Freight trains at Night

JeffK88

Has there been an increase in rail freight in recent weeks .There has been alot of what sounds and feels like freight trains going by at night . I thought there was only the IWT and DFDS which run during the day ..new companies on board maybe ???

Niles

Engineering trains (ballast, track machines, etc) maybe? There could be an engineering possession at night at the section of line in question. There are no new companies operating freight trains in Ireland so far.

JeffK88

Maybe ballast trains ... Some activity anyway .. i read somewhere that IE are actively looking for companies to take up rail freight

corktina

good one....:D

demanufactured

In the last week I have noticed an increase in freight traffic going past my house...i live beside the old athlone station and see most of the traffic.

Saw an 071 in the old black and orange twice this week....once on light engine and the second time with some containers.

Im convinced I heard what sounded like a 141/181 go by one day but I did nt see it.so cant be certain.

Plenty of ballast movements lately too

JeffK88

Looks like the Ballina service is taking off so .. with more of them now. IE shouldnt have ever abandoned freight. Should be taken out of there hands and given completely to private companies least that way all the IE redtape would be removed

Rud

demanufactured wrote: »

In the last week I have noticed an increase in freight traffic going past my house...i live beside the old athlone station and see most of the traffic.

Saw an 071 in the old black and orange twice this week....once on light engine and the second time with some containers.

Im convinced I heard what sounded like a 141/181 go by one day but I did nt see it.so cant be certain.

Plenty of ballast movements lately too

That 071 you speak of was more than likely 077 whcih was on 3 different freight trains last week namely a DFDS liner,an IWT pocket wagon liner and empty timber train

As far as i know the only 141/181 loco that could have been would have had to have been either of the RPSIs 141s so i doubt it was what it sounded like or maybe i'm highly wrong??

Cookie_Monster

Rud wrote: »

That 071 you speak of was more than likely 077 whcih was on 3 different freight trains last week namely a DFDS liner,an IWT pocket wagon liner and empty timber train

As far as i know the only 141/181 loco that could have been would have had to have been either of the RPSIs 141s so i doubt it was what it sounded like or maybe i'm highly wrong??

all 181s are gone, is there not one or two 141s left running pilot duties around Inchicore, but I don't think they're cleared on the mainline anymore?

roundymac

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

all 181s are gone, is there not one or two 141s left running pilot duties around Inchicore, but I don't think they're cleared on the mainline anymore?

Still a couple of 141s left in Inchicore but not really active.The only 141s you'll be likly to see are 141 & a142 belonging to RSPI.

demanufactured

Its strange alright because it was pulling a consist and defiantly wasn't a 201 or 071

It defiantly had that throaty 121/141/181/ sound as it accelerated away...I wish I'd seen it....

corktina

was the windmill turning at night when there was no wind?

(I'll leave JD put up the Youtube clip...):D

demanufactured

corktina wrote: »

was the windmill turning at night when there was no wind?

(I'll leave JD put up the Youtube clip...):D

??

Judgement Day

demanufactured wrote: »

??

Always happy to oblige.

Drimnagh Road

roundymac wrote: »

The only 141s you'll be likly to see are 141 & a142 belonging to RSPI.

141 is gathering dust at Inchicore, while 142 was banished up to Whitehead shortly after their only railtour in Feb 2010, probably gathering dust too.

JeffK88

Hmmm maybe ghost trains ... Ghosts of the scrapped trains haunting the lines of Ireland

roundymac

Drimnagh Road wrote: »

141 is gathering dust at Inchicore, while 142 was banished up to Whitehead shortly after their only railtour in Feb 2010, probably gathering dust too.

142 is used for shunting at Whitehead, 141 will more than likly be used for shuting/stand by for the Santa specials.

Losty Dublin

roundymac wrote: »

142 is used for shunting at Whitehead, 141 will more than likly be used for shuting/stand by for the Santa specials.

Unfortunately a 141 will not be used for standby or shunting this season. 141's cannot haul trains unless paired with another loco, of which there are no other 121/141/181's in mainline fit condition to pair it with. Similarly, 142 can't leave Whitehead for the same reasons, there also being issued with many NIR drivers not all being trained on said class.

In the event of no steam loco being available at any given time, a diesel will be made available if required by IE and NIR.

