What is the fate of the Mark 3's?

lord lucan

I'm tempted to do the IRRS tour,last time i'll probably ever get a chance to go for a spin in a MKIII.

lord lucan

lord lucan wrote: »

I'm tempted to do the IRRS tour,last time i'll probably ever get a chance to go for a spin in a MKIII.

I'm sending my booking off tomorrow. I thought my last would be the previous IRRS tour to Limerick so this should be good. Once IÉ don't decide to replace it with a 22k at the last minute... :rolleyes:

Judgement Day

Who cares what stock is on the train as long as the IRRS committee get their chicken dinner? Sadly, once again, the railway enthusiast community will have do without my presence. I'll be up for the last train though - my speciality.

Transportuser09

Judgement Day wrote: »

Who cares what stock is on the train as long as the IRRS committee get their chicken dinner?

Ah now its not really fair to be making digs at the IRRS. This seems to happen a good bit on this site, but they've never harmed anyone. Theres a lot worse in this country than the IRRS.

Judgement Day

Transportuser09 wrote: »

Ah now its not really fair to be making digs at the IRRS. This seems to happen a good bit on this site, but they've never harmed anyone. Theres a lot worse in this country than the IRRS.

Agreed - the Nordies and their spiritual leader in Inchicore!

Transportuser09

Judgement Day wrote: »

Agreed - the Nordies and their spiritual leader in Inchicore!

What has the north got to do with this?

Cookie_Monster

speaking of non DMU stock here's some of IE newest purchases :D:D

not quite that passenger friendly though

Transportuser09

They're big enough thats for sure.

Sponge Bob

Are they for carrying the porter behind Jackie Healy Raes train???

lord lucan

I think IE have a fixation with new bright shiny things. I can't see why they need new Autoballasters given the network is most likely going to shrink. Nothing wrong with the hoppers they use now.

dowlingm

What's the selling point of autoballasters?

lord lucan

dowlingm wrote: »

What's the selling point of autoballasters?

I'd imagine it's supposed to cut down on manpower(no group of lads with shovels spreading the ballast after it's dropped) and give a more even ballasting.

Run_to_da_hills

Transportuser09 wrote: »

They're big enough thats for sure.

Its about time Iarnrod Eireann bought the appropriate rolling stock for the 201's

corktina

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Its about time Iarnrod Eireann bought the appropriate rolling stock for the 201's

I thought they WERE 201s in a new livery....:D

lord lucan

Looks like IE's rebranding never made it to the old IR logo on the gantry.:pac:

lord lucan

lord lucan wrote: »

Looks like IE's rebranding never made it to the old IR logo on the gantry.:pac:

I also noticed that on the IRRS tour to Limerick last year.

I quote a post from IRN:

According to an article written by Peter Jones of the ITG in Mays Railways Illustrated 6105, 6301, 6305 and 6402 have been bought for use at Moyasta. Its not clear if these coaches are to be bought by the ITG or the West Clare Railway. According to the article; "Other 5ft 3in gauge stock that will arrive in early 2010 are four Mk 3 push/pull vehicles, driving trailer 6105, intermediate coaches 6301/05 and buffet 6402. Once the 5ft 3in gauge running line has been laid it will then be possible to operate a Mk3 push/pull train using 124."

Judgement Day

Glad to see Moyasta are going for a full repeat of the Tralee & Dingle Blennerville travesty. I can just see all the enthusiasts making their way to West Clare to hurtle between Kilrush and Kilkee in MkIIIs behind a 121 - only in Ireland.

lord lucan

Judgement Day wrote: »

Glad to see Moyasta are going for a full repeat of the Tralee & Dingle Blennerville travesty. I can just see all the enthusiasts making their way to West Clare to hurtle between Kilrush and Kilkee in MkIIIs behind a 121 - only in Ireland.

While i'm delighted that some of our railway heritage is being saved,it's a pity it's ending up in such a remote location. I don't have a car,i have a 125cc maxi scooter that would find a spin from west Dublin to Moyasta pretty hard work. There's no rail link,Ennis is the nearest rail station some distance away,so it'd probably involve a couple of bus journeys.

Oh well,maybe during the summer i'll take the bike for a spin down,just leave here at the crack of dawn and make a couple of stops on the way down. It's a pity it takes a bit of enterprise from some guy in Clare to do what IE's heritage department doesn't.

FlameoftheWest

Judgement Day wrote: »

between Kilrush and Kilkee in MkIIIs behind a 121 - only in Ireland.

How many miles is that?

Transportuser09

Its easy to knock from behind a computer but a lot harder to actually get out and do something.

From anything I've read so far I think the intention is to reopen Kilrush-Kilkee as 3ft narrow gauge, not 5'3'', I think the mk3s would be on a short demonstration line or the like. So you wouldn't be travelling from Kilrush to Kilkee behind a 121 in mk3s.

Judgement Day

Transportuser09 wrote: »

Its easy to knock from behind a computer but a lot harder to actually get out and do something.

From anything I've read so far I think the intention is to reopen Kilrush-Kilkee as 3ft narrow gauge, not 5'3'', I think the mk3s would be on a short demonstration line or the like. So you wouldn't be travelling from Kilrush to Kilkee behind a 121 in mk3s.

