Foynes Line

IE 222

tabbey wrote: »

That is correct.
The last rail traffic to and from Foynes was ore from the Silvermines or Kilmastulla for export from Foynes, and coal and oil imported through Foynes for the Asahi plant in Ballina, now closed.

That Mayo Energy plant nearly was to bring that site back to life and could off brought a new flow of freight to the network as well. Think its a dead duck now but maybe someone will take it on and who knows we could see biomass been shipped up from Foynes to Ballina in the future.

Markcheese

IE 222 wrote: »

That Mayo Energy plant nearly was to bring that site back to life and could off brought a new flow of freight to the network as well. Think its a dead duck now but maybe someone will take it on and who knows we could see biomass been shipped up from Foynes to Ballina in the future.

Seems a bit bonkers, if you need shiploads
of biomass, to fuel a power station, wouldn't you build the power station at a port,?
No one would import coal into Cork to stick it ón a train, to send it to money point..

IE 222

Markcheese wrote: »

Seems a bit bonkers, if you need shiploads
of biomass, to fuel a power station, wouldn't you build the power station at a port,?
No one would import coal into Cork to stick it ón a train, to send it to money point..

The idea was to use local land to grow willow near the plant in the future but obviously this takes time and only so much can be grown at a time. Same could be said about Dublin incinerator its not beside a waste supply.

Another potential supply for Foynes could be the removal of the Red Mud waste from Rusal. I belive Irish Cement Murgent can use this to power their Kilns. Wouldn't take much to connect Rusal. 50 odd million tonnes would require a lot of trucks to move this.

tabbey

IE 222 wrote: »

Another potential supply for Foynes could be the removal of the Red Mud waste from Rusal. I belive Irish Cement Murgent can use this to power their Kilns. Wouldn't take much to connect Rusal. 50 odd million tonnes would require a lot of trucks to move this.

Where is Rusal?

Isambard

tabbey wrote: »

Where is Rusal?

appears to be on the doorstep of Foynes on the Shannon Estuary

IE 222

tabbey wrote: »

Where is Rusal?

Probably better known as Aughinish. It's the aluminium plant. Right next foynes port.

Fsxlover2

So, Does anyone know hows that bridge 'Robertstown viaduct' they asked for permission doing? Are they still waiting or does no one have a clue.

marno21

Latest from Ross:

The Deputy is probably aware that Shannon Foynes Port Company has been leading on work in relation to a potential reinstatement of the Limerick to Foynes rail line as part of the port's overall masterplan redevelopment.

The detailed design process and associated reports commissioned by Shannon Foynes Port Company were completed at the end of 2018.

The completion of this detailed design can now inform the commercial case for potential reinstatement and allows Shannon Foynes Port Company (in conjunction with Iarnród Éireann) commence a detailed market review of potential future users.

dowlingm

IE 222 wrote: »

Another potential supply for Foynes could be the removal of the Red Mud waste from Rusal. I belive Irish Cement Murgent can use this to power their Kilns. Wouldn't take much to connect Rusal. 50 odd million tonnes would require a lot of trucks to move this.

Not powered (red mud is chock full of metal oxides so no burning happening there) but looks like as a component of the cement production itself.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15561368

The aim of the present research work was to investigate the possibility of adding red mud, an alkaline leaching waste, which is obtained from bauxite during the Bayer process for alumina production, in the raw meal for the production of Portland cement clinker. For that reason, two samples of raw meals were prepared: one with ordinary raw materials, as a reference sample ((PC)Ref), and another with 3.5% red mud ((PC)R/M). The effect on the reactivity of the raw mix was evaluated on the basis of the unreacted lime content in samples sintered at 1350, 1400 and 1450 degrees C. Subsequently, the clinkers were produced by sintering the two raw meals at 1450 degrees C. The results of chemical and mineralogical analyses as well as the microscopic examination showed that the use of the red mud did not affect the mineralogical characteristics of the so produced Portland cement clinker.

For burning, waste like tyres and organics are more suitable. Way back in the mists of time, I used to do the paperwork for export of acetone/adhesive mixes to the UK for cement kiln destruction.

Edit: there is a piece here which lumps red mud in with tyres but it doesn't make much sense to me, chemically. I suspect Irish Cement also want to integrate red mud but activists have mixed them up. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/irish-cement-to-be-allowed-replace-fossil-fuels-at-two-plants-1.3462432

Fsxlover2

marno21 wrote: »

Latest from Ross:

So this means they are now looking at what they would run on the line?

Poxyshamrock

Works taking place at level crossing at Adare and Croagh. Anyone know what this is about?

https://www.limerick.ie/council/newsroom/road-notices/temporary-closure-roads-railway-crossing-adare

Itssoeasy

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

Works taking place at level crossing at Adare and Croagh. Anyone know what this is about?

https://www.limerick.ie/council/newsroom/road-notices/temporary-closure-roads-railway-crossing-adare

Are those crossings automatic or manual ones ?

L1011

I think both are manual. There may be one automatic on the line and one on the closed Kingscourt line but they're relatively new an idea so most abandoned lines had very few

thomond2006

Adare will host the Ryder Cup in 2026. It would be good to have a line back up and running by then.

flyingsnail

thomond2006 wrote: »

Adare will host the Ryder Cup in 2026. It would be good to have a line back up and running by then.

