thewanderer

Tuesday 21st June 2016: Delays through Portlaoise due to a trespasser and Belmond nominated 216 finally runs on the main line with a short trial to Hazelhatch. Clixk http://smu.gs/28QvhiW to view.

Evening folks, A collection of general pictures from last Thursday to Monday while out and about for the Emerald Isle Explorer. - Connolly - Recent track alterations at Grand Canal Dock. - Rosslare Europort. - Enniscorthy - Portarlington - Limerick - Charleville - Cork - Killarney - Mallow - Lisduff - Laois Train Care - Portlaoise - Connolly - Dromod - Longford Click http://smu.gs/28M5nNp to view.

Good evening folks, Here is my pictures from Sunday's Emerald Isle Explorer which traveled from Cork to Sligo via Connolly. RPSI's No. 4 was used from Mallow to Connolly. The leg from Cork to Mallow used the Cork Thunderbird 221, while 071 class 078 was used for the Connolly to Sligo leg. The loco and carriages then went empty to Longford to stable. This will be the last update from me on the Emerald Isle Explorer, I must say it was a wonderful few days and all the operations generally ran within a few minutes of time. The most late running we had was about 25 minutes on the Mallow - Connolly leg today. Click http://smu.gs/23kkyCR to view.

Evening folks, Pictures from day 4 of the Emerald Isle Explorer by Steam Dreams & the RPSI took passengers from Cork to Killarney on a short day outing to the busy tourist town. Pictures start at http://smu.gs/1YzatBx

Pictures from day 3 of the Emerald Isle Explorer which saw it travel from Waterford to Cork via Limeric. Photos from: - Limerick. - Limerick Jct. - Charlevile. - Mallow. - Cork. Click http://smu.gs/1Yykb73 to view.

The 2016 Emerald Isle Explorer started its first Irish leg yesterday afternoon with a trip from Connolly to Rosslare. The passengers had earlier arrived in Dublin on the ferry after leaving London on Wednesday by train which was also hauled by Flying Scotsman from Crewe to Holyhead. During their visit to Ireland passengers will visit Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Killarney, Sligo, Dublin, Derry and Belfast. Three steam locomotives from the RPSI’s fleet will be used over the course of the week with No. 461 doing the Connolly to Rosslare Strand Leg on Thursday. The rest of the operation will feature No. 4, with a few diesel legs thrown in to position stock, while No. 85 "Merlin" will undertake the Derry - Belfast - Dublin leg of the trip. Click http://smu.gs/1rt0oZb to see the pictures of the trip down to Rosslare. Sadly the Sunny South East name didn't live up to expectations yesterday!

Evening folks, Some photos taken over the past few days: Includes: - Limerick Jct. - Limerick. - Portarlington. Click http://smu.gs/1Q1O8e1 to view.

Evening all, 077 and 087 are in Portarlington this evening for the top and tailed HOBS train this weekend for the Ballast Cleaning between Sallins and Hazelhatch on Saturday. Click http://smu.gs/1XLRMvq to view.

Afternoon folks, There has been several updates to the website over the past couple of days. These include: - June Gallery with pictures from a very sunny Muckross House, Steam Enterprise from Whitehead to Dublin, Lispole Viaduct on the former Tralee and Dingle railway, 22035 at Farranfore on the South Kerry Line with the 1305 Tralee - Heuston and finally some images from the Laois and Kildare areas which includes an unusual MKIV formation currently operating. Click http://smu.gs/1PLgglu to view. - Update to the North Kerry Line. A visit to Barnagh Tunnel on Bank Holiday Monday, now part of the Great Southern Trail. Click http://smu.gs/219Zmha to view. The other galleries consist of photos from: - Killarney Bike Fest. - Dingle and Fungie the Dolphin. - Crag Cave in Castleisland. Click http://smu.gs/1ZzfsjH to view each of the above. All of the galleries can also easily be accessed by going to the home page at

Friday 3rd June 2016: The 1220 Cork - Heuston failed in Cork prior to departure this afternoon. The fault was first suspected to be locomotive related (232), but after a change of locomotive with the standby at Cork (231) the fault didn't clear and GC 4007 was were the defect was located. The MKIV set required hauling to Inchicore for repairs and departed Cork at 1530 being hauled by 231 and I managed to photograph it at Kilbride Bridge near Portarlington. Other photos from today include the delayed 1700 Heuston - Cork passing Ballybrophy and the 1655 Limerick - Ballybrophy via Nenagh at Borris-in-Ossory. Click http://smu.gs/24naesD to see all the images from the day.

Evening folks, As part of the strategy to increase the length of freight trains, Iarnrod Eireann operated a 18 wagon Timber Train from Waterford to Limerick on Wednesday 1st June hauled by 215. Currently the maximum length of Timber trains is 12 wagons, the next stage of the project is to operate a 27 wagon container train over the same route. Click http://smu.gs/1Pkgpft to view.

As part of the Balbriggan Summerfest, the RPSI operated two steam train trips from Balbriggan to Drogheda on Sunday 29th May. Pictures of the event are at http://smu.gs/1TGQQ4M

Morning folks, A big update to the LUAS Cross City Gallery on Saturday with a walk of the route from Broombridge to St. Stephen's Green. Click http://smu.gs/1OUqdqR to view. Also the May gallery has also been updated with the latest progress on the Phoenix Park Tunnel route, a few pictures around Broombridge plus some rock and roll stars who are gracing Dublin this weekend. Click http://smu.gs/1P7uDA4 to view.

Evening folks, The May gallery has been updated with photos from the past few days. Click http://smu.gs/1XUFJuo to view. Photos from: - Portlaoise - Ballybrophy - Mallow - Rathmore - Killarney - Quakers Road Level Crossing near Borris-in-Ossory. - Lisduff.

Afternoon folks, I recently spent a number of days in the UK and have just completed uploading the images to the website. All galleries can be seen at the following link Friday 13th May: After arriving into Gatwick Airport it was a quick hop on the train to East Croydon and a short trip on the Croydon Tramlink to Mitcham Jct. Saturday 14th May: A varied day today with a morning trip to Tooting Broadway to see a number of former London Transport RT type buses, which were on heritage duties between Tooting Broadway and Southwark to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the withdrawal of the RTW type buses. In the afternoon I visited a couple of locations on the Brighton Mainline to photograph some Class 442 units. Monday 16th May: The main event for the day was a visit to the Bluebell Railway. In the afternoon I also visited Caterham and Riddlesdown Viaduct. Like the RPSI trip from Westport to Dublin which set off several lineside fires the Steam Engine on the Bluebell was also setting off its own fires! Tuesday 17th May: A day on the Brighton Mainline to photograph some freight trains, Class 442's and Class 700's on test. Wednesday 18th May: Wednesday morning started off rather early with a cross London trip from East Croydon to Marylebone to catch the 0841 from there to Birmingham Moor Street which is locomotive hauled by a Class 68. Once the bag was dropped off at the Hotel in Birmingham it was a trip out to Tyseley to photograph a few trains including another Class 68 hauled service from London. For the next leg of my trip I met up with Modern Railways Tony Miles who was joining me on the 1255 Birmingham Moor Street to London which I did as far as High Wycombe. From there I backtracked to Banbury to meet three other Irish enthusiasts who were also visiting the UK and we spent the evening at the Banbury Lane Bridge North of Kings Sutton. An added bonus in the evening time was seeing the S7 Stock transfer to West Ruislip hauled by a number of Class 20's at Leamington Spa. Thursday 19th May: The last day in the UK was a rather simple affair with a circular trip from Birmingham to Nuneaton, up the WCML to Rugeley Trent Valley and then back into Birmingham New Street over the Chase Line which is in the early stages of electrification between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley. Enjoy, The Wanderer.

A selection of photos from today featuring #retrotrain 071 on the RPSI "071 40th Anniversary" railtour. Click http://smu.gs/1OoZpEq to view. The May Gallery ahs also been updated with images from: - Portarlington - Drumcondra - Connolly. Click http://smu.gs/1Tb6rP4 to view.

Morning all, Iarnrod Eireann have repainted 071 into its original livery for the 40th anniversary of the class. Click the link for the full story http://smu.gs/1TcfsnZ

Good evening all, Latest updates to include: Sunday 8th May 2016: A visit to Limerick to see progress on the plaza construction outside the station. Tuesday 10th May 2016: Great timing sees the 1526 North Wall - Ballina & 1432 Ballina - North Wall IWT Liners pass each other at Killenard. Click http://smu.gs/27buRfu to view.

Evening all, An early start this morning for a trip to Castleconnell to chase the Weedspray Train from Limerick to Portlaoise vis Nenagh. The weather was miserable and sadly the sunny weather of Friday was long gone. Click http://smu.gs/1UHzDwe to view all the images.

Out of the current operational pool of 201's only 231 and 233 will wear this livery. All the current "Intercity" liveried locos 215 / 217 - 226 / 232 / 234 cannot work the Enterprise due to lack of AWS / TPWS / NIR Train Radio plus now the MMI (or whatever it is called these days) computer for the De-Dietrich stock since refurbishment.

Evening folks, A few images from the past two days. Wednesday: I had a very short notice visit to the Kerry / Cork area for Wednesday and I decided to head somewhat earlier than required to get a few photos of the Weedspray train on the Tralee line. Well I arrived in Mallow to find out it was cancelled due to no driver. Balls. Should have detoured to Wexford after all! #winsomelosesome. So plan B was arranged with some photos in the surrounding Mallow area. Thursday: Some evening images from around the Killarney area. Click http://smu.gs/1Tv2zmh to view.

Evening folks, The May Gallery has been updated with the following: Monday 2nd May 2016: A visit to Ballycar between Limerick and Ennis to see the receding flood waters. Trains should resume very soon between the two locations. Tuesday 3rd May 2016: The Maloney & Kelly Travel company chartered a 5ICR and a 8MKIV to transport guests to Killarney from Dublin Heuston. Pictures from Portlaoise and Banteer of the MKIV operated Spl. Click http://smu.gs/24oefT4 to view.

Morning all, The latest update to the website contains: Thursday 27th April 2016: Inchicore visit for the CME Golden Spanners Friday 29th April 2016: Another very busy day with photos from the length and breadth of Ireland! The first part of the day consisted of a visit to Navan for the Tara Mines trains to Drogheda, then back to Kildare for a trip to Mallow, via Heuston. Click http://smu.gs/21lbpIY to view.

Morning folks, A quick trip to the Belfast area today on board the "Enterprise" plus some trips around the Dublin DART network. Images from: - Connolly. - Drogheda. - Dundalk. - Belfasr Central. - Whiteabbey. - York Road. - Bangor. - Laytown. - Clontarf Road. - Howth. - North Wall. Click http://smu.gs/1XWHAN5 to view.

Evening all, A round up of images from the past few days. Click http://smu.gs/1YQOYcU to view them all. Saturday 24th April 2016: A few images from Portlaoise. Sunday 24th April 2016: I was in Dublin today for the Kerry-Dublin Division 1 League Final at Croke Park. Before the match I got pictures in and around Dublin featuring: - The Liffey Odyssey a Canoe tour down the River Liffey. - LUAS Cross City Work. - Tara Street. - Connolly. - Drumcondra. - Views of the Railway from the lofty heights of Croke Park. Also check out http://smu.gs/1NMOfno to see images of the G.A.A. 1916 commemoration event: Laochra. Monday 25th April: A ramble to the North East of the Country today with images from: - Navan. - Drogheda. - Gormanstown. - Sallins (iron Bridge). Due to be renewed this coming weekend. - Curragh. - Monasterevin. - Portarlington.