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Drimnagh Road goes online

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Drimnagh Road

Drimnagh Road

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Hi all,

www.drimnagh-road.com is now live, featuring all my jaunts from Ireland over to the UK since 2007. 39 seperate trips in total, with almost 700 photos and 50+ videos.

In the main class 37s, 57s, 67s feature with appearances by 47s and 90s, plus the occassional unit.

I'll be uploading all my Ireland loco hauled and Balkans (well recommended if you like noisy diesels) in due course.

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Update 7th Feb 2010

Hi all,

A quick dash across the Irish Sea to Holyhead to photo yesterday's 57/3 double header Pendolino drag, this was due to the WAG Express failing on Friday and Virgin were sending down a replacement loco.

22 photos and 2 videos now online

http://drimnagh-road.webs.com/060210holyhead.htm
 
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Drimnagh Road

Drimnagh Road

Member
Joined
13 Mar 2009
Messages
688
Location
Dublin
Hi all,

having just viewed Joe Bloggs & Wanderers excellent photos from the lineside of the Irish Traction Groups 141 Class Farewell tour which took place on Saturday from Dublin-Sligo, I present coverage and analysis from on-board the tour, which was hauled by 078.

26 photos and 5 videos online at:

http://drimnagh-road.webs.com/itgsligo060310.htm
 
Drimnagh Road

Drimnagh Road

Member
Joined
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Messages
688
Location
Dublin
Drimnagh Road

Drimnagh Road

Member
Joined
13 Mar 2009
Messages
688
Location
Dublin
Back in May 2007, a loco hauled charter with a pair of classic 141 class locos and a rake of mk2d coaches visited the scenic Dublin-Rosslare line which was in the final weeks of operating with mechanical signalling before modern technology took over.

Irish Rail kindly arranged for all signal boxes on the route to be opened for participants to view.

48 photos of this tour on-line at http://drimnagh-road.webs.com/260507irrsrosslare.htm with photos of semaphores, inside the signal boxes, ships at Rosslare Harbour, plus of course 144 & 147 and the mk2s which themselves were in their final full year of operation.
 
Drimnagh Road

Drimnagh Road

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688
Location
Dublin
Analysis and photos of Saturdays excellent Railway Children's Charity event in Ireland at http://drimnagh-road.webs.com/240410irrswestern.htm

072 hauled the specially re-instated mk3s from Dublin-Limerick, where 083 then took over for the remainder of the tour up the newly re-opened Western Rail Corridor to Athenry, and then back to Dublin.

A great trip all round. Videos to follow.
 
Drimnagh Road

Drimnagh Road

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688
Location
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First up, 11 photos and 3 videos of Sunday's kettle trip from Dublin to Wexford. I was trialling the webs video uploader, rather than uploading onto youtube and linking from there as I usually do. I should warn you, that when the page loads first, all three videos will play together. This gives the mayhem noise of 077, no. 4 and 171 all at the same time, I'll re-upload them onto youtube tomorrow.
http://drimnagh-road.webs.com/060610rpsiwexford.htm

Next, two for those interested in maritime. 44 photos and 3 videos of a recent Aegean & Adriatic cruise on Royal Caribbeans Splendour of the Seas, which turned out to be a fantastic ship spotting trip. Besides the usual modern superstructures that grace the cruise industry these days, I was surprised by how many majestic and classic 1960s & 1970s liners and car ferries still operating in that part of Europe, some nearing the end of their life.
http://drimnagh-road.webs...20510splendourofseas.htm

Finally, photos and a video from the Dublin Docklands area. The French cruise ship La Diamant was been tugged through the East Link lifting bridge on Wednesday, while Fred Olsen's classic 1973 liner, Boudicca was in town on Saturday, as were a number of tall ships for the annual maritime festival.
http://drimnagh-road.webs.com/02050610docklands.htm
 
Drimnagh Road

Drimnagh Road

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688
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Photos from my 2 day "extravaganza" bash to South West England online.

Friday 25th was a full day on the scheduled First Great Western diagrams. I don't need to tell you at this stage that 57s & 67s feature, plus obviously 66402 which turned out to be the only winner of the weekend.

24 photos and 6 videos feature at http://www.drimnagh-road.com/250610swenglandpt1.htm

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Saturday 26th was into deepest Cornwall with 37259 & 37218. A number of on the day farces did not spoil a fantastic day. Par-Penzance was required track, so was delighted to get down there with quality traction. The HST mishap also features, as does some shots of Long Rock and Penzance station taken from a Sikorski S64N.

