Irish Railway Record Society: "Time’s Arrow” 18/19th May 2024

[Thewanderer]

The "Time’s Arrow” railtour has been arranged for Saturday 18th & Sunday 19th May 2024 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Tokyu Car Corporation 2600 Class Railcars, which entered service on Monday 16th May 1994.

With thanks to Iarnród Éireann, we are going back in time to the 1990’s by taking a 2600 Class railcar to Dublin to explore the suburban system, visiting old haunts and new locations, including Dublin Heuston, Adamstown Bay Platform, Grand Canal Dock Bay Platform, Dundalk, Howth, Dublin Connolly, Maynooth and M3 Parkway.

But that isn’t the end of it. Following an overnight stay in Dublin, on Sunday we will recreate the famous 1220 Heuston – Cork non-stop "ARROW" express of the late 1990’s from Dublin Heuston to Cork, but with the added bonus of a nonstop run from Dublin Heuston to Cobh. After a short break at Cobh to stretch our legs from the 177-mile journey, we will retrace our steps as far as Cork where the tour will conclude.

See https://irrstimesarrow.eventbrite.ie for full information.

Tickets are now on sale for the above railtour at https://irrstimesarrow.eventbrite.ie

 

[Thewanderer]

Just a reminder that tickets are still available for Time's Arrow railtour on 18th - 19th May from Cork & Dublin to Dundalk, Howth, Maynooth, M3 Parkway and Cobh.

Full tour details and booking at https://irrstimesarrow.eventbrite.ie with multiple different ticket options available (single day ticket for Saturday from Cork or Dublin or Sunday day ticket for the non stop run from Dublin to Cobh or a 2 day ticket for best value).

And IE are also getting in on the act with the 30th anniversary with a retro repaint of a 2600 into ARROW livery. It is planned that the ARROW liveried unit will feature on the IRRS tour. They released a sneek peek on social media last Friday with a full reveal to come this week. See https://fb.watch/rCI9oIS9mU/



It's back to the 1990's for Iarnrod Eireann as they have repainted 2600 Class, No. 2601+2602 back into a modified version of the ARROW livery they originally carried from 1994 to the early 2000's to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the class. The work was completed to an outstanding quality in house at the paint spray facility in Inchicore Works and the team poses in front of the completed set on Wednesday 25th April for official photos to be taken before the set returns to service in Cork working the commuter services to Cobh, Midleton and Mallow.

An IR£19.5 million order was placed in 1992 with Mitsui, who subcontracted the order to Tokyu Car Corporation of Yokohama, Japan. This was quite groundbreaking on a number of fronts; not only was it the first Irish order placed with an Asian firm, but they were also the first railway vehicles built in Asia for the European market and the vehicles are still held in high regard by their manufacture 30 years later.

The Irish Railway Record Society are arranging a 30th anniversary railtour over the weekend of the 18th & 19th May and it is expected that 2601 + 2602 will work the tour throughout. See https://irrstimesarrow.eventbrite.ie for more information and booking.

For photos of the launch click https://thewandererphotos.smugmug.com/Officialevents/2024/ARROW-30-years-1994-2024/

 

[Thewanderer]

Tuesday 14th May 2024:
An early start to head into Limerick this morning to photograph the retro-ARROW 2601 + 2602 which was working a single trip to Limerick Jct. as part of an in-service trial following its return to service after repainting, and the completion of modifications including CCTV fitment and seating reupholster.

The set is planned to be used on the Irish Railway Record Society Railtour on 18th / 19th May from Cork to Dundalk.

Click https://thewandererphotos.smugmug.com/2024-Photos/May-2024/i-mFLJSPD to view all the images from Limerick and Limerick Jct.



Wednesday 15th May 2024:
While the in-service trial of the retro-ARROW livered 2601 + 2602 was a success yesterday, Limerick Depot decided to give the pair another spin today, before it is sent to Cork for its big weekend railtour adventure to Dundalk. It worked the 0645 Limerick - Ballybrophy & 0900 return with sister unit 2615 + 2606 paired up with it as far as Nenagh, where it split to work the 0747 back to Limerick. I got photos of it at various locations between Nenagh and Ballybrophy and also met a handful of other enthusiasts who either were out to photo it or travel on it.

The class will celebrate their 30th anniversary tomorrow (16th May) and expect to see some content on the Irish Rail socials about the launch of the Dublin - Kildare ARROW service which the class were built for.

Click https://thewandererphotos.smugmug.com/2024-Photos/May-2024/i-Zw4j24R to view all the images.

 

[Thewanderer]

Pictures from the Irish Railway Record Society's "Time's Arrow" railtour on the 18th/19th May when we brought a 2600 Class, celebrating their 30th anniversary in service and repainted into its original livery, from their current base in Cork back to their old haunts in Dublin when we visited Hazelhatch, Grand Canal Dock, Dundalk, Howth, Maynooth and the first visit of the class to the M3 Parkway Branch. After an overnight in Dublin, the tour returned to Cork on Sunday with a non-stop run from Heuston to Cobh, completing the 176 1/2 miles in 2 hours, 55 minutes and 49 seconds. We were delighted to welcome onboard, representatives from the IE senior management team and the vehicle builders Mitsui & JTREC who travelled on the railtour from Heuston to Dundalk and back to Dublin.

All the pictures from the weekend are available to view at https://thewandererphotos.smugmug.c...-Saturday-18th-Sunday-19th-May-2024/i-cd6X2fJ

 

[Tubeboy]

Thanks for the pictures.

 

[nanstallon]

It looks like an excellent and well organised tour.

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

Iarnród Éireann have produced a short video (under four minutes) about the railtour.