Darrman

How often are there railtours down to Navan anyway? I would like to travel down the Navan branch at least once...

If I had to guess the Die Dietrichs are going to be replaced if this comes to pass. I don't think I've ever been on a 29k, actually, but it doesn't sound like I'm missing out on much. I'll probably ride on them at some point when checking off Dublin commuter tracks. Regarding quadrupling the line, the current Dart+ plans suggest 36 trains from Clongriffin to Connolly during the am peak (presumably 12 per hour, with the peak lasting three hours). 12 trains use the four-track section eastbound from Hazelhatch between 8 and 9am, for comparison. Another six travel in the opposite direction. Enterprise journey times certainly shouldn't be slower than steam: 2:30 is comparable with Cork trains yet those have another 50-odd miles to travel. But no rolling stock can solve getting stuck behind a Dart. Only extra tracks can - whether by four-tracking everything south of Malahide or putting in passing loops every so often to allow Enterprises to overtake. However, the Dart plan isn't really bothered about causing Enterprise congestion: the only extra track it could benefit from is a loop on the up line at Clongriffin. Four-tracking is briefly mentioned as out-of-scope in the Public Consultation No. 1 Findings Report: Or to put it more concisely, "we don't need more tracks for Darts". The few mentions of "Enterprise" in that document, including concern about journey time, are given similarly rambling non-answers. The bolding is mine: this is the closest Irish Rail get to admitting that Enterprises could be slowed down. For what should be the most prestigious service connecting Ireland's largest cities, it potentially being slower than in steam times is embarrassing. I do see a logic in only focusing on the Dart in a Dart upgrade plan, but there's more to the railway than Darts.

https://irl.eu-supply.com/ctm/Supplier/PublicPurchase/241025/0/0?returnUrl=ctm/Supplier/publictenders&b=ETENDERS_SIMPLE Found this tender. Most of the documents aren't available to the public, but in the periodic indicative notice an estimated value of €480 million is mentioned.

https://wicklownews.net/2023/05/procurement-underway-as-consultant-sought-for-avoca-train-station-pre-feasibility-study/ It appears that Irish Rail have funding for a "pre-feasibility study", which is presumably different from a feasibility study. Avoca had 771 residents according to the 2016 census, which isn't very large, but stations serve smaller villages.

The railway enthusiast in me is naturally in favour: last time I took a train to Westport from Cork involved changing from an intercity to a commuter train at Portlaoise before waiting quite a while at Portarlington for a connecting train, plus it's that bit more track to cover. But Cork-Westport isn't really a journey that would be made often, so time to take a look at things more rationally. Galway-Westport appears to be the most sensible service for this section, in my (rather uneducated, admittedly) opinion. I can't see the current Limerick-Galway trains being adjusted to skip Galway and head straight for Claremorris, but maybe one or two trains might run from Limerick to Westport. Tuam is the only town of note. Milltown and Ballindine are smaller than Ardrahan and Ballyglunin doesn't even have a Wikipedia article, meaning those stations probably won't reopen. According to Google Tuam is about a 40 minute drive from Galway, so the railway would have to be at least that fast to have any real chance. Timings vary: the 6:25 Galway-Dublin reaches Athenry in 16 minutes, while on the other extreme the 17:50 Galway-Limerick is allowed 29 minutes (with a stop at Oranmore). About 20 minutes is the usual, with a minute or two off whenever Oranmore is skipped. Athenry is 13 miles distant from Galway, while Tuam is about 16 1/4 miles further away. Reaching Tuam in 40 minutes doesn't seem impossible, but doubling Galway-Athenry would be a must to improve frequency and cut journey times. Easing congestion here would also help Limerick- and Dublin-Galway services. (I've heard talk about a loop being built in Oranmore, which is a start.) Beyond Tuam, Claremorris is 1:05 by road and another 17 miles by rail: if Tuam is doable in 40 Claremorris should be doable in an hour, but as far as I know beyond Tuam the line's littered with level crossings, which would pose a problem. If continuing to Westport, the 26 1/4 miles are scheduled to be done in 37 minutes: an overall time of ~1:40 is well behind the 1:20 Google quotes when driving from Westport to Galway. I won't factor Ballina timings in here but if Manulla is to be called at a Ballina shuttle should be waiting: if the frequency requires it a passing loop should be built on the line at Foxford. These rough estimates assume a service pattern of Galway - Athenry - Tuam - Claremorris - Manulla J - Castlebar - Westport. A useful point of comparison would be the historical WTT and/or service pattern: if anyone knows, I'd be interested.

Pre-ordered two of the green ones the other day: be nice to have them in a model West Cork at some point. I could take them down to the Model Village for a few photos too: I do live very close to it. Being the West Cork man I am, a Bandon tank would be my steam of choice. In more practical terms I think a preserved steam engine would be sensible.

