Just back from a 6 day tour of SW Ireland. Several soft days [inevitably!], but enough good weather to appreciate most of the scenery. Our tour started from Shannon & went north and west via the Burren & Cliffs of Moher on a lovely day when we quickly realised our [very] cheap hire car had not air-con and aerobic windows - the latter a neat idea, but one I can't see catching on... The carefully planned route also took in Moyasta Junction & although shut, I did manage to photograph a few things, including the steam loco and several industrial diesels, albeit with the former hiding in its shed. Am sure the interior of Moyata station will feature in a future model building, as it was a real time warp.
First question though - what is all the broad gauge stuff going to be used for over the road? As well numerous carriages, seemed to me there was either a C or an A lurking under tarpaulins.
The Shannon ferry was a bit of fun & of course soon after, we rolled into Listowell, only to find we had missed the last train by less than half an hour. They must shut up shop pretty quickly mind as nobody was about, so could only poke the camera lens through the fence to take a couple of pics of the track. Not anywhere on my modelling radar mind, though did meet a young chap at St Albans this year who was well on the way to creating a station scene with lots of superb track built from his own etchings.
That was Day 1, which ended in our base for three nights at a very nice hotel in Killarney. Day 2 was the Ring of Kerry, sadly spoiled by a white out from Kenmore pretty much all the way to Cahirciveen. Kenmore seems a fine town & presumably the station was fairly close to the centre as the church spire features in several Casserley photos. Presume it is now part of the supermarket? Had to visit the Valencia railhead, almost lost in the murk, but did see much of the old trackbed on the way back to Killarney. As for the 'Reeks', cloud base was below 100feet and in it, visibility below 50 feet, so that is twice we've missed the scenery here.
Day 3 was Dingle, which started a bit like Day 2, but at least cleared in the afternoon. My goodness, the peninsula is stunning, while tracing the route of the railway makes you wonder if the gradients were actually steeper than 1 in 29 in places? No problems tracing the route, especially with Castlegregory Junction so easily identifiable. Another question here though - what, if anything, is happening to the 'preserved' stretch from Tralee to Blennerville? Track in place, but very rusty & no sign of life as we passed.
Day 4 was a tour [with more rain] via Bantry, Skibbereen, Clonakilty and Kinsale [spell checker wants to put Kindle here!] to our final base in Cork. Hence stopped at Ballydehob for the Schull & Skibbereen viaduct. Nice to see it in such a good state of repair, but disappointed to find no references to its origins - just the birds & other wildlife you might see in the estuary. Am afraid we passed on the model village at Clonakilty - 11 euros each seemed a bit much, even though it is presumably housed in the old Bandon station? Did we miss much?
What we did do was call in at Courtmacsherry. What a superb little place that was, with the trackbed of the tramway clearly traceable, right into the old station site. Am presuming that is the old station building, now converted into a house? Likewise, that is the former loco shed in the garden? What about the stone building next to it though? Certainly looks old, while am guessing that the railway must have run right in front of the school as it came into the village. For me, this is just about the perfect branch terminus, especially with the siding out onto the pier as well & with Tyrconnel doing kits for all the locos and stock, it surprises me than nobody has had a go at building it. Certainly on my list, though not anytime soon. There was even a race meeting on the 'strand' [mudflats, really], again great fun & would make an interesting scenic item in a smaller scale methinks.
Day 5 saw the morning spent in Cork, but much more enjoyable was a rail trip out to Cobh. Very pretty town, spoiled a little by the Carribbean Princess cruise ship being in port. Hence many [mostly elderly, it seemed] Americans and Aussies wandering around. Very good for local trade though! Nice to see the town makes much of its railway history, with several good display boards. Likewise the semaphore signal still standing at the Cobh end of Cork station.. Am guessing they are not working now though?
Saw two Class 201s in Cork - one in the yard, the other just in with an express from Dublin. Am guessing the station has been much altered of late. Did it always only have just two through platforms though?
On the way out of Cork the next day, glimpsed what I though might have been a smaller diesel in the station. Certainly looked a bit short for a 200, but was in the new green livery, at the head of passenger stock. Unable to stop at the time, but perhaps someone can enlighten?
Our last day was about getting back to Shannon, for our evening flight. Managed to visit Youghal, which is a very fine little town & it would be nice to see the line from Middleton extended there - certainly the trains were rode on were very busy to & from Cobh.
Crossed the Mallow - Waterford line on our way to Limerick, but no further railway sightings. Lovely holiday - splendid scenery, lovely people [great music in the bars] and excellent food. Pretty good value too, even with the euro falling through the floor. We'll be back - and not just for Cultra in November, though am thinking the only way I'm likely to see the Ring of Kerry in all its glory would be to live locally for six months and get out when/if a fine day is ever forecast!