23 photos and 1 video at http://www.drimnagh-road.com/260610swenglandpt2.htm.

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Finally, while at Penzance, it was time to scratch off a totally new type of transport, the Helicopter. The railtour promoter had organised for a number of pleasure flights on-board a British International Sikorski S64N chopper to take place as an optional add on excursion. It certainly was a hellfire trip on quite a big bird.

A number of photos and videos from on-board at http://www.drimnagh-road.com/260610sikorskis64n.htm

Cheers
 
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Drimnagh Road

Drimnagh Road

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Four updates from the slowly progressing Irish archive uploads from 2007-2009

Farewell to the Mayo Road Semaphores, 01 Apr 2007 With modernisation about to blitz one of the last main lines to be controlled by Semaphores, it was a venture into the West to photo the mechanical signalling on the lenghty Athlone-Westport route before CTC was commissioned during a blockade a few weeks later. 230 to Athlone where we changed onto 215 & mk2s for the journey to Westport

Midands 071 Bash, 15 Apr 2007 Out to Longford to pick up 088 on the 08:55 ex Sligo, we overtake 187 on the Ballast at Mullingar, then out to Kildare to see 073 on the timber. Back up to Dublin with 206 on the 12:00 ex Galway to catch 085 which was allocated on the 15:15 Heuston-Galway. Finally 078 is passed at Clara with the 14:25 ex Westport.

MRSI Mayo, 19 May 2007 A return to the Mayo line to see the after shock of the recent CTC upgrade. With the semaphores and boxes gone, along with the new automatic level crossings, the route has lost most of its charm. Luckily the MRSI pulled off a great tour though, with 146 & 149 on the outbound run giving way to 144 & 147 on the way back. An enjoyable day out.

NIR Loco Hauled, 8 June 2007 My first and last time time to sample the 07:20 Portadown-Belfast Central loco hauled turn, today in the hands of 111. NIR are better off at sticking to running what they know best which is units and leaving IE to the loco hauled.
 
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4SRKT

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Some really nice shots there Drimnagh Road, but are you not now eating words like 'down south where they know how to run loco hauled trains'? The haste with which Irish Rail has got rid of its loco hauage is quite indecent even by the standards of either the railways in Britain or even the hated UTA in its day. At least NIR has never even pretended to be a loco hauled operator, specialising instead in DEMUs that have (ironically) ended up being by some margin the most interesting trains left in revenue earning service anywhere in these islands.
 
Drimnagh Road

Drimnagh Road

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Two videos from Ireland

Here's the splendid 074 on only four traction motors working very hard out of a damp Woodlawn while operating the 07:05 Athlone-Galway back in 2008.

This is what a 57 would sound like if they were not silenced.


Meanwhile...

Here is the moment that Dublin Bus' AV266 pulls away - under its own power - from the mangled Luas tram 3002 which smashed into it earlier in the day in Dublin city centre back in September revealing the extent of the damage done.

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Now, 4SRKT, missed your above post apologies.

Yes, it is somewhat hypocritical about what I have about NIR sticking to operating units.

At the time of that visit, loco hauled trains were still on the go down South, and what's more they were good at running them. In 2010 on the other hand, well I don't need to go any further...

Just the last few years anytime I've gone after loco hauled up North, there's always been a farce. The "Blue Thunderer" railtour in April 2008 was caped after the genny van burst.

NIR wouldn't commit to giving the ITG / Chingfinder the use of the set for an entire day the following month as they were afraid it would fail again if it was used intensely and split the tour between an 80 class and the mk2 set.

There was that IRRS tour a few years back where the "big attraction" of loco haulage to Portrush which didn't happen, their three 111s are in a terrible condition, the Gatwick set in general was an under utilised rake and don't get me started on the DBSO!
 
Drimnagh Road

Drimnagh Road

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Top of the evening all,

some uploaded galleries of loco-hauled (mostly 071s) stuff in Ireland from 2007.

17 June 2007: Maynooth & Connolly Out to Maynooth to get ex-works 081 on the 08:55 Sligo-Connolly service, while later on that day No. 4 had worked a kettle charter from Belfast.

09 September 2007: Heuston & Connolly A quick pop into Heuston to view 081 which worked the 12:00 ex Galway, then onto Connolly where No. 4 was working a kettle charter to Belfast. Meanwhile 076 was sitting with the Sligo hauled set in the carriage shed.

16 September 2007: Connolly & Maynooth 085 at Connolly on a GAA special to Tralee, before spinning out to Maynooth with 076 on the 19:05 Sligo.

