thewanderer

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.

Morning all! Day 1 of a UK Rover. First off was a ferry trip on the Irish Ferries Ulysses from Dublin Ferryport to Holyhead. From Holyhead I boarded the 1301 to Manchester Piccadilly which uses the recently introduced 2nd loco hauled diagram on Arriva Trains Wales North Wales Coast Services. At Manchester I boarded a delayed Transpennie Express service bound for Middlesborough as far as York This proved to be a major blessing in disguise as due to a failed train in the Leeds area we were diverted via Castleford. The service from Manchester I had planned to get missed my connecting service at York by 10 minutes. With about 10 minutes to spare at York, I boarded the 1600 Kings Cross - Aberdeen Virgin Trains East Coast service to Dundee, from there I boarded the Caledonian Sleeper service back south. Pictures begin at http://smu.gs/1GnCVxD Enjoy, The Wanderer.

Evening all, Some photos from the past few days. Includes Perway Panel Trains and Top and Tail HOBS. Click http://smu.gs/1HqENHl to view. The Wanderer.

Evening all, I agree George! A few updates from the past week: May Gallery: Main highlight being 206 in the brand new Enterprise livery working a MKIV trial and later on the 1700 express to Cork. Plus 209 on the HOBS Train at Heuston. http://smu.gs/1Gazme0 The Strand Diesel RPSI Tour: Photos from the railtour to M3 Parkway and Rosslare Strand on Friday 8th May. http://smu.gs/1GazxpG RPSI South Munster Tour: A guest gallery of images from the main RPSI tour to Cork and Killarney. Pictures from locations that I didn't manage to make it to. http://smu.gs/1A3f71d

Evening all, All the other odds and sods from the weekend just gone have now been uploaded to the May Gallery. Click http://smu.gs/1H1UzTB Photo from each day below: Fri Sat Sun Mon Tues

Evening all, Pictures of the RPSI's 85 and 461 around Portlaoise and Portarlington today. Click http://smu.gs/1bKMUAf to view. A fantastic weekend of railtouring and chasing. A big thank you to all concerned for putting on a great show. The pictures from the Strand Diesel Tour on Friday and the other general shots from the weekend will appear over the next couple of days.

Thanks for the kind comments guys. inspiration for that photo must go to Finnyus though for his shot of 233 at that location. Another great day for steam fans in Cork and Kerry with the RPSI's 85 and 461 in action with a trip between Cork - Cobh - Cork - Killarney - Cork. Just a pity the weather was dire compared to Saturday's sun. Pictures from Sunday begin at http://smu.gs/1F0mghp The Wanderer.

Picture of the RPSI South Munster Railtour so far...http://smu.gs/1DZcQyN

A visit to the former Clonkeen Level Crossing near Portlaoise for the 1700 Cork & 1705 Tralee. Plus Guest contributor Andrew Roche has images from Cobh Station of the Cunard Liner Queen Victoria which was in Port for the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. Click http://smu.gs/1Ikay54 to view.

Some odds and sods from the past few days. Click http://smu.gs/1P1r9yw

The Down Line was closed all weekend for Ballast Cleaning and a special timetable was in operation. See http://www.irishrail.ie/news/corklineimprovementworks

Evening all, Some pictures from Sallins, Monasterevin and Portarlington over the past two days. Includes Ballast Cleaner 781 and 085 on the IWT Liner to Ballina. Click http://smu.gs/1I8osqN to view. The Wanderer.

Friday 1st May 2015: Another lunchtime visit to Rosskelton to photograph 071 hauling the PWD Steel Train from Limerick Wagon Works to Portlaoise. Plus, as usual the 1300 Heuston - Cork & 1220 Cork - Heuston MKIV operated services. Click http://www.thewandererphotos.com/2015photos/May-2015 to view.

Cheers!