European Railroad Discussion > Irish Rail Trips & Rail Museum?

I am flying to the UK to attend the public memorial (on May 13th near Henley-on-Thames) for the great Sir William McAlpine, Bt., of late the world's foremost rail buff. Afterwards, I plan to spend a week in Ireland riding normal service trains. Can anyone suggest scenic rail trips on Irish Railways & Northern Irish Railways? Are there any special trains with upscale accommodations? Is there an Irish National Railway Museum? Any other suggestions of historic railway sights? I once read that Limerick Junction was a good trainspotting location, is it worth a detour? Thanks in advance!



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/18 01:41 by railwaybaron.

The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland's HQ and museum is at Whitehead on the north shore of Belfast Lough. The Ulster Folk Museum at Cultra on the south shore of the Lough has a railway gallery with some splendid exhibits from both the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland.

https://www.steamtrainsireland.com

Belmond run the Grand Hibernian, a luxury tour train

In terms of scenery the best lines are probably from Dublin south to Wicklow, the line along the north coast from Coleraine to Londonderry / Derry, from Cork to Cobh and Mallow to Tralee in Kerry. With the exception of every other Dublin to Cork train and the Belfast to Dublin Enterprise service all other trains in Ireland are multiple units. There is limited freight services, no more than a handful each weekday.

This is what it all looks like
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?17,4334537



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/18 03:23 by 86235.

There's also a preserved heritage railway at Downpatrick south east of Belfast, the Downpatrick and County Down.

http://www.downrail.co.uk

railwaybaron Wrote:
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> I once read that Limerick Junction was a
> good trainspotting location, is it worth a detour?

I've always had a decent time at Limerick Junction and further south at Mallow.