IARNRÓD ÉIREANN / IRISH RAIL
■ DEPARTMENTAL: The Sperry train continued its systemwide tour during the period under review. On September 27, No. 081 hauled the three-vehicle consist from Dundalk to Newry, where the locomotive ran round before returning south with the train. No. 081 and the Sperry were noted stabled at Dublin North Wall later the same day.
The Dublin-Rosslare Europort line was visited on the 28th, with traction again being provided by No. 081. No. 083 worked the train on October 2, when a trip from Portlaoise PW yard to Dublin Heuston and return was undertaken.
No. 083 was again in charge three days later, when the Waterford to Limerick Junction line was traversed. As No. 3173 was required by the RPSI for railtour duties on the 8th (see Railtours section below), No. 083 worked the train on the 6th from Portlaoise PW yard to Inchicore where the ‘BR’ van was detached and replaced by a flat wagon in order to provide additional brake force for the return trip to Portlaoise.
■ TRAFFIC AND TRACTION: Cork standby loco GM No. 223 worked a driver training trip from Cork to Laois Traincare Depot and return on September 28.
The outbound leg included traversal of the loop at Charleville, the Limerick Junction pocket loop, Thurles down platform and Ballybrophy down loop. It was reported that GM No. 229 and a Mk.4 train worked a private charter from Heuston to Killarney on October 3. GM No. 076 returned to traffic on October 3 after a repaint at Inchicore. A planned loco exchange saw it replace No. 220 at Kildare on an empty Waterford to Westport timber working. No. 076 worked a loaded Westport to Waterford timber train on October 5. No. 086 failed shortly after departing Claremorris on the
7th while working a loaded Ballina to Waterford timber train. The electrical fault was unable to be repaired, so
No. 076 ran light to the failure site at Clare level crossing and returned the complete train to Claremorris where it was positioned in the ‘Tuam’ siding. It was subsequently worked to Waterford.
Other locomotives used on Westport/ Ballina to Waterford timber traffic included Nos. 079 and 085. The twice weekly Ballina-Belview and return XPO container service continued with Nos. 087, 088 and 220 noted. Observations indicated that while many trains were lightly loaded, an 18 wagon consist continued to be used. No. 087 worked the Belview bound train on the 4th, which conveyed eight tank containers, and on the 6th, which was empty, but the train had nine box containers on the 13th. No. 077 headed the Ballina-bound train the same day, which had seven loaded tanks. No. 087 had only a single one to convey to Ballina on the 17th, while No. 077 had two on the 19th. Retro liveried locos Nos. 071 and 073 were used on the Tara Mines (Navan) to Alexandra Road bulk ore flow for several days until No. 071 was replaced by No. 079 in early October. Nos. 073 and 079 dominated the workings until late October. Locomotives noted on the Dublin Port-Ballina IWT container service included Nos. 077 and 220. Loadings continued to be good in both directions, with many trains being fully loaded.
■ NEWS: On September 26 a bridge strike at around 13.00 in the Grand Canal Dock to Lansdowne Road section in Dublin saw services suspended until the structure was inspected and declared safe. Services were again disrupted on the 28th, when Serpentine Avenue level crossing between Lansdowne Road and Sandymount was damaged by a road vehicle at around 07.00. This crossing received more damage at 12.00 on the 30th, with disruption to services again being caused. Nine new 22000 Class intermediate cars had been delivered to Dublin as of October 1. The DMU working the 06.30 Dundalk-Bray on October 3 proved to be problematic and was stopped at Portmarnock, which delayed following southbound services until the problem was resolved. Also the same day, the 07.45 Bray-Malahide was terminated at Connolly because of a “technical issue.” The 07.55 Bray
Howth on October 4 was cancelled because of a “mechanical issue”, while the 12.00 Howth-Greystones the same day was failed at Blackrock and the service terminated. The same reason was given for the 17.05 Bray-Malahide being terminated at Lansdowne Road on the 5th. A bridge strike between Pearse and Grand Canal Dock stations at around 13.00 on the 10th saw services suspended until the structure was inspected and declared safe.
This procedure was also carried out after a bridge between Castlerea and Ballyhaunis was struck at around 15.30 on the 11th. A signalling problem in the Connolly-Clontarf Road area on the 14th disrupted all services during the afternoon until the problem was
resolved. The Ballina branch service was bustituted during the afternoon of the 15th due to the booked DMU being unavailable. Poor railhead conditions during the morning of the 18th saw the Docklands branch temporarily closed. During the closure M3 Parkway services ran between there and Clonsilla only, with passengers transferring to Connolly/Pearse/Maynooth trains, although these, too, were affected by poor railhead conditions. The
09.00 Cork-Tralee and 11.05 TraleeMallow on the 18th were bustituted between Killarney and Tralee. Sligo line passengers experienced serious disruption on the 19th after a road vehicle damaged a level crossing in the Killucan-Enfield section at around 07.00
and by a bridge strike which occurred in the Mullingar area later the same morning. Also on the 19th, all services between Cork and Cobh/Midleton were suspended from around 13.00 until a signalling problem was resolved.
■ RAILTOURS: The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) ‘Western Liner’ railtour on October 8 featured GM
071 Class haulage throughout. The consist was six Cravens coaches and ‘BR’ van No. 3173 and the itinerary was: Dublin Connolly (dep 08.14 [4 late]) Portarlington – Athlone – Ballina (arr 12.41[6 late]). No. 085, which had worked the railtour from Connolly, was replaced as planned by No. 076 at Ballina. The railtour departed Ballina at 14.35 (on time) and after returning
as far as Claremorris, where No. 076 ran round, the tour train then ran to Westport (arr 16.41[4 late]). After running round, No. 076 worked the final leg of the tour from Westport (dep 17.05 [15 late]) to Connolly, where arrival was at 21.27 (14 late) because of congestion in the Connolly area. A small loco headboard was carried – an unusual feature on a RPSI diesel railtour.
■ INFRASTRUCTURE: Replacement of the last jointed track/bullhead rail with CWR in the Roscrea to Ballybrophy section of the Nenagh branch is being carried out. Irish Rail plans to reduce the journey time between Limerick and Ballybrophy by 15 minutes from the introduction of a new timetable on December 11.