hurricanemk1c

Thanks folks - wondered what it meant. S= CAWS fitted, SA = CAWS and Train Air Brake fitted. I think.....

Cravens had 'TL' after their numbers - did that mean Twin Lavatory or something else?

The Phoenix Park Tunnel project is quite political. If it fails, it gives the Government a reason not to give the full go-ahead to DART Underground (missing the point of it). If it is moderately successful, they will claim it is enough and no DART Underground needed. If it is massively successful (which I doubt), it will lead to DART Underground or throttling capacity to turn people away. I'm just waiting for the inevitable failure of something, be it train or points in the Connolly area, messing up both Connolly and Heuston. Whilst the above failure could (and will at some point) happen with DART Underground, it is less likely to have an affect across the whole network as Phoenix Park will have, due to the diagramming of the ICR fleet (making maximum use of the fleet)

Good afternoon all, A few photos from the Stradbally Woodlands Railway during the recent Steam Rally Full set here - On Wednesday, 5th August, A209 0920 Cork - Heuston was worked by an appropriate loco - NIR 8209. Photos of it at Portlaoise are below Full set - Regards, Kieran

Good evening all, Due to the earlier failure of the 1300 Heuston - Cork at Cherryville Junction (resulting in widespread delays to all services ex Heuston), the 1620 Cork - Heuston was cancelled, with the 1720 Cork - Heuston formed of 2611+2612+2614+2617, which was all that was available in Cork. Photos of this working at Portlaoise, along with one of the locals and two Down Mark 4 sets, can be seen be clicking the below link Regards, Kieran

Good evening all, Possibly the last shots from July from me. A couple of shots from a very wet Portlaoise on Sunday, 26th July: Full set here - A few more from Portlaoise on Tuesday 28th, featuring the Tuesday-only Mark 4 run on the 1320 Cork - Heuston and a couple of ICR's until a massive cloud burst put me off further shots: Full set here - Regards, Kieran

The Fell machine used six engines - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_10100 Today, the Bombardier Traxx ME (Multi Engine) is just being introduced into service in German, with I think two engines. Not a new concept at all Samller engines means to start off, all engines start up and power, until cruise speed when one engine may shut down. The Network Rail Class 73/9's, for example, start up one engine (least hours) until notch 4. Notch 5 and above the second engine kicks in (I think - it's that kind of system)

They aren't actually passed yet - paperwork issue. They just fit (mostly). One option would be a withdrawal of the 071's (with alterations at the Tara Mines siding at Alexandra Dock Road). Not all 18 071's are needed daily. 3/4 for Taras, 3/4 for liners/timbers and a couple for PW. Pure speculation at this stage. As for the tender, it's out there somewhere - Modern Railways and Tony Miles are very reliable sources, and I heard a rumour that this was happening in late June

Topic bump There's an interesting little sentence or two in Tony Miles' article in Modern Railways this month that is relevant. "...installing a new multi-engine arrangement using two or even three engines is a viable project [in the Class 201 fleet]. Procurement is underway, with the plan being to carry out the repowering of the 34 locos (2 are owned by NIR) in two phases - 22 starting in 2016 and then the remaining 12 before 2020" Catch those 12-710's before they are gone!

Good afternoon all, Photos from yesterday's Irish Railway Record Society tour to Ballina and Westport, featuring 087, 078 and 084 as well as the normal run of things with Irish Rail. Many thanks to all involved in making the tour happen, even with 078's little problem at Westport! Click on the photos below to view all of the photos, with a link to the whole album at the bottom Regards, Kieran

Lovely - reminds me of this colour

Stentinel281 - drop me a PM as I am an admin on Irish Railways Past and Present if it hasn't been resolved yet

I can see it now Railer - didn't notice it at the time though! Thanks for the comment! More photo time! Photos from Portarlington yesterday for the Steam Dreams tour, as well as the normal flow of ICR's All photos can be seen here - Regards, Kieran

Good evening all, Just getting through a backlog of photos, but first yesterday's fun and games. 103 photos from a trip that included Heuston, Connolly, Balbriggan, Clonsilla, Maynooth, Pearse and Inchicore, with shots of the normal activity, 8208's first southbound run, 073 on the weedspray and more. Click on the photos or the link at the end for more All photos can be seen here - Photos from Portarlington and the above loco change will be available soon. Regards, Kieran

