The Wanderer's Photos 2017 Gallery

[Thewanderer]

Evening folks,

Today I followed the Emerald Isle Explorer from Mallow to Cobh and then to Killarney. The highlight being later on in Killarney when the Belmond Grand Hibernian also arrived into the station. The two privately owned trains passed to operated on IE metals in the same location at the same time.

Click http://smu.gs/2xGZIGt to view all these.

The second update is some images from Limerick Jct. this evening featuring 082 stabled on PWD duties and a rare case of 2612 + 2611 covering for a shortage of 2800 Class sets on the Limerick Jct. Shuttle.

Click http://smu.gs/2xGdmcY to view.

 

[Thewanderer]

Evening folks,

Four updates to the website this evening featuring:

* October 2017 updated with images from Baltimore and Ballydehob showing old railway infrastructure.
* Visit to the West Cork Model Railway Village.
* Railtours Ireland "Emerald Isle Express" updated with photos of 073 at Woodfarm between Limerick Jct. and Limerick.
* September 2017 updated with photos from Mallow and Skibbereen.

All the above galleries can be accessed from https://thewandererphotos.smugmug.com

 

[Thewanderer]

Evening folks,

The October gallery has been updated earlier today with:

Saturday 7th October:
Flying into Dublin from Frankfurt with views of the City and Bay.

Sunday 8th October 2017:
Images from around Dublin, plus Thurles including:
* Abbey Street
* Busaras
* Connolly
* Howth
* Dun-Laoghaire
* Pearse
* Heuston

Wednesday 11th October 2017:
Just a single photograph from today with 22054 leaving Portlaoise for Heuston.

Thursday 12th October 2017:
A few from Ballybrophy, Portlaoise and Limerick today including the last Belmond Grand Hibernian of the season, 086 on a Portarlington to Limerick HOBS transfer and Limerick Station Cabin has been swept away.


Click http://smu.gs/2xBnqk0 to view all the images.

 

[Thewanderer]

Evening folks,

Two updates have just been done to the website tonight.

The first update is to the October Gallery and features:

- Lunchtime at Clonkeen on Friday.
- Friday evening at Nenagh.
- Saturday morning at Stacumny Bridge.
- Institution of Railway Operators "Railway Operations Management" 2017 course launch for IE and NIR staff at Connolly.
- Sunday features photos from Pearse, Connolly and Thurles.

Click http://smu.gs/2ynsmuR to view.

The second update is pictures from the hugely successful Railway Preservation Society of Ireland "The Munster Double" railtour. This was the first ever railtour to feature a pair of 071 class locomotives operating in multiple! I was only able to join the tour in Mallow on the way back to Dublin due to a scheduling clash on the day, but before joining the tour I photographed it at Stacumny Bridge outside Dublin and I also arranged for family members to get some photos of the train arriving into Killarney.

Click http://smu.gs/2xGYqrz to view.

 

[Thewanderer]

Morning folks,

It's been a busy few weeks since the Munster Double railtour and I haven't really had a chance to update the website much.

During the week I made a flying visit to the London area, managing to travel on one of the brand new Class 800 "IEP" from Paddington to Reading and back again.

Other items of interest include:
Wednesday
- A trip on the new GWR Class 800 "IEP" trains from Paddington to Reading and back again.
- London Underground photos from various stations.
- Liverpool Street - Stratford on a Class 315.
- Jubilee Line refurbished train.
- Former International platform 20 at London Waterloo.

Thursday
- Staines and London Waterloo.
- London Euston and Birmingham International.

These photos can be viewed at http://smu.gs/2yaOrjs
The main reason for the visit to London was to visit the Great Cockcrow miniature railway in Chertsey outside London for an event organised by the Institution of Railway Operators. Photos of this excellent railway which features a full signalling system can be viewed at http://smu.gs/2zL8CAM

An Irish update of photos covering the last two weeks of October should be posted somestage this weekend.

 

[Thewanderer]

Evening folks,

I've finally caught up with the last of the October gallery with the final update published today.

Highlights include:

- Photos from Brittas north of Thurles.

- Belmond Grand Hibernian Trial over the Western Rail Corridor. With thanks to TTC0169 for these images.

- Pictures from Cherryville Jct and Kildare. Includes Belmond liveried 216 on Cork passenger services and 082 on the DFDS liner from Waterford to Ballina.

Click http://smu.gs/2z5BsN4 to view them all.

 

[Thewanderer]

Some recent photos of the Bord na Mona railway at Derrinlough Briquette Factory in Co. Offaly.

From 2018 this will be the last plant to produce peat briquettes when the Littleton factory in Co. Tipperary is closed. This closure is due to falling demand for the product in the face of milder winters, higher taxes, falling oil prices and growing awareness of the environmental damage that burning peat causes.

Click http://smu.gs/2z9aIeY to view.

 

[Thewanderer]

Evening all,

The November gallery starts off with photos from:

- Clonkeen outside Portlaoise.
- Hill of Down on the Sligo line to see the extremely rare appearance of a 5ICR set working on Sligo route. This was following the failure of the booked 4ICR set.
- Pictures from Lavistown and Commons in Co. Kilkenny on Sunday afternoon.

Click http://smu.gs/2hHRRjx to view.

 

[Thewanderer]

Evening all,

A few updates to the website covering the past week:

November Gallery:
Wednesday 8th November 2017:
Images from Portlaoise and of LUAS trams in Dublin near Heuston Station.

