"Iarnród Enda", RTE1 5th April

[GSR 800]

On 5/4/2021 at 9:58 PM, Westcorkrailway said:

Ahhh yes, the traditional waterford sport of British steam engine racing

you'd swear they could've taken the footage used from ironing the land for the same effort.

but sure here I'm forgetting the time the A4s were trialled at 130 mph down the dungarvin stretch...

[airfixfan]

By the way if you are in the UK Series 1 of Walk the The Line only available until this Friday

 What a contrast with Edna's Greenways. The Achill branch was Narrow Gauge which explains the County Donegal film clip last night. Next week the West Clare whicj.features Mallard!

[Patrick Davey]

Am starting to grit my teeth in fear folks...... I will possibly be making an appearance in a future episode of this series (if they keep my bit in) and I dread to think what howlers I will be forever associated with......

[Westcorkrailway]

11 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said:

Am starting to grit my teeth in fear folks...... I will possibly be making an appearance in a future episode of this series (if they keep my bit in) and I dread to think what howlers I will be forever associated with......

We will all be watching it, at least somone will be able to speak the facts!

[Galteemore]

15 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said:

Am starting to grit my teeth in fear folks...... I will possibly be making an appearance in a future episode of this series (if they keep my bit in) and I dread to think what howlers I will be forever associated with......

Don’t worry Patrick. In the highly unlikely event that you are associated with any egregious solecisms, your many friends here will rally round and maintain that you have been deepfaked! 

[Patrick Davey]

30 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

Don’t worry Patrick. In the highly unlikely event that you are associated with any egregious solecisms, your many friends here will rally round and maintain that you have been deepfaked! 

What could they possibly get wrong about The Giant's Causeway Railway.....

[jhb171achill]

27 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said:

What could they possibly get wrong about The Giant's Causeway Railway.....

The fact that it was the first nuclear-powered generator railway in the world, developed by the inventor of the greenway, William Trail.

It is also the only railway in Ireland to be operated by a train consisting of a three Quality Street tins powered by a 12-year-old cycling inside it, and when going up hills a little motor which runs on eco-friendly jojobi and kale juice.

Oh, sorry, the last bit's true.

The new "train", Paddy.....

[Galteemore]

And Finn McCool built it to bring basalt to Staffa ....the prototype of the Boris Burrow 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Galteemore

[Westcorkrailway]

24 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

And Finn McCool built it to bring basalt to Staffa ....the prototype of the Boris Burrow 

The line was supposed to extend a small branchline kf 150km to glasgow.....unfortunatly due to all the contractors drinking the bushmills distillery out, this branch never came......

[Patrick Davey]

You’re all doing a great job of making me feel better......

[Galteemore]

At least you now know who all the other script contributors were ! Seriously, Patrick, having had my own material diluted at times for public consumption, no one here will hold you accountable for RTE turning your silk purse into a sow’s ear....

Edited April 14, 2021 by Galteemore

[airfixfan]

10 hours ago, Patrick Davey said:

You’re all doing a great job of making me feel better......

Dread to think what they will do with some of my Swilly material as the film is has already been used at Waterford! My Donegal stuff has featured at Achill already

 Suppose my DNGR stuff will now make it to Bushmills next with Patrick?

[skinner75]

On 14/4/2021 at 9:06 PM, Patrick Davey said:

What could they possibly get wrong about The Giant's Causeway Railway.....

Probably use footage of a BR Class 252! 

[Irishswissernie]

Being in Haltwhistle (Centre of Britain) I am in the fortunate position of not being able to receive the series on TV although it appears they fit in well with most of the other crap that is inflicted upon us.

I can also take satisfaction that at least the fees received paid for Sligo & Donegal Junction aka CBSC No 5.

[minister_for_hardship]

By some miracle, all the archive footage for the West Clare episode was indeed West Clare.

Not metre gauge Indian Pacifics.

[Westcorkrailway]

11 minutes ago, minister_for_hardship said:

By some miracle, all the archive footage for the West Clare episode was indeed West Clare.

Not metre gauge Indian Pacifics.

I managed to flick over the channel to see moyesta, and switched back again. Surely they mentioned "are you right there micheal" as that show loves there songs!

[minister_for_hardship]

26 minutes ago, Westcorkrailway said:

 Surely they mentioned "are you right there micheal" 

Yes.

Many times.

