European Railroad Discussion > Dublin Alexandra Road zinc trains - update?

Good morning.

I'll have some time in Dublin again this Thursday and Friday.  Last time I was through with time on my hands for fanning, the zinc trains were not running.  These were previously slated to arrive Alexandra Road around late morning to midday, and then another mid afternoon.

Would anyone by chance know if the zinc trains are presently running, and if so, are the above times still valid?

Edit-- looking at some older posts, it looks like I could possibly increase my chances of seeing more freight action out at Kildare.  That looks like a very reasonable train ride out there from Dublin.  I do have all day free on Friday and will be rested to go out, so if Kildare or some other station within reasonable distance of Dublin (let's say about an hour) would net some additional freight action over North Wall/Alexandra Road, I am definitely willing to entertain some ideas there.

Any information is most appreciated.

Mike Derrick
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/22 20:11 by ShortlinesUSA.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=5613137275364263&set=a.271590592852318

A friend of mine was over in Ireland in May.  He got a zinc train. Into Dublin in the morning. chris uk

Thanks for that tidbit, Chris.  Sounds like it's a possibility, so I'll plan on heading over tomorrow.  I did walk over to the North Wall this evening, and unexpectedly found a crew working the inbound intermodal cars to take to the port.  This was around 20:30 this evening for reference.

Edit-- I tried to post a photo from my phone, but kept getting the dreaded upside down upload.  Here is a photo from this evening if anyone would like to see the scene at North Wall--

20220721_154123 | Irish SD70, anyone? I just happened to cat… | Flickr

Mike
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/22 18:14 by ShortlinesUSA.

Great photo. Freight in Ireland seems to be making a come back. Also, got your flickr link. chris uk

Freight is still very limited I'm afraid, thezinc ore trains, North Wall to Ballina intermodal (which you saw) and timber Wedtport to Waterford three days a week. The Waterford to Ballina intermodal has restarted but, like the timber doesn't run daily. The timber and the Ballina intermodal both reverse at Kildare.

I ventured down to the North Wall this morning.  I decided against venturing out of Dublin, as the North Wall is an easy option and I just didn't feel up to doing much else.  The zinc train from Tara Mines arrived at 11:00 on the dot.  It had a single 071 class (my apologies, didn't write down the specific locomotive number) and 10 ore cars.  The unloading process took just under two hours and it headed back out of town.  Unless a second train ran after 16:00, this was the only ore train today.

An engineering extra showed up around 13:45 with a single 071 class and empty flatcars which appear to be for hauling track panels.  This train was placed in one of the yard tracks abeam stacked track panels for loading.  The crew secured the train and left.

About the time I was starting to wonder if the Ballina intermodal train would run today, it showed up at 15:25.  Maybe I lucked up last night getting a 201 class, as it had the usual (at least from my previous two visits) 071 class today and roughly 18 container platforms.  Last time I saw this train, the locomotive ran around the train and switched a bit before calling it a day.  Not so today; the train pulled straight into a yard track, driver exited, and the yard crew appeared to do some work to inbound the cars and then headed back into the yard office.

That was enough to suggest to me I had seen enough action for the day.  Thanks for the sobering update on freight counts over here, Nick.  It was a good day at the North Wall seeing half (or more) of the freight action Ireland has to offer on a given day. 

Mike

 

18 flats is the maximum load on both the intermodals.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/22 14:22 by 86235.