Thursday 9th November 2017:
Grabbed a few images around Heuston Station while passing through to catch a bus.

Tuesday 14th November 2017:
The Sperry Train passed Portlaoise just after midday heading from Heuston to Mallow.

Click http://smu.gs/2jrSnpy to view.

For the weekend I was in the UK visiting Manchester and York.

- UK Trip featuring Manchester Metrolink, Piccadilly and York: http://smu.gs/2ifH9kB
- Visit to the National Railway Museum: http://smu.gs/2ifmgpy

 

[Thewanderer]

Afternoon folks,

The November gallery has been updated with some images from Heuston and interior pictures of recent labelling changes to the 22000 Class fleet.

Click http://smu.gs/2mARbRV to view.

 

[Thewanderer]

Evening folks,

Other commitments have kept me away from the camera the past week or so, but I managed to get some pictures yesterday and today from Nenagh, Portlaoise and Killarney.

Highlights include 216 back on Dublin - Cork MKIV duties and 080 hauling a PWD relay train from Cork to Portlaoise.

Click http://smu.gs/2n4byaj to view.

 

[Thewanderer]

Two updates to the website today.

The first update is to the November Gallery and the main highlight of this is a trip to Limerick on Monday evening to see the recently completed rebuilding of Platforms 1 and 2 at the Station.

Click http://smu.gs/2k9Y6AJ to view.

On Wednesday 29th November, I was part of a small group visit to the main Iarnrod Eireann Civil Engineering base at Portlaoise located just off the Dublin - Cork railway line at the 52 MP. The site in Portlaoise is the main production hub for all of IE's track requirements throughout the network and includes a sleeper manufacturing plant and a rail welding facility.

Click http://smu.gs/2zzcsxh to see images of this very interesting and rarely seen element of the rail network.

 

[Thewanderer]

Afternoon folks,

The December gallery has been updated with images from:

- Nenagh
- Thurles
- Heuston
- Broombridge (RPSI Santa Specials).
- Drumcondra (IWT Liner).

Click http://smu.gs/2khQkot to view.

The second update to the website features the LUAS Cross City Extension.

With just a week to go before opening of the LUAS Cross City Extension, I headed to Dublin to get some photos before it opened. Also thanks to the generosity of Transdev management I was able to take a trip on the new extension from St. Stephens Green to Broombridge on Saturday afternoon during a timetable test. I had planned to travel on the IRRS trip two weeks previously but a family issue scuppered that plan two days before it.

This will be the final update to the LUAS Cross City Gallery. This gallery stretches back to January 2013 when I walked the City Centre route prior to construction beginning. Nearly 600 photos later the extension opens at 1400 hours on Saturday 9th December 2017.

Click http://smu.gs/2AGUflm to view the update from Saturday and if you wish the view the gallery from the start click http://smu.gs/2zIwDJc

 

[Thewanderer]

Photos from this week so far come from:

- Thurles
- Ballybrophy
- Quakers Road LC
- Heuston
- Connolly

Click http://smu.gs/2zVEbbD to view.

 

[Thewanderer]

Evening folks,

A round up of images from this week so far:

Monday 11th November 2017:
Pictures from a snow covered Portlaoise as dusk approached on the Monday evening.

Tuesday 12th December 2017:
The snow was still there on the Tuesday morning and I managed to get some photos from Ballybrophy and Portlaoise.

Wednesday 13th December 2017:
Some images of the new LUAS Green Line extension in Dublin City plus photos from Connolly and Heuston.

Click http://smu.gs/2ACUVcg to view.

 

[Thewanderer]

Evening all,

Photos from a weekend in Dublin have just been uploaded to the December gallery at www.smu.gs/2kEF8i3

Locations visited include:
- Heuston
- Connolly
- Maynooth
- Pearse
- Leixlip Confey
- LUAS Red and Green lines.

 

[Thewanderer]

With a few bits of Christmas shopping left to get, I decided to let the train to take the strain and popped into Limerick for a few hours.

Of course, I grabbed a few photos along the way as well.

Click http://smu.gs/2kGRSVu to view.

 

[Thewanderer]

Evening folks,

Some pictures taken on either side of the Christmas shutdown have now been uploaded to the website.

Featuring:

- Ballybrophy on a cold and wet evening.
- Farranfore to see 22027 arriving into the station.

Click http://smu.gs/2E4oph5 to view.

 

[Thewanderer]

Evening folks,

The final update for 2017 has just been uploaded to the website featuring images from the past few days. Locations include:

- Limerick.
- Portlaoise showing the failed 0700 Heuston - Cork on Friday.
- Nenagh area.

Click http://smu.gs/2ElLXOv to view.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year and a prosperous 2018.

On Monday 1st January 2018, the 2017 Year in Review will be published on the website. The preview to this gallery is currently on my facebook page at https://www.facebook.com//thewandererphotos

 

[Thewanderer]

Afternoon all,

The 2017 Year in Review is now available to view at http://smu.gs/2q65ejW

This gallery contains over 450 photos from the past 12 months from the railways of Ireland. I hope you enjoy the gallery and let's hope 2018 will be just as interesting. From a personal viewpoint the painting of 073 into its original Irish Rail "white stripe" livery was certainly the highlight of the year for me, joining sister locomotive 071 in its original CIE livery from 1976 which was repainted in 2016.