Last ever loco hauled Weed Sprayer on the South Wexford Line

[Noel]

Spotted this video on youtube posted by Irish Rail Trains. Last ever train ran earlier this week.

 

[jhb171achill]

Brilliant stuff - a model of this entire train might be interesting - anyone?

This is historic - possibly this is the last ever train over the line.

The Greenway zealots will be out in force now.

[Noel]

10 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

Brilliant stuff - a model of this entire train might be interesting - anyone?

This is historic - possibly this is the last ever train over the line.

The Greenway zealots will be out in force now.

Yes sad to see any line close especially when it seems to be in relatively good condition with concrete sleepers and CWR, but alas just no traffic demand.  At least the greenway will preserve the line in CIE ownership in the unlikely event when our population hits 10m it may be re-opened in the future.  Greenway should also cause the buildings and heritage structures to be preserved and maintained.  Ultimately if you think of it this way the line had 10-15 passengers a day when it ceased PAX operations, when it is opened as a greenway linking Rosslare to Waterford and Dungarvan it will have many hundreds of users per day and 000s per day during high season. 

This has been the case in the highly successfully Great Western greenway and looks like the same is happening for the more recent Deise greenway linking Waterford and Dungarvan.  Both of these greenways have spectacular scenery and have very significantly boosted the tourism in their respective regions.  I'm not so sure how some of the less scenic greenways in the midland bog regions will do.  You need cutesy villages and hospitality amenities to attract greenway users.

It is sad though to see a line in good condition close - an asset that could not be put to revenue earning use.  One wonders how other lines such as Limerick-Ballybrophy may last given the already very poor track condition unlike the south wexford line.

Ireland is no longer the poor country it was in the 1950s, most folks nowadays can afford some form of motor transport unlike 50-60 years ago, so in an ironic way the reduction in demand for passenger services is a reflection of social economic transformation.

[DERAILED]

It didn't have 10-15 passengers per day - where did you get that from? It was a poorly patronised line of late due to a useless timetable and deliberate neglect by CIE for decades. Your thinking is blinkered and typical of so many who talk about the route like it was a Loughrea type local branchline. I could go on but I'll only get banned. Have a nice day.

[Noel]

14 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

Brilliant stuff - a model of this entire train might be interesting - anyone?

This is historic - possibly this is the last ever train over the line.

The Greenway zealots will be out in force now.

Found two more youtube clips, the first was posted 2010 of a view from onboard the train crossing the incredible barrow bridge, the second is last years weed spray train hauled by 077.

2010

2017 crossing the barrow bridge

 

[Irishrailwayman]

3 hours ago, DERAILED said:

It didn't have 10-15 passengers per day - where did you get that from? It was a poorly patronised line of late due to a useless timetable and deliberate neglect by CIE for decades. Your thinking is blinkered and typical of so many who talk about the route like it was a Loughrea type local branchline. I could go on but I'll only get banned. Have a nice day.

Over decades the towns on the line between Wexford and Waterford should have been developed as it provided a perfect commute in either direction particularly when the road between both towns was very poor.

9 minutes ago, Noel said:

Found two more youtube clips, the first was posted 2010 of a view from onboard the train crossing the incredible barrow bridge, the second is last years weed spray train hauled by 077.

2010

2017 crossing the barrow bridge

 

An iconic and special bridge - hopefully any greenway will use it and see it properly preserved?

[Noel]

34 minutes ago, Irishrailwayman said:

An iconic and special bridge - hopefully any greenway will use it and see it properly preserved?

Agree. Could the collapse of foot passengers using ferry services have been contributory factor?  

In days long gone bye I remember you could walk off a train at Dun Laoghaire Carlisle pier directly across the platform and board a ferry.  Same in Rosslare port before they relocated the station away from the Ferry terminals, and also after a ferry docked in Hollyhead you could walk straight off the boat onto the adjacent platform to board a class 37 hauled train to London. Those were the days when there seemed to be a little more joined up thinking in public transport and market sensitive time tabling. But are they many folk on foot anymore?  I've only used those respective ferry's with a car since the 1980s. I've heard it said that CIE may not have helped themselves by failing to synchronise train time tables to match Rosslare ferry sailings either. But in fairness I don't know what passenger data figures they may have been presented with when making strategic decisions about routes and long terms infrastructure investment. I'm grateful to the folks who put together youtube videos depicting lines before they close. 