23 September 2007: Sunday Afternoon 071s 073 was allocated to the 15:15 Heuston-Galway, which I travelled on as far as Athlone. I returned back to Dublin behind 077 which was working the 15:30 ex Westport. On the outbound run, we crossed 083 at Tullamore which was working the 14:55 ex Galway.
 
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Drimnagh Road

Drimnagh Road

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A few photos of 47500 & 47804 at Holyhead on the Nenta charter from Norwich on Saturday gone.

http://www.drimnagh-road.com/110910holyhead.htm

What had actually brought me to Holyhead in the first place was to pay farewell to the Stena HSS Explorer, which was withdrawn today after fifteen years service on the Irish Sea.

Many enthusiasts would have travelled on this ship on the way to Ireland over the years, and back in the 90s there was no better way to get to Ireland than by doing a 37/4 to Holyhead and getting on the HSS which would have you over to more loco hauled galore in the famous "99 minutes".

Similarly there was nothing better to get off the HSS at Holyhead and straight onto platform 2 to catch the 13:43 Valenta through to London, or else wait for the Birmingham 37/4 a bit later.

Photos from Dun Laoghaire, Holyhead and on-board the ship itself: http://www.drimnagh-road.com/110910hssfarewell1.htm

On Sunday, it was back to Dun Laoghaire to see her leave for Holyhead one last time: http://www.drimnagh-road.com/120910hssfarewell2.htm


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Updated 19th Sep

Well folks, hard to believe it, but it is exactly a year since the Irish Rail mk3s were withdrawn.

On this day last year, 216 operated the final mk3 passenger carrying service into Heuston, the 15:30 ex Westport.

As I didn't have a website last year, I thought it a good time to upload photos from that final trip now.

Photos from Westport, Claremorris, Athlone, Heuston and on-board:
http://www.drimnagh-road.com/200909thelastone.htm

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Updated 26th Sep

Took a trip over to Wales yesterday for some GM645 haulage.

There was no less than three 57s at Holyhead yesterday afternoon, Virgin 57302 worked the Pendolino drag Westbound, before getting swapped with Arriva livered 57315 for the run back to Crewe. 57314 was also present with the mk2 rake.

It was then on to Wrexham to get Wrexham & Shropshire company's 67012, and the fabulously refurbished mk3s.

158s and 175s also feature.

Photos from Bangor, Holyhead, Chester, Wrexham and Wolverhampton, http://www.drimnagh-road.com/250910northwales.htm
 
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Drimnagh Road

Drimnagh Road

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Photos and trip report from Sunday's Railway Preservation Society of Ireland "Best of Both" 071 class railtour, http://www.drimnagh-road.com/051010rpsi071.htm

073 was the loco allocated for the trip. Photos from Dublin Connolly, Wicklow, Arklow and Mullingar.

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Updated 11th Oct

Back to November 2007 when Sligo line trains were been diverted over the Newcommon Branch on two consecutive Sunday's due to the main line around by Drumcondra been shut for engineering works.

On Sunday 4th I ventured out to Whitworth Road to see the 08:55 ex Sligo pass, which had 072 in charge. It was then onto Tara Street to see the empty stock pass through on its way to Pearse. http://www.drimnagh-road.com/041107sligodivert1.htm

On Sunday 11th it was time to travel over the route. I picked up the 08:55 ex Sligo at Longford, this week with 073 at the helm. After arrival at Connolly platform 7, I hopped on a DART over to Pearse to see the run around. http://www.drimnagh-road.com/111107sligodivert2.htm
 
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Drimnagh Road

Drimnagh Road

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Dublin
Photos, videos and trip report from my post Christmas trip to the UK are up at http://www.drimnagh-road.com/29301210xmasbash.htm

Thursday started off at Cardiff, taking in one of the diverted HSTs between Cardiff Central and London Paddington, going via the Chilterns due to an engineering blockade at Reading. It was then time for some GM power with 67013 up to Wrexham.

On Thursday, the day again began with 67013, which I took to Banbury. Banbury is a very interesting location, a busy mainline location that still has a large array of mechanical signalling and two signal boxes. It was then up to Coventry in order to get Freigtliner's 90045 which was working for Virgin Trains.

Locations featured are Cardiff Airport, Cardiff Central, London Paddington, London Marylebone, Wrexham, Banbury, Coventry, Birmingham New Street and London Euston.
 
Drimnagh Road

Drimnagh Road

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An Irish loco-hauled update this evening folks. Finally got around to uploading the last of my 2007 trips.

