thewanderer

Evening all, The final Irish leg of the Steam Dreams "Emerald Isle Explorer" operated on Wednesday 24th June. In the morning the tour visited the world-famous Waterford Crystal, before heading off to the station for an 1125 departure to Kilkenny, hauled by 461 where a two hour break was taken. Also at Kilkenny 85, replaced 461 for the final dash northwards across Ireland for an early evening arrival in Dublin for the final night in Ireland. For todays photos I popped over to Athy for the watering stop and also got the tour at Cush, a few miles north of the town. Click http://smu.gs/1IzjDlK to view todays photos. For a recap of the parts of the tour I covered since last Friday click http://smu.gs/1LjIUqa The RPSI operates with a small band of active volunteers and it is a credit to this group of people that they have achieved so much in preparation for this tour, such as refurbishment of the cravens and the daily tasks in ensuring that the tour operated smoothly. Want to get involved? Check out http://www.steamtrainsireland.com/helpingus/ for more information. A short summery of images from the past several days.

Evening folks, RPSI / Steam Dreams "Emerald Isle Explorer". On Day 7, Tuesday, 23rd June, the passengers said goodbye to Killarney and headed east steam hauled by 85 to Limerick Jct. and 461 to Waterford arriving early afternoon. Click http://smu.gs/1GFM8Qt

Evening folks, RPSI / Steam Dreams "Emerald Isle Explorer". On Day 7, Tuesday, 23rd June, the passengers said goodbye to Killarney and headed east steam hauled by 85 to Limerick Jct. and 461 to Waterford arriving early afternoon. Click http://smu.gs/1GFM8Qt

Evening folks, RPSI / Steam Dreams "Emerald Isle Explorer" Day 6, Monday, 22nd June, was a day of leisure in Killarney which also includes a short 45 minute each way steam hauled excursion down the branch line to Tralee on the coast, returning to Killarney in time for dinner. Due to the turntable at Tralee not being available, 85 went to Limerick Jct. to turn the locomotive on the triangle. Click http://smu.gs/1TINP6C to view.

Evening folks, Three updates to the website tonight. RPSI / Steam Dreams "Emerald Isle Explorer" Day 6, Monday, 22nd June, was a day of leisure in Killarney which also includes a short 45 minute each way steam hauled excursion down the branch line to Tralee on the coast, returning to Killarney in time for dinner. Due to the turntable at Tralee not being available, 85 went to Limerick Jct. to turn the locomotive on the triangle. Click http://smu.gs/1TINP6C to view. June 2015: Updates to this gallery include various photos of 22000 Class on the Mallow - Tralee service today. Click http://smu.gs/1LhamE2 to view. The Tralee and Blennerville Railway: Since my last visit in April 2011 the Tralee and Blennerville reailway continues to decay. The trackbed is starting to disappear under a forest of weeds and in some cases trees. Hopefully the newly formed Tralee and Dingle Railway Society will succeed in their efforts to bring the railway into operation. Click http://smu.gs/1LhavHm to view. All of the galleries can also be accessed from the home page at http://www.thewandererphotos.com

Morning all, Pictures from Day 4 of the RPSI / Steam Dreams "Emerald Isle Explorer" from Galway to Killarney. Click http://smu.gs/1TGJikV to view. Also general shots from the past few days. Includes Nenagh, Western Rail Corridor amongst others. Click http://smu.gs/1Le3ZRP to view.

Some pictures of the RPSI / Steam Dreams "Emerald Isle Explorer" from Connolly to Galway at Portarlington earlier this morning, where a loco swap took place (85 off / 461 on). Click http://smu.gs/1LjIUqa to view.

Some pictures of the RPSI / Steam Dreams "Emerald Isle Explorer" from Connolly to Galway at Portarlington earlier this morning, where a loco swap took place (85 off / 461 on). Click http://smu.gs/1LjIUqa to view.

