GSR 800

if CIE stuck with Steam we may have ended up with some bulleid Q1s!

On the Dart + ramps extend from the doors to the platform

To Belfast would probably be possible, with some bottlenecks like the Malahide viaduct. AFAIK there's been no mention of quad tracking to Drogheda for Dart +, which makes me seriously wonder how Intercity services are going to manage. Greenway is a waste of time IMO, and this is someone who's cycled it regularly. Very few trek more than a few miles.

208 was with 9001 today. She replaced 227 who had brought the service in from Belfast. 227 will be sent to Inchicore as she's having her bogies removed.

They'd have to rip up the greenway to get double track back down Mullingar-Galway etc. Definitely not happening with the current crowd in, since the greenway was done under their watch. Any reopening would require serious work. Do you get rid of the Greenway? Leave it running alongside with a big fuck off fence/wall running the whole length of the line? The biggest thing that can be done rn IMO is double-tracking The Sligo line. Would significantly improve services on the line, putting an end to loop bottlenecks, allowing for more regular services and better timing. The morning commuters and rush hour intercities are usually packed to the gills.

https://lovindublin.com/news/new-dart-station-woodbrook Built to serve a new housing development of 5,000 people

How are they doing that then

From what I've heard, ICRs are preferred for taking early morning Enterprise services over the locomotive hauled DDs. Something regarding handling the colder temperatures better.

The sleepers for the narrow gauge track

85, 800, 171, 461, most likely in my opinion. J15s would probably still sell well too but so soon after oo works, I'm not sure. Maebh (and the 800s) would be the obvious choice but she has sat in Cultra for the last 60 years, whereas the RPSI locos have been out and about, and all the major RPSI locos have decent class numbers (apart from 461). V class hit most of the right marks, big loco, nice livery, decent working career, and still working in preservation (good use for those RPSI coaches) and 5 of them. Very little GNRI rtr rolling stock available atm would be one minus for them, whereas a southern loco has the six-wheelers and the irm laminates coming through the pipework. For GSR 4-4-0s, surely the go-to would be the 301s. Still think it is unlikely (at least for a good while) that we'll see a southern 4-4-0 in rtr, unless oo works decides to have a lash at it.

Excuse the quality, video was very much done on the hop! The 16:50 Enterprise departing from Connolly 7/11/23 20231107_165234.mp4

Whatever loco it is, I hope its announced soon...

Beet wagons!

wasnt the one for the park royals off by about a day too

something like a van or wagon wouldn't surprise me given the amount of grey

tbf it only shows up when you go specifically to the news section, not when you go to the site's main page, at least for me. With 10 days to go, dare we believe there may be a few hints to whet the appetite?

Aye, which is why I brought it up. Questions also remain regarding the Dart + coastal north and its impact on Belfast services.

Here's to hoping the DD replacements will have the looks of the BR class 800 and the reliability of the Stadler FLIRTs, while retaining the comfort of the DDs.

let there be steam...

Believe so. 1700 Bellers has left 5 minutes early, a 22000 set in place of the DD

When will Merlin be on standby for Enterprise duty outside the shed instead of one of the 201s... saw one of the common liveried ones yesterday on shed, couldn't tell you which one now, good chance the same one pulling the one you saw up though.

1700 was DD again Not directly related, but on the way out from Connolly I'm after noticing the GNRI coat of arms at the engine shed where the CIE logo used to be! Looks tidy. After passing 8209 stopped between Drumcondra and Connolly. Coming from/going to Inchicore?

the 1700 Bellers was De Dietrich anyway

I wonder if sales were impacted by the notorious difficulties balancing 4-4-0 kits? (IIRC there's a thread with an S class under construction where this is noted) Alternatively, the sheer longevity of the 2-4-0s probably gives them the edge, they can be justified on an early '60s layout. the resemblance with the 38 and the Achill Bogie is striking

Locomotives that got to Amiens Street or Limerick after Inchicore closed to steam give a good idea of what was still kicking around in later years. 309 lasted a good long while anyway.