First Look at the IRM Tara!

[DiveController]

 

I think you're referring to these in 1992. Not sure why the usual Tara mines wagons were not being used and how these were unloaded at Arklow

[Railer]

I think it was from the unloading point at Arklow why the tara wagons were not used. At Arklow there was no way of removing the lids and tipping the wagons over.

[Mayner]

The initial shipments of ore from Tara were exported through Foynes in Byrtes wagons as the Tara Mines Terminal at Gouldings wharf was blacked by former Goulding Fertiliser workers holding out for better redundancy terms.

I don't know the background around the Tara Ore exports through Arklow.

Arklow appears to have been trying to compete with Dublin Port for bulk cargo around the same time when Cawoods coal was imported in containers and was transported by rail to destinations on the IE & NIR networks. The main drawback was the absence of a rail connection to the port, which ironically removed in the 1850s when the DWWR extended its line to Arklow and diverted ore traffic from the Avoca Copper mines to DunLaoire rather than upgrade the existing ore tramway to Arklow Harbour.