Pictures from Killenard earlier this evening & two pictures from Barry Pickup at Gormanston with a EMU transfer from Drogheda to Fairview. Click http://smu.gs/1TyIhvj to view.

Tuesday 16th June 2015: Pictures from Rosskelton, Roscrea and Clonkeen. Click the picture below to access.

A trip to Thurles on Sunday for the Kerry -v- Tipperary Munster Football Semi-Final with a few train pictures thrown in before and after the match. Click http://smu.gs/1JRlZAt to view.

Afternoon folks, Latest updates: Friday 12th June 2015: Images from Portlaoise, Heuston and Dublin City. Saturday 13th June 2015: Visit to Newbridge to see the up IWT liner plus various passenger services. Click http://smu.gs/1JRlZAt to view.

Evening all, Today's pictures feature an Odyssey International private charter 5ICR set from Limerick to Heuston and 232 crossing the Bord na Mona railway with the 1300 Heuston - Cork. Click http://smu.gs/1IL86VI to view

Evening all, Two updates tonight. First is pictures of 073 passing Portarlington earlier today with the 1040 Claremorris - Heuston Weedspray Train. Plus 215 on the 1300 Heuston - Cork. Click http://smu.gs/1B27HeW to view. Also, last weekend I was in London and all the pictures from that have now been uploaded with some interesting photos of a 1940's themed Cocktail Bar in a disused Underground Station (as the story goes), plus much more. Click http://smu.gs/1QMNhIx to view.

Evening all, Barry Pickup was out and about on Sunday for the RPSI's Steam Enterprise trip from Whitehead to Dublin Connolly. Click http://smu.gs/1dY6ueo to view.

I know as much as you do. But I think it will look rather classy.

Evening all, Belmond's MK3 Generator Van 7601 has been painted in to the new Grand Hibernian livery at Brodie Engineering in Kilmarnock. However decals still need to be applied. Click http://smu.gs/1EWMHRI to view. Picture courtesy of Belmond. The Wanderer.

Evening all, The first day of Summer? The weather had other ideas today! As a result today's photographs only comprise the bare minimum. (8)209 1500 Heuston - Cork. 086 and 087 on the timber trains. Click the picture to access the gallery.

Evening all, Two updates this evening from the Great Northern Mainline between Dublin and Drogheda. The first features the RPSI Balbriggan Festival shuttles which operated from Connolly to Balbriggan before operating two return Specials to Drogheda and then back to Connolly. These can be found at http://smu.gs/1ACKBeH The second gallery features the other stuff along the line from the day, from 29000's to NIR 3000's with 22000's and a De-Dietrich in the middle. These can be found at http://smu.gs/1SMUBYA Both galleries can be accessed directly from the home page as well http://www.thewandererphotos.com

Evening all, Some odds and sods from around Portarlington this evening. Includes: - 209 with the 1700 Cork. - 215 with the 1800 Cork - 084 at Portarlington. Plus the usual diet of ICR's. Click http://smu.gs/1Rzhop5 to view.

Evening all, I finally got around to uploading the final day of my recent UK Rover which was on Sunday 24th May which was a single journey from London out to Gatwick Airport. I had about an hour to kill in the Airport before I needed to head through security clearance so I popped back to the station to observe the comings and goings. The last part of the gallery has images of Dun-Laoghaire, Dublin and Howth taken from EI-CVA performing flight EI243. Click http://smu.gs/1dyspIZ to view. The events page has been updated which details forthcoming Iarnrod Eireann service changes and RPSI Specials: http://www.thewandererphotos.com/LinksEvents

