[Heritage] Foynes Heritage Railway Group

Judgement Day

Came across this tonight while looking for something else entirely - I'd never heard of them before and if nothing else this group should go some way to ensuring the bean counters at Connolly Station are not able to pull-up the Foynes branch in the forseeable future.

FOYNES HERITAGE RAILWAY GROUP

http://gswrg.webs.com/

Welcome to the Foynes Heritage Railway Group, one of Irelands newest web pages based on preserving items of our Irish railway history. Possible we aim to preserve the Foynes-Limerick line to be kept for future use such as a steam tourist railway, Our first goal is to restore Foynes as a working railway steam heritage centre combined with museum guided tours, steam train rides, and a general insight into working a steam railway, the only such kind in Ireland, then repair the Robertstown bridge, install sidings and a halt at Glenbane with a park and ride facility with close connections to the Askeaton-Foynes main road. Sidings and sheds should be erected near Foynes station Possibley at Robertstown. Then our long term plan includes extension of the line past Askeaton Ballingrane, Adare, Kilgobbin and possibley even Patrickswell. This would require the installation of passing loops at Askeaton and Kilgobbin Park and Ride, which will enable Locomotives to run around their train. Our current scheme is Foynes to Robertstown Halt and Glenbane Park'N'Ride. A possible long term plan is to extend to Adare and Kilgobbin Park and Ride close to the N21 with connections to Limerick City, This is achievable but only with help. This is not a definate plan, it is our long term goal!



Foynes Station in October 2006 - note the usual high standard of CIE/IE mothballing is in place.
Photo: Roy Lambeth http://www.disused-stations.org.uk

lord lucan

Maybe it's a bit of a strange notion but why couldn't this crowd get together with the Moyasta lads and pool their resources. If the Foynes lads can restore the infrastructure the Moyasta boys could supply the motive power! Simples!

Or are all the preservation groups determined to work independently of each other?

Ham'nd'egger

I e mailed these guys when they started off and all it consists of is a kid who sat his junior cert this summer! He should stick to his Hornby set:D

Judgement Day

lord lucan wrote: »

Maybe it's a bit of a strange notion but why couldn't this crowd get together with the Moyasta lads and pool their resources. If the Foynes lads can restore the infrastructure the Moyasta boys could supply the motive power! Simples!

Or are all the preservation groups determined to work independently of each other?

Well I raised the Foynes branch with the ITG some years back when they were looking for a new base but nobody was biting. I was sorry they didn't opt for it as it would have far more potential than Moyasta, and the presence of the Flying Boat Museum would have been an added bonus.

Run_to_da_hills

Judgement Day wrote: »

Well I raised the Foynes branch with the ITG some years back when they were looking for a new base but nobody was biting. I was sorry they didn't opt for it as it would have far more potential than Moyasta, and the presence of the Flying Boat Museum would have been an added bonus.

Its also in the same direction as the Lartigue.

highlydebased

Saw that site before. Riddled with spelling mistakes it is

Run_to_da_hills

Neon-Circles wrote: »

Saw that site before. Riddled with spelling mistakes it is

It would be a good venue for a rave, is it far out of town?.

Judgement Day

Neon-Circles wrote: »

Saw that site before. Riddled with spelling mistakes it is

Well that's hardly a reason to put it down as there are many expensive, professional websites riddled with spelling mistakes. If, indeed, it is run by someone who has just done his Junior Cert it is an excellent effort and bodes well for what he may be able to achieve. The Irish Railway News forum was co-founded by an individual who years before had started off in a very amateurish way in railway preservation but he didn't let his very youthful age or lack of experience stop in from jumping in at the deep end back in the early 1980s.

highlydebased

Judgement Day wrote: »

Well that's hardly a reason to put it down as there are many expensive, professional websites riddled with spelling mistakes. If, indeed, it is run by someone who has just done his Junior Cert it is an excellent effort and bodes well for what he may be able to achieve. The Irish Railway News forum was co-founded by an individual who years before had started off in a very amateurish way in railway preservation but he didn't let his very youthful age or lack of experience stop in from jumping in at the deep end back in the early 1980s.