I'll knock what I like from behind my laptop thank you - been there, made the video, t-shirt and guidebook - and I'm sick of seeing 'so called' preservation schemes degenerate into farce as at Blennerville, Dromod, Cobh, Clonakilty Model Rly Village and now Moyasta. Unbelievably in 2010 the only preservation scheme in the Republic worthy of the name is to be found at Fintown in the the wilds of Donegal.

lord lucan

MKIII's went for a little spin down the Cork line today,the IRRS set.

http://thewanderersirishrailphotos.fotopic.net/p64007132.html

Transportuser09

Judgement Day wrote: »

I'll knock what I like from behind my laptop thank you - been there, made the video, t-shirt and guidebook - and I'm sick of seeing 'so called' preservation schemes degenerate into farce as at Blennerville, Dromod, Cobh, Clonakilty Model Rly Village and now Moyasta. Unbelievably in 2010 the only preservation scheme in the Republic worthy of the name is to be found at Fintown in the the wilds of Donegal.

Fine, so you went out and did something, fair play. But you should think before deriding the efforts of others. I haven't been to Moyasta yet but from what I've seen it looks like they've at least something running. Yes I know there were never any 5'3 lines there but surely its better than nothing, as long as the locos are properly looked after and not left to rot. People do their best. Things could be better, of course. Sometimes a lack of funding is a problem, for instance, insurance also. Many of these schemes are run by volunteers, it doesn't seem fair to mock them for that.

FlameoftheWest

Transportuser09 wrote: »

I think the mk3s would be on a short demonstration line or the like. So you wouldn't be travelling from Kilrush to Kilkee behind a 121 in mk3s.

You are joking right! What a stupid and pointless idea if this is what's being planned down there.

Why not have a camel and elephant haul the Mk3s around in a field, paint the coaches in the colours of AC Milan and have loudspeakers play the theme from Starsky and Hutch...

Anyone have another suggestion? Weld them together into the shape of giant budgie?

Transportuser09

FlameoftheWest wrote: »

You are joking right! What a stupid and pointless idea if this is what's being planned down there.

Why not have a camel and elephant haul the Mk3s around in a field, paint the coaches in the colours of AC Milan and have loudspeakers play the theme from Starsky and Hutch...

Anyone have another suggestion? Weld them together into the shape of giant budgie?

I'm not 100% sure if a demonstration line is the plan. You have to take into account that the groups involved are voluntary run so there is only so much they can do. Laying 5'3 on the bed of a route built for 3ft would be a major engineering task even for a professional firm, never mind a voluntary one. It would also be very expensive.

FlameoftheWest

Transportuser09 wrote: »

I'm not 100% sure if a demonstration line is the plan.

Then stop the rightous indignation while correcting people over matters you are not 100% sure about.

Whatever is going on in Clare it is looking to be really strange and I know nothing about this stuff. Nothing against the people behind it, but it comes across as a Preservation-on-Track type mentality of "this is what we want, you're opinion does not matter..."

Which will end in tears for them as when WoT soon find out in the next couple of years this is a proven failure model.

You want success, you give the people what they want and NEED. You want failure, you delude yourself into assuming that what you want they also want and you are their saviour.

Once again anything to do with rails and personalities west of the Shannon is a blueprint for narcissism, meglomania eventually leading towards universal oblivion.

Transportuser09

FlameoftheWest wrote: »

Then stop the rightous indignation while correcting people over matters you are not 100% sure about.

Whatever is going on in Clare it is looking to be really strange and I know nothing about this stuff. Nothing against the people behind it, but it comes across as a Preservation-on-Track type mentality of "this is what we want, you're opinion does not matter..."

Which will end in tears for them as when WoT soon find out in the next couple of years this is a proven failure model.

You want success, you give the people what they want and NEED. You want failure, you delude yourself into assuming that what you want they also want and you are their saviour.

Once again anything to do with rails and personalities west of the Shannon is a blueprint for narcissism, meglomania eventually leading towards universal oblivion.

I'm not 100% it is a demonstration line, but I have read that there is a plan to have a short running line for the 5'3 gauge stock. There has only been mention of plans to reopen the Kilkee/Kilrush lines as narrow gauge, not standard gauge.

What is "Preservation-on-Track" anyway? Theres a group called West-on-Track which I believe did some of the campaigning for the reopening of the WRC a few years ago, but they're unrelated to the West Clare or ITG. You might be getting them mixed up.

As for giving people what they want and need, I'm not sure where you are coming from. Its a preservation group, not an actual transport provider, although in theory a preserved line can provide transport in the areas it serves. Nobody has said anything about wanting to be a saviour.

Judgement Day

Transportuser09 wrote: »

I'm not 100% it is a demonstration line, but I have read that there is a plan to have a short running line for the 5'3 gauge stock. There has only been mention of plans to reopen the Kilkee/Kilrush lines as narrow gauge, not standard gauge.

What is "Preservation-on-Track" anyway? Theres a group called West-on-Track which I believe did some of the campaigning for the reopening of the WRC a few years ago, but they're unrelated to the West Clare or ITG. You might be getting them mixed up.

As for giving people what they want and need, I'm not sure where you are coming from. Its a preservation group, not an actual transport provider, although in theory a preserved line can provide transport in the areas it serves. Nobody has said anything about wanting to be a saviour.

Moyasta is run as a private fiefdom by local quarry tycoon Jackie Whelan more info here: http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/09/on-west-clare-railway.html

Quite what will become of this 'enterprise' when the good Jackie goes to his final reward is anyones guess.

Transportuser09

Well theres little any of us can do when we've gone to out enternal reward! Thanks for the link. Great to see that, a local business man following his dream and putting something there for the community. Who knows it might bring some of the passing tourist trade in. Fair play to him, not something to be knocked.