Niles

Just a quick update, pickup/set down stops have been requested for Portarlington and Portlaoise should that help anyone in the midlands looking to join (or connecting from the west).

A pleasure. Hopefully we can give people a good day out while raising a few bob for our heritage groups. Win-win for all!

20th August 2022. The Premier Rose railtour Dublin Connolly-Islandbridge Junction-Mallow-Killarney-Tralee-Return. Featuring a unusual opportunity to travel behind a locomotive of any kind to Tralee, and an even rarer opportunity to travel in mkIV coaching stock on a line other than Heuston-Cork, The Premier Rose railtour has been organised by the newly formed Táilte Tours committee, a voluntary group which aims to help raise funds and awareness for Ireland's smaller heritage railway groups. This will also be a rare chance behind a 201 class locomotive off the Belfast or Cork mainlines, the arrival of the Intercity Railcar fleet having banished them from other passenger routes since 2009, with the majority of railtours since having been entrusted to 071 class locomotives. Passengers will have the option of a five hour break in Killarney or three hours in Tralee. We also have a special fare for passengers wishing to join at Mallow. Any profits made will be donated to a selection of Irish railway heritage groups, so this is a great opportunity to enjoy a rare locomotive hauled spin while also supporting volunteer groups across Ireland. These include: Belturbet Heritage Railway Station Cavan & Leitrim Railway County Donegal Railway Heritage Centre Downpatrick & County Down Railway Plus one more to be confirmed... Bookings now open at https://www.tailtetours.com/ Due to the fund raising nature of the event, unfortunately concessions will not be available. In the event of the trip not being able to go ahead any tickets purchased will be refunded in full. (Thanks to the admin for allowing this little plug )

The latest in the Irish Railways Present, Past and Other Interesting Railways series of Zoom events. Tuesday 8th March @ 20:00. Seán Cain, preservationist and expert on Ireland's industrial narrow gauge railways, will give us an overview on the extensive the Bord na Móna turf railway network, its history, the role it has played in Irish society and its future. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3040263673 All welcome.

Irish Railways Present, Past and Other Interesting Railways are having an informal Zoom meeting this evening, 1st March, at 20:00. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3040263673 No formal presentation as such this time but we'll be looking at things like as the DART+ Coastal North plans, reviewing 15 years of Docklands station and whatever the floor would like to discuss (within reason ). All very welcome.

I dunno, mixed liveried sets are quite common on the Continent, including DB, DSB and SNCB off the top of my head (NIR too now that I think about it). The 'yellow front' orange 201 livery is one of my favourites all round. Each to their own. The original 201 livery was quite striking compared to what had come before; I have a disinct memory of passing a new one at Shelton Abbey when I was 7—I knew nothing about the different classes at that age but it was striking enough to make a lasting impression.

The same day, 222 speeding through Kildare on the 09:00 Cork-Heuston, it appears to have got the same treatment.

Was going through photos to scan and came across this from 19th February 2005. 225 (not long out of the works I think) at Heuston on the 10:45 Waterford-Dublin. The keen-eyed will see that the 'Iarnród Éireann' lettering underneath the windows is a larger font size than normal. I think only a handful were done like this; the 'yellow front' orange variation was rolled out later in 2005 and this dispensed with the company name below the windows (although it was retained on the 'Intercity' version).

Super stuff! Is that a Grendon's built engine I wonder?

I wouldn't say no to said transfers being on the market...

Ah ok... so I take it the bagged cements were modified as such later on? I vaguely remember them as a toddler in the sidings at Arklow and Gorey, both curtain sided and the ones with the ribbed sides.

What chassis did the pallet cements use out of interest?

Checked my trusty copy of Shepherd & Beesley's The Dublin & South Eastern Railway; Cramlington Coal Company is where some ended up.