Not putting it down just saying!

orangetrain

Judgement Day wrote: »

Well that's hardly a reason to put it down as there are many expensive, professional websites riddled with spelling mistakes. If, indeed, it is run by someone who has just done his Junior Cert it is an excellent effort and bodes well for what he may be able to achieve. The Irish Railway News forum was co-founded by an individual who years before had started off in a very amateurish way in railway preservation but he didn't let his very youthful age or lack of experience stop in from jumping in at the deep end back in the early 1980s.

From little acorns...

Ham'nd'egger

orangetrain wrote: »

From little acorns...

Come hungry squirrels looking for more food:D

foggy_lad

Judgement Day wrote: »

Well that's hardly a reason to put it down as there are many expensive, professional websites riddled with spelling mistakes. If, indeed, it is run by someone who has just done his Junior Cert it is an excellent effort and bodes well for what he may be able to achieve. The Irish Railway News forum was co-founded by an individual who years before had started off in a very amateurish way in railway preservation but he didn't let his very youthful age or lack of experience stop in from jumping in at the deep end back in the early 1980s.

spelling is no longer a priority in schools?

Judgement Day

foggy_lad wrote: »

spelling is no longer a priority in schools?

Did I say that? Spelling/typos etc are not the preserve of websites created by Junior Cert students and they can be found in plenty of mainstream websites and in the media generally. I shouldn't think that spelling and grammar have a very high place in the school curriculum anymore and texting/tweeting etc haven't helped.

dowlingm

Write to Colm McCarthy and suggest that ownership of all currently closed IE alignments be transferred to Local Authorities. Given that Limerick County Council once tried to slap a preservation order on the Foynes line they might see the virtue of doing something. Now, it's more likely that it will just be paved or sold to farmers but even those options are better than the current farce.

Airplane Man

Is the Foynes line likely to reopen again?

Del.Monte

The Man from Del Monte says No - at least not anytime soon.

Airplane Man

Del.Monte wrote: »

The Man from Del Monte says No - at least not anytime soon.

I agree with you most likely not anytime soon. They had undertaken clearence work last year along the line. I wonder did they get the results from that? The line is getting overgrown again. They had hoped to reopen it to Freight traffic again;.

Losty Dublin

It's re-opening is dependent on there being ample traffic to justify it. If this Zinc Ore traffic from Tipperary ever comes to then it's highly likely that it will. Even if it does it's a good 3-4 years away.

savagethegoat

the fly in the ointment is the decision to improve the parallel road which shows the real intention is to shift any traffic offering by road and mention of rail re-opening is just window dressing (imo)

Losty Dublin

savagethegoat wrote: »

the fly in the ointment is the decision to improve the parallel road which shows the real intention is to shift any traffic offering by road and mention of rail re-opening is just window dressing (imo)

The new road to Foyne and the Adare bypass have been on the to do list for years now. If the loads of ore that they want to move are even half true (Circa 40 artic's a day for 20+ years.) then moving it via rail becomes a reality, economic or otherwise.

Of course, that's if the mine gets going at all

savagethegoat

40 Artics being 20 in each direction per day which isn't a lot. We get timber trucks passing us at nearly that rate and you'd barely notice them.

L1011

Mine planning permission has precedent for requiring rail. I wouldn't be surprised to see it again.

Airplane Man

Clearance works got underway in 2015 but this since has finished and the tracks are beginning to get overgrown again. It would be nice to see it have trains run on it again as all of it is very intact.

savagethegoat

that's irrelevant. It would need substantial expenditure to make it fit to carry heavy ore trains.

roundymac

Cork Harbour Commisiners have plans to take over the IFI site at Marino Point. One of the uses stated is for ore exports. Ready made jetty and rail line next to it, just need to connect the various bits and bobs and away we go.