Back in the Day

[Horsetan]

On 16/5/2022 at 9:54 AM, jhb171achill said:

MORE "edgy" than Strabane?  ...ye gawds...........!

I'd say there's hot competition from North Inner Dublin.

[226 Abhann na Suire]

Very much not ‘Back in the Day’ so to speak (unless the mid 2010s count..) but just maybe on a bit of a hopeful note that the good auld days aren’t truly gone:

 

My brother and I were and still very very much are huge railway enthusiasts (although ‘train nerd’ is the term I’m more commonly - yet affectionately - christened with!) and in 2014, were lucky enough to get to go on the Toy Show and such followed some amazing railway experiences! We were very very kindly invited by Iarnród Éireann to visit Inchicore and got to a tour of the works - I recall being intrigued at the wheel lathe and giant crane - the and even have a go at the DART simulator (I also remember hitting a horse I think somewhere between Sandymount and Dun Laoighre…) and it truly was an amazing experience and to this day I am extremely grateful to the kind people at Irish Rail that organised it.
 

The best part of this story however, is in 2015. Our dad knew the District Area Manager at Waterford, a Mr Emmett Cotter who, maybe after the previously mentioned events, and also out of sheer kindness arranged for my brother and I to get a tour of the elevated signal cabin in Waterford before it was officially signed off to CTC (I’m very proud to say that 9 year old me set the route for a morning arrival from Dublin) and astonishingly, he also arranged for us to cab the 7:20 Waterford to Limerick Jnct!! Well at the age of 9 this absolutely blew my little mind! We were on the footplate the whole way and were even sent back through the train to check tickets and count passenger numbers! The driver and guard, whose names shamefully slip my mind, were unbelievably good and kind to us and let us operate the doors at the stations and even beep the horn! It was a fantastic trip and day out and I will forever remember and appreciate the kindness and hospitality of everyone at Irish Rail who made it all happen!

 

So maybe not quite as good as the good auld days mentioned in this thread so far (which sound amazing, and had I a time machine I would go back in a heartbeat!) but a somewhat hopeful note at Christmas that those times still aren’t truly gone and an Irish wink and a nod (kind of) can still get you into the cab of a train!! Merry Christmas or holidays or whatever you celebrate to everyone and enjoy the break :)) 

Oisín