Irish Railway Rover Part 3
Michael McMahon
1. Coras Iompair Eireann/ Irish Rail/ Iarnrod Eireann freight services. 4
2. Northern Ireland Railways Railcars. 40
3. Mainly Locomotives. 52
4. Emphasis on Signalling. 65
Principal station names…
In 1966 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising of 1916, CIE renamed fifteen principal stations after Irish patriots, and a commemorative plaque was erected at each of the renamed stations. In reality only the three main Dublin station names are in everyday use :Connolly, Pearse and Heuston. The twelve others feature in timetabling and ticketing and are seldom otherwise used.
Dublin :- Amiens Street - Connolly, Westland Row – Pearse, Kingsbridge – Heuston
Dundalk – Clarke, Drogheda – MacBride, Dun Laoghaire – Mallin, Bray – Daly, Wexford (North) – O’Hanrahan, Waterford – Plunkett, Kilkenny –MacDonagh, Cork – Kent, Tralee – Casement, Limerick – Colbert, Galway - Ceannt, Sligo – MacDiarmada.
Unusually there were two 141 class locomotives at Ballina on Friday 14 June 1991. 161 was shunting the empty Friday-only coal and oil train for departure to Limerick at 14.00. No 171 has just arrived with the 11.51 from Manulla Junction (which connected with the 08.30 from HeustonWestport). It will return with the 13.20 to Manulla which will connect into the same set forming the 13.30 from Westport-Heuston. No 171 will then run as empty carriages from Manulla to Claremorris to run round. When it leaves Manulla, No 161 will depart from Ballina and take the Tuam-Athenry-Ennis line south from Claremorris. The Ballina crew worked to Athenry to exchange footplates with a Limerick-based crew who brought the empty train to Limerick where it will stable before going to Foynes on Monday at 07.00. The respective crews travelled ‘on the cushions’ to and from Athenry by the regular Bus Eireann service, greeting each other in the station car park!
In pre e-mail days, a large amount of postal traffic was conveyed by rail, by passenger trains and liner-mail trains operating from Waterford to Limerick, and Tralee to Mallow. At this time both up and down day and night mails to Galway and Cork had travelling post office vehicles along with accommodation for passengers. At Mullingar, the night mail from Sligo headed by 158 has reversed into the up Galway line platform on Friday 2nd May 1986. Sixty foot bogie van No 2557 (one of ten numbered 2549-58 built at Inchicore in 1960) was more than adequate for the Sligo line mails. Departure from Sligo was at 19.45 and mail was collected at every station except Collooney and Dromod. Arrival at Mullingar was scheduled for 22.18 to connect with the down Galway Mail at 22.57-23.07 and the corresponding up service at 00.18-00.33. Having run round its solitary van, No 158 would depart Mullingar at 00.35 with arrival back at Sligo scheduled for 03.05.
Limerick Junction hosts Nos 171 and 129 on Monday morning 7 September 1992. No 171 was working the 05.50 Dublin Heuston to Cork down day mail (usually rostered for a 121 class) which paused here for 45 minutes to let the following 07.30 Heuston to Cork express passenger train to overtake. The Craven coach in the background standing in the bay platform formed part of the shuttle service which had left Limerick at 08.05 from Limerick and would return there at 09.05.
No 129 is stabled with ten loaded bogie wagons forming a fertiliser special from New Ross to Farranfore siding (located behind the up platform at Farranfore station). Freight trains were often held at ‘The Junction’ awaiting either a driver or a path. Presumably, a Waterford based driver worked the train that far and a Limerick or Cork colleague would continue to Farranfore siding. Use of 121 class locomotives became problematic as with its impending demise in early 2003, some local drivers were not passed to drive them which led to further delays. Also consider the awkwardness of one single-ended 121 class at Limerick Junction which on arrival from Waterford and bound for Farranfore would have to traverse the triangle ‘light engine’ while running round its train to face the correct way.
