ttc0169

Any help?

Some more lighting has been added to the West end depot at Tara junction station. Thank you to Baseboard Dave for supplying the tower lights which have really transferred the night time operation of various parts of the layout. The pilot driver has moved 2601+2602 from the station to No1 fuelling point road while the cleaners refresh the interior, while that is happening the driver places locomotives 220 and 221 at numbers 2 and 3 roads for fuelling and later moves them into the shed for the fitters to examine and attend to any defects which may be noted in the log books,

Excellent work Enda, always nice to see the tail lamps completing the rear of the liner-and even better when they are working.

I bought the fantastic newly released Bachmann class 90-(90 005) in Intercity livery-while on a recent visit to the UK, Its a superb model, with the retractable buffers to the raising and lowering feature of the pantograph and different light setting.

Some new lights have been added to the MPD and staff mess room at Tara junction. Locomotives receiving attention were 166 on the lifting jacks minus bogies and a fuel tank while 201 C class locomotive is having its brake blocks replaced.

Maybe three years jhb, our mutual friend formally of Connolly shed and valeting plant will fill us in on his next outing on the RPSI..... Here is a photograph of mine I found of one of the IR logo Cravens in a derailed state outside Claremorris on 24/06/1989 while part of a Knock special from Balbriggan to Claremorris.

From my notes, Cravens coaches 1511,1516,1522,1544 and 1557 received the large IR logos on the sides.

John, I have used both Railtec and SSM for transfers and found them to be fast and reliable.

I would settle for 85 or 4...….

The new permanent way sidings and ore loading point have recently benefited from some new lighting-the four strip LED lights were purchased from the Homestore and more shopping outlets for E20. Here we see the spoil train being unloaded while 074 & 082 ticking over while awaiting their next turn of duty.....

I'm with Rich on this one...…

Thanks for the update gents, I see the lads at Limerick wagon works have beaten you to it-they unveiled their "Weathered" version last Sunday....

When the workload at the Lakeview servicing facility has quietened down they turn their attention to completing exams on wagons, After a few months in service, and with some cement dust beginning to build up-Here we see some two axle cement bubbles in for brake block changing-note the handbrake on two wagons have been applied-this is only a temporary measure. They will be released to allow the brake blocks to be replaced-another ingenious addition from the lads at IRM HQ.....

It is planned after arrival at Sligo for the train to be stabled on the former arrivals platform prior to shunting out to the loop and back to the platform for departure, The incoming 29000 railcar off the 13:00 departure ex Connolly will be shunted to the former quay line to allow the RPSI Cravens access to the loop.

I see I even made a cameo appearance behind Fran at Warley....I did protect him from the mad rush for autographs after he announced the Deltics....

In preparation for the May bank holiday weekend the carriage fleet controller on Tara junction increased the normal seven piece Mk2 air braked set to ten coaches, The set was slotted in to the 18:05 Dublin Heuston-Westport link earlier this evening and will work the 07:15 Westport-Heuston in the morning, It will then be in place to work the busy 12:45 Heuston-Westport and as instructed by the fleet controller three coaches will be detached on arrival at Westport and stabled there until they will be reattached to the 13:10 Westport-Heuston on bank holiday Monday, Here we see a few photos of the ten piece Mk2 a/b arrive to a busy platform one behind NIR owned locomotive 208,ten minutes earlier the Mk3 push/pull set is seen arriving at the bay platform with a connecting service formed by 6101+234. """During the late 1990s early 2000s it was common place on IE to substitute the regular Mk3 set with a high capacity Mk2 a/b set at busy periods on the Westport route"""

With the increase in freight traffic to the Lakeview freight yard,a new servicing facility for locomotives was built at the west end of the yard and is up and running for a few months now, Its sole purpose is to supply locomotive's to work freight trains out of the freight yard and also to service incoming locomotives, this in turn eases the pressure on the main Tara junction MPD, but it does allow for light engine movements of some variety between both depots through the main station, It is also intended to do some maintenance work on freight wagons ,mainly brake block replacements The Lakeview servicing facility can cater for up to four locomotives at one time and has a storage space for eight, The method of operation is that when a liner train arrives from the West the incoming locomotive is uncoupled and operates to the depot where it is serviced with Fuel, oil and water, A fresh locomotive is then allocated to work the outward bound service, Here are a few photos of locos 187 and 203 in for servicing, In the last photo we see a 1995 era scene with Arrow railcar 2601+2602 and locomotives 220 and 221 in at the fuelling point for fuelling and examinations at the Riverside servicing point, This facility looks after all 2600/29000 railcar servicing and some locomotives.

Photo taken of the staff instrument located in Westport signal cabin, which was for the section to Manulla Jctn,

Even during the late 1990s and 2000s...…it was some place....

As the factory security guard keeps an eye on proceedings at the gate, the driver of the Class 08 prepares to shunt the tanker wagons around so the unloading can be completed, 37 251 rests on the head shunt and will be fired into life later on to return the tanker train for reloading.

When the HOBS set of ballast wagons were introduced into service by Irish rail during 2010, It was suggested that a few ballast plough vans be retained to be used with the HOBS until such time that crews got familiar with the remote control system of discharging stone-rather than having an on track machine spread the stone behind the train, This of course never happened due to the cost of converting the plough vans to the air braking system, However over on Tara junction-(where anything is possible)-plough van 24853 was converted to a duel braking system-(air and vacuum)-and is seen here undergoing a trial run on the rear of the HOBS set with Johnny the ballast train guard supervising operations.

Well done Enda and Siobhan, looks fantastic...

It was a busy evening at the factory sidings for the driver of the Class 08 shunter, a late departure of the class 56 hauled freight seen the class 37 hauled tanker train unusually held on the down mainline for the freight to clear, once out of the section, the 08 came out of the sidings to shunt the train back into the yard and release the class 37, Meanwhile passenger traffic continues on the up mainline with the procession of DMUs and HSTs pass.....

Looking fantastic Eammon, best of luck with it