spudfan

4.30 pm. Getting rough out there! Candles at the ready

From September 2003.

Slightly off topic.Imagine if Guinness had reinstated some of their system. Tourist would love a trip in a Guinness train along the cobbles before they do an internal tour. I remember when I was young (very young) marvelling at the speed of the trains on the curves! The trains were always immaculate and looked a million miles away from the Bord na Mona stock. Transport has come a long way from CIE horse drawn carts and Guinness trains, but the memories are still vivid and happy.

To make them go further you can put a cardboard base or polystyrene insert into the wagons and put the load on top of that. That is what I do with the Foster Yeoman/ARC tipplers. Just put a piece of card with the flaps bent downwards and spread the load on that. Put some sticky stuff on the card to hold the load material. I made inserts for some of the wagons from polystyrene. I just cut a lump to fit the wagon, painted it grey and covered it with ballast while the paint was still wet. Looks fine....I am not a rivet counter!

Highly informative reading the above posts.

Maybe that was the reasoning behind the Foynes reopening. Longer tara trains, new unloading facilities......yeah wishful thinking!

It will be very easy to model a Tara mines train now. All you will need is a few Taras sitting in a siding.... If Tara mines lift the tracks at their site you will know they have abandoned rail.

Wonder if Tara mines were factoring in the upkeep of the fleet as a negative. The haulier will be responsible for the fleet of trucks and no doubt there are penalty clauses built into the contract if a speecific tonnage is not moved daily. I would say there would be little enough profit on the deal for the haulier if things do not go to plan for Tara mines.

Could also be used as a bargaining chip by Tara Mines. When the road haulage contract comes up for renewal they can ask IR to put in a tender and the road haulier to do the same.

I would say Tara Mines has the clout to tell the government that they either use road transport or they close. Sorry to see this. I suppose as the Tara traffic was the only traffic on a stretch of the line they were billed for the upkeep costs. If there were some liner trains and passenger trains the cost would have been split.

Does this mean road haulage will be used?

I presume this has a diesel engine judging by the photos. I was looking for the hand crank aperature. I remember on the building sites in the late seventies trying to hand crank a Winget dumper on cold Winter mornings. Get the crank in, turn it until the engine spluttered in to life in a cloud of smoke then deftly removing the crank. Before removing the crank there was a little lever you flicked with your other hand at the appropriate time. Sometimes I would ask the JCB driver for a push to kick start the dumper to save hand cranking which could be tiring to say the least. It all depended on the mood he was in whether he would oblige or not! Would not fancy trying to hand crank that big yellow yoke!

It is not even on a slope from high ground, must have been an underground water course.

Looks like a reconnaissance mission to me. The defibrilator is probably on stand by for when you get the bill.

Some years I read a book about a man who travelled around the lands featured in biblical texts. He was looking at the bible from an historical point of view. He was visiting various sites mentioned in the texts. Even then he had to negeotiate military check points. One of the places he visited was Saint Catherine's monastery in the Sinal desert. The big claim to fame of Saint Catherine's monastery is that the monks who reside there claim that they have THE original burning bush, the one through which the Almighty caused to burst into flame and not burn while the Almighty conversed with Moses. Anyway, there is our hero, looking at the bush in the calm of a Sinal evening in the little yard in the monastery when something catches his eye...a fire extinguisher! I often wondered what would have happened if the bush had flared up into flame and a voice claiming to be the Almighty started pontificating from within it and the monks had cut lose with the fire extinguisher...... It's a good travel book to read. It is Walking the Bible by Bruce Feiler

1950s EMD customer relations — a different take - Trains

This is an interesting video of the loading and unloading of iron ore with regard to the railway end of it. Very interesting but I would not recommend bringing a girl home to watch it if it your first date. It will probably be your last.

I was travelling (very slowly I might add) behind a car with the top folded down. Came to some temporary traffic lights and while stopped behind the car with the top folded down I noticed something unusual. Hanging from the rear view mirror of the car with the top down was....an air freshener thing!

Campaigners fume as Irish Rail backtracks on 35km greenway Campaigners fume as Irish Rail backtracks on 35km greenway

You could try locating Stephen Johnson's book "Locomotives and Railcars of Bord na Mona". If you are single and don't have a girl friend/ can't get a girl friend it's a great way to pass the time. If you are married and the wife is annoyed with you, it is a great read while camping out in the garden.

Got this today..... Dear customer, We are writing to inform you of a change to the customs charge admin fee for AddressPal UK and US items. From September 5th 2025, the customs administration fee payable will change to €5.95. Customs charges and administration fees are payable by the receiver on items coming into Ireland from outside of the EU/EEA. ....

Might be of interest. BBC 4 tv Monday 27 July7:30 PM k the Line with Barra Best Barra investigates Co Antrim's lost railway routes as he explores more of Northern Ireland's most spectacular countryside BBC4 Tuesday 28 July Barra Best continues to explore lost railway routes in Northern Ireland, visiting lines that ran through towns and villages around Lough Neagh BBC4 Wednesday 29 july Barra Best concludes his journey across the province by exploring County Tyrone's lost railway routes

It was in the "cab". I was very young at the time so did not take up much space. You could walk down the canal past Fatima Mansions to the depot where the canal barges were stabled and worked on. Then you could nip down to the Guinness place along the coble stones and watch the trains going in and out of the complex. Easily amused in those days.

Used to walk by Guinness's down the cobble streets with the track. The smell used to very pleasant. You could arrive at your destination smelling like you'd been in a pub. Got a cab ride many years ago when I was a child.

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