[connollystn]

I didn't think there ever could be a boring television programme about railways................ie. 'til now.

[minister_for_hardship]

57 minutes ago, connollystn said:

I didn't think there ever could be a boring television programme about railways................ie. 'til now.

There was some nice LSR footage but yes, I found myself reaching for my phone during the boring bits or when a random with a trad instrument rocked up. It should be called Endas Greenways or whatever that translates to as theres precious little railway content.

Edited April 28, 2021 by minister_for_hardship

[Patrick Davey]

On 28/4/2021 at 4:07 PM, minister_for_hardship said:

There was some nice LSR footage but yes, I found myself reaching for my phone during the boring bits or when a random with a trad instrument rocked up. It should be called Endas Greenways or whatever that translates to as theres precious little railway content.

I was one of those 'random' folk tonight!

Phew.....wasn't as bad as I feared.  For the record, they edited something I said to change the meaning - my actual words were "....very proud of The Giant's Causeway Railway..." but they chopped out the last word to make it appear that I was praising the geology rather than the railway.  The praise was intended for the original line, before I get dog's abuse for daring to say anything positive about the current operation!

[Lambeg man]

Despite 'Trains' and 'Railways' in the generic sense being the 2nd most popular interest/pastime in the UK after fishing, those that are responsible for commissioning programs for their respective TV channels have only one priority - ratings. These reflect the amount the channel can then charge for advertising (though clearly not the BBC).

However in 1990 a police colleague and I were working on a case of a nation wide fraudster and we got the call to feature our investigation on the BBC's "Crime Watch" program. Chatting to the presenter Nick Ross before the recording I asked why certain investigations were featured and not some more important ones, where people had been seriously injured. His reply "You have to remember, this program is about providing entertainment."

And so it is today. Chris Tarrant presents a program where he asks the most banal questions (which he as railway buff knows only to well the answer) because the program must reach out to those who have no interest in trains, but love a travel log, just like Portillo...

No TV channel commissioner is ever going to risk a program that is only likely to reach the attention of die hard train buffs and thus exclude The Sun / The Daily Star readers...

Have you not noticed how some recent broadcasts are of stuff that was initially put out on You Tube, but then got a million hits...   

Rant over.

Edited May 3, 2021 by Lambeg man

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, Lambeg man said:

Despite 'Trains' and 'Railways' in the generic sense being the 2nd most popular interest/pastime in the UK after fishing, those that are responsible for commissioning programs for their respective TV channels have only one priority - ratings. These reflect the amount the channel can then charge for advertising (though clearly not the BBC).

However in 1990 a police colleague and I were working on a case of a nation wide fraudster and we got the call to feature our investigation on the BBC's "Crime Watch" program. Chatting to the presenter Nick Ross before the recording I asked why certain investigations were featured and not some more important ones, where people had been seriously injured. His reply "You have to remember, this program is about providing entertainment."

And so it is today. Chris Tarrant presents a program where he asks the most banal questions (which he as railway buff knows only to well the answer) because the program must reach out to those who have no interest in trains, but love a travel log, just like Portillo...

No TV channel commissioner is ever going to risk a program that is only likely to reach the attention of die hard train buffs and thus exclude The Sun / The Daily Star readers...

Have you not noticed how some recent broadcasts are of stuff that was initially put out on You Tube, but then got a million hits...   

Rant over.

Yes, I would agree.

It's even worse, of course, on the whole island of Ireland, where the level of interest never approaches even a fraction of that in Britain - or, specifically, England and Wales.

For decades i did the seating plan for the annual RPSI May Tour, for a very long time the very biggest railway enthusiast event in Ireland, probably still so, covid-permitting. The number of participants from the WHOLE of Ireland would never, on a single occasion, have filled even one carriage. Virtually all the regulars, bar RPSI personnel and one or two notables, were English. And fair play to them; as i told many of them, many times, without them the tour would NEVER have made it even into the 1970s.

Downpatrick carries in a year what the Severn Valley would in a weekend. OK, I hear all say, Ireland as a whole has less than 7 million people, whereas England alone has ten times that. Fair point - however - on a typical train on a British preserved railway, you might get 10-15% who are enthusiasts. 

Not here. 

Here, it's mummy, daddy and the kids going on the big chuff-chuff train for a day out. At Downpatrick, or on a Portrush Flyer, actual railway enthusiasts, particularly ones who have travelled a distance, are a rarity, except again for a TINY few regulars.