Cookie_Monster

171 is also flagged for preservation. EDIT: actually that for some smelly old steamer numbered 171, not the 141 class one

And two more, 190 and 15X are rotting in a field down in Moyasta...

roundymac

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Unfortunately a 141 will not be used for standby or shunting this season. 141's cannot haul trains unless paired with another loco, of which there are no other 121/141/181's in mainline fit condition to pair it with. Similarly, 142 can't leave Whitehead for the same reasons, there also being issued with many NIR drivers not all being trained on said class.

In the event of no steam loco being available at any given time, a diesel will be made available if required by IE and NIR.

How come?

Niles

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

171 is also flagged for preservation. EDIT: actually that for some smelly old steamer numbered 171, not the 141 class one

And two more, 190 and 15X are rotting in a field down in Moyasta...

152 is at Moyasta, supposedly as a source of spares for the ITG's other BGMs.

175 is the other 141 flagged for preservation, along with 121 class 134, as announced in an RPSI bulletin a while back.

B141 on her own wouldn't be really be up to hauling a nine bogie Santa Special, if steam had to be substituted it would more likely be an 071 or 201. That said, 171 (the GM that is!) hauled the 9 piece ECS from Grand Canal Dock to Inchicore last year, but from the sound of it I don't think she enjoyed the experience very much!

Whatever shunting needs to be done for a Santa Special is usually done by a combination of whatever loco is available at Connolly and the steam loco in question. (usually just lifting the set out from the VP/terminal platform to the Wash rd. in Connolly so the steam loco can haul it to Pearse). The set itself is already made up in Inchicore by the pilot, indeed it was out on the mainline just over a week ago.

Wasn't 208 used on a Santa special in recent years? That probably wasn't fun, expecting a steam loco and getting a 201.

Niles

Karsini wrote: »

Wasn't 208 used on a Santa special in recent years? That probably wasn't fun, expecting a steam loco and getting a 201.

Yep, that was in the 2009 season, 4 had failed the night before.(some pics here). Fortunately an RPSI engine failure is rare, and when No.4 did she was out of way in Pearse loop so wasn't distrupting other traffic, conversely I seem to recall another evening that year when the steam hauled ECS was delayed by a door troubled DART!

On the subject of 201s and Santa trains, last year most of the "pilot" duties at Connolly where carried out by 201s, a sign of the times I guess.

Losty Dublin

roundymac wrote: »

How come?

A 121/141/181 engine working on their own are not powerful enough to move a full trainload at full speed for any length of time. To give it sufficient power for same a second loco needs to be added. As the class were barred from the mainline the other year, the RPSI pair excepted, there isn't 2 available so the back up is a 071/201 class.

Baron de Robeck

152 was purchased for spares by the ITG. It is complete but had the cabs partly stripped out for a brake overhaul that IE never finished.

190 is covered from head to foot in a large heavy tarpaulin to protect it from the elements as are most of the other locos at Moyasta while they wait for the new museum building.

Losty Dublin

Niles wrote: »

Yep, that was in the 2009 season, 4 had failed the night before.(some pics here). Fortunately an RPSI engine failure is rare, and when No.4 did she was out of way in Pearse loop so wasn't distrupting other traffic, conversely I seem to recall another evening that year when the steam hauled ECS was delayed by a door troubled DART!

On the subject of 201s and Santa trains, last year most of the "pilot" duties at Connolly where carried out by 201s, a sign of the times I guess.

I remember that incident well. It was lucky that 4 failed where she failed as she was on her way back to Connolly; a few yards more and it would have meant chaos. 8208 was on hand for the Sunday and headed what was possibly the first mainline diesel train to run in Ireland in years that had both it's complete stock (RPSI) and loco (NIR) owned by companies other than Irish Rail. As it happened, most punters took it to heart and were happy for their day out, No 4 returning to service a week later after some magic from Santa and Peter Scott

demanufactured

So back to topic...
Is anyone else seeing more freight movements anywhere else?

Judgement Day

demanufactured wrote: »

So back to topic...
Is anyone else seeing more freight movements anywhere else?

Saw an Eddie Stobart truck passing through Enniscorthy today - does that count?

Losty Dublin

Judgement Day wrote: »

Saw an Eddie Stobart truck passing through Enniscorthy today - does that count?

