Miniature Train - Salthill Leisureland

peterbrynt

Hello everyone,

I wondered if anyone on these boards had any memories or photos of the miniature train that ran round the funfair at Leisureland, Salthill, on the seafront, that they could share with me?

Anything would be interesting and appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Peter

Head The Wall

It still runs there, wait till summer

peterbrynt

Headthewall,

Thanks for the reply.

I'm particularly interested in the miniature train that used to run there. It was much smaller than the one that is there now.

It ran at Galway from 1973 to 2003, before being replaced by the bigger train and moving elsewhere. I'm really after pictures or memories of this particular train.

Thanks
Peter

biko

I found the new train on www.perksleisureland.com/news1.html but you probably already seen that?

peterbrynt

Biko,

Thanks for the link, I have come across this before. This is the new 2 foot gauge train which has replaced the one I'm after memories/photos of.

Peter

sgthighway

I heard before that the old one was run off an old Escort Engine. I know nothing about trains so it could be a load of crap.

peterbrynt

Sgt Highway,

Thanks for the reply. You're correct, it originally had an Escort engine, but was replaced in 1994 by a Perkins engine.

Keep the photos/memories coming!

Thanks
Peter

paconnors

as far as I can remember that old train went to a museum in the south.

JohnCleary

Maybe get in touch with the Perk family (im sure theres some sort of contacts on the website) and ask them?

One of the family lives in Galway but you'd be better off trying to get in touch with Russel Perk Senior (The owner of Perks amusments)

peterbrynt

Paconnors and John,

Thanks for your response. I will do. I'm researching the Severn Lamb locomotives like the ones that were at Leisureland.

Does anyone else have anymore photos or memories of it? Even recollections of what colour it used to be would be interesting!

Thanks
Peter

moonflower

I don't remember the old one, but I do have a photo of me on it from around 1996.
I don't have a working scanner though.

donmeister

Lmao@this thread

mercuroman

I think it could have been red - not sure - but I do remember leaving coins on the tracks to get crushed under it!

peterbrynt

Thanks for the responses all.

Moonflower - I will contact you over PM, any pictures of it will be interesting!

Mecuroman - Interesting to hear it was red, I have not seen any photos of it in that livery. I bet your coins got crushed!

Keep them coming

sgthighway

I'll dig out some photos when I call home at the weekend. I'm sure we have a photo of it.

peterbrynt

Sgthighway,

Thanks, if you can find any photos, that would be great. Most of the Rio Grande locomotives were originally black livery.

Peter

mercuroman

peterbrynt wrote: »

Interesting to hear it was red, I have not seen any photos of it in that livery. I bet your coins got crushed!

I could be completely wrong - could be mixing memories of it being red but my coins were definitely crushed!

peterbrynt

I'm still on the look out for any old pictures or memories anyone has of this train? It would be great to see them, please do get in touch if you have any.

I've been told that the train was originally delivered in green livery. Does this rekindle any memories?

Thanks
Peter

happyoutscan

Their website is more exciting than their amusement park.

Steyr

Just a heads up OP, that train is back out and about daily in Leisureland doing the track, its red.:)

gmkgreaney

JohnCleary wrote: »

Maybe get in touch with the Perk family (im sure theres some sort of contacts on the website) and ask them?

One of the family lives in Galway but you'd be better off trying to get in touch with Russel Perk Senior (The owner of Perks amusments)

hes unapproachable , between him the wife and jonathan there the most ignorent and stingy people iv ever met, tbh i never knew the train was changed was more of a walzer fan myself

peterbrynt

Thanks for the messages - I've been in touch with the Perks already and they're very nice people.

But what I'm really interested in, is the smaller train that used to run their before the big train that runs there now! The old train ran from 1973 to 2003 at Salthill.

Any photos/memories, please post them!

Thanks
Peter

Andrea B.

A few nights before Halloween in 1982 (I think) the train was burnt out in an accident during juvenile theft of petrol from tank. A few years after that they built the lock-up tunnel.

A new/refurbished engine arrived around May the following year so not many people noticed loss.

gary82

This photo was on the Leisureland site, maaay well be the same train as linked above but with a different paint-job, the chimney at the front is different as well...



I think this might be the modern one...

kraggy

That green one is the one that was there pre 2003 alright.

