jhb171achill

They should put the Enterprise back to Central Lanyon straight away.

1000%, couldn’t agree more. And in the light of the above, every detail of which is correct, compare the utter nonsense portrayed in the All Ireland rail review. They either didn’t do any serious research at all, or else produced a report telling what they were told the results were to be, in order to enable our politicians and to just kick the can down another road. Reopen Portadown - Cavan - Inny Junction? SERIOUSLY? Ooooh boy.

Should be red - the black was dirt, same way blue GNR engines often appeared to have a “black” dome. The RPSI repaint of Drumboe perpetuates this inaccuracy.

Many of the ones you mention were built for perceived reasons of strategy, or promoted by local interests whose business acumen was somewhat lacking. The post-1883 flurry of building the "Baronial" lines served useful purposes in many cases, but never forget that the very reason these grants were given was that the local "big" railway compnay was already well aware that they hadn't a hope of being financially viable on their own. Railway history is littered with these; Achill, Clifden, Kenmare, Glenties and so on; lines which never traded profitably throughout their lives. We hear clamours today of such-and-such a line "should never have been closed". While occasionally correct, this is usually quite wrong. A population something like HALF what it is today, in the 1960s, and governments simply not havinbg the financial wherewithal they have now, made almost all of the closures which did happen, inevitable. If there was any big "sin" involved in closures, it was not so much the actual closure, but the failure to protect the rights of way of the line closed. Had these been preserved, plus a waiver that a reopening, even if decades ahead, would not need new planning permission of any sort, we would be in a much better position to address transport policy issues today. The two we hear most of - West Cork and the Derry Road - would be impossible to resurrect now on their original routes, and light years beyond prohibitely expensive to build circuitous new-build lines around places like the south of Cork city, Portadown, Omagh and Strabane. Had the rights of way remained, reopening would be easy - especially if the state had the powers to just bulldoze anything that farmers or others had put over the former line since, without reference to any local councillors!

I've eaten it.

Will there be cake?

A good deal of interest packed into a comparatively manageable space....

Mad, utterly mad. Looks like I’ll be driving next few times I’m up there.

Have they been in?

Wow! VERY nice!

Wonder who's picking up the tab for that? And what they're going to do with the restored roof / building?

My understanding is that any potential restoration of the station is and will be an entirely separate issue to the relaying of the railway, as the station itself is not of actual practical use in any way and therefore not part of the railway relaying plan. The new terminus track layout will veer to the left of that picture, I understand. The bigger issue, of course, is what actual traffic will operate on this newly reopened line. Thus far, precisely nothing concrete appears to have been mentioned anywhere. What will the line be used for on a day to day basis?

I've been asked to pass this on: 11:00 Guided tour with narrative, showing a walk through Irish railway history through the eyes of modeller Cyril Fry and his models. Failté Ireland will be visiting too, so that any comments / reactions / feedback will be welcome.

I had that thought in the back of my mind too, but wasn’t sure. Doors were presumably operated from the DVT?

I think you still can get the maps free on osi mapviewer? Since the track plan will be condensed, strict accuracy over track plan will be neither necessary nor possible. If you're ever in malahide, call into the Model Railway Museum and look at the condensed model of Mallow on the layout in there.

Agreed. In experimental stages it's a completely blank canvas. Even some much more experienced railway modellers, with several (or many!) comprehensive and complex layouts under their belt, will start a new one with some particular plan in mind, and it will end up as something else entirely. Once you've played about a bit, and decided what you want the final thing to look like or represent (if anything, and it doesn't have to!), then you can always sell off any rolling stock you have already acquired which you think doesn't fit. Good luck!

Senior - still in the railway at the time - simply referred to the 121 & 141 classes alike as the “B class”. To him, a diehard steam man, they were all the same!

2hrs 15 - and with Centrsl Jct to new central station maybe a mile shorter than to old central, technically it’s slower point to point?

One loco push / pull with five coaches. initially a longer formation would be 7, topped and tailed by two locomotives. I’m unaware of any double heading.

Now a thing like THAT - yes!!

And indeed they’re exactly the same design that ran on the NCC system.

I’d imagine that after the GSR amalgamation in 1925, virtually everything that ran here would have bWen brought in second hand from GB. So today, virtually everything would be various types of 1980s and 1990s railcars (or “DMUs” as they call them….) Locos - classes 24, 25, 26 & 33 might have been common. Little use for larger yokes like 47s. 31s on freight?

Waterford - Limerick, Limerick - Tralee (including Foynes & Fenit), Limerick - Killaloe (Birdhill to Ballybrophy was GSWR), and Limerick - Collooney (with running powers to Sligo).

MIGHTY stuff indeed!

And look at the elderly GSWR third in the middle of the train! What on earth was that doing on the "Enterprise"? Unfortunately, every single one of SF's liveries on those engines are wrong! (I believe he has actually discontinued that one, anyway).