Very much doubt it. I would imagine it would be a horrendously expensive task to get the electrics and air con going again.

Edit: forgot braking system mentioned under, knew there was something else, not a snowballs chance in hell then.

[Losty Dublin]

Originally Posted by Judgement Day

So preservationists with rudimentary equipment are able to turn end of the road MkIIs into serviceable carriages but CIE/IE are not - speaks volumes!

You are years out of touch, Parky. It's moved on from the heady days of using wood glue, tarpaulin roof and a planing chisel

[end of the road]

Originally Posted by gobnaitolunacy

Very much doubt it. I would imagine it would be a horrendously expensive task to get the electrics and air con going again.

could they not be converted to work off the same system as the mark 2s?

[Losty Dublin]

Originally Posted by end of the road

could they not be converted to work off the same system as the mark 2s?

Not without loads of time, expense and work.

RPSI's steam engines and Mark 2's use the vacuum brake system whereas the Mark 3's use an air brake so the Mark 3's would need conversion to vacuum or for the other RPSI fleet to have an air brake fitted, something that is almost 100% unlikely to be done. There would also be the refitting of the the interior, rewiring the electrics, overhauling the air and repainting them, ensuring compatibility with the door locking used on the Mark 2 and other jobs that I am sure others will add to the list.

Then there is getting bodies to do this work, cough up the money, finding track and siding and sheds to store and do all this work, etc etc and on stock that the RPSI don't have a need to run.

[Judgement Day]

Maybe "Save the Rail" or one the New Ross crowds will buy a set of MkIIIs? Failing that Mr.Trebus is bound to want one or two to add to his collection of ice cream vans, artillery pieces, planes and clapped out steam engines.

[end of the road]

Originally Posted by Losty Dublin

stock that the RPSI don't have a need to run.

as in they have enough stock to cover them or they aren't interested in running such stock?