First post

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

Hi all, just bumped into you, I am living in the northwest, my roots are in Munster my dad worked in the railway, first as a shunter then in the signal cabin up to his death, I am only recently into model railways, I am in the process of building my first layout, it's oo gauge and I hope to run it dcc but money will dictate, I am going to be doing a lot of research here and might have to ask rookie questions so bear with me, enjoy the rest of the weekend.

[GNRi1959]

Hi Gabhal, always good to have newcomers with a history in Irish railways. Where did your dad work ? Its always nice to ask questions. After many, many months of listening to advice i am running locos on a shunting layout I built. Welcome.

Tony

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

2 hours ago, GNRi1959 said:

Hi Gabhal, always good to have newcomers with a history in Irish railways. Where did your dad work ? Its always nice to ask questions. After many, many months of listening to advice i am running locos on a shunting layout I built. Welcome.

Tony

Well Tony, my dad worked in Limerick Junction station, the only crossroads on the Irish railway, he was there up to 1983, he worked in the south cabin, there was also a north cabin there.

Denis

[leslie10646]

Welcome, Denis

Before Tony, another GNR enthusiast, tells you - The Junction was not the only crossroads - I assume you mean crossing on the level - what about The Square Crossing at Dundalk, between the GN main line, and the Dundalk, Newry and Greenore?

Interestingly, to use both railway crossings, a reversal of passenger trains (with passengers)  was usually involved.

Leslie

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

12 hours ago, leslie10646 said:

Welcome, Denis

Before Tony, another GNR enthusiast, tells you - The Junction was not the only crossroads - I assume you mean crossing on the level - what about The Square Crossing at Dundalk, between the GN main line, and the Dundalk, Newry and Greenore?

Interestingly, to use both railway crossings, a reversal of passenger trains (with passengers)  was usually involved.

Leslie

Is that crossroads still operating?

[leslie10646]

Is that crossroads still operating?

No Denis, t ceased to be used in 1960, after the closure of the "Irish North Western" line from Dundalk to Enniskillen and Omagh. The crossing gave access directly from the "Irish North" line to the DNGR and Greenore. Once both lines were closed, it had no further use.

However, the residual part of the Dundalk Newry and Greenore line at Barrack Street, Dundalk, was accessible from a junction with the GNR main line at Dundalk South until as late as 1995.

So, TODAY, Limerick Junction is the only the only crossroads, but it was not always so!

Now, the other thing which The Junction boats is a TRIANGLE of lines - very useful for turning RPSI locos!

Question for readers - where else was there a triangular junction in Ireland? (John Beaumont is barred from this puzzle!).

Edited June 4, 2018 by leslie10646

[Garfield]

43 minutes ago, leslie10646 said:

where else was there a triangular junction in Ireland? (John Beaumont is barred from this puzzle!).

Downpatrick? Does Kilkenny count, too?

 

PS: welcome aboard, Gabhal!

[GNRi1959]

Bundoran Junction

Edited June 5, 2018 by GNRi1959

[Irishswissernie]

7 hours ago, leslie10646 said:

I

Question for readers - where else was there a triangular junction in Ireland? (John Beaumont is barred from this puzzle!).

Charleville, Limerick City, Moyasta (West Clare), Greenisland and nowadays Belfast GVS.

 

Ernie

 

 

[popeye]

And Downpatrick & Co Down Railway.

[leslie10646]

Well done, both of you. Especially getting Charleville - when did it cease to be Rath Luirc?

[Mayner]

4 hours ago, leslie10646 said:

Well done, both of you. Especially getting Charleville - when did it cease to be Rath Luirc?

I wonder whether the junction with the Cork-Limerick Direct line was re-named in GSR days? The triangular junction appears to have been removed at some stage after the takeover of the WLWR when through Kingsbridge-Limerick goods trains were routed to the Limerick Junction-Limerick line.

There was also another (short lived) triangular junction on a GSWR worked line.

[Irishswissernie]

The links from the Burma Road , the Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties and the M&GWR Sligo line at Collooney/Ballysodare  also formed a triangle, although I doubt if they were ever used as such.

 

Ernie

[Mayner]

13 minutes ago, Irishswissernie said:

The links from the Burma Road , the Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties and the M&GWR Sligo line at Collooney/Ballysodare  also formed a triangle, although I doubt if they were ever used as such.

 

Ernie

The GSWR and SLNCR interchanged traffic in pre-amalgamtaion days, the Southern Goods yard was basically laid out as a small marshalling yard for exchanging traffic with the SLNCR, the only thing missing being a turntable.

Its just about possible that the junction was used for turning locos off trains that terminated at Colloney GSWR, it would have been quicker than running light engine to Sligo to turn and avoided paying fees to the MGWR for running powers over their line from Carrignat Junction to Sligo.

[jhb171achill]

On 6/5/2018 at 12:52 AM, leslie10646 said:

 

Question for readers - where else was there a triangular junction in Ireland? (John Beaumont is barred from this puzzle!).

I'm sayin' nathin........  

......though Felthouse and Chareville were once.........!

[Broithe]

Kilkenny?

[Irishswissernie]

You could also include the original route of the Fishguard & Rosslare Railway (originally Wexford & Waterford railway I think) south of Wexford which was superseded by the direct route towards Waterford from Rosslare Strand and didn't see much use afterwards closing about 5 years later. My brain hurts!

 

ERnie

[jhb171achill]

48 minutes ago, Irishswissernie said:

You could also include the original route of the Fishguard & Rosslare Railway (originally Wexford & Waterford railway I think) south of Wexford which was superseded by the direct route towards Waterford from Rosslare Strand and didn't see much use afterwards closing about 5 years later. My brain hurts!

 

ERnie

Yes, that was Felthouse Junction.