A lot of focus lately has been on our new siding project and of course our efforts to restore our 80 class railcar set. However, while all of this has been going on, a small team have been beavering away in the background on the restoration of Great Southern & Western Railway six-wheel carriage No. 69. Built in Dublin’s Inchicore Works in 1888, it remained in mainline service right up until the late 1960s when it finished up as one of the last three six-wheel carriages in service on the Irish railway network. We believe that it, or one of its sisters, was the brake carriage used in the opening scene of the 1952 film, The Quiet Man, starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara.
The painting of the vehicle’s east saloon is almost complete, prior to a final coat of varnish being applied. There’s still a lot to do in terms of fitting out, but we look forward to the day we can operate GSWR No.69 on our vintage steam trains; it will certainly be the first six-wheeler to enter service on an Irish railway in the preservation era.
