Niles

On behalf of my teammates in Táilte, a big thank you to all who supported us with our first Cork-based railtour this weekend, be it those who bought tickets, those who moved a few pieces around the chessboard behind in the scenes, to those who contributed to the brochure, to those who helped us promote, to those who sponsored, not least the IRM team who also generously donated a Magnesite Wagon pack for the raffle—we can now confirm that at least one set of the model wagons have traversed most of the route of their prototypes. Big shout out to the ITG lads at Carrick-on-Suir who burnt plenty of midnight oil into getting 226 shiny for our visit (she sounded fantastic too!). Nice to meet many heads from this group face-to-face, unfortunately didn't get the chance to talk to everyone but we'll be at the Wexford show so do come over and say hi. Thanks, Niall (blame my love of Frasier for the account handle here)

There was a set of bay platforms at the Rosslare/New Ross end, removed around then for a carpark. Assuming these were the errant 1 and 2.

Today is the last day to order our Mystery Pack tickets, the contents are sure to become highly collectable. Book yours now at https://www.tailtetours.com/event-details/the-suir-lee-knot-railtour

Just to confirm, we'll be closing off Mystery Pack sales on Sunday evening, April 2nd (if you're a 2600 fan we think you'll like the contents ) https://www.tailtetours.com/event-details/the-suir-lee-knot-railtour

Ah... confusingly it's a different Riverstown (Sligo vs Louth).

Re: 'Mystery Train' packs (€30 RRP worth of items in addition to the ticket) - we'll be closing sales for these soon, as we need to firm up order quantities (at least one of the items will be exclusive to the pack and not on general sale). https://www.tailtetours.com/.../the-suir-lee-knot-railtour --- **Cork Connections** While we have a strong Cork contingent travelling on our "Suir Lee Knot" tour to Waterford on 15th April, we are aware that some of you will be travelling from Dublin and other parts of the country to join the tour. Our departure from Cork is at 10:00, which should allow a connection out of the 07:00 Dublin Heuston to Cork service. However, for those of you looking for a bit of a lie in, you can also join the train at Mallow (pick up 10:23) or Limerick Junction (pick up 11:06). We return to Limerick Junction at 17:47, Mallow at 18:46 and Cork at 19:13—the last service from Cork to Dublin is at 20:25, with earlier services connectable at Limerick Junction or Mallow, so there's a bit of choice there. Passengers are welcome to join and leave at stations of their choosing, so if you join at Limerick Junction, for example, you're welcome to stay on until Cork in the evening, or vice versa.

I've seen worse but paint can lie. Rare surviving example of a laminate open with running gear intact. 1468 I think, the only other is its sister 1463 stored in Inchicore.

The Luas must be one of the last additions? I remember being impressed when it was added to the display, proving it wasn't static (figuratively).

I had enquired about 1558 in a past role around 2014, we were basically told you can take it but you'll need to take the mk3 as well. I think there'd been a change of management since they were acquired and I got the impression no longer wanted. As the enquiry was just for parts for the running Cravens and wouldn't have been worth the expense of extraction and storage, I reckon IÉ would rightly have had a fit had we suggested bringing the bogieless wonder back to Inchicore.

Through the kind co-operation of our friends in the Irish Traction Group, we are pleased to confirm that their 1956-vintage C Class diesel No.226 will be on display at Carrick-on-Suir for our visit to that station as part of the "Suir Lee Knot" railtour on 15th April. One of the most remarkable restoration stories of Irish preservation, this will be the first public occasion on which the class diesel will be on display since its engine was successfully restarted.. Passengers are welcome to join/depart at Limerick Junction, Mallow or Cork as suits. Tickets have been flying out the gate over the past weekend, and capacity on our 2600 class railcar set is limited so don’t delay, book today. Outline pickup times: Cork Kent Station 10:00 (back for 19:13) Mallow 10:23 (back for 18:46) Limerick Junction 11:06 (back for 17:47)

The Quiet American or The Quiet Man?

