Tractionman

I'll be there in the morning

I'll be there! It's my local and like to get some purchases, especially as model shops around these parts are scant nowadays I need some scenic stuff and will probably seek out the odd wagon or two cheers, Keith

Nowadays it's the other way around

It's a pity @Mol_PMB that 'rail n sail' isn't made as easy as it should be, it's the same trying to get from NI across to GB too, not sure why Stena Birkenhead ferries aren't part of 'rail n sail' as at least the port is near a railway station! Yes fair enough, if it's a holiday then sleeping overnight on a ferry floor is not going to be a fun experience.

From Manchester how about taking 'rail n sail' via Holyhead and taking the overnight boat to Dublin? Or driving to Holyhead and taking the ferry over, there's loads of sailings.

This might be of interest https://clarkrailworks.com/collections/new-arrivals/products/murphy-models-ho-mm0129-class-121-diesel-locomotive-ie-logo

yes I was a bit suprised to see these appear in such quantities, and it seems the upped price is possibly putting off sales judging by the 4-coach sets still being available (less so the single coaches), eg for CIE Green, 200 notes for 4: https://railsofsheffield.com/products/hattons-h4-46pack-1701-hattons-originals-genesis-pack-of-4-coaches-in-cie-dark-green-6t-6t-6cl-6bt

A 141 here, wrong livery for me https://clarkrailworks.com/collections/new-arrivals/products/murphy-models-oo-mm0154a-ir-class-141

I've no idea what the credibility is of these but thought they'd be of interest, the boxes are marked as LMS so I'm assuming someone has done a respray? https://clarkrailworks.com/collections/new-arrivals/products/bachmann-oo-rake-of-5-cie-irish-coaches-copy Cheers, Keith

Yes I was looking at kits but then spotted the inf at the top

'Place your be(e)ts'?!

if you're short-sighted--as I am--taking off the specs the pixels merge and it looks to me like a view looking up from below, ie of the chassis, I can make out two axles, not sure how much that helps

I guess that's being used less now everything starts and ends at GC?

and presumably did not go via GC?

Interestingly the Translink timetable online does not specify, that inf I quoted came from a media report, but it did not say what the notation refers to unfortunately. Correction!! "Service details (* denotes new service) All trains serve Dublin Connolly, Drogheda, Dundalk, Newry, Portadown and Belfast Grand Central. ~denotes also serves Lurgan and Lisburn."

Just seen this Belfast Grand Central to Dublin Connolly: 06:00, 07:00*, 08:00, 09:00*, 10:00, 11:00*, 12:00, 13:00*, 14:00, 15:00*, 16:00, 17:00*, 18:00, 19:00, 21:00* Dublin Connolly to Belfast Grand Central: 05:50*, 06:50, 07:40*, 08:50, 09:50*, 10:50, 11:50*, 12:50, 13:50*, 14:50, 15:50*, 16:50, 17:50*, 18:50, 20:50 Sundays Belfast Grand Central to Dublin Connolly: 08:05~, 10:05, 12:05, 14:05*, 16:05, 17:05, 18:05, 20:05* Dublin Connolly to Belfast Grand Central: 08:50*, 10:50, 12:50, 13:50, 14:50, 16:50, 18:50, 20:50* The expanded service will be operated by the existing Enterprise fleet, trains from Iarnród Éireann’s expanded Intercity railcar fleet, and trains from Translink’s Regional Train fleet. The full timetable is available on the website

Perhaps not so many folks travelling Bangor to Portadown but many more I suspect doing Portadown/Lisburn to Botanic and City Hospital are affected by the termination of all services at GC and having to wait and change for the one or two station stops to continue their journeys? Botanic and City Hospital are big employers for the area, as well as having lots of users, students and patients, the latter in particular I would have thought not welcoming an added change to get to their appointment at hospital... Just anecdotally, I had a student the other day who drove from Dunmurry to Queen's, rather than taking the train, I am sure he's not alone in making that decision to drive into Belfast, and if multiplied up, combined with the various roadworks around the place, we get to the level of traffic chaos we are now seeing in the city centre.

Thanks for the pics, looks impressive especially with the line up of stock across the different platforms, nice to see the Enterprise there too!

Many thanks @Flying Snail that's good to see, I should be more attentive!! I shall study with interest Is there one for the Park Royals as well? cheers, Keith

I do like these formation guides, they help a lot in selecting which stock to acquire, or prioritise! I would love to see one done for Irish rolling stock too--for the 1960s-1990s especially for me--part of the fun is trying to work it out for ourselves from books showing scenes from yesteryear, but often the coaching stock is less visible than the loco, and not all captions are so detailed. With the recent and imminant IRM CIE/IE/IR coaches, I'd love to see something similar done for Ireland cheers, Keith

yes this really is a retrograde step by Translink in my view, even looking at the latest TTs, they are all separate now, so the Bangor TT does not show the connecting Enterprise trains (or onward Portadown services) like it used to, it's a matter of fiddling around with three PDFs (none are printed thee days) and lining up the arrival and departure times! I guess a lot of folks these days will use the Translink online journey planner to join up services, but I'm old fashioned and like to study a proper timetable

hey don't shoot the messenger!! I have no idea, but the Dundalk Rail 'Halt' anachronism has been brought up before in these parts...

There's more folks, listed here--https://clarkrailworks.com/collections/new-arrivals eg https://clarkrailworks.com/collections/new-arrivals/products/silver-fox-oo-cie-class-2600-3-car-dmu-cie-green https://clarkrailworks.com/collections/new-arrivals/products/silver-fox-oo-c-class-b206-diesel-locomotive-1

I see the Bangor line is up https://www.translink.co.uk/timetables?routeHashCode=70fd172c154ac5a62e10594170110f3dd8a833db7887dcba521cd52c91a2a32e&transportMode=Train&route=T0&direction=H and now Portadown line... seems like Translink are popping up the TTs bit by bit... Enterprise also now there from Sunday 13 October 2024 - To Sunday 27 October 2024:

I've taken to driving to Newry and using the massive car park at the station and getting the Enterprise south from there, though I'd rather get the train all the way from Bangor...