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Yes Sean-at the moment 071 will work the laden timber train to Waterford,so get your camera out.

Health and safety dictated that those steps had to be plated over on the IE locos for the simple reason it was deemed too"dangerous"for maintenance staff at outlying depots to work on those steps when replacing headlight bulbs or windscreen wipers-a new type of platform is in use now at those depots now to perform any maintenance duties.

Wow brilliant photos there Stephen,thanks very much for posting,I had often wondered what condition 125 was in after being removed by the steam cranes.

Evening lads-some engineering works took place over the weekend at the junction,this was to install a new crossover to provide more flexibility when overtaking other trains on the four track section, The previous left hand point wasn't a success as some trains were derailing when passing over it,so this time I installed a right hand point to connect with the other point which has worked well so far-here are a few photos of the engineering work.... Ballasting taking place with the excavator and tamper 751 starting work. Welding and tightening of the new crossover is taking place. The Perway gangs are hard at work. A 5 mph TSR is in place as loco 088 hauls a set of Cravens slowly past the worksite while the 29000 railcar awaits departure back to Central station.

Not too far out....it was Bellco and its located about three miles to the south of Ballina alongside the Ballina-Manulla line.

Loco 125 ran away down the hill into Roscommon station while working the 19:15 Ballina-Northwall goods train and was diverted into the long up siding at the Athlone end of the station where the loco nosedived into the stream after demolishing the buffer stop.

A photo taken of 072 shortly after arriving at Ballymote station with the 14:00 Sligo-Connolly RPSI Cravens rail-tour this afternoon.

Glad you got it Anthony well done.

Sure did Anthony-after shunting the liner to the through road to make way for 081 on the DFDS CPW liner and 230 on the second IWT liner' date='071 was uncoupled and conveniently placed across from the station platform for more photos...

92-60-0117-071-7 worked the Northwall-Ballina IWT liner for the first time today, Seen here after arrival in Ballina.

Derek has done a great job on the garage and is a gentleman to deal with, I've bought a few buses off him in the past I think he may be offering a building service of bus garage scenes-which judging by those photos would be well worth it.

Nice job Kieran-that back-scene is breathtaking well done.

230 is pictured here after arrival at Ballina freight yard with today's IWT Liner

Thanks for sharing the photo Paul-after checking my Guards journal for that day which was Friday 22 July 2005,the following locos are in the photo, The Ballina branch loco is 074 with Cravens coaches 1558,1547 and SHV 3173, The 17:50 up Westport Mk3 set was hauled by 214 and had Mk3a coach 6208 in the set, The FO 16:20 Heuston-Ballina was hauled by loco 085 and had SHV 3185,1536,1528,1529 and 1530 in that order, The timber train that got into difficulty on the approach to Claremorris was hauled by locos 175+177, After the Mk3 set departed for Dublin the branch set was moved up to the platform where 074 was uncoupled and ran around the set and then went to shunt the Guinness wagons on the right hand side to couple up to the other wagons in the distance to form the liner later on that night back to Dublin,the Claremorris loco oil two axle tanker is parked in the dock siding and would be shunted out on the following Monday night, Great memories and lots of variety-and lots of potential for a future layout with lots of options available for different eras.....

Ahem-Ritchie...one of those goons at the end of the platform appears to be myself....!!!!

Thank you Des,yes whoever thought we would see the day...we are certainly having fun now......

The normal practice is for the wagon coupling to be attached to the locomotive-e.g an 071 loco,but because locos 218 and 234 and all the other 201s can be fitted with a buckeye coupler for working Mk4 trains this type of red screw coupling is fitted for working freight trains or in some cases the RPSI Cravens or Mk2 set, A removable plate is fitted over the hook to prevent the screw coupling from working free, If the instantor type coupling that is fitted to most freight wagons was coupled to this type of locomotive the it would be impossible for it to be removed and would be wedged firmly over the red coupling and would possibly have to be cut off. BTW-great photos there Sean-make sure your out for 234's return from Waterford on Monday morning with the DFDS liner.

Thanks again lads,here is a short video of last nights operations.....

Thanks lads, I added the weed-sprayer water tank wagons to the Sperry train earlier-it looks better now, Also a loco swap took place with 086 coming off the BELL liner train and being replaced by 073, 077 which has just came off the timber waits to allow 073 out of the depot,while 177+176 are checked out prior to working the Weed-spray train next week. The Sperry train with additional wagons providing extra brake force. 083 hauls the Sperry train. Friday nights loco swap. The shunter guides the driver of 073 towards the BELL liner train. After coupling 073 to the train the shunter opens the brake valves which are located underneath the cab. 073 works the 22:45 Northwall-Waterford BELL liner-073 will be swapped onto the mornings Mk3 passenger departure back to the capital.

Evening lads, Firstly a big thank you to Tom at Irish freight models for building the Sperry wagon which is an excellent model wagon which is well detailed, The Sperry wagon took to the rails earlier behind locomotive 083...here are a few photos, I'll be adding the weed spray tanker wagons for extra brake force to it over the next few days-but they won't be on it for long as I'll need them for the forthcoming weed-spraying season which will be starting soon......!!! Sperry wagon 30219 Excellent detail-thanks Tom. 083 hauls the Sperry wagon through Tara Junction station no defects were found as this particular section was recently renewed and has also been packed by tamper 751.