07 October 2007: Sunday 071 Jolly to Westport 232 on the 08:40 to Athlone, where we change for more rateable traction. 088 worked the 10:40 Athlone-Westport / 14:25 Westport-Heuston link, while my favourite 074 had charge of the 15:30 Westport-Heuston.

15 & 16 December 2007: Last Trip to Sligo With the imminent demise of loco haulage on the Dublin-Sligo route, an unexpected Saturday working gave the opportunity to travel all the way to Sligo. 083 and mk2s were working the 08:55 ex Sligo / 19:05 return vice 29000 to cater for christmas shopping demand and an overnight return trip to the West was quickly organised.

23 December 2007: Final Day of Sligo Loco Haulage We knew it was coming for some time, and with the long awaited introduction of 22000s into passenger use, the writing is finally on the wall for the Sligo line loco hauled turn. Today was the final working, and a sad one at that. 081 had the honours of bringing the curtain down on the final hauled 08:55 Sligo-Dublin Connolly, which I travelled on from Dromod.

Various 2007: Miscellaneous A selection of photos and videos from trips during 2007 that didn't have enough content to merit having individual pages. Expect to see more than just trains.
 
Drimnagh Road

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A martitime update this evening for a change.

Stena Adventurer En route to London for the Deltic railtour on Friday, I decided that I needed some more mileage from Stena's Irish Sea flagship. Jonathon Swift, Ulysses, Clipper Pace, and a number of other vessels also feature feature.

Evening Rush Hour at Dublin Port On the return yesterday, Dublin Port and it's Irish Sea surrounds were exceptionally busy and there was quite literally tail backs waiting to enter the harbour. Besides the usual Irish Sea passenger ferries, a number of others are seen.
 
Drimnagh Road

Drimnagh Road

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A few recent updates:

A maritime update first of all this evening.

After six months of lay up, yesterday saw the very welcome return of the Stena HSS Explorer to service on the Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire route for one more season. It was widely expected that 2010 would mark the end of the fuel guzzler and a farewell run had even been organised on her back in September to mark the occassion. This will definitly be her last year in service, so enjoy her while she lasts. She will be on the route until Mid September.

Today I ventured out to Dun Laoghaire to see her arrive and depart. Feature here

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Back to the railways,

Photos and trip report from the Feb 11th rugex behind 67021 from Cardiff to Edinburgh, with emphasis on mechanical signalling on the Welsh Marches route. Locations featured are Newport, Cardiff, Abergavenny, Shrewsbury, Crewe, Preston and Edinburgh. This is here

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Finally,

Heuston Yard is home to dozens of stored Irish Rail mk3s. Most are now in a shocking state, feature here
 
Drimnagh Road

Drimnagh Road

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Last Tuesday I undertook my first, and last ever Thumper bash, joining 4SRKT on his farewell trip.

Photos and trip report here.

The day started with 227 on the 07:35 to Belfast. We then sampled 8453, 8455 and 8452 on a few moves before catching up with the 80 class - the main reason we were there - at Downshire and sticking with that for the rest of the day.

8090 & 8094 were the power cars, and after a slight farce with 8094 going bust at Trooperstown, fitters got her going again at Belfast and she was faultless after that. We bid farewell to the 80s at Whiteabbey in the late afternoon, and got back on board 8452 for the final thumper move of the day back to Belfast.

228 brought me home, while 233 was on the third Enterprise diagram.

Despite never been a fan of the thumpers, it was a very worth while trip.
 
Drimnagh Road

Drimnagh Road

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Coverage and trip report of Saturday's excellent RPSI outing to Kilkenny here, the highlight been of course the use of 076 and 080.


Also finally got around to going through some of my other trips from this year;

Holy Oakes Railtour, March 26th
37676, 37685 & 57601 from Bristol to Holyhead.

Devon & Cornwall part 1, April 16th
67008 to Devon, the Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway, and onto Cornwall.

Devon & Cornall part 2, April 17th
Cornish branch lines, mechanical signalling and 57602 on the overnight sleeper.

Devon & Cornwall part 3, April 18th
overnight sleeper and onto Anglia for some class 90s.

The Welshman Railtour, April 30th
37194, 37688 & 47580 Crewe-Fishguard Harbour.

57/3 Sunday, May 1st
57304 Crewe-Holyhead.

Irish Sea Sunday, May 1st
Various ships feature.

Swanage Diesel Gala part 1, May 7th
Saturday at the excellent gala. Vintage engines galore.

Swanage Diesel Gala part 2, May 8th
More of the above on Sunday.
 
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