European Railroad Discussion > Dublin, and around.

Thanks to the proximity of Stansted Airport it's relatively easy for me to get away for the day a bit farther than I can by train and/or bike! Yesterday I spent the day in Dublin, catching the 06:30 from Stansted, returning on the 20:20. Flying time is just under an hour. Arriving in Dublin I bought a 10€ Leap Card which covers travel on the Airbus from the airport to the City Centre, unlimited travel on LUAS light rail, Dublin Bus and IE (heavy rail) in Central Dublin. 10€ is very good value for a day's travel as the fare too and from the airport is 10€ alone.

1: Once in Dublin I went to Alexandra Road, next to North Wall freight yard, which is an access road to the docks down which a number of freight trains run every day. This is the Dublin to Ballina intermodal train (IE call them liners) which yesterday was scheduled off North Wall at 10:20. It actually appeared at 10:26, moved down Alexandra Road, into North Wall yard, where 223 River Anner / Abhainn na hAinnire, which is an EMD JT42HCW, promptly expired! It was revived by a pair of fitters and eventually left 60 minutes late.

2: The LUAS Red Line  (LUAS is Irish for Speed) terminates at either Connolly Station on Amiens Street in the City Centre or at The Point in the City's Docklands Area, at it happens not far from Alexandra Road and North Wall. The tram is built by Alstom and is of their Citadis 401 design

3: Dublin's most impressive station is Heuston, the former Great Southern and Western terminus to the west of the city centre, near Phoenix Park. It was designed by an English architect, Sancton Wood and opened in 1846.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/13/16 07:44 by 86235.

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At Heuston I caught the 13:20 to Portlaoise as far as the pre-penultimate stop, Monasterevin, some 36 miles from Dublin. I rode in one of IE's relatively new Hyundai-Rotem ICR railcars. They are comfortable, with big picture windows and the seats align with the windows, but once on the move they give a particularly choppy ride, worse than I've experienced on DMUs here in Britain

1: This is the Waterford to Ballina DFDS liner train, which runs three times a week and today was using pocket wagons. Not a very long train - IE are intending to increase train lengths at the end of 2016 - it was only two thirds full. A 40 year old 071 class (EMD JT22CW) is the motive power.

2: Monasterevin is where the railway and Barrowline canal cross the River Barrow. I'm on the towpath of the Barrowline aqueduct, the train is the Ballina to Waterford timber behind another 071 no.085. 

3: Catching the next train back to Dublin I found the timber was still at Kildare, where the loco runs round and it reverses direction as far as Cherryville Junction where it heads south to Athy, Kilkenny and Waterford. Here it is leaving Kildare at about 16:00.

A most enjoyable day, given the pleasant weather (for October) and the lack of any serious rain.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/13/16 07:56 by 86235.

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Really really nice, Thanks!

Neat photos.

The log train is a surprise. What is the wood used for? Paper?

Thanks for posting.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/13/16 08:56 by King_Coal.

I believe those class 071's are 40 years this year.

> The log train is a surprise. What is the wood used
> for? Paper?
>
> Thanks for posting.

My pleasure, I believe it is used by the OSB plywood board maker in Waterford

nydepot Wrote:
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> I believe those class 071's are 40 years this
> year.

Indeed they are, I think I mentioned it in one of the descriptions. There's a railtour from Dublin to Limerick and back on Saturday 22nd behind pioneer 071 which has been restored to its original 'Supertrain' livery of the mid 1970s. I suspect they may outlive the 201s which are currently subject to a replacement prime mover tender.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/13/16 09:23 by 86235.

Regarding the first photo, why do they need a flagman to walk in front of the train?  Are they afraid of scaring the horses?  (LOL).  For what distance does this flagman have to walk?

The train is flagged out of the terminal onto Alexandra Road, then he walks to East Wall Road (200 yards or so) to flag it across the main road, which is very busy, opens the electronic gate to North Wall Yard. Oh yes, and keeps the horses in check. On a normal day there are three or four trains along Alexandra Road in each direction. Street running anywhere in Britain or Ireland is very rare, I can think of only two places - here and Preston in NW England - and so the conditions under which it is regulated are quite strict.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/13/16 14:12 by 86235.

Great to see that there are still some freight trains left in Ireland - you must have seen most of those actually running on Wednesday!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/14/16 02:51 by spflow.

spflow Wrote:
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> Great to see that there are still some freight
> trains left in Ireland - you must have seen most
> of those actually running on Wednesday!

I didn't see any of the Tara Mines trains from Navan in Co Meath, one of which should have arrived at North Wall by the time I left for Heuston at 12:20. I did look in on Alexandra Road on my way back to the airport, the airport bus stops nearby, but there was no sign. 

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/14/16 08:44 by 86235.

Happy to be wrong, but I thought Lucas was Gaelic for light.

cricketer8for9 Wrote:
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> Happy to be wrong, but I thought Lucas was Gaelic
> for light.

No, luas is speed in Irish i.e.
wind speed luas na gaoithe

http://www.focloir.ie/en/dictionary/ei/speed

light in Irish is solas



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/14/16 13:37 by 86235.

Good stuff 86235. 
Is there a good online source for times/days of freight workings in Ireland?

kevink Wrote:
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> Good stuff 86235. 
> Is there a good online source for times/days of
> freight workings in Ireland?

Not publicly but there's Irish Railways Past and Present on facebook, where you'll find people happy to share info.

There are only four flows, zinc and lead ore from Navan in Co Meath to Dublin, twice or three times daily M-F, a M-F (and some Saturdays too) intermodal from Dublin to Ballina and vv. A twice weekly DFDS intermodal from Ballina to Waterford and vv and three time weekly timber train from Westport or Ballina to Waterford and back. The Waterford trains reverse at Kildare so don't hit Dublin.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/16 09:45 by 86235.

Thanks for posting. I haven't been to Ireland for trains since it went plastic in the early noughties. I had a brief stopover at DUB on my was to Chicago last year.

Interesting stuff! Assume that's all running on 5'3" track....

exhaustED Wrote:
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> Assume that's all running on
> 5'3" track....

Yes, no narrow gauge to be seen