I used to work there and the train was green as far as I can remember back, which is 1991-1994.

peterbrynt

Many thanks for these posts, very interesting.

Andrea B - I've seen a picture from 1983 and there was certainly a mock up tunnel on the railway then, so I'm guessing they put it up that winter? But I'm very sure that it's the same locomotive, and perhaps it wasn't as damaged as at first imagined?

Gary82 - Thanks for that, not seen this photo before. This is how it looks now in the green livery. The red locomotive is a larger gauge and was built by the same company in 2003.

Kraggy - Thanks, did it look pretty much the same as it does in the photo Gary posted there?

Keep it coming

Thanks
Peter

Andrea B.

Andrea B - I've seen a picture from 1983 and there was certainly a mock up tunnel on the railway then, so I'm guessing they put it up that winter? But I'm very sure that it's the same locomotive, and perhaps it wasn't as damaged as at first imagined?

It was definitely taken away after fire, as I have vivid memories of it traveling on back of truck down Threadneedle Rd before school broke for Summer.

The tunnel I speak of was arched one covered in grass at far side and parellel to where hotel is now.

peterbrynt

Andrea,

Thanks - so you saw it on the truck before Summer 1983 or 1982? Sorry for the confusion!

I bet that was in the local press at the time, but it's definetly the same loco as first built for there.

Thanks
Peter

Steyr

There is indeed a tunnel its across from the Galway Bay Hotel, it's where they parked/keep the train at night and when not in use, locked from both sides and has swing doors. I remember the green train too with the red grate at the front, i also remember removing little stones from the line if i noticed them, just in case the train de-railed:pac::D

JohnCleary

Steyr wrote: »

There is indeed a tunnel its across from the Galway Bay Hotel, it's where they parked/keep the train at night and when not in use, locked from both sides and has swing doors. I remember the green train too with the red grate at the front, i also remember removing little stones from the line if i noticed them, just in case the train de-railed:pac::D

That b4starding green train used to walways derail. Was some craic trying to get it back on the line with a big iron bar!

JohnCleary

JohnCleary wrote: »

That b4starding green train used to walways derail. Was some craic trying to get it back on the line with a big iron bar!

Either you don't want to say bastarding or b4starding was the make of the train.

Holy shizzle I'm tired.

peterbrynt

Steyr wrote: »

There is indeed a tunnel its across from the Galway Bay Hotel, it's where they parked/keep the train at night and when not in use, locked from both sides and has swing doors. I remember the green train too with the red grate at the front, i also remember removing little stones from the line if i noticed them, just in case the train de-railed:pac::D

Thanks - saved a few derailments then, depends how the track was laid.

Keep the memories and photos coming please folks, all been really useful so far!

Thanks
Peter

peterbrynt

Hello All,

Since I posted this, we have purchased the 15" gauge locomotive and coaches that used to run at Salthill, from the Perks, and are in the process of restoring them - see photo:




Does anyone remember this locomotive and its train? Any photos or further memories of it, please post them. I hope the photo rejogs a few peoples memories.

I've also attached a photo of it in 1983 - anyone know why it's numbered 382? Is it something to do with Galway? And yes, it is the same locomotive, it was rebuilt in 1994!

We hardly know anything about its past in Ireland, and would really like to see some photos of it.

Thanks in Advance
Peter

Dunjohn

Glad to see you've bought it, but I'm just wondering, what are you going to do with it? And why are you so interested in this particular train?

I worked for a few summers at Perks and manned the train a lot. I drove it occasionally, but mainly I sat at the back, collecting fares and keeping an eye on people while this Russian guy Igor drove it. I don't remember exactly which years these were, I think 97-00ish. I'm trying to see if that's Igor in the photo gary82 posted, but the resolution's too low. We both had to wear those caps to keep the sun off.

The locomotive was parked in the tunnel at night but the carriages wouldn't fit, so they were locked in a cage around the back of the park. I remember one time I yelled to Igor to stop the train because some passengers weren't staying inside the carriage. He did and I got off and asked them to, but Igor thought I was still onboard and pulled off again. I couldn't jump on because they'd were inside the cage so I had to run along behind them with everybody laughing at me.

That's pretty much the only memorable event I have, other than trying to explain to Igor what the lyrics "she's gonna look like she's a chimney on her" meant.