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David Holman
Just back from a 6 day tour of SW Ireland. Several soft days [inevitably!], but enough good weather to appreciate most of the scenery. Our tour started from Shannon & went north and west via the Burren & Cliffs of Moher on a lovely day when we quickly realised our [very] cheap hire car had not air-con and aerobic windows - the latter a neat idea, but one I can't see catching on... The carefully planned route also took in Moyasta Junction & although shut, I did manage to photograph a few things, including the steam loco and several industrial diesels, albeit with the former hiding in its shed. Am sure the interior of Moyata station will feature in a future model building, as it was a real time warp.
First question though - what is all the broad gauge stuff going to be used for over the road? As well numerous carriages, seemed to me there was either a C or an A lurking under tarpaulins.
The Shannon ferry was a bit of fun & of course soon after, we rolled into Listowell, only to find we had missed the last train by less than half an hour. They must shut up shop pretty quickly mind as nobody was about, so could only poke the camera lens through the fence to take a couple of pics of the track. Not anywhere on my modelling radar mind, though did meet a young chap at St Albans this year who was well on the way to creating a station scene with lots of superb track built from his own etchings.
That was Day 1, which ended in our base for three nights at a very nice hotel in Killarney. Day 2 was the Ring of Kerry, sadly spoiled by a white out from Kenmore pretty much all the way to Cahirciveen. Kenmore seems a fine town & presumably the station was fairly close to the centre as the church spire features in several Casserley photos. Presume it is now part of the supermarket? Had to visit the Valencia railhead, almost lost in the murk, but did see much of the old trackbed on the way back to Killarney. As for the 'Reeks', cloud base was below 100feet and in it, visibility below 50 feet, so that is twice we've missed the scenery here.
Day 3 was Dingle, which started a bit like Day 2, but at least cleared in the afternoon. My goodness, the peninsula is stunning, while tracing the route of the railway makes you wonder if the gradients were actually steeper than 1 in 29 in places? No problems tracing the route, especially with Castlegregory Junction so easily identifiable. Another question here though - what, if anything, is happening to the 'preserved' stretch from Tralee to Blennerville? Track in place, but very rusty & no sign of life as we passed.
Day 4 was a tour [with more rain] via Bantry, Skibbereen, Clonakilty and Kinsale [spell checker wants to put Kindle here!] to our final base in Cork. Hence stopped at Ballydehob for the Schull & Skibbereen viaduct. Nice to see it in such a good state of repair, but disappointed to find no references to its origins - just the birds & other wildlife you might see in the estuary. Am afraid we passed on the model village at Clonakilty - 11 euros each seemed a bit much, even though it is presumably housed in the old Bandon station? Did we miss much?
What we did do was call in at Courtmacsherry. What a superb little place that was, with the trackbed of the tramway clearly traceable, right into the old station site. Am presuming that is the old station building, now converted into a house? Likewise, that is the former loco shed in the garden? What about the stone building next to it though? Certainly looks old, while am guessing that the railway must have run right in front of the school as it came into the village. For me, this is just about the perfect branch terminus, especially with the siding out onto the pier as well & with Tyrconnel doing kits for all the locos and stock, it surprises me than nobody has had a go at building it. Certainly on my list, though not anytime soon. There was even a race meeting on the 'strand' [mudflats, really], again great fun & would make an interesting scenic item in a smaller scale methinks.
Day 5 saw the morning spent in Cork, but much more enjoyable was a rail trip out to Cobh. Very pretty town, spoiled a little by the Carribbean Princess cruise ship being in port. Hence many [mostly elderly, it seemed] Americans and Aussies wandering around. Very good for local trade though! Nice to see the town makes much of its railway history, with several good display boards. Likewise the semaphore signal still standing at the Cobh end of Cork station.. Am guessing they are not working now though?
Saw two Class 201s in Cork - one in the yard, the other just in with an express from Dublin. Am guessing the station has been much altered of late. Did it always only have just two through platforms though?
On the way out of Cork the next day, glimpsed what I though might have been a smaller diesel in the station. Certainly looked a bit short for a 200, but was in the new green livery, at the head of passenger stock. Unable to stop at the time, but perhaps someone can enlighten?
Our last day was about getting back to Shannon, for our evening flight. Managed to visit Youghal, which is a very fine little town & it would be nice to see the line from Middleton extended there - certainly the trains were rode on were very busy to & from Cobh.
Crossed the Mallow - Waterford line on our way to Limerick, but no further railway sightings. Lovely holiday - splendid scenery, lovely people [great music in the bars] and excellent food. Pretty good value too, even with the euro falling through the floor. We'll be back - and not just for Cultra in November, though am thinking the only way I'm likely to see the Ring of Kerry in all its glory would be to live locally for six months and get out when/if a fine day is ever forecast!
Edited by David Holman7 answers to this question
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