Edited June 8, 2018 by Noel
typos galore

[Georgeconna]

How long before IR H&S say the Bridge will be too Dangerous to use for Pedestrians and will close the thing to Greenway anyway.

As above Derailed Said, useless timetable leaving at pointless times, No Sunday service so who is gonna use this to travel to Wexford over the weekend.

Stoke of a Pen to Close but Millions to restore should it need to be re installed at some stage.

 

 

2 minutes ago, Noel said:

Agree. Could the collapse of foot passengers using ferry services have been contributory factor?  

In days long gone bye I remember you could walk off a train at Dun Laoghaire Carlisle pier directly across the platform and board a ferry.  Same in Rosslare port before they relocated the station away from the Ferry terminals, and also after a ferry docked in Hollyhead you could walk straight off the boat onto the adjacent platform to board a class 37 hauled train to London. Those were the days when there seemed to be a little more joined up thinking in public transport and market sensitive time tabling. But are they many folk on foot anymore?  I've only used those respective ferry's with a car since the 1980s. I've heard it said that CIE may not have helped themselves by failing to synchronise train time tables to match Rosslare ferry sailings either. But in fairness I don't know what passenger data figures they may have been presented with when making strategic decisions about routes and long terms infrastructure investment. I'm grateful to the folks who put together youtube videos depicting lines before they close. 

I remember the ol Fella telling me that they would see the Train Pulling Away from the Harbour Railway station as the boat was minutes from Rosslare. That was years back. 

Building a new Station away from the Ferry Terminal does not help matters either. Crazy Decision.

 

[RedRich]

My in laws back garden looks right down on the Barrow Bridge it's hard to take as an enthusiast how little this bridge and this line has been used over the last few years. To say that the weed sprayer was the last train is very sad. I was lucky enough to have taken a walk along the bridge (with permission) and it is a fantastic structure.

Rich,

[Broithe]

33 minutes ago, Noel said:

Agree. Could the collapse of foot passengers using ferry services have been contributory factor?  

In days long gone bye I remember you could walk off a train at Dun Laoghaire Carlisle pier directly across the platform and board a ferry.  Same in Rosslare port before they relocated the station away from the Ferry terminals, and also after a ferry docked in Hollyhead you could walk straight off the boat onto the adjacent platform to board a class 37 hauled train to London. Those were the days when there seemed to be a little more joined up thinking in public transport and market sensitive time tabling. But are they many folk on foot anymore?  I've only used those respective ferry's with a car since the 1980s. I've heard it said that CIE may not have helped themselves by failing to synchronise train time tables to match Rosslare ferry sailings either. But in fairness I don't know what passenger data figures they may have been presented with when making strategic decisions about routes and long terms infrastructure investment. I'm grateful to the folks who put together youtube videos depicting lines before they close. 

I used Holyhead - Dun Laoghaire/Dublin as a train-delivered foot passenger regularly, up to ten years ago. It got steadily more difficult to access the train part here on the Big Island. In the 90s, I could get a train from Stafford at 00:02 to catch the 02:40 boat - with no changes. The last time I looked, I would have had to be at the station for 20:30 to catch the same boat - the timetable changed continuously and there could be two, even three, changes. Coming back here, the train would sit for hours at Holyhead - engine running, lights on and all the doors locked, so you couldn't even get on and settle down. The Waiting Room would also be locked - you just had to hang around a station that looked like a set from a war film, until they deigned to let you on the train. I came to the conclusion that it was deliberate sabotage. The attitude that foot passengers met at Holyhead was little short of open contempt.

My rail journey on the Irish side of the water got steadily better, but, on this side, it just got too difficult. Even buying the ticket here was a difficult process, trying to convince people that it really was possible. 

There's little point in synchronising transport on one side of the sea, if people are going to meet the UK's randomised attitude to everything when they get here.