Eddie who?:D

steamengine

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Eddie who?:D

With a bit of luck we might see 201's with 'STOBART Rail' emblazoned on the sides, at some time in the future - always the optimist !!!

dowlingm

there is an increase in Coillte traffic since the new contract but given the single track between Ballina/Westport and Waterford except for Portarlington-Kildare it's going to be hard to find slots for more trains even if the wagons etc. could be found.

Stonewolf

steamengine wrote: »

With a bit of luck we might see 201's with 'STOBART Rail' emblazoned on the sides, at some time in the future - always the optimist !!!

Nah, IR would never let someone else run a train on their network, it seems they don't even let the RPSI (IRs own drivers). Probably be more like Stobart paying IR to operate a consist for them.

Mind you, I have noticed some darts seem to have been tarted up a bit recently, I particularly like the red one with the white doors ...

flyingsnail

Stonewolf wrote: »

Nah, IR would never let someone else run a train on their network, it seems they don't even let the RPSI (IRs own drivers). Probably be more like Stobart paying IR to operate a consist for them.

Mind you, I have noticed some darts seem to have been tarted up a bit recently, I particularly like the red one with the white doors ...

I believe that the legal frame work to allow freight operators to do this is in place.


With reference to the RPSI, it takes a lot of time and money to train a driver, because the RPSI is volunteer based the time involved becomes even more of a factor. Couple this with the ongoing training, assessment and route knowledge required it is currently more practical (and probably more cost efficient) for the RPSI to hire IE drivers as required.

L1011

Stonewolf wrote: »

Nah, IR would never let someone else run a train on their network, it seems they don't even let the RPSI (IRs own drivers). Probably be more like Stobart paying IR to operate a consist for them.

Mind you, I have noticed some darts seem to have been tarted up a bit recently, I particularly like the red one with the white doors ...

Its not Irish Rail's choice. Freight and international passenger services are open operator.

https://irishrail.ie/upload/IE_Network_Statement_2011.pdf may be interesting reading.

Jehuty42

Stonewolf wrote: »

Nah, IR would never let someone else run a train on their network

Except they do, Llyod Rail is contracted by IE to run their maintenance trains.

Drimnagh Road

I take it Irish Rail employees physically drive the trains?

Niles

As others point out IÉ don't decide if a freight operator can run on the network, (there are already set track access charges as well, so in this regard IÉ couldn't price them out of the market). Before any new operator sets off the ground it would have to satisfy the RSC with a sufficient Safety Management System (SMS), which could in theory include it driving its own trains, in order to get an operating license. So far the RPSI is the only private operator to do this, though it is specifically a heritage and tourist operator. But the actual setting up of an SMS could take longer than one might think. In theory an SMS granted elsewhere in the EU would be valid but that doesn't discount the possibility of it having to be tailored to Irish requirements.

Jehuty42

Drimnagh Road wrote: »

I take it Irish Rail employees physically drive the trains?

No. This accident report indicates that the trains are fully operated by Lloyd Rail.

Cookie_Monster

Jehuty42 wrote: »

Except they do, Llyod Rail is contracted by IE to run their maintenance trains.

Hugo Lloyd – Operations Director
Hugo has in excess of 30 years experience of the railway as an Iarnrod Eireann employee in track maintenance

Surprise, surprise....

:rolleyes:

Drimnagh Road

Really didn't know that. So the LLoyd drivers would have route knowledge and be familiar with all signalling systems and be subject to the same "rules of the road" as their Irish Rail counterparts.

For example, if a LLoyd driver was to have a Signal Passed at Danger (SPAD), it would be treated in the same way as a SPAD carried by an Irish Rail driver, be reported in the same way and the driver subsequently tested in the same way?

Niles

Didn't know LLoyd Rail was Irish owned... interesting.

Drimnagh Road wrote: »

For example, if a LLoyd driver was to have a Signal Passed at Danger (SPAD), it would be treated in the same way as a SPAD carried by an Irish Rail driver, be reported in the same way and the driver subsequently tested in the same way?

I don't see why not... the reporting procedure would definitely be the same.

Losty Dublin

Niles wrote: »

Didn't know LLoyd Rail was Irish owned... interesting.



I don't see why not... the reporting procedure would definitely be the same.

I know for a fact that they are required to. The only concession made is that Loyd Rail staff don't drive Irish Rail locos, just PW vehicles.

JeffK88

So basically Lloyd rail is just irish rail under a different name

LXFlyer

It's a private company - that is a big difference.