European Railroad Discussion > From the Before Time: Ireland 2015 Part I

In the fall of 2015 I visited Ireland (and Northern Ireland), spending a long weekend in Dublin followed by a one-week rail-based tour of Ireland with Railtours Ireland (which I heartily endorse). I went with the goals of riding trains, eating potatoes, drinking Guinness, and seeing the sights. I was not disappointed. I even saw the sun from time to time.

Dublin has quite a bit of rail transportation, including modern light rail (Luas trams), local DART trains (EMUs), commuter and intercity trains (DMUs), and two locomotive-hauled streamliners with dining service. It also has two train stations. Heuston Station, on the west side of Dublin, handles trains to the west (Galway, Westport) and southwest (Cork, Waterford). Connolly Station, on the eastern side of town, has the DART and commuter trains, and intercity trains to the northwest (Sligo), south (Rosslare Europort), and north (Belfast, NI).

1. Just south of Connolly Station an intercity service arrives from the south.

2. A westbound Luas tram passes below the tracks at the same location. I used the Luas trams for transportation quite a bit but somehow this is the only photograph I took of them.

3. A DART EMU set crosses the River Liffey just south of Connolly Station on a sunny day.

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The scenic coastal line down to Wicklow was not part of my rail tour so that was first on my list. This service used modern Korean-built DMUs with five trains per day in each direction at the time of my visit. There is no freight service on this line. The schedule has the northbound and southbound trains meeting at Wicklow.

Friday, September 4, 2015, was devoted to riding to Wicklow and return. I spent some time in the morning prior to my train departure on the platform at Connolly Station watching the variety of trains coming and going. Each of the three Irish Rail passenger train types, DART, commuter, and intercity, has its own distinct paint scheme.

4. The train arrival and departure board at Connolly Station.

5. A DART EMU set pulls into the station.

6. I was fascinated by the array of signals in use, so much so that I don’t remember taking note of the actual locomotive in the right background. It appears to be No. 233, a GMD JT42HCW. The brick building in the background houses a 2-6-4T heritage steam locomotive.

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7. A commuter service DMU set is reflected in a mirror on the platform.

8. An intercity DMU set departs from the north side of Connolly Station.

9. A Northern Ireland TransLink DMU set rolls into Connolly Station. Northern Ireland TransLink and Irish Rail DMUs operated interchangeably on the line to and from Belfast.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/21 13:53 by NMlurker.

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10. My train to Wicklow rolls into Connolly Station.

11. In mid-afternoon, DMUs meet at Wicklow. The view is to the south.

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Any visit to Dublin is not complete without a visit to the Guinness Brewery complex. At one time Guinness had a fairly extensive narrow gauge railway system. Some of the tracks and equipment have been preserved.

12. Narrow gauge street trackage preserved within the Guinness complex.

13. Nicely preserved Guinness 0-4-0 tank locomotive No. 42.

14. An even more primitive looking 0-4-0 tank locomotive No. 17.

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Nice selection of photos, Irish Rail and Translink Northern Ireland Railways have both significantly modernised their fleets in the last two decades.

Was this your first visit or did you manage to go before the 'railcar revolution'?

Posted from Android

Hexagon789 Wrote:
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> Nice selection of photos, Irish Rail and Translink
> Northern Ireland Railways have both significantly
> modernised their fleets in the last two decades.
>
> Was this your first visit or did you manage to go
> before the 'railcar revolution'?
>
> Posted from Android

First and only visit so I missed the locomotive-hauled passenger train era.

Nice photos!
There are still loco-hauled passenger trains on the Dublin to Cork and Dublin to Belfast routes.

I follow several photographers on Flickr that post a lot of current Irish Rail activities.

My wife and I are hoping to get back there soon to visit her relatives.

Posted from iPhone

NMlurker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hexagon789 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Nice selection of photos, Irish Rail and
> Translink
> > Northern Ireland Railways have both
> significantly
> > modernised their fleets in the last two
> decades.
> >
> > Was this your first visit or did you manage to
> go
> > before the 'railcar revolution'?
> >
> > Posted from Android
>
> First and only visit so I missed the
> locomotive-hauled passenger train era.

That's a shame, still the 201s on Dublin-Belfast and certain Dublin-Cork but it's not quite the same as the days when all the InterCity trains were loco-hauled.

I suppose at least there's some loco-haulage left, could be worse.

Looks like a lot has changed since I visited in 2002.

Lovely country, friendly people.

Posted from Android