The railway lines from Dublin to Cork and Belfast are double-track all the way (the Boyne Viaduct excepted), as are significant parts of the three cities' suburban lines. Dublin has the Sligo line as far as Maynooth, the Rosslare line as far as Bray, and the Howth and M3 Parkway branches double. Cork has the Cobh line double, with plans to extend that to Midelton. Belfast has the Bangor line and the Larne line up to some point past Carrickfergus double. In addition, the approach to Limerick from Killonan Junction is double track, with extending that to Limerick Junction at least under consideration. But there used to be a lot more double track in Ireland, and there was even more railway with some degree of accommodation for future doubling that never came. I know the GSR did a lot of singling, but I don't know of any comprehensive list of former double-track railway. I'm under the impression that most/all of the MGWR main line was double at some point, and some of the Sligo line was too. I also think that some part of the Waterford line was double, up to around Carlow? Limerick to Limerick Junction was double too, I believe. But I might be wrong about some of those, and I'm probably forgetting/don't know about some segments. Is there a comprehensive list of railway lines that were double-track at some point in history in Ireland?

As a tangentially-relevant aside, Waterford has one operational platform, and it's Platform 5. Platforms 3 and 4 are fenced off while the track for Platform 6 has been lifted. That begs the question: where are Platforms 1 and 2 meant to be? According to Eiretrains they were removed in the 1960s, which then leads me to wonder why not renumber 5 and 6 to 1 and 2...

I am. It starts in Cork, which as a Corkman means it's a lot easier to get to than Dublin. This will actually be the first time I'll be on a rail tour, so I'm looking forward to it. It will also let me actually see the Limerick-Waterford line beyond Limerick Junction. The last time I was in Dublin I decided to return home via Waterford so I could check the Dublin-Waterford and Limerick-Waterford lines off my track to-do list. However, it was December and by the time the afternoon train left the sun had already set. No sightseeing to be done there.

I believe that's the case, yeah. "Works will include a 220m long, 6m-wide, double sided extension to Platform 5." The NTA mockup also shows the platform using that track.

The grey 071s are both over €300 and there's still three days of bidding to go. Who knows how much higher they'll go?

The (no longer Evening) Echo reports the contract for Cork Platform 6 has been signed, with construction to begin this summer. https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/arid-41110375.html

I've occasionally seen Dublin-Cork be referred to as the "Premier Line". I've seen Nenagh Branch for Limerick-Ballybrophy too.

A thought that came to mind: when the new Darts arrive and the 1980s units get withdrawn, how exactly would one be preserved? I doubt anyone's going to build an electric railway for it to travel up and down - it would be expensive, for starters. Make one a static exhibit somewhere?

https://www.irishtimes.com/transport/2023/03/22/application-lodged-for-extension-of-dart-to-celbridge-and-hazelhatch/ The Dart+ Southwest railway order application has been made. In other news, An Bord Pleanala "need more time" to approve extending to Maynooth.

A quick search of "L&BER" gave me the Letterkenny and Burtonport Extension Railway. I highly doubt they had any flying snails on anything. I also doubt that trains in Donegal would come anywhere near Bagenalstown. I also doubt that the Great Northern ran a standard gauge train on narrow gauge tracks. Is there anything here I can't doubt?

When you actually take a look at the schedule on the Dart website, you'll see a few entries using different fonts than the rest. Check the page on Archive.org and the schedule slip reveals itself. To avoid spamming the thread with screenshots, Dart+ West construction is scheduled for 2024 at the moment. Though the Dart website doesn't say anything, Dart+ Southwest is scheduled to start in 2025 according to the government press release. Will An Bord Pleanala approve things in a reasonable time frame? Will Irish Rail get caught up in a pile of red tape? Will some other nonsense happen? Those are other questions to ask.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-64837601 The BBC says Translink wants to "assess the possibility" of reopening the line. Whether that will lead to anything is another question.

Thank you for the help, everyone. I managed to reattach the fallen couplers and buffer, and though it was incredibly fiddly I finally got the bogie reattached and in line. Haven't run it yet (piles of Monopoly boards to avoid the carpet isn't really a good running environment) but the train looks well again, at least. Thanks again!

The metal piece sticking out on the wheels near the missing bogie piece.

@murphaph Sure, here's some more pictures. The wheel colour in the first picture was just bad lighting. Hopefully these are a bit clearer.

So I managed to pick up a 201 when IRM put up a small bit of extra stock the other day. However, when I took it out of the box both couplers, one of the buffers, and half of a bogie fell off, along with some other minor parts. The train still runs though with an exposed piece of metal that causes sparks whenever it touches the track. I still have the missing pieces. What should I do now?

https://www.irishexaminer.com/property/developmentconstruction/arid-41076857.html The Examiner reports that tenders have been issued. The article says applications for the tender are open until the end of May yet Irish Rail wanted to sign the contract and start construction this April. The estimated completion time of August 2026 and 30 months works out to an April 2024 start instead...

Finally. There's something about train journeys that makes me hungry while on board...

Interesting videos. The line passes next to the airport, Crumlin and Glenavy have about 5,000 people each, and the track is still there, if largely disused. Seeing the line open again would be sensible. As the line's Wikipedia article suggests, a Belfast-Lisburn-Antrim-Belfast loop would be an idea, and would make more sense to me than just shuttling between Lisburn and Antrim.