The DSER had some LNWR-built 2-4-2Ts, I think of Webb design. Curiously at least one of them was subsequently regauged to 4'8.5 and ended up in a colliery in GB. I don't know if there's a kit (doubt RTR?) for that type but someone will know I'm sure.

with a model of Milo smoking in the back , well he never got to travel in the real one he saved for DCDR so

Thinking aloud, a 2600 and a 2800 have a bit in common, (one of the most noticeable differences being the roof). Purely a thought exercise but I imagine one tooling could be used as a basis, allowing for tweaks. That said, I don't think a high fidelty model to the standard we've become used to would work in the 'starter'/'train set' market; aside from price it's not something you'd really want kids handling. That's where stuff like the Bachmann Commuter set fits in nicely. There's a mad amount of livery variants even within one basic colour scheme. From memory, the orange sets lost their 'Arrow' branding after a point, the 2800s carried 'NDP' logs, there was more than one variant of the 'Commuter' livery too. As for a 22000/ICR, it's not something I'd be emptying my bank account for personally but I can appreciate the appeal for many. Then again I'm also a weirdo who likes 201s just as much as 071s... (neither are a patch on a Bo-Bo though ).

I think both to an extent. I know from chatting to staff involved they had issues with brakes, among other things. Not the only Alstom product of that era to suffer issues either, for instance the 2700s and some UK stock. On the parts issue, compared to the German and Japanese fleet it's a very small fleet to hold specialised parts for. On the time in service issue, to give an idea, I started volunteering in Inchicore in Oct 2006 and set 8204/8404 was there the day I started, never left in the following 9 years I spent around there. So at this point it's easily spent 2/3 of its life away from the wires. I think two sets got a reprieve around 2007/8 but didn't last. Then you have the recession hitting so it makes sense that IÉ would give them the chop in favour of the more numerous and reliable German and Japanese fleets. Some may remember that the recession even saw some services worked by 2 car 8100s, mad to think now. Probably worth bearing in mind that the Alstom of today very different to that of 1999/2000, I wouldn't doubt the reliability of these units based on the follys of old.

I think the Bachmann '2700-esque' set was a commission between Mark's and Graham's at the time (and possibly a Northern shop?). Not accurate I know but I can see appeal of it as an impressionistic model. As a little lad I had a n-gauge battery TGV set in orange and black (anyone remember them, a sort of plastic black track? I had a HST one too). Anyway, I used to 'play' with the two orange and black centre cars, pretending they were the 'Arrow' trains I saw dash by grand-aunt's place in Ballyfermot. Again, not accurate but keeps kids interested by giving them something they can relate to.

I'm disappointed nobody's mentioned B*Witched. I remember the Marks kits on display there, I'm guessing the arrival of the Lima 201 shortly time would have had an impact on the 201? They had a 141 resin body on display for a while there, I never seen one painted.

That's a good point actually, even now there's a bit of confusion out there between Park Royals and Laminates, despite being very different profile wise. Even on preserved workings, I think I traced the first instance of the RPSI having one on a hired set to be part of the North Kerry tour (removed for some legs, annoyingly the most photographed ones) in the early 70s. This caused a lot of midnight oil to be consumed between Tony and myself back in the day, the aul 3am 'look at this!' emails...

I was researching Cravens for an article in Five Foot Three many years ago after we put the set back into traffic. I came across at least one source that noted them being in the formation of a steam-hauled cross border working in the mid 60s (behind a UTA Jeep to be specific). I seem to remember coming across another instance subsequent to the article being published, I must dig out my notes...

On the 201s being introduced, I understand when 201 was being tested she was given a combination of various wagons to form a long load test up the climb out of Cork. I'm sure it's recorded in one of the ITG or IRRS journals, that could be something different to model...

Link now available: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3040263673

More camcorder footage of dear old 186. Here she is arriving at Gorey on her way back from Waterford, 17th May 2005. I think this was the first time I saw her in steam. Modernisation has changed the view considerably since then, with the platforms extended, raised and resurfaced and the semaphores uprooted. The number 10 points near the water tower were removed about a year later, reducing the goods loop to a dead end siding. The carriages are mostly Inchicore built vehicles, including 1335, a GSR side corridor from the 1930s, and also some of the few surviving laminates, the last carriages to be built from scratch at Inchicore, extremely important survivors in their own right. 186 ‐ Made with Clipchamp.mp4

Some camcorder footage of the delightful GS&WR 186 arriving at Wicklow with the heritage set on a private charter, 22nd June 2005. Look closely at laminate brake 1916 behind the loco... I believe the odd modeller has used this technique to create the illusion of two different carriage sets. A prototype for everything indeed. 186 Wicklow ‐ Made with Clipchamp.mp4