New 06.15hrs Cork to Dublin non-stop Express service begins Mon 25th May The new service will have a journey time of 2 hours 15 minutes, arriving in Dublin Heuston at 08.30hrs. Minor changes to some other services also. We are delighted to introduce a new non-stop express service daily (Monday to Friday): •06.15hrs from Cork’s Kent Station to Dublin Heuston, with a journey time of 2 hours 15 minutes, arriving in Heuston Station at 08.30hrs. The new service operates from Monday 25th May onwards, and is being introduced following the approval of the National Transport Authority. The new express service is being introduced following customer research, with a particular demand identified for a faster morning service arriving in Dublin at 08.30hrs, to facilitate business meeting needs. This will be the only non-stop service of its type on our national network, and will enable customers to maximise the benefits of travelling with Iarnród Éireann – allowing productive use of time and offering free wifi, charge points for phones at every seat – while giving our best journey time. We intend for this to be the beginning of a series of continuing journey time improvements, including network upgrades to deliver further speed enhancements on all our services, to ensure the train is the most competitive option for customers As part of the introduction of the new 06.15hrs Cork to Dublin Express service, the following changes will also be implemented, following the approval of the National Transport Authority: •06.00hrs Cork to Dublin Heuston (Mon-Sat) will now depart at 05.55hrs, and operate 5 to 10 minutes earlier throughout. •04.55hrs Tralee to Mallow (Mon only) will now depart at 04.50hrs, and operate 5 to 8 minutes earlier throughout. •05.15hrs Westport to Dublin Heuston will now depart at 05.25hrs, and operate 6 to 10 minutes later throughout. •08.09hrs Newbridge to Dublin Heuston will now depart at 08.11hrs, and operate 2 minutes later throughout. •06.55hrs Athlone to Dublin Heuston (Sat only) will now depart at 07.05hrs and operate between 6 and 10 minutes later throughout. The press launch occurred on Wednesday 27th May and 22010 is pictured passing Killenard with the new express service. Click the picture for full details.

Pictures from today's UK Railtours "The Juniper Factor" from London to Poole via a few locations in between are now online. Click the picture for the full collection.

Morning all, Days Three and Four of the UK Rover: Thursday: After arriving at London Euston 35 minutes early off the Sleeper from Glasgow I made my way to Liverpool Street to catch a service to Norwich. The plan for today was to travel on what is known as the "Norwich Short Set". This started on a regular basis in March 2013 to cover for a long term shortage of Diesel Multiple Units. The short hauled set (loco 3 coaches loco) covers the local routes between Norwich and Great Yarmouth/Lowestoft. Shortly after departing London, the news on the status of today's short set wasn't good. The locos were in trouble and the situation was fluid (a situation many will be used too in trying to run a railway). I decided to press on and arrived at Norwich to be greeted with the Loco hauled set in the nearby Crown Point Depot. It didn't look like it was going anywhere and my worst fears were confirmed when the 1036 to Great Yarmouth was announced as a bus transfer. A new plan was needed, rather fast! I jumped back on the MK3 set for London Liverpool Street on the 1030 departure. A quick look at the map and I decided to alight at Ipswich and cover some new track for the day. Ipswich - Cambridge - Kings Lynn and back to London via Bishops Stortford. Click http://smu.gs/1IR1vc4 to view. Friday was centred around London with a mid morning trip out and back to Swindon from Paddington. Later in the evening I did a Class 68 from Marylebone to High Wycombe on the 1750 Banbury. The rest of the day has pictures from around London. Click http://smu.gs/1Hoy8bu to view. The Wanderer.

Day two of a multi day UK Rover: I alighted from the Highland Sleeper at Crewe shortly after 0530 and made my way to Manchester to meet a friend for an early breakfast. After Manchester, I hopped on a new TPE 350 to Preston to catch the 1004 Preston - Barrow in Furness loco hauled service. At Barrow this connects into the 2nd loco hauled diagram which forms the 1138 to Carlisle. After a trip lasting over four hours, I finally arrived at Carlisle where a short break was taken before setting off to Kilmarnock. The reason being? Try and see if any former Iarnrod Eireann MK3 carriages were lurking outside Brodie Engineering. Sadly there weren't. After the walk back to the station it was the short hop into Glasgow for a few hours of relaxation before the sleeper to London overnight. All the pictures from the day, along with two videos can be found at http://smu.gs/1GqiWhM The Wanderer.