TheCosmicFrog

That's brilliant, Peter. Where are you/your company based?

peterbrynt

Thanks for the replies.

DunJohn - Good to hear from someone who worked on the train - has the loco changed at all since you worked on it? You don't happen to have any photos of the train at all please?

We're going to run the locomotive at a public railway in Lancashire in England, for the time being. Interested in its history, as want to see how it has changed over the years, and know very little about it (only seen 4 photos prior to buying it).

TheCosmicFrog - The locomotive is in Lancashire, and the coaches are in store in Yorkshire at the present time.

Here is the only other photos I have of our train at Galway, taken in 1991 by Peter Scott - as you can see from the photos above in comparison, at the time it was black, and had the front two wheels (underneath the cowcatcher) are missing.





Does anyone else have any photos or memories of this?

Thanks
Peter

delboy1986

i dont know any more info on the train. have you tried contacting the perks. i do know where the old tunnel is left tho.

Arnold Layne

I remember that train well. As a ten year old, my mates & I used to wait until the train went by the old house and then jump on the back of it and jump back off when "civilisation" was visible again. We thought we were sh1t hot.

JohnCleary

That brings back some memories!

I remember when it used to be 20p a go, and it did 3 laps.

Original Steyr

Hi peterbrynt,

Will you be keeping her in her original Irish colours and the Galway crest on her?

Well done on the purchase, good to see she has a new home.:)

Dunjohn

I'm sorry, I don't have any pictures of my own. I'm pretty sure it looks the same as when I was there.

Personally, I vastly prefer the green to the red. The red has a nice funfair feel to it, but the green was so much more elegant.

Are those black pictures definitely 1991? I didn't think the fences were that old (I moved here in 1990).

peterbrynt

Hello All,

Thanks for your replies, it's good to hear about the train.

DelBoy1986 - Thanks for suggestion, we've been in touch with the Perks as bought it from them - surely it's old tunnel is used for the larger train?

JohnClearly - Shame railways don't charge those sort of prices these days!

Original Steyr - Thanks, the loco will be repainted into Light Brunswick Green, which is pretty close to what it is now. - however we've removed the Galway crests (do they actually have some history? We thought they were just a funfair thing) but we do still have them. It's irish roots won't be forgotten though! The coaches which are a mix of yellow and red will be repainted and reroofed.

DunJohn - Thanks for getting back, if you know of any other people who may have photos, then I'd be very interested to hear from them. I prefer the Green as well, though the Red suits the new loco, it wouldn't had suited ours! The photos were taken on 23rd June 1991, pretty sure! The locomotive is slightly different before its rebuild at Severn Lamb in 1994.

Keep the posts coming, all very interesting so far, there must be some photos out there!

Thanks
Peter

PS. I'll post some photos once our locos been painted in the next few weeks.

peterbrynt

Hello All,

We now have the ex-Galway Rio back running again, it was in traffic at its new home at the Windmill Farm Railway in Lancashire, England.

Here are two photos from today:





It has been repainted in Light Brunswick Green, and is 95% complete, just a few jobs here and there.

We are still very keen to see any photos, or find out anymore information about its life in Ireland, so if anyone has anything, please post here.

Thanks
Peter

peterbrynt

Hi All,

Just another plea to see if anyone here has any photos of the old train that ran at Perks Funfair, Galway? Still not seen anymore since this thread started in 2009!

We had it running in Scotland for two years (and she performed well overall) and she is now back in store receiving some attention on the hydraulic motor and electrics in the tender.

The coaches on the other hand are back in use at a private railway, we built new curved roofs replacing the slightly battered plastic ones, and they've been repainted in brown/black instead of the old red/yellow.

Will try and post some photos if anyone is interested.

BeardySi

I'm afraid I've no photos, but you've certainly put a smile on my face!

A2LUE42

Had a lot of trips on this in the late 70's and early 80's. Great to see it up and running again. Don't have any photos though.

_Whimsical_

No photos either but I loved this train as a kid. When I was first on it I was young enough not to realize that the back of leisureland might look different to the front. I remember thinking "wow where are we now,are we going some place exciting???" when the train turned into the green tree lined area at the back and then being quite disappointed when we arrived up back in Leisureland a few minutes later.
Still though it was fantastic.