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In December 2025 I paid my now traditional visit to Finland. Although a shorter trip than previous due to having used a fair bit of leave to go to Japan, still managed a fair bit! Day 1 saw me go from the airport into Helsinki, out to Kouvola, across to Riihimäki via Lahti (and a Sm2) and back to Helsinki to check into the hotel. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

RPSI have been a Railway Undertaking in the Republic for many years at this stage (at least since 19 December 2014). Northern operations were under Translink until recently.

November 2025 saw me start the month in London for the Arch Enemy / Eluvietie concert in The Apollo, along with a mix of Irish content including Steam Loco 171's first runs following overhaul. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

RIP Paddy And it should be remembered that the 141/181s weren't the first proper Irish diesel outline locos he developed, the Lima 201s too some 7 years before helping to kick start the market, along with previous commissions

Photos from the final full day in Germany, being mainly in the Frankfurt area having explored a bit of the more unknown side of Frankfurt's past, this being Dulag Luft (or rather the site of) just outside Frankfurt. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Day 3 in Germany was split into two halves. The first half was in the DB Museum in Koblenz, a wonderful old-school working museum that hosts mainly the electric loco collection, as well as being a mainline operating base for the DB Historic fleet. It's very much a "wander around, don't hurt yourself" feel to it! The second half was a couple of hours at Oberwesel on the Rhine, watching the trains go past on both sides of the river in glorious sunshine Regards, Kieran

Day 2 in Germany in August 2025, with a trip from Frankfurt to Fulda and Niederheimbach. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Following on from my Japan experience, I stayed a few days in Frankfurt (the main reason being that's where the Lufthansa 747-8 from Tokyo dropped me off!). Photos from Day 1 in Germany, covering Frankfurt and Köln with some retro locos around Köln Hansaring. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

My final full day in Japan was around the Tokyo and Yokohama areas, visiting the Tokyu museum and having a look from the outside at the J-TREC (formerly Tokyu) factory where the 2600, 2800 and 85xx fleets were built. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Day 9 in Japan was mainly getting from Kyoto back to Tokyo and out to Haneda airport via the Tokyo Monorail. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

The Presidential Mk2 5408 was 5406, they swapped identities for reasons I've never quite understood!

The Western Rail Corridor has not currently progressed past Approval Gate 1, which is preliminary business case (and is Transport Appraisal Framework Module 4 for anyone really interested). 2030 looking rather optimistic for that!

Day 8 in Japan, which was in the Kyoto area including the Kyoto Railway Museum. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Day 7 of my Japanese adventure, this mainly being a travel day from Nagasaki to Kyoto, with a couple of Nagasaki trams thrown into the mix. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Everything ended up where it should be. Only took an interest the other day due to unusual stabling locations

Day 6 in Japan was a day in Nagasaki. The Nagasaki Electric Tramway operates a fascinating collection of trams, dating from between 1950 and 2024. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Continuing the Japanese adventure, mainly a transfer day from Hiroshima to Nagasaki, followed by some evening tram spotting in Nagasaki. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Day 4 in Japan was initially at the Hiroshima hypocentre memorial (being 6 August), then heading for a round trip on some classic Japanese railcars, before a bit of tram spotting (including a 1940 built Osaka tram) in the Hiroshima city centre area. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

Quite common. All the major manufacturers have at some point filed such things in various countries. Alstom did so against Siemens for winning the Eurostar contract, Siemens and Alstom have done the same for the SNCB contract that was awarded to CAF for the AM30 fleet order. All these style of contracts have a standstill period between award and announcement specifically for this in case the contract was given not according to the rules (and it has happened that the contract award was deemed illegal and had to be rerun). Most of the time it's a final throw of the dice to try and win the contract

Day 3 of my Japanese trip, mainly being a transfer day between Tokyo and Hiroshima with some time at Tenjingawa one station out of Hiroshima. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

2 DDs and 1 ICR unless a DD fails

Day 2 in Japan was intended to get some classic photos in front of Mount Fuji near Yoshiwara, but weather prevented that. Instead, a nice wander around part of the Tōkaidō Main Line with some freight movements and more unusual private operator vehicles. Click on the photo to view them all Regards, Kieran

August 2025 saw me substantially expand my horizons by visiting Japan, primarily to be in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki for the 80th anniversaries of the atomic bombings. Plenty of rail travel though, through the use of the JR Rail Pass. Day 1 was primarily Tokyo based, with a visit to the Omiya Railway Museum and a few other non-railway places. Click on the photo below to view them all Regards, Kieran

22037 I believe is in Grand Central Ex Dublin Links: 0550/0900/1150/1500/1750 (Delayed to 1840)/2100 ex Belfast from Dundalk was 22038 - remains in Dublin/Drogheda 0650/1000/1250/Ety to Dublin eventually was 233+9003 - remains in Dublin 0740/1100/1350 was 22037, remains Belfast Ex Belfast Links: 0600/0850/1200/1450 was CAF - remains in Belfast 0700/0950/1300/1550/1600 ex Belfast from Dundalk/1850 (delayed 1939) was 227+9004 - remains in Dundalk 0800/1050/1400/1650 to Dundalk was 231+9002 - remains in Dundalk

June 2025 was a quite month, with just a few photos from Killester, Connolly and Stradbally along with a couple from Glasgow July 2025 saw the end of the Glasgow trip (over for one night for Iron Maiden), with a visit to the Riverside museum, and a few others in Ireland Click on the photos to view them all. August 2025 will be a busier month! Regards, Kieran