A selection of videos from the RTÉ Archives (EUscreen)

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Just spent the past hour watching these nostalgic treasures. Enjoy!

• The DART - Most Significant Development in Irish Railways? 1984
• The DART - "A Modern Commuter System", 1984
• Nostalgic Steam Train Journey 1983
• Preparation Dublin to Cork by Train, 1979
• A Passion for Irish Railway History, 1999
• Steam Train Excursion, 1979
• Inchicore - Behind the Scenes at the Railway Works, 1979
• Skidding a Double-Decker Bus, 1966
• Our Ports are Our Link, 1969
• The Car Ferry a Holiday With a Difference, 1968
• Dublin to New York by Jumbo Jet, 1971
• Success of Cork Airport, 1962

CIE

Got to laugh at calling DART a "modern commuter system" in 1984 when a lot of other cities had that kind of system in the 1930s and even earlier than that. The only real precursor to DART in Ireland was when they ran the Drumm battery electric cars on the Harcourt Street Line—and to think that no consideration was given to building a permanent wayside or overhead electric source for those cars, or even a way underground towards the city centre, ad nauseam.

Judgement Day

Some very interesting videos there and it begs the question as to why RTE can't get off their behinds and, at least, release the much acclaimed Norris Davidson series on DVD.

Run_to_da_hills

Where were the health and safety officers back then.

Behind the Scenes at the Railway Works 1979.

Visiting Sudanese manager overseeing that metal stress test without safety goggles. :eek:

Gang man lowering Park Royal onto its bogies without hard hat.

Judgement Day

Not that a hard hat would do much for you if a Park Royal landed on your head.

Losty Dublin

CIE wrote: »

The only real precursor to DART in Ireland was when they ran the Drumm battery electric cars on the Harcourt Street Line—and to think that no consideration was given to building a permanent wayside or overhead electric source for those cars, or even a way underground towards the city centre, ad nauseam.

On the Drumm Cars, they were a test vehicle part funded by the then Government to see if electric trains were feasible in Ireland. After quickly finding out that even partial conversion of our railways was going to bankrupt the State and the GSR, an approach and eventual agreement was made with Dr Drumm to use his fledgling dry cell battery technology with view to to power trains on a more cost effective level. After a few years of local testing, two test railcar sets were built and trialled on services from Amien Street to Bray and Donabate and occasionally on the Kerry Branch before they found their now legendary home on the Harcourt Street line.

A second two car sets were built after improvements in the batteries were made by Dr. Drumm and although the were slightly dearer to run than steam, the trains were liked by passenger and staff alike and their advantages made a case for more testing; the shortages of coal from 1939 made the sets indispensable and so they stayed in traffic until after the Emergency. By 1949, the batteries on all 4 sets had worn out and were due replacement. Coupled with the high cost of replacing the batteries and the day to day running costs along the advent of reliable diesel engines, the decision was made by Cabinet to discontinue with funding for the trains. And so it was that under the shadow of the last street train, they had their last run from Bray on 12th July, 1949.

cbl593h

Judgement Day wrote: »

Some very interesting videos there and it begs the question as to why RTE can't get off their behinds and, at least, release the much acclaimed Norris Davidson series on DVD.

JD, the biggest scandal in 1970's RTE was the shortage of actual film for recording on to. Sometimes it was "turned over" to be reused !!!!!!! Imagine what must have been lost.

I'd love to see the public information film that had Micheál O Hehir, one of the Cork line barrier crossings and an 071, "The Iron Horse". If it hasn't been seen by now it has probably been lost,grr.

cbl593h

Judgement Day wrote: »

Not that a hard hat would do much for you if a Park Royal landed on your head.

They were timber bodied so you'd probably have ended up in the saloon !!!! :eek:

BabyBirch

cbl593h wrote: »

JD, the biggest scandal in 1970's RTE was the shortage of actual film for recording on to. Sometimes it was "turned over" to be reused !!!!!!! Imagine what must have been lost.

I'd love to see the public information film that had Micheál O Hehir, one of the Cork line barrier crossings and an 071, "The Iron Horse". If it hasn't been seen by now it has probably been lost,grr.

http://www.tcd.ie/irishfilm/showfilm.php?fid=37654

There's a copy in the Irish Film Archive

CIE

Losty Dublin wrote: »

On the Drumm Cars, they were a test vehicle part funded by the then Government to see if electric trains were feasible in Ireland. After quickly finding out that even partial conversion of our railways was going to bankrupt the State and the GSR, an approach and eventual agreement was made with Dr Drumm to use his fledgling dry cell battery technology with view to to power trains on a more cost effective level. After a few years of local testing, two test railcar sets were built and trialled on services from Amien Street to Bray and Donabate and occasionally on the Kerry Branch before they found their now legendary home on the Harcourt Street line.

A second two car sets were built after improvements in the batteries were made by Dr. Drumm and although the were slightly dearer to run than steam, the trains were liked by passenger and staff alike and their advantages made a case for more testing; the shortages of coal from 1939 made the sets indispensable and so they stayed in traffic until after the Emergency. By 1949, the batteries on all 4 sets had worn out and were due replacement. Coupled with the high cost of replacing the batteries and the day to day running costs along the advent of reliable diesel engines, the decision was made by Cabinet to discontinue with funding for the trains. And so it was that under the shadow of the last street train, they had their last run from Bray on 12th July, 1949.