I don't think there are any plans or proposals to reinstate the line for passenger use, just freight.

flyingsnail

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

Works taking place at level crossing at Adare and Croagh. Anyone know what this is about?

https://www.limerick.ie/council/newsroom/road-notices/temporary-closure-roads-railway-crossing-adare

I took a spin out that way today, it looks like they just tarred over the level crossings and repainted the road markings. The tracks appear to still be in place.

andrewfaulk

flyingsnail wrote: »

I took a spin out that way today, it looks like they just tarred over the level crossings and repainted the road markings. The tracks appear to still be in place.

A bit of a waste of time if SFPC actually get the line re-opened!

L1011

The track and level crossing bed would be relaid/replaced anyway. This would reduce potential liabilities until then.

J Cheever Loophole

andrewfaulk wrote: »

A bit of a waste of time if SFPC actually get the line re-opened!

Am I missing something - are those road markings not there to take account of the possibility of a train crossing the road and yet the lines have been tarmacked over?

Isambard

J Cheever Loophole wrote: »

Am I missing something - are those road markings not there to take account of the possibility of a train crossing the road and yet the lines have been tarmacked over?

How to display a ridiculous waste of money to the best effect.

Board Walker

I followed the line on Google maps just now, Never realised the Cement line came off the Foynes Line. It really is gone years! I do remember as a child at my cousins seeing the trains heading to the cement factory. I still cant see why they took the Cement off the rail and the Gypsum from Kingscourt. It put massive traffic on the roads IMO.

Or maybe they dont get Gypsum from Kingscourt anymore?

Isambard

Board Walker wrote: »

I followed the line on Google maps just now, Never realised the Cement line came off the Foynes Line. It really is gone years! I do remember as a child at my cousins seeing the trains heading to the cement factory. I still cant see why they took the Cement off the rail and the Gypsum from Kingscourt. It put massive traffic on the roads IMO.

Or maybe they dont get Gypsum from Kingscourt anymore?

not too many building sites are rail connected

Del.Monte

Isambard wrote: »

not too many building sites are rail connected

And they weren't back in the day when the cement and gypsum went by rail. Wasn't it the ILDA strike that finished off the cement traffic?

Isambard

Del.Monte wrote: »

And they weren't back in the day when the cement and gypsum went by rail. Wasn't it the ILDA strike that finished off the cement traffic?

we didn't have the road system as it is today though.

Losty Dublin

Del.Monte wrote: »

And they weren't back in the day when the cement and gypsum went by rail. Wasn't it the ILDA strike that finished off the cement traffic?

Probably a little bit from column A, a little bit from column B. When the strike took place, the ore switched to be carried by road. The mining company found that it was cheaper and quicker to do so than by rail. The contract was up for negotiation and Irish Rail needed 25% extra to keep it ticking over by rail.

Truth be told, the traffic levels had fallen from a few trains a day to just one a week. Also, the fees charged didn’t cover the cost of running, let alone maintaining the line which was in bits at this stage. It took over 2 hours to do the 19 miles from Kingscourt to Navan and almost 3 hour’s to get to Drogheda; long enough for an entire day shift for a train crew.

To give you an idea of how leisurely the track speeds were en route. A gatekeeper worked some of the level crossings en route. They could operate the gates at Kingscourt then drive down the road in time to attend to two more sets of gates along the way to allow the train to make some progress.

Board Walker

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Probably a little bit from column A, a little bit from column B. When the strike took place, the ore switched to be carried by road. The mining company found that it was cheaper and quicker to do so than by rail. The contract was up for negotiation and Irish Rail needed 25% extra to keep it ticking over by rail.

Truth be told, the traffic levels had fallen from a few trains a day to just one a week. Also, the fees charged didn’t cover the cost of running, let alone maintaining the line which was in bits at this stage. It took over 2 hours to do the 19 miles from Kingscourt to Navan and almost 3 hour’s to get to Drogheda; long enough for an entire day shift for a train crew.

To give you an idea of how leisurely the track speeds were en route. A gatekeeper worked some of the level crossings en route. They could operate the gates at Kingscourt then drive down the road in time to attend to two more sets of gates along the way to allow the train to make some progress.

Ya, that part i did wonder about. It must have cost a fortune to keep lines open with manual gates. There are so many between foynes and limerick! And i remember when i was at the Sant Gobain factory last year that there were quite a few manual crossings there too. I wonder why not have someone on board the train to jump put and open them?

tabbey

Board Walker wrote: »

why not have someone on board the train to jump put and open them?

That is what they generally do, Tara for example.

Isambard

tabbey wrote: »

That is what they generally do, Tara for example.

presumably takes forever. Stop train, open gate, drive through, stop again, close gates, walk back to loco, proceed.

tabbey

Isambard wrote: »

presumably takes forever. Stop train, open gate, drive through, stop again, close gates, walk back to loco, proceed.

In the case of Tara, It only has one public level crossing, at Beauparc, but a little used branch with lots of crossings would be slow progress.

91wx763

Isambard wrote: »

presumably takes forever. Stop train, open gate, drive through, stop again, close gates, walk back to loco, proceed.

Put a van on the back, driver opens gates and guard closes them with no walking the length of the train twice at each stop ?