Branchline121

Looks like the tendering process has begun.

Can’t say I ever liked the livery — but it is sad to see it gone.

Are the 141s still there? I thought they’d all be gone by this point, a FOI from December 2023 lists them as “disposed,” and I didn’t see them when I was at Inchicore a few months ago (mainly because the Cravens were blocking any view of them). But Google imagery from last November shows 3 still intact, and a TikTok taken with a drone from a few days ago would lead me to believe they’re still there. If they are still there, why haven’t they been scrapped yet? It’s not that I want them to be, but it’s strange that they mightn’t be gone yet considering they’ve been withdrawn for almost 15 years.

The Drogheda-Dundalk section should really see more service. It’s ridiculous that Drogheda-in-Oriel and Dunleer are left unserved when such growth is happening. The same could be said for Navan but I think everything I could say has already been said on that.

I assumed they’d have used the names of the Forgotten Ten if they wanted to name more stations after revolutionaries, or instead maybe pre-1916 figures like Charles Stewart Parnell or Daniel O’Connell.

The review of last year suggested lowering the TACs so hopefully they’ll be reduced in the coming years, if not months. I sometimes wonder if a company from Europe like DB Cargo would be interested in operating here but I think the lack of freight flows and suitable locos/wagons probably turns them away. I wonder if they offered to buy the spare 201s would they be allowed? A 201 in DB traffic red would look dapper.

Many UKTS files have been archived on the Internet Archive, as well as a few other old add-ons. Trainsim.com still has many US files. Don't really know of any other places though.

The most likely contenders for the new Irish Rail locomotive fleet are probably: 1. Siemens Vectron 2. Stadler Euro Dual (related to the NZ DMs, I think) 3. Alstom Traxx All 3 can be ordered with batteries, or with diesel engines. They’d likely also need to be equipped with support for both AC and DC electrification, as I’d imagine future Intercity electrification would be 25 kV AC as opposed to the 1.5 kV DC in use on the DART (including DART+ in the future). Personally I’d be most in favour of the Vectrons, as I think they look cool and have performed well on the continent, but I wouldn’t be against the other 2 either.

Seems like they get reduced to a mention on this page once the events occur alright.

As per here: 131 leaves Connolly at 11 AM, arrives in Maynooth at around quarter to 12, leaves for return to Connolly at 5 past 12, and arrives at 10 to 1. Departs for a second trip from Connolly at 25 past 2, arrives again in Maynooth at 10 past 3, leaves at around half past 3, and finally arrives in Connolly at 2 past 4.

A model one.

Although Irish routes are suggested pretty frequently on the TSW forums, I doubt DTG think there's an audience for them. It would be neat to see though, especially if it were something like Bray-Drogheda in the '80s.

They're both on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/irish-enterprise-north-add-on https://archive.org/details/irish-enterprise-south-dundalk-to-dublin I'd recommend using Open Rails if you're using a modern computer as vanilla MSTS doesn't run that well on them.

Seems like the crews have a preference for 220 at the moment, as I saw it out again today around 10 AM in the gullet on a 3-letter-liner. I would too seeing how clean and shiny it is!