Bord na Móna- rolling stock

[K801]

Read this on wiki;-

Bord na Móna has an extensive network and is larger than the main network (passenger and freight) operated by Iarnród Éireann.^{[citation needed]} Bord na Móna has one of the largest industrial railways in Europe

I wonder is there much 3ft rolling stock still in service?

[jhb171achill]

A fair bit on several systems but get there quick, as its days are numbered.

[airfixfan]

7 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

A fair bit on several systems but get there quick, as its days are numbered.

Well aware of this in regards to track and rolling stock in particular giving that the Bord na Mona network will be no more within 18 months.

[jhb171achill]

Sad, but I suppose inevitable.

Anyone with a bit of a field will be able to buy track, a working locomotive and find wagon chassis soon! They can’t ALL be preserved.....

If I had a bit of land, I’d be off to the ATM!

[Noel]

11 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

A fair bit on several systems but get there quick, as its days are numbered.

Yes climate action means an almost immediate end to all peat harvesting, already peat power stations are being decommissioned.

[David Holman]

While the right thing to do, we can only hope that someone (s) will have the wherewithal to set up a museum of Turf, complete with working railways. As a key part of Irish industrial heritage, something needs preserving, you'd hope.

[minister_for_hardship]

5 minutes ago, David Holman said:

While the right thing to do, we can only hope that someone (s) will have the wherewithal to set up a museum of Turf, complete with working railways. As a key part of Irish industrial heritage, something needs preserving, you'd hope.

Stradbally have assembled short demonstration turf train. Probably the only working demonstration goods in the country.

[David Holman]

Better than nothing I guess, but given what has been done at the Arigna Mining Experience (really well done), am hoping for much better.

[spudfan]

So probably not much use for this now...

 

Edited August 2, 2020 by spudfan

[airfixfan]

Will become a collectors item!

[spudfan]

28 minutes ago, airfixfan said:

Will become a collectors item!

Doubtful. The wife is a vintage item and there is not much interest in her.

[minister_for_hardship]

9 hours ago, David Holman said:

Better than nothing I guess, but given what has been done at the Arigna Mining Experience (really well done), am hoping for much better.

Unless B Na M resurrect the passenger carrying bog train and operate bog heritage environmental tours after cutting ceases I can't see much else happening. 

[jhb171achill]

7 hours ago, spudfan said:

So probably not much use for this now...

 

An excellent book, though!

[spudfan]

Yes and some funny looking "yokes" in it!!!

[jhb171achill]

36 minutes ago, minister_for_hardship said:

Unless B Na M resurrect the passenger carrying bog train and operate bog heritage environmental tours after cutting ceases I can't see much else happening. 

Perhaps a sample stretch of line might be kept somewhere of 4 or 5 miles.....for such an attraction.

[jhb171achill]

3 hours ago, spudfan said:

Yes and some funny looking "yokes" in it!!!

Yes, you wonder where "railway vehicle" ends, and where "random bits of half-welded buckets and bits of worthless unidentifiable scrap on wheels" takes over!

Edited August 3, 2020 by jhb171achill

[NIR]

The ones that look like caravans, wtf?

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, NIR said:

The ones that look like caravans, wtf?

Crew cars! Genuinely, when working out in a remote and exposed bog in the midlands, and it starts pouring and you'd get up to your waist in mud....... and the tea breaks, and transporting workers to remote sites....

But - I get ya!

[murrayec]

This was my favourite Crew Car;-

and I have a bit of Ex BNM Stock! A BSA C15T used by the works foremen in the early 60's;-

Eoin

 

[murrayec]

What happened to 'Aussi Phil'? he was building an amazing BNM layout and stock;-

 

[Mayner]

Edenderry Power Station (R401 Edenderry-Rathangan Rd, West Offaly Powerstation (Shannon Bridge)R357 Shannonbridge-Tullamore Rd & Lanesborough Power station should be good places to observe BNM Energy Divisions rail operations.

I griced BNM operations in Kildare and Offaly in the 90s and the newly opened Edenderry Station about 15 years ago. 

West Offaly Rail operations were readily visible from both the R357 & R436 including a loco stabling depot near Ferbane and Blackwater Works. There are/were a number of smaller isolated systems mainly in Kildare, Offaly and Westmeath these tend to be smaller in scale and have more in common with the Peat Railways in the UK, than the systems serving the peat fired power stations.

BNM Energy Division rail operations are/were a basically  scaled down 3' gauge 365-24/7 "Merry-Go-Round" train operation with fixed formation trains of (15) tippler wagons transporting milled peat rather than coal from stock piles to the power station.

The "Clonmacnoise and West Offaly" tourist railway and museum of the early 1990s originated as a Fás scheme for redundant BNM Blackwater staff and appears to have developed into a successful tourist operation catering mainly for coach tours.