As part of the build up to our "Suir Lee Knot" tour, we've updated our blog with an article on the story of the 2600 class so far, complete with pictures of all the livery variants they've carried in service to date. https://www.tailtetours.com/post/the-2600-class-the-railcars-that-keep-on-going

Also, for anyone wishing to join at Mallow (or connect from Tralee) we'll be picking up there at 10:23 (back for 18:46).

Provisionally there will be a few minutes stop on the way back from Waterford for photos etc, subject to timely running. It'll be nonstop through Tipp on the way over (the loop line doesn't have passenger access so no way of getting out).

Quick update on this, we have requested to operate over the very rarely used Tipperary loop on the outbound run. For those planning on connections, outline pickup/set down as follows: Cork Dept 10:00, back for 19:13 Limerick Junction 11:06, back for 17:47. https://www.tailtetours.com/event-details/the-suir-lee-knot-railtour As it stands the tour is booked for a 4-car 2600 class railcar set. It will be the first working of the class into Waterford in well over 10 years, we think since the 2000s. Passengers can join/leave at Cork or Limerick Junction (or mix and match) to suit connections from Dublin and other places. As always timings are a guide and subject to tweaks but as an outline. Big thanks are due to the Iarnród Éireann Sales and Planning teams for their help in putting this together.

I recall the paint had the same purpley hue when the original coat was applied in Mullingar but cured by the time we put in traffic. Carriage stalwart @mphoey of this parish did the original striping. Also, the DSER 15/GSR K2 class and Sulzer B113 class have a 50% survival rate.

reminder kick off is at 19:45 tonight.

The latest in Irish Railways, Present, Past & Other Interesting Railways series of Zooms, this one manages to straddle both Irish and Interesting!: 28th February 2023 from 19:45 With the imminent release of the All Ireland Strategic Rail Review, what better time and speaker than Cólman Ó Raghallaigh? Join us as we talk about the background to West on Track, the need for transport investment outside of Dublin, the expectations of the Review and a lot more besides. We will also have a round up of railway news, and more information about the upcoming event from Tailte Tours, the Suir Lee Knot tour. As always, ALL are welcome to our Zoom and there is no admission fees or contribution required. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3040263673

Not necessary, Dromod is right beside the Station and accessible off the M4. Similarly Stradbally is just over an hour or so's drive from Dublin (not sure if there's still a bus but someone will know).

Its number escapes me but the Cavan & Leitrim have one of the Spence locos in the workshop at Dromod, some exciting plans for it too I believe...

Thankfully yes, new security fencing was added last year, given the amount of blatant trespassing that went on it's not surprising.

If it's successful we might well look at running more tours from Cork in the future...maybe other places too.

Thanks to the kind co-operation of Iarnród Éireann, our first ever Cork-based railtour offers participants a rare chance to travel in a 2600 railcar set over the Limerick Junction-Waterford route; it is hoped to include stops to view the now-rare semaphore signaling installations at Clonmel along with the ITG base at Carrick-on-Suir. https://www.tailtetours.com/event-details/the-suir-lee-knot-railtour Passengers will have ample time to get lunch and refreshments in Waterford. Nowadays the Waterford-Limerick Junction route is exclusively worked by 22000 class Intercity Railcars, so this is a rare chance to travel the route in the classic 1990s-built 2600 class railcar sets. While the 2700 and 2800 classes have worked the route in times past, the 2600s have always been relative strangers to the line so this is a rare treat. For passengers intending to join us from other locations, connections can be made at Cork or Limerick Junction (our railtour is timed so as that Dublin-based passengers can get the first service to Cork and last one back). Dept Cork approx 10:00am, back by 8:00pm Full timings will be advised in due course, subject to final confirmation with Iarnród Éireann. We have two ticket options available (no additional fees): €65 Standard €88 "Mystery Train" - this includes travel on the railtour plus a Mystery pack containing souvenir items with an RRP of at least €30. Tickets are sold on a strictly non-refundable basis.

Obviously it's the 29000 with the brown patches.

I remember Tayto sending in samples of said bars to the publisher I worked for about 10 years ago... I don't recall them going down particularly well! I recall one whit describing them as 'tasting like a child's birthday party'.