A WELCOME RETURN:

On July 31, the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) ran the ‘Rockin Food Festival’ tour from Dublin Connolly to Enniscorthy. This was the first visit of steam south of Wicklow since Covid-19. GNR 4-4-0 No. 85 Merlin is seen crossing the river Slaney with a local trip to Rosslare after leaving Enniscorthy. Over 658 passengers were carried, however, on the return trip a combination of late running due to problems with the turntable at Rosslare Europort and poor steam resulted in the tour being terminated at Greystones.