Blackwater tourist train operations appear to have been discontinued because the tourist train operation was disrupting the flow of peat to the new West Offaly Power Station .

The whole business of de-commissioning three recently built relatively low emission power stations rather than conversion to burn home grown bio-mass reminds me of the Greencore saga with the closure of the Irish sugar industry and seems to have very little to do with reducing Irelands overall greenhouse emissions while leaving the coal burning Moneypoint power station on line.

Operation at Edenderry Power Station was/is interesting as trains from the West had to reverse direction in order to enter the power station.

Train 1 passing under R401 underbridge arriving from Mount Lucas direction. This section of line is double tracked.

Train 2 has coupled on to Train1. Loco Train 1 has uncoupled and is running forward on second running line.

Loco of Train 2 pulls Train 1 & 2 clear of crossover as  former loco of Train 1 prepares to couple on to Train 2.

Track is typical BNM 'Main Line" with evidence of heavy sanding to keep trains moving. De-railed or defective stock was simply pushed to one side to minimise disruption to operations.

Train 2  approaching Edenderry Power Station.

Train 1 crossing over from "Main Line" to power station reception roads.

 

Trains 1 & 2 approaching tippler building as an empty train departs on the balloon loop.

 

 

Edited August 4, 2020 by Mayner

[hurricanemk1c]

There is talk of various bogs becoming natural parks with possible rail attractions. There may be other plans as well....

Stradbally definately has an eye on a few items coming up, and to my knowledge is the only place where a reasonable accurate (bar length and loco livery) turf train can be found

 

[Colin R]

Its a pity that the guys at either of the Donegal projects don't have the room to store some of this stuff for a future project, I under some of the locos have already been sold to China, not sure how many are left but they would be good to try and buy one or two for a later date project.

[skinner75]

I remember a few years back on Donedeal seeing a Honda XR 250 for sale that was an ex-BnM bike

[Broithe]

This popped up today and might be of interest to those who might not have already seen it.

 

[Lev Pavliuk]

Are narrow gauge freight railways still in operation in Ireland?

[jhb171achill]

23 hours ago, Lev Pavliuk said:

Are narrow gauge freight railways still in operation in Ireland?

Just the remaining Bord na Mona ones, if you’re quick!

And rather than “freight”, they only carry turf and spent ash.

On 2/8/2020 at 2:26 PM, spudfan said:

 

 

If anyone wants a copy of this I have a spare one, for the cost of the postage.

[Wexford70]

17 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

Just the remaining Bord na Mona ones, if you’re quick!

And rather than “freight”, they only carry turf and spent ash.

If anyone wants a copy of this I have a spare one, for the cost of the postage.

Messaged you.

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, Wexford70 said:

Messaged you.

[spudfan]

Strange to think that this little railway will soon go the way of the Guinness railway that used to run through the cobbled streets of Dublin 8. Still get a smile when I remember it.

[Lev Pavliuk]

On 9/22/2022 at 4:14 PM, jhb171achill said:

Just the remaining Bord na Mona ones, if you’re quick!

And rather than “freight”, they only carry turf and spent ash.

If anyone wants a copy of this I have a spare one, for the cost of the postage.

it turns out that only the edenderry power plant is working now?  I heard that they will switch to biofuel until 2023, do you know how long this railway will be active?

[irishrailways52]

On 18/9/2022 at 1:02 PM, Broithe said:

This popped up today and might be of interest to those who might not have already seen it.

 

just wondering where this is and if its still opperating

 

[Lev Pavliuk]

18 minutes ago, irishrailways52 said:

just wondering where this is and if its still opperating

 

looks like Galway, it closed in 2017 but the locos still haven't been scrapped, saw lm41 and lm34 a few days ago

[jhb171achill]

Sean Cain would be the expert on these operations, but he wrote here and there about the demise of one of these two systems (Attymon) a few years ago. I'm pretty certain that Clonkeen has gone too.

The demise of the bord na mona lines, such an iconic (and HUGE) part of Irish narrow gauge railway history, is happening in its final throes now, largely unnoticed by the enthusiast community. Evidently, it will be as good as gone within a few months from now.

[Broithe]

12 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Sean Cain would be the expert on these operations, but he wrote here and there about the demise of one of these two systems (Attymon) a few years ago. I'm pretty certain that Clonkeen has gone too.

The demise of the bord na mona lines, such an iconic (and HUGE) part of Irish narrow gauge railway history, is happening in its final throes now, largely unnoticed by the enthusiast community. Evidently, it will be as good as gone within a few months from now.

Wandering back through his twitter pictures is well worth the time.

I have put some up occasionally on here.