And they're STINGY!  (the few REGULARS excluded!)

BOY, are Irish railway enthusiasts STINGY!!!

Raffles, buying souvenirs, supporting donation tins - and I make no apology for the rant, as treasurer of both the DCDR and RPSI for some 25 years, and Commerical Officer before that - so-called "supporters" of these organisations scuttle down holes, often awkwardly counting out coins in their pockets, at the mere mention of buying a raffle ticket. But look in the bar AFTER the trip - they're all there.

OK, back to Steve's point - the cultural lack of interest here, north and south, results in TV programmes with either lightweight, or carelessly inaccurate or superficial "history".

The recent RTE series with Enda is par for the course, with the "narrow-gauge" Achill line illustrated by a CDR train.......and so on.

I've calmed down now. I had my covid jab today. Maybe this is the side effect.......

[Lambeg man]

22 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

OK, back to Steve's point - the cultural lack of interest here, north and south, results in TV programmes with either lightweight, or carelessly inaccurate or superficial "history"

Thank f**k you've calmed down to my level. Totally agree with your appreciation of the'consumer response'. It is all a reality check for anyone looking at any aspect of the "Irish Railways" market. However the low interest factor in Irish Railways will always ensure that any TV program will be a bollocks of yet another travel log style program featuring clips from the Armagh disaster', 'Are you right there Michael' and Downhill...... Second rant over...

[jhb171achill]

2 minutes ago, Lambeg man said:

................However the low interest factor in Irish Railways will always ensure that any TV program will be a bollocks of yet another travel log style program featuring clips from the Armagh disaster', 'Are you right there Michael' and Downhill...... Second rant over...

100% right!

[Galteemore]

5 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

Yes, I would agree.

It's even worse, of course, on the whole island of Ireland, where the level of interest never approaches even a fraction of that in Britain - or, specifically, England and Wales.

For decades i did the seating plan for the annual RPSI May Tour, for a very long time the very biggest railway enthusiast event in Ireland, probably still so, covid-permitting. The number of participants from the WHOLE of Ireland would never, on a single occasion, have filled even one carriage. Virtually all the regulars, bar RPSI personnel and one or two notables, were English. And fair play to them; as i told many of them, many times, without them the tour would NEVER have made it even into the 1970s.

Downpatrick carries in a year what the Severn Valley would in a weekend. OK, I hear all say, Ireland as a whole has less than 7 million people, whereas England alone has ten times that. Fair point - however - on a typical train on a British preserved railway, you might get 10-15% who are enthusiasts. 

Not here. 

Here, it's mummy, daddy and the kids going on the big chuff-chuff train for a day out. At Downpatrick, or on a Portrush Flyer, actual railway enthusiasts, particularly ones who have travelled a distance, are a rarity, except again for a TINY few regulars.

And they're STINGY!  (the few REGULARS excluded!)

BOY, are Irish railway enthusiasts STINGY!!!

Raffles, buying souvenirs, supporting donation tins - and I make no apology for the rant, as treasurer of both the DCDR and RPSI for some 25 years, and Commerical Officer before that - so-called "supporters" of these organisations scuttle down holes, often awkwardly counting out coins in their pockets, at the mere mention of buying a raffle ticket. But look in the bar AFTER the trip - they're all there.

OK, back to Steve's point - the cultural lack of interest here, north and south, results in TV programmes with either lightweight, or carelessly inaccurate or superficial "history".

The recent RTE series with Enda is par for the course, with the "narrow-gauge" Achill line illustrated by a CDR train.......and so on.

I've calmed down now. I had my covid jab today. Maybe this is the side effect.......

That’s hilarious Jb. You can imagine the narrative I grew up with from the 70s onwards re financing Irish preservation, and the need to actually pay for the trains that one liked to photograph.....

Edited May 4, 2021 by Galteemore

[airfixfan]

Thought that the episode last night was the worse one yet with the suggestion that the Giant Causeway Tramway ran to Larne

 Dread to think what they will do the Dundalk Newry and Greenore next week! Have contacted them over photos supplied and used such as Swilly images used for Waterford and CDR for Achill Narrow Gauge line but with no joy!

