thewanderer

Evening folks, Pictures from Dublin on Monday and a visit to Killenard on Saturday for the Ballina - North Wall IWT Liner. Click http://smu.gs/1JsMStx to view.

On average Gardaí are called to deal with "passenger trouble" at least once a day. They don't always attend either..

Evening all, A day trip to London which turned out to be a rather rushed affair due to a fire at Dublin Airport which delayed my flight by 80 minutes. This means its a smaller gallery than planned with photos from: - Dublin Airport. - Gatwick Airport. - London Victoria. - Hainault. - Heathrow Express at Heathrow Terminal 5. Click http://smu.gs/1N1a4mC to view.

Morning folks, Photos from the weekend just gone have now been uploaded to the website. Featuring: - Portarlington. - Sallins. - New Enterprise livery MK3 EGV 9602 on Belfast services. - Various locations around Dublin including views from Croke Park on Sunday. - RPSI Radio Train Steam Spl. from Kilkenny to Connolly. Click http://smu.gs/1EQaynr to view.

Evening all, 072 and the Weedpsray Train made a return trip from Portlaoise to Heuston on Friday 21st August 2015. It was scheduled to operate as 1030 Portlaoise - Heuston and 1330 Heuston - Portlaoise. At 1350 it was passing Ratheven on the outskirts of Portlaoise on the return journey so it obviously had a good run both ways. Click http://smu.gs/1PqGy7k to view.

Evening all, The weedspray train operated from Limerick to Portlaoise today and I captured it passing Clonkeen with 072 in charge. Other photos from the day include 219 on the 1300 Heuston - Cork. Click the picture below to view today's images.

The actual timetable has yet to be determined so at the moment this is all pie in the sky thinking. What I think would be best would be (off peak): 1 tph Portlaoise - Heuston as is now. 1 tph Newbridge - Grand Canal Dock new service at 30 minutes past the hour from the Portlaoise service. This then gives Newbridge - Park West 2tph to the City, either Heuston "or around the house" to Connolly and beyond. Maybe they will decide to run the Portlaoise - Heuston service fast from Hazelhatch to Heuston? On one hand it would still mean only 1tph from Adamstown in to Park West and that isn't all that attractive, but the city centre terminus is more attractive. As I said nothing has been decided yet and until then only it is all speculation. The Wanderer.

Evening all, Today's update has images from Heuston and Portarlington. It includes TRV No. 700 and 071 Class No. 078 on the Ballast. Click http://smu.gs/1NvePnE to view.

Considering it is being funded by the NTA I suggest the questions are directed at them. However, why this obsession with Heuston? Platform 10 isn't the best place to be dumped at and is a long walk from the main station. Providing access from Conyngham Rd to Platform 10 is rather difficult with the River Liffey to bridge and an access road to apartments in the way. It is something I would love to see, but it would drive up the cost by a large margin. You will still have the option of services to Heuston with the current Portlaoise - Heuston service. The GCD service will be additional services. Therefore nobody loses out.

Evening folks, Earlier today Minister Paschal Donohoe along with David Franks CEO Iarnrod Eireann and Anne Graham CEO National Transport Authority launched the €13.4m upgrade of the Phoenix Park Tunnel line. This will allow Commuters on the Kildare to Dublin Heuston line to have the option of direct trains to Drumcondra, Connolly, Tara St, Pearse and Grand Canal Dock Stations from late 2016. Photos of the launch event are now available at http://smu.gs/1NhOk5Z

Evening folks, Earlier today Minister Paschal Donohoe along with David Franks CEO Iarnrod Eireann and Anne Graham CEO National Transport Authority launched the €13.4m upgrade of the Phoenix Park Tunnel line. This will allow Commuters on the Kildare to Dublin Heuston line to have the option of direct trains to Drumcondra, Connolly, Tara St, Pearse and Grand Canal Dock Stations from late 2016. Photos of the launch event are now available at http://smu.gs/1NhOk5Z

Afternoon folks, Pictures from around Killarney on Saturday and a few from Sunday. Also Mr. Church has supplied two images of Saturday's IWT Liners between Dublin and Ballina which were worked by 226 (Down) and (8)208 (Up). Click http://smu.gs/1Pg6m6f to view. ]

Evening all, Some pictures from the past few days. Click http://smu.gs/1DTgilb to view.