I trust nothing the GSR has to say insofar as capital expenditure. They kept older locomotives with insufficient horsepower going until it almost broke them; investing in the 800 class was like pulling teeth to their bean counters, even though it resulted in great operational savings for the Dublin-Cork line (wow, one steam engine going up the grade out of Glanmire Road station instead of three, who would've thought it was possible, and look at all the fuel and water we're saving never mind not needing to pay three crews to power one train).

The GSR's way of doing things was what was bankrupting the railways, not investing in modern power and rolling stock. In the same vein, investing in electrification infrastructure for Dublin suburban lines (an already proven technology by then!) would have resulted in immense savings right away instead of "bankruptcy". But instead, they acted like they had to reinvent the wheel. And we had to wait until 1984 for technology already half a century old, plus suffering the unnecessary closure of the Harcourt Street Line.

CIE

cbl593h wrote: »

JD, the biggest scandal in 1970's RTE was the shortage of actual film for recording on to. Sometimes it was "turned over" to be reused !!!!!!! Imagine what must have been lost.

I'd love to see the public information film that had Micheál O Hehir, one of the Cork line barrier crossings and an 071, "The Iron Horse". If it hasn't been seen by now it has probably been lost,grr.

I remember that short film. Don't see it on Youtube. Wonder if anyone has it taped?

Losty Dublin

CIE wrote: »

I trust nothing the GSR has to say insofar as capital expenditure. They kept older locomotives with insufficient horsepower going until it almost broke them; investing in the 800 class was like pulling teeth to their bean counters, even though it resulted in great operational savings for the Dublin-Cork line (wow, one steam engine going up the grade out of Glanmire Road station instead of three, who would've thought it was possible, and look at all the fuel and water we're saving never mind not needing to pay three crews to power one train).

This was the findings of the Government of the day and not the GSR. They wanted a market for surplus electricity and knew it could be done; the cost was the killer and neither the GSR nor the State were able or prepared to foot the bill for it.

CIE wrote: »

The GSR's way of doing things was what was bankrupting the railways, not investing in modern power and rolling stock. In the same vein, investing in electrification infrastructure for Dublin suburban lines (an already proven technology by then!) would have resulted in immense savings right away instead of "bankruptcy". But instead, they acted like they had to reinvent the wheel. And we had to wait until 1984 for technology already half a century old, plus suffering the unnecessary closure of the Harcourt Street Line.

You are right in saying that they ran it to the bone but don't forget they were running what was known to be a shaky business in a broke country so business chances were hard to come by. While they could have more to improve their lot they hadn't the cash-flow to invest in fortunes into some of the sitting duck lines and folly railways they inherited. By contrast the GNR (I) seemed to do better but Northern Ireland was more economically vibrant and it had a more concentrated network than the Saorstat. It also caught up with the GSR in the late 1930's; WW2 and better links with the UK kept it going that bit longer than it would have lasted naturally.

Judgement Day

It should also not be forgotten that in 20 years of operation, running semi-derelict equipment, the GSR never had a passenger fatality - a record not shared by their successor.

Losty Dublin

Judgement Day wrote: »

It should also not be forgotten that in 20 years of operation, running semi-derelict equipment, the GSR never had a passenger fatality - a record not shared by their successor.

And they managed to introduce electric and light based signaling in their time; something that still isn't the norm in Ireland or the UK today.

goingnowhere

It should also not be forgotten that in 25 years of operation, running semi-derelict equipment for 20 of those 25 years, Irish Rail never had a passenger fatality...

Cookie_Monster

goingnowhere wrote: »

It should also not be forgotten that in 25 years of operation, running semi-derelict equipment for 20 of those 25 years, Irish Rail never had a passenger fatality...

except they have.
1991, 30 dec Ballycumber derailment killed one passenger

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_railway_accidents

nlgbbbblth

Judgement Day wrote: »

Some very interesting videos there and it begs the question as to why RTE can't get off their behinds and, at least, release the much acclaimed Norris Davidson series on DVD.

cbl593h wrote: »

JD, the biggest scandal in 1970's RTE was the shortage of actual film for recording on to. Sometimes it was "turned over" to be reused !!!!!!! Imagine what must have been lost.

I'd love to see the public information film that had Micheál O Hehir, one of the Cork line barrier crossings and an 071, "The Iron Horse". If it hasn't been seen by now it has probably been lost,grr.

BabyBirch wrote: »

http://www.tcd.ie/irishfilm/showfilm.php?fid=37654

There's a copy in the Irish Film Archive

CIE wrote: »

I remember that short film. Don't see it on Youtube. Wonder if anyone has it taped?

In a lot of cases the archive footage has not been lost. RTE just don't care and nobody else is given the chance to release anything. There's a totally different mentality towards archive television and film in the UK - if the DART was British then the BFI or Network would have released such films by now.