Barytes wagons as used for PW work and a liner question

[murphaph]

I was thumbing through my copy of Irish Traction and noticed that the author refers to a 07.50 Saturdays only Limerick-Inchicore empty barytes working through Ballybrophy on the 8th of May 1993. Was this really a timetabled working in 1993? I have the WT from the 18th of May 1992 but not the subsequent one and I see no mention of this train as being timetabled. How of ten did this train run? I am led to believe that the barytes were used as spoils in those days on weeekend possessions around the network so I'm wondering why they might timetable them to run to Inchicore specifically, if indeed they did at all.

Liner question:

In 1992 There were a number of Cork-Dublin Liners a day. Could anyone be specific about what sort of wagons made those liners up? Were there any containers that would be particularly dominant? (Waterford had Bells, for example) I'm aware these trains ran mostly in the dead of night, hence a likely dearth of photographs but maybe someone knows.

Thanks all.

[Mayner]

A scheduled Limerick-Inchacore empty barytes may have been to provide a regular path for positioning the wagons for use on weekend p.w. work in the Dublin area.

The Barytes wagons may have been restricted to 35-40mph max speed by the early 90s and an as required Timetable Working would have provided a slot for a slower train between 100mph passenger workings. CTC control with computerised train routing was extended to Cork and Limerick (via the Junction) by the late 80s and a timetabled slot with a computerised train Number would have made things simpler for the people at Train Control than having to manually enter a path into the system.

One of the Irish Railscene videos from the 90s mentions the difficulty of pathing Foynes-Ballina oil trains via Portarlington during the closure of the Limerick-Claremorris line during the early-mid 90s.

These trains were routed via Nenagh rather than via Limerick Junction due to the difficulty in finding a path for 2 axle wagons between Intercity passenger services.

During this period the "day" Cork Liner and its return working was usually made up of 62'9" air braked container wagons which were converted to carry log traffic around 95-96 after the ending of the "Mail Trains"

The other liners would mainly have been made up of 42'9" flats for container traffic & 47'6" flats for keg traffic with 2 axle wagons for IE fuel oil.

Liner trains were restricted to 15  42'9/47'6" wagons or 12 62'9" wagons until 201 & 071 Class replaced the 001 Class and pairs of small GMs on Liner Trains.

Trains of 18 42'9"/47'6" currently operated, but 62'9" and "Pocket Wagons" are still restricted to 12

Longer trains operated I have a note somewhere of a Tralee-North Wall Liner made up to 34 TEU (20') made up of 10 42'9" flats with 40' shipping containers and 14 2 axle empty keg flats. The train was awaiting departure (& a loco) at Tralee and the member of staff I spoke to emphasized that the train was longer than usual returning empty kegs to Dublin after one of Tralee's summer festivals.

Liner trains would have carried "Sundries" & domestic freight traffic in IE/CIE owned containers until the ending of "Sundries" traffic and the shift to deep sea traffic in shipping company containers around 1993-4. Sundries traffic in 10' containers (business normally carried by courier or logistics firms) could be heavy occupying several wagons on a liner train.

[murphaph]

A mine of information as always. Go raibh mile maith agat.

[h gricer]

On 14/2/2021 at 4:08 PM, murphaph said:

I was thumbing through my copy of Irish Traction and noticed that the author refers to a 07.50 Saturdays only Limerick-Inchicore empty barytes working through Ballybrophy on the 8th of May 1993. Was this really a timetabled working in 1993? I have the WT from the 18th of May 1992 but not the subsequent one and I see no mention of this train as being timetabled. How of ten did this train run? I am led to believe that the barytes were used as spoils in those days on weeekend possessions around the network so I'm wondering why they might timetable them to run to Inchicore specifically, if indeed they did at all.

Liner question:

In 1992 There were a number of Cork-Dublin Liners a day. Could anyone be specific about what sort of wagons made those liners up? Were there any containers that would be particularly dominant? (Waterford had Bells, for example) I'm aware these trains ran mostly in the dead of night, hence a likely dearth of photographs but maybe someone knows.

Thanks all.

Not all the perway workings were listed in the WTT, but the 7.50 from Limerick to Inchicore or North Wall empty barytes was a regular Saturday working in the early 1990s, and even today in 2021 the 7.50 path is still used for the weekly wagon transfer from Limerick to Inchicore. When Silver Mines closed in November 1993, the Saturday 7.50 empty baryte from Limerick ceased as the wagons were transferred to North Wall, they were gradually refurbished permanently to spoil wagons with the exception of one 26703.

When you be out on the lineside on Saturdays in the early 1990s, expecting to see the ammonia, cement or whatever and what regularly showed up the 7.50 from Limerick empty barytes, Limerick didn't care where they went, as long as they returned in time for Monday mornings working to Silver Mines for the baryte ore working to Foynes Port.

Regards

hg