Steamreturns to Drumshanbo...
on theback of alorry!
AVONSIDE 0-6-0TNancyonce
again flew the flagforthe
Dromod-basedCavan&Leitrim
Railway (C&LR) on June 30
when ittook partint he
opening parade of the AnTóstal
festivalat Drumshanbo,County
Leitrim.
Thevisit followedNancy’s
starringrole in the Ballinamore
Family Vintage eventearlier in
the month.
During the parade theformer
ironstone locomotivewas in
steam, and whistled as itwas
conveyedthrough thetown on
the back ofalow loader.While in Drumshanbo,C&LR
volunteers could notresist the
opportunityoftakingNancyto
the siteofthe original station,
whereitwas posed alongside
the station’s originalwater
tower.
It wasthe first timeasteam
locohas beento Drumshanbo
sincethe originalCavan&
Leitrim line closed in 1959.
One of the station’s original
name boardswascarri ed on
the trailer withNancyforthe
duration of the visit,courtesy of
the Kennedy familyat Glenview
Folk Museum.The‘new’Cava n&LeitrimRailway’s 0-6-0TNancypasses the
original C&LRwater toweratt he siteofDrumshanbo station on
June 30.NIGEL BILLETT80 •TheRailway Magazine•August2019
Kilbarrak murals
commemorate
Barrytowntrilogy
CELEBRATED author Roddy
Doyletook partint he
unveiling oftwolarge painted
murals thatimmortalise
hismuch-lovedBarryt own
trilogy.
Theceremonytook place
at KilbarrackDART station,
NorthDublin ,onJuly 10.
Themural sfeaturescenes
fromMr Doyle’snovels
TheCommitments,
TheSnapper andThe Van,
which areset in the fictional
Northside area of Barrytown.Planning permission
awardedforMaam
Crossrevival
GALWAYCounty Council has
granted planning permission
forthe ConnemaraRailway
Projecttor estoreMaam Cross
station as an operational
railway and tourist attraction.
Thepermission includes
the rebuilding of the signal
cabin,restor ation of thewater
tower,goods shed and cattle
dock,and the relaying of track
to the original layout.SIDELINES
No go for TransPennine
‘185s’ as Class2700s deleted
ByTony MilesTHE Official Journal of the
European Union(OJEU) tender for
‘second-hand’trains forIarnród
Éireann (IÉ) is unlikelyto see the
spare22Class 185 units moving
to Ireland despitesome initial
supportfromwithin IÉ.
Thetender is being ledby the
Irish Government’sNational
TransportAuthority(NTA).
Therail operatorhas been made
awareTransPennine Express
maybeseekingto retain seven
additional sets,reducing the
number likelyto be availableto a
quantitythatwould not be viable.
Iarnród Éireann has also
pointedout thatevenifa ll 22
sets werestill to be released the
prog rammeto convert theunits
to 5ft3in gauge and thenreplace
the on-train safetysystems,radios
and otherkeyitems of equipment
is no wthoughttobemore
complexthan initially assumed.
This could mean itwould take
longer than the procurementof
additionalvehiclesforthe Class
22000 units,and instead approval
of an orderforani nitial 41
vehiclesto supplementthatfleet
is expectedshortly.
Theextra vehicleswould
enable the currentmake-up of
28 xthree -car,25xfour-car and10 five-car setsto be increased
to 22 xsix-car,20xfour-car and
21 xthree -car units.The balance
of shortersets isrequiredfor
services which callat stations with
shorterplatforms aswell as for
strengtheningformation sduring
peak times.
■IÉ ha salso formally abandonedplan stor einstate most of the
Class 2700 DMUswhich were
placed in storein2012 because
of poorreliability. Sincethen
the units have been storedat
Inchicoreand the shedsat Cork
Kentstation.
It is understoodtendersfor
the work to reinstate 10 two-carsets,which were built by Alstom
in 1997/98,werein theregion of
€33million.This wasseen as high
whencompared with thecost of
new trains.
Following this decision the
entir eclass wasdeleted from IÉ
operating instructions from
May19this year.Class 2 2000
evacuatedafter
fire breaks out
at Heuston
EMERGENCYservices hadto
be calledto Dublin’s Heuston
station on July8after smoke
fromasmall fireengulfed
aClass 22000unit thathad just
arrived fromPortlaoise.
Thefirewas locatedint he
underslung engine area of the
leading car,and appearsto have
startedjust moments beforethe
unit rolled into Heuston as the
17.25 fromPortlaoise.
Fortunately,itw as confined
to this area, and the on-train
fire-suppression systemswere
activ ated.
Passengerswereaskedtol eave
the train on arrivalat Heuston;
no-one washurtduring the
incident.
Thefirebriga de wascalled in
lin ewith safetyprocedures,but
the firewas fullyextinguishedby
Iarnród Éireann (IÉ) staff.
An IÉ investigation into the
cause of the fireisu nderway.
IARNRÓD Éireann (IÉ) has
appliedto Galway CityCouncil
to extend the planning
permission itwonfor
redevelopmentoft he city’s
Ceanntstation as it seeksto
securefundingforthe work.
Planning permissionwas
originallygranted inAugust
2014, but IÉwasunableto
prog ress the projectafter the
NationalTransportAuthority
(NTA) withdrew funding.
However, the NTAhas
subsequently agreed to provide50% of the fundingrequired,
with theremaindercoming
from the Urban Regeneration &
DevelopmentFund.
If the citycouncil agrees
to extend the planning
permission windowthe
redevelopmentwill include
the construction ofa95sq m
single-storey glazed entrance
building and theextension of
the north-eastern bayplatform.
An extra2,336sqmof
concourse and platform space
will also be provided,togetherwith anew pedestrian entrance,
and anew curvedsemi-glazed
roof at thesouthern end of the
station.
Certain wallswill beremoved
from within the station
to provide additional ticket-
buying facilities,new toilets
and new ticket inspector
accommodation.
Newramped access will
be provided at thefront of
the building,and IÉ intends
to crea te openings within
the south-western facade ofthe buildingto crea te glazed
entrances.
Anumber of lean-tobuildings
on the north-western side of
the building will be demolished
to makeway fo rthis project.
It is expectedfunding will be
madeavailableduring next year.
Constructionwork is planned
to startinF ebruary2022, with
aview towardsbeing complete
by August 2023.
Thecitycouncil is dueto
makeadecision onextension
applicationby August 8.Class 2700 Nos.2707+2708 standat Galway with the 12.05to Limerick on May1,2011.NEIL DINNENLikeusfacebook.com/
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GARY
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Call: 01507 529589
email: gboyd-hope
@mortons.co.ukYour reports and
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Highly competitiv erates
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exclusivetoTheRM.IÉ seekstoextendplