GNR(I) Merlin returns to action following repairs
GREAT NORTHERN Railway (Ireland) Compound No. 85 Merlin made a successful return to main line service on September 4, following repairs to a big end that overheated on a trip at the end of July.
No. 85 hauled two round trips between Dublin Connolly and Maynooth with the ‘The Midlander’ and came home with a clean sheet. The 4-4-0 had been pulled up at Greystones on July 31 on the way home from Rosslare Harbour and was unavailable for the next two main line events. Both the ‘Cú Chullainn’ to Dundalk on August 12 and the ‘Marble City’ to Kilkenny on August 21 went out behind diesel, but with repairs having been completed, the locomotive performed a test run to Clonsilla and was passed fit for traffic again.
North of the border, ‘Q’ No. 131 was out on the main line on September 2 with a new venture, ‘Steam & 80s Music’, which covered the familiar route from Whitehead via Belfast to Lisburn and back to Whitehead again. The Great Northern 4-4-0 had covered the same route on August 12 with a successful ‘Steam & Jazz’ special.
Meanwhile, the RPSI has abandoned plans to organise a weekend tour in the Republic of Ireland in September, blaming high hotel prices in Dublin for the decision. The society had hoped that, instead of its usual May tour, it might be able to organise a Dublin-based weekend trip in September using No. 85.
The RPSI said: “Owing to difficulty in securing reasonably priced hotel accommodation, it has been decided not to run a weekend tour this year.”
The RPSI weekend tour has not operated since before the Covid lockdowns.