DART 40

[Niles]

Happy Birthday to the DART, which began operations this day 40 years ago.

Personally I think the original sets are still looking pretty spry for 40.

 

[skinner75]

I still remember my uncle taking me down to Connolly the first day of operation, and we went out to Bray, then all the way to Howth, then back to Connolly.

I'd have been 9 years old then...

[jhb171achill]

They were a massive improvement for the travelling public. The trains they replaced, while far more interesting to enthusiasts, were falling to pieces.

[Niles]

46 minutes ago, skinner75 said:

I still remember my uncle taking me down to Connolly the first day of operation, and we went out to Bray, then all the way to Howth, then back to Connolly.

I'd have been 9 years old then...

I'm pretty certain my first rail trip was on a DART from Bray into town... probably about 3 but I distinctly remember thinking they were like 'Daisy' to my toddler eyes. 

Edited July 23 by Niles

[Sea Breezer]

New vinyl looking good

[Niles]

7 hours ago, Sea Breezer said:

New vinyl looking good

I quite like this...  something new to look out for too.

[Railway Lyons]

Always had soft spot for DART. I was born later the same year, but unlike the DART, I haven't gone through the refits to keep them going....

My grey hairs, scratches and scars are long lasting, but im still chugging along.

[Galteemore]

Hard to believe DART is 40. What’s striking is that only 20 years before the DART steam was regularly seen in and around Dublin, including frequent visits by a VS class - all of which seemed a lifetime ago in 1984! I was struck last week by the birthday celebrations of Paddy Hemingway, 105 now and the last surviving Battle of Britain pilot, who lives in Dublin. He joined the RAF in 1938 - ie before the 800s even left the works….amazing to think of someone still living who has seen so much……

Edited July 24 by Galteemore

[Niles]

The class leader out and about yesterday morning.

 

(Also a little quirk for modellers in this photo, it'll drive your OCD mad).

 

Edited July 28 by Niles

[murrayec]

I modeled her sister 8102 in Transition Mode - Driver training;-

..... and the completed model behind it 141 engine

This model also has sound, it can run in 141 or Dart mode

Eoin

[Niles]

13 minutes ago, murrayec said:

I modeled her sister 8102 in Transition Mode - Driver training;-

..... and the completed model behind it 141 engine

This model also has sound, it can run in 141 or Dart mode

Eoin

I was researching this for a non-modelling project which will emerge in the next month or two; from what we can tell the broken logo there for trials but not when they actually went into service. A detail I never really twigged until recently.

16 minutes ago, murrayec said:

I modeled her sister 8102 in Transition Mode - Driver training;-

..... and the completed model behind it 141 engine

This model also has sound, it can run in 141 or Dart mode

Eoin

The sound is iconic, any videos?

[LNERW1]

20 minutes ago, murrayec said:

I modeled her sister 8102 in Transition Mode - Driver training;-

..... and the completed model behind it 141 engine

This model also has sound, it can run in 141 or Dart mode

Eoin

Not to be nitpicky but isn’t that a 181? As opposed to a 141. Sorry to be a bit pedantic.

[murrayec]

17 minutes ago, Niles said:

The sound is iconic, any videos?

Unfortunately I lost the majority of the files on this project, back in 2021 my computer died and I could only restore a few files! the ones shown above were restored from this forum. 

I will be setting up a sound one for myself and will show a video then, or if I meet the client of the above one I'll get some video.

15 minutes ago, LNERW1 said:

Not to be nitpicky but isn’t that a 181? As opposed to a 141. Sorry to be a bit pedantic.

Again those photos above are all I could restore, the loco was renumbered to '143' which was the running number of the actual 141 used.

Eoin.

 

[Blaine]

22 hours ago, Niles said:

I was researching this for a non-modelling project which will emerge in the next month or two; from what we can tell the broken logo there for trials but not when they actually went into service. A detail I never really twigged until recently.

Yeah, guessing the term 'DART' wasnt part of the initial scheme either, they would have looked drab and boring otherwise, at least the catchy logo broke up the acres of green

[226 Abhann na Suire]

On 28/7/2024 at 1:23 PM, Niles said:

(Also a little quirk for modellers in this photo, it'll drive your OCD mad).

 

Been looking at it for the last 10 minutes, put us out of our misery @Niles!!

[DJ Dangerous]

On 28/7/2024 at 2:00 PM, LNERW1 said:

Not to be nitpicky but isn’t that a 181? As opposed to a 141. Sorry to be a bit pedantic.

 

I would generally abbreviate "141 / 181" to 141. To date, nobody who knows anything about trains has had difficulty understanding that.

[skinner75]

17 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

 

I would generally abbreviate "141 / 181" to 141. To date, nobody who knows anything about trains has had difficulty understanding that.

'Baby GM' works too!

[LNERW1]

2 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

 

I would generally abbreviate "141 / 181" to 141. To date, nobody who knows anything about trains has had difficulty understanding that.

Fair.

2 hours ago, skinner75 said:

'Baby GM' works too!

Also fair.

[LNERW1]

On 29/7/2024 at 11:00 PM, 226 Abhann na Suire said:

Been looking at it for the last 10 minutes, put us out of our misery @Niles!!

I'm not an expert, but i don't think the diagonal thing on the extreme right is meant to be diagonal?

[Niles]

On 29/7/2024 at 11:00 PM, 226 Abhann na Suire said:

Been looking at it for the last 10 minutes, put us out of our misery @Niles!!

Oh sorry forgot about this.

 

The '8' appears to be a slightly smaller size than the '101'. 

Lesson, don't worry too much about getting numbers spot on, the real railways don't.

[DJ Dangerous]

2 hours ago, Niles said:

Oh sorry forgot about this.

 

The '8' appears to be a slightly smaller size than the '101'. 

Lesson, don't worry too much about getting numbers spot on, the real railways don't.

You definitely don’t suffer from OCD…

It’s the one clean windscreen and one dirty that are driving me insane.

[Niles]

Some shots, inside and out, from a few nights ago. Simple but effective moving "storyboard". Makes a change from reading ads.

[GSWR 90]

Iarnród Éireann made a few bum bags out of Dart moquette to celebrate the 40th anniversary Maybe not extremely fashionable but will make a nice museum piece at DCDR – it’s the closest we can get to preserving the real thing!

Edited August 15 by GSWR 90

[LNERW1]

Reminds me of that train spotting fella off TikTok with the weird fisheye lens. He wears entire outfits based off of the branding and/or upholstery of tube lines, TOCs and BR sectors.

[LNERW1]

No chance there'll be a repaint into original livery? It's probably similar to the Arrow situation where IÉ can't have a unit that doesn't have some yellow on the ends, for safety.