Nos 130 and 134 rest at Dundalk at 13.10 having arrived with the 11.25 liner train (later re-timed to 11.35) from Belfast Adelaide Yard on Friday 7th August 1992. The three fertiliser wagons at the head of the otherwise Bell Line container train were from Richardsons factory at Belfast Harbour Industrial Estate. The train departed at 15.00, (following a crew change) and would arrive at North Wall yard in Dublin at 16.50, following the 15.28 (summer only) push-pull Drogheda-Dublin service. If there was extra freight traffic from Dundalk that could not be added to this train, it was worked forward to the North Wall in a ‘timetabled path’ at 13.20. No 134 was one of the last two of the fifteen-strong 121 class in service by almost five years although they did little work during that period. No 134 is preserved by the RPSI and at the time of writing is undergoing restoration to mainline condition at Inchicore Works.
More special Sunday freight on the Waterford line saw No 020 from Waterford passing Cherryville Junction on 9 August 1982. The former signal cabin which is thought to date from 1881 was closed in 1976 with the advent of Centralised Train Control (CTC). Bell Lines at first used the Frank Cassin Wharf Yard at Waterford, near Abbey Junction, but later moved downstream to their new port at Belview between Waterford and the Barrow Bridge on the Rosslare line. There were two dedicated Bell Line liner weekday trains from Waterford to Dublin departing at 02.45 and 04.00, plus two paths if required at 08.10 and 11.30 plus the regular liner at 21.50. The Dublin to Cork line was busy on this Sunday, as the all-Ireland hurling semi-final at Croke Park, Dublin required three specials from Galway, plus one each from Cork, Kilkenny, Waterford, and Limerick, but there was just about room to squeeze in 020 and its return working! Due to traffic volumes and resultant congestion, extra freight trains on Saturdays and Sundays were run on a ‘liner special’ basis. No 020 entered service in February 1956, was ‘stopped’ September 1992, formally withdrawn November 1994, and scrapped at Inchicore in February 1995.
A typical Irish summer Saturday has 80 class No 69 on the rear of a six-piece special Sunday School excursion which departed Poyntzpass at 08.55 for Portrush on Saturday 19 June 1982. Poyntzpass station had closed on 4 January 1965, but a ‘local arrangement’ allowed the occasional special to collect passengers from the still remaining platforms. This six-piece set was coupled to another at Portadown rendering a capacity load of 790 excursionists and then called at Lurgan and Moira before reversal at Lisburn. The return working left Portrush at 18.18 and reached the ‘Pass’ at 20.35. A couple of 1966-vintage ‘spoil’ wagons by Craven of Sheffield stand in the ballast loading area to the left. These had been specially built for the steam-haulage of spoil from Magheramorne Quarry on the Larne line to the foreshore near York Road for use in the construction of the five lane M2 motorway. A few wagons from the 1966-70 contract were retained for ballast distribution all over the NIR system. Some later had their top upper sides cut away to avoid overloading of ballast. Power car No 69 was preserved in working order at Downpatrick in May 2018, having ceased passenger service followed by a spell on Sandite
The predecessor to the 80 class was the 8-strong 70 class power cars which had been designed and built between 1966-68 by the UTA in their Belfast Duncrue Street workshops. They were quite different to the previous MPD (Multi-Purpose Diesel) and MED (Multi-Engined Diesel) railcar fleets. Following DEMU practise from BR, the diesel-electric power unit was installed at floor level in its own compartment which prevented through corridor connection at one end of the set. The original seating in the power car was 2+2 in a single saloon with two passenger doors on each side. In the power car the large windows had sliding top lights which vibrated and rattled in symphony with the engine. The engine noise from its poorly insulated compartment combined with a loose fitting crew access door, the top-light orchestra, and track noise through the traditional style end gangway all combined for a memorable experience, accentuated by lively springs and ride. This photograph shows No 71 River Bush at Bangor on Wednesday 2 June 1982 following its 1977 refit with 3+2 seating and much quieter ‘hopper’ type windows. No 71 was withdrawn in 1984 and in August 1985 was disposed of together with the other remaining 70 class power cars in Crosshill Quarry near Crumlin.
