LUAS Frieght

[meathdane]

Bit of a funny What if, 

My work brings me on the Luas, when I'm on the Red Line, it passes by Guinness Brewery, right down to the Point, would it be a mad possibility for them to take a small siding into the Brewery and extend the line from the Point across to the Port? Granted the line is busy during the day, but after midnight and before 6am. 

 

It would help facilitate Guinness transfers to the Port, freeing Lorries from city centre traffic after the Quays traffic changes, the infrastructure is 90% there, there's even a unused siding at the point that could be brought across the road relatively easily. Infrastructure that is unused for 6 hours a day will be utalised. Is there any reason this wouldn't be feasible? 

Possibly even have a spur into North wall for heavy rail transfers

Just a thought exercise for fun! 

[Westcorkrailway]

51 minutes ago, meathdane said:

Bit of a funny What if, 

My work brings me on the Luas, when I'm on the Red Line, it passes by Guinness Brewery, right down to the Point, would it be a mad possibility for them to take a small siding into the Brewery and extend the line from the Point across to the Port? Granted the line is busy during the day, but after midnight and before 6am. 

 

It would help facilitate Guinness transfers to the Port, freeing Lorries from city centre traffic after the Quays traffic changes, the infrastructure is 90% there, there's even a unused siding at the point that could be brought across the road relatively easily. Infrastructure that is unused for 6 hours a day will be utalised. Is there any reason this wouldn't be feasible? 

Possibly even have a spur into North wall for heavy rail transfers

Just a thought exercise for fun! 

I presume the loading gauge of the Luas tracks would mean a light locomotive would be at the head of the train. Limiting its potential? 
 

Also it would be going at less than walking pace, I presume a flag man would be required! 
 

And I’m sure the people living near the Luas wouldn’t be to pleased with that yolk coming through in the middle of the night? 

[jhb171achill]

Tinier loading gauge and narrower track gauge - but - the Dublin United Tramways Co. used to take goods wagons off the Dublin & Blessington Tramway at night, bringing them through the streets hauled by an electric locomotive to the south-side river bank area. This was sand from out beyond a country village called Tallaght....!

So nothing's without a precedent. But the Luas would be entirely unsuiatble for Dublin Port traffic, unfortunately.

That said, a passenger extension down to the port would facilitate foot passengers on the ferry (all three of them!) and port workers.

[Mol_PMB]

Freight trams have run in Switzerland and Germany in recent years, so it's not impossible in the modern era. However, I think the two main operations (Dresden and Zurich) have stopped recently.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CarGoTram

http://www.tautonline.com/zurichs-cargo-tram/

Just make a tram with a normal LUAS-like cab each end, and the rest with a flat deck and mounting points for Guinness cages.

 

The reason there's only three foot passengers on the ferry is precisely because of the lack of effective public transport at the Dublin end! Also the 'rail and sail' deals are harder to find and poorer value than they used to be, making flying cheaper.

[meathdane]

2 hours ago, Westcorkrailway said:

I presume the loading gauge of the Luas tracks would mean a light locomotive would be at the head of the train. Limiting its potential? 
 

Also it would be going at less than walking pace, I presume a flag man would be required! 
 

And I’m sure the people living near the Luas wouldn’t be to pleased with that yolk coming through in the middle of the night? 

Would it be? The Luas line is signalled and controlled by traffic lights at crossings, so I would assume it could travel at relatively similar speeds to the standard LUAS. Though the weight and stopping time might mean a slower speed is required

As for the loading gauge, could the standard lorry tankers be placed onto essentially flats and used that way? The tramway is about the correct width of a standard road lane if I'm not mistaken? 

It's not that deep, just musing over returning rail transport to the brewery on a otherwise boring trip!

 

2 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

Tinier loading gauge and narrower track gauge - but - the Dublin United Tramways Co. used to take goods wagons off the Dublin & Blessington Tramway at night, bringing them through the streets hauled by an electric locomotive to the south-side river bank area. This was sand from out beyond a country village called Tallaght....!

So nothing's without a precedent. But the Luas would be entirely unsuiatble for Dublin Port traffic, unfortunately.

That said, a passenger extension down to the port would facilitate foot passengers on the ferry (all three of them!) and port workers.

 

It is a shame, I've often wondered how different it would have been had it been a true narrow gauge line like Donegal, freight and passenger trains snaking through the city centre would have made for more interesting watching. Though drivers may disagree

[jhb171achill]

7 minutes ago, meathdane said:

Would it be? The Luas line is signalled and controlled by traffic lights at crossings, so I would assume it could travel at relatively similar speeds to the standard LUAS. Though the weight and stopping time might mean a slower speed is required

As for the loading gauge, could the standard lorry tankers be placed onto essentially flats and used that way? The tramway is about the correct width of a standard road lane if I'm not mistaken? 

It's not that deep, just musing over returning rail transport to the brewery on a otherwise boring trip!

It is a shame, I've often wondered how different it would have been had it been a true narrow gauge line like Donegal, freight and passenger trains snaking through the city centre would have made for more interesting watching. Though drivers may disagree

Despite being a driver, I'd love to see that!

[Mol_PMB]

There are plenty of places in Switzerland where metre gauge lines run through the streets, sometimes with freight trains too!

 

[meathdane]

39 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

There are plenty of places in Switzerland where metre gauge lines run through the streets, sometimes with freight trains too!

 

Looks great! Thanks for the photos and info, Must book a trip for a look! 

[MOGUL]

On 12/11/2024 at 8:12 PM, Mol_PMB said:

There are plenty of places in Switzerland where metre gauge lines run through the streets, sometimes with freight trains too!

 

And standard gauge wagons piggybacked on metre gauge carrier wagons in a few instances 

[Mayner]

On 13/11/2024 at 9:12 AM, Mol_PMB said:

There are plenty of places in Switzerland where metre gauge lines run through the streets, sometimes with freight trains too!

 

Can anyone identify the railway/tramway company?

411 looks like some sort of freight/luggage motor van/loco.

Besides the DUTC hauling Dublin & Blessington wagons onto its system, Dublin Corporation used to transport 'municipal waste" from its Stanley Street over the DUTC system for dumping in the landfill that later became Fairview Park.

[jhb171achill]

22 minutes ago, Mayner said:

Can anyone identify the railway/tramway company?

411 looks like some sort of freight/luggage motor van/loco.

Besides the DUTC hauling Dublin & Blessington wagons onto its system, Dublin Corporation used to transport 'municipal waste" from its Stanley Street over the DUTC system for dumping in the landfill that later became Fairview Park.

And the Bessbrook & Newry Tramway had its own road / rail convertible wagons. The short-lived small 1.5 mile Portstewart Tramway even carried light goods in one van!

[Mol_PMB]

6 hours ago, Mayner said:

Can anyone identify the railway/tramway company?

411 looks like some sort of freight/luggage motor van/loco.

Besides the DUTC hauling Dublin & Blessington wagons onto its system, Dublin Corporation used to transport 'municipal waste" from its Stanley Street over the DUTC system for dumping in the landfill that later became Fairview Park.

This is on the Chemins de fer du Jura, and it’s also a waste train. Click on the photo to take you to my Flickr album for more details, and many more photos. 
The CJ has a couple of street running sections, the more impressive one is at La Chaux-de-Fonds but I haven’t uploaded a photo of that - I’ll try to find one later. 
They also operate freight on rollschemels:

The RhB Chur-Arosa route is another place where you can see metre gauge freight/mixed trains running in the street. 
 

The biggest Swiss user of rollbocken for carrying standard gauge wagons on narrow gauge is the MBC:

Again, there are more pics in the Flickr album. 
Mol