That was from the 2013 Working Timetables, so a touch out of date but still reasonably relevant

201's can definately do Ballina - Dublin (0935 North Wall - Ballina IWT) : Ballina - Waterford (1130 Waterford - Ballina timber): The only problem with Tara is the traverser at North Wall isn't long enough for a 201, being put in to accomodate the longest loco then (the 071/001). 201's are restricted on: Longford - Sligo (emergencies only) Sligo - Sligo Quay (not at all) Arklow - Rosslare Europort (emergencies only) The Asbestos Cement Siding in Athy (not at all) Ballybrophy - Killonan Junction (Nenagh Branch) (emergencies at 25mph maximum) Limerick Jn - Waterford West Cabin (emergencies at 25mph maximum) Limerick - Foynes (not at all at the moment, but not in use at the moment) Limerick - Limerick Cement Factory (emergencies only) Athenry - Tuam (emergencies at 10mph maximum) Mullingar - Athlone (emergencies only) There are some routes with loco-hauled maximum speed restrictions, but these apply to all locos, not just 201 class. All of the above at normal line speed unless otherwise stated / train restrictions To be honest, I'd expect the 201's to be re-engined rather than the 071. There's talk of EU funding for it and I can see it making more sense. For one - the body is bigger, making it easier to fit an EU Stage IIIB engine into the loading gauge. If there's money, an engine will be made. And for thrash - the UK Class 68 makes a pretty impressive noise! And as for spare parts - EMD still make two stroke engines - the 710 is still a popular engine and they are making emission kits for the marine 645 engine.

The BAe Hawk was built under license by McDonnell Douglas I believe - it's OK if it is built in America post World War Two. The USAAF also operated Mosquitos. According to Wikipedia, the US Military use a handful of other nationality aircraft - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_United_States_military_aircraft

Just look at the KC-X programme - the A330 was selected, then unselected and a 40 year ago basic airframe that is now out of commerical production (and was finished completely) in the form of the 767 selected. Nothing, but nothing, was going to prevent Air Force One being a 747-8 Looks like a general video rather than a dedicated Air Force One

Evening all, A 11 mile trek around Portlaoise to see the Engineering Works on at Milepost 48 (Straboe). Photos include the top and tail HOBS and various track machines at work. A video of 743 tamping will be availalbe tomorrow All photos can be seen here - Regards, Kieran

There is - not much but you can tell looking in

Think you can, but seriously not recommended. There's a story somewhere of a loco inspector loosing his head (literally) when the engine threw a leg out of bed as he was inspecting the engine whilst it was running

2200 arrival into Connolly on Thursday with 85. Will head out to the Northern Line for shots of the 111

Both RAF Bomber Command and the US 8th Air Force suffered the highest casualty rate of any Allied service. For example, New Zealanders in Bomber Command made up around 1.5% of the total service effort and suffered 20% of the overall casualties. By late 1944 the occupation of Night Fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe was one of the most dangerous of all Luftwaffe postings. Because of the damage caused, we hope never to see it again. Interestingly, the fallout afterwards weighed against Bomber Command's city-bombing, despite the US Air Force using the same tactics in the Pacific and Europe, and the atomic weapon can hardly be called precision!

There is a recording somewhere in the archives from a Master Bomber late-war in 1945, made throughout the raid. Incredible stories from the air. Of note is the first Me-262 shot down by RAF Bomber Command was from a .5in turret, with a sum total of 50 rounds fired by F/Sgt. Ken O'Brien of 101 Squadron. The trilogy by Kevin Wilson on the bomber war opens up your eyes to a service that suffered just under 50% casulties (dead, not wounded)

Maximum Pasenger Train Size must not exceed: 10 MKIV vehicles 8 De-Dietrich Push/Pull vehicles 8 8100/8200/8500/510/8520 Class EMU's 9 ICR (22000) Class DMU's 8 2600 Clas DMU's 10 2700 Class DMU's 10 2800 Class DMU's 8 29000 Class DMU's All DMU/EMU size refers to number of vehicles, not number of sets (ie 2x4 Class 29000 rather than 8x4 Class 29000) Maximum Passenger Train Load mus not exceed 430 tonnes. 12 ICR permitted between Laois Traincare Depot and Heuston only