No 187 was leaving from Cobh with the 18.20 to Cork formed by two Park Royal coaches and an ex-BR van on Thursday 23 March 1989 and about to pass the advance starting signal. The Cork-Cobh section was re-signalled in April 2010 and was the penultimate line in Ireland to be signalled using Harpers block instruments, the two operational signal cabins at Cobh and Glounthaune (Cobh Junction) were closed on 1 April 2010. The former steam locomotive servicing area on the right has since been redeveloped with seafront housing, a children’s play area and a marina. Cobh station was extensively remodelled in April 1977 with just one platform and a run-round loop retained while the quayside station buildings were taken over by the local harbour authorities. The Cobh Heritage Centre opened in the erstwhile station buildings on 14 September 1993. The red brick buildings were sympathetically restored and are well worth a visit, by train naturally! No 187 the last working survivor of the twelve-strong 181 fleet was withdrawn in February 2009.
Newry station (formerly Bessbrook) was a frequent target for terrorists, and an explosion on 23 February 1990 destroyed the portacabin which housed the booking office and signalling equipment. It was replaced with a similar portacabin, with the same layout, augmented by a single toilet for staff use. This view taken on Monday 6 August 1990 shows the Newry control panel with Harpers block instruments on either side. The far instrument is under repair following yet another explosion on 30 July 1990 when a device placed nearby broke a down side rail but this time the portacabin escaped severe damage. The block section then was north to Poyntzpass and south to Dundalk; Newry cabin closed on 2 September 1996, and that at Poyntzpass closed on 16 November 1996 with introduction of Track Circuit Block working. Dundalk Central closed on 23 May 1996, and Dundalk North closed in September 2002 after a period when the local control panel was installed there. A new signalling centre at Portadown opened in December 1996 to control the line between the Border and Belfast.
Plenty of semaphores at Killarney on Wednesday 23 June 1993 as No 073 on the left with the 14.20 from Tralee to Heuston waits patiently for the late running No 167 on the 12.40 from Cork to Tralee to arrive and depart. No 073 was timetabled to cross the 12.40 at Farranfore eleven miles nearer Tralee. Killarney has one long platform partially under an overall roof with a run-round loop, the other platform is a bay that stopped short of the station buildings. A train too long for the bay platform, could block the points just under No 167 in the photograph leading to delays to the other train. The signal cabin is painted in the Irish Rail blue colour scheme is visible between the main platform starter and No 167’s train. The bracket signal between the locomotive and the cabin refers to left into the ‘check’ headshunt and right for the section towards Rathmore and Mallow. CTC arrived on the Banteer-Tralee section of the North Kerry Road on 25 February 2005 when all semaphore signals were replaced by colour lights. Extensive alterations were also undertaken to the platforms and crossovers at Killarney to bring them up to the required modern standard.
This is the third in a series drawn from a personal photographic memoir over thirty years of observation, starting in 1975 during what are now regarded as the ‘museum years’ of post-steam Irish Railways.
This period of momentous change saw the traditional infrastructure of mechanical signalling, travelling post offices, steam heating, goods train services and 19th Century station buildings, etc progressively give way to the utilitarian era. Train formations and their operation also changed beyond recognition as the traditional locomotive and carriage formation yielded to anonymous multiple unit operation.
The author was uniquely placed to witness the closing years before regeneration changed so much. The rare privilege of all-Ireland footplate passes led to an estimated 80,000 miles of footplate travel between 1982 and 1995. During his extensive wanderings Michael met and made friends with many railwaymen of all grades including permanent way gangs, workshop engineers, signalmen, train crews and management. In this book he shares ninety pictures from his collection in tribute to those railwaymen and the railway of a bygone age.
£17.50