[Patrick Davey]

56 minutes ago, airfixfan said:

Thought that the episode last night was the worse one yet with the suggestion that the Giant Causeway Tramway ran to Larne

 Dread to think what they will do the Dundalk Newry and Greenore next week! Have contacted them over photos supplied and used such as Swilly images used for Waterford and CDR for Achill Narrow Gauge line but with no joy!

Don’t think that’s accurate - the mention of Larne was in relation to the tune I was playing which was named after the steep descent into Larne on the Ballymena & Larne line, ‘The Inver Bank’. I don’t think that could be seen as a suggestion that the GC line ran to Larne. 

[minister_for_hardship]

2 hours ago, airfixfan said:

Thought that the episode last night was the worse one yet with the suggestion that the Giant Causeway Tramway ran to Larne

 Dread to think what they will do the Dundalk Newry and Greenore next week! Have contacted them over photos supplied and used such as Swilly images used for Waterford and CDR for Achill Narrow Gauge line but with no joy!

The inevitable greenway to be opened on what was the DNGR is to be called the Great Eastern Greenway as an obvious rip off of the so-called Great Western Greenway, thus both obliterating reference to the DNGR and sowing confusion. "The Great Eastern Railway used run here, yeah?"

[Georgeconna]

3 hours ago, airfixfan said:

Thought that the episode last night was the worse one yet with the suggestion that the Giant Causeway Tramway ran to Larne

 Dread to think what they will do the Dundalk Newry and Greenore next week! Have contacted them over photos supplied and used such as Swilly images used for Waterford and CDR for Achill Narrow Gauge line but with no joy!

 

I saw a bit of this and did not bother watching anymore.

Tried the Yesterday Channel with a new Program 'Secrets of the Transport Museum', Christ almighty it is an hour made up of about 10 mins max interesting stuff.

However is you are ever down that way the Museum is well worth a days viewing. Loads of buses down there too. Much better than watching TV.

https://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/explore/london-bus-museum

[jhb171achill]

7 hours ago, Galteemore said:

That’s hilarious Jb. You can imagine the narrative I grew up with from the 70s onwards re financing Irish preservation, and the need to actually pay for the trains that one liked to photograph.....

Oh, INDEED I can!

I worked with galteemore-senior for years, and often had the conversation. Initially, we tried selling "enthusiast stuff" on trains, but the few enthusiasts on board would pick over the railway books on offer, reading them cover to cover, then sidle off to eat the sandwiches they'd brought with them.

G.Senior and I started selling instant raffles and teddy bears and toy tractors to the kiddies, and the money machine was born........

The only time the RPSI sells many books is on the May tour - and who buys them, to this day? Mostly the Englishmen, who will then tell you to put the £20 change in the "kitty"!

Disclaimer: There ARE notable exceptions to both, so please don't take offence if you're one of 'em!

[skinner75]

The show is what it is. It was never going to be targeting the railway enthusiast. It does have more railway interest than the Michael Portillo show though.

What it does share with that show, is that it highlights places of interest in the areas covered, that would pique the interest of the average viewer to go and visit.

I thought that the Giants Causeway episode was fine - no Pendelino footage used at any rate! 

 

[Broithe]

It is often a bad idea to watch a 'factual TV programme' about anything that you have more than a passing knowledge of.

In terms of enthusiasts parting with money, there can be a general tendency to make the "Will I? Won't I?" decision easier to take as the distance from home goes up. It can become an "It's now or never" choice. On the Big Island, I live about thirty miles from the Severn Valley Railway, but I've never been there - because I can always go next week....  (Well, in 'normal' times I can)

Edited May 5, 2021 by Broithe

[airfixfan]

Last episode this Monday evening on the Dundalk Newry and Greenore. Let's see what appears in this episode? They tell me they are planning a second series due to positive feedback!!!!

[Westcorkrailway]

There is a new series on RTE about bridges. The first episode featured more railways then the entire series of Iranroid Enda

[jhb171achill]

On 9/5/2021 at 8:41 AM, airfixfan said:

Last episode this Monday evening on the Dundalk Newry and Greenore. Let's see what appears in this episode? They tell me they are planning a second series due to positive feedback!!!!

Let's hope they aren't. The level of inaccuracies in Indakinny's series was disastrous. Dreadfully bad research.

1 hour ago, Westcorkrailway said:

There is a new series on RTE about bridges. The first episode featured more railways then the entire series of Iranroid Enda

Let's hope they actually research it!