Morning all! Pictures from Sunday's RPSI Specials on the Great Northern Mainline from Connolly to Drogheda, Dundalk and Skerries have now been uploaded. Click the http://smu.gs/1f2qXhJ to view.

Evening all, I slipped out this morning for a few hours and have pictures from: - Portarlington - Heuston - Adamstown. - Carn Bridge. - Commons Bridge. Highlights include 229 and 220 on the Up and Down IWT Liners, plus (8)209 on the 1100 Heuston to Cork. Click http://smu.gs/1gn3xVm to view.

Today features visits to Ratheven, Clonkeen, Killenard and Portarlington, mainly for more photos of (8)209. Click the picture below to access the gallery. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates and a look back to times past on the Irish railway network.

Good evening folks, Today's photographic efforts include Northern Ireland Railways owned (8)209 on Dublin - Cork services, plus locos 217 and 219 were on two of the other diagrams. Click http://smu.gs/1SPnyWd or click the picture underneath to view. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates and a look back to times past on the Irish railway network.

Evening folks, Pictures from the past few days. Saturday: - Portarlington with 073 on a Spoil train and 2X3ICR on the 1125 Heuston - Galway. - Adamstown with a 4 car 2600 Class DMU on the 1720 Cork - Heuston after the earlier failure of the 1300 Heuston - Cork. Working of the year I should think. Photo courtesy of Domhnall Ó Muirí. Tuesday: Evening visit to Carn Bridge for the usual mix of 22000 Class + 232 on the 1700 Heuston - Cork. Click http://smu.gs/1JKAlDt to view.

218 working today's North Wall - Ballina Liner. Click the picture to view the images.

Evening all, Some pictures from the last two days around Portarlington. Also includes details of the renumbering of reformed vehicles in sets 22011 to 22030. Click http://smu.gs/1JDKldr or click the picture to view. The Wanderer.

Evening all, Some pictures from last Friday that feature MK3 carriage 7122 waiting export to Scotland at North Wall, along with 076 on a Spoil Train plus emergency engineering works on the LUAS Red Line near Jervis. Click http://smu.gs/1GwhyoQ to view. The Wanderer.

Afternoon all, Pictures from yesterdays Irish Railway Record Society Special from Dublin Connolly to Ballina and Westport has now been uploaded to http://smu.gs/1HCBsT6 3 x 071 Class Locomotives were used during the day with 087 hauling the train from Connolly to Ballina, 078 from Ballina to Claremorris and Westport where it promptly failed with a forward / reverser fault. 084 came to the rescue and hauled the locomotive off the train prior to working the tour back to Connolly. As always an enjoyable day out, despite the miserable weather conditions west of the River Shannon. Full Credit must go to the IRRS Program Officer Shane Roberts for organising another successful tour and if the questionnaire handed out about options for the 2016 tour comes to fruition then that tour promises to be a cracker of a weekend. Also we cannot forget the RPSI and IE staff involved in the operation of the tour and to making it such a great day out. Also the last of my images from the recent UK trip have been uploaded which has pictures from around London on Friday, plus the flight back to Dublin. Click http://smu.gs/1HCBOJn to view. For all the pictures of the week long trip you can access al the galleries at Enjoy, The Wanderer.

On the last day of the Rover (Friday) I undertook an out and back trip from London to Exeter and then an evening in London. Click http://smu.gs/1HZD5aE to view.

Continuing my UK trip. On Wednesday, we left Inverness and headed along the scenic railway line to Kyle of Lochalsh. At Kyle we boarded a West Coast Motors (Citylink) bus from there to Portree on the Isle of Skye where we had a break for two hours to explore the town. Later in the afternoon we caught a Stagecoach Local Bus from Portree to Armadale to connect into the 1720 hrs sailing to Mallaig. From Mallaig the next stop was Fort William for a quick change onto the Caledonian Sleeper to London. Click http://smu.gs/1J61ikH to view.

Morning folks, The latest update to my UK travels is from Tuesday. It was a simple out and back from Inverness. We caught the 0702 train from Inverness to Thurso (a mere 154 miles away) before catching a bus to John O'Groats. After a short break there we caught a 2nd bus to Wick before starting the long trek back to Inverness on the 1600 ex Wick. This is the last train from the town each day. Click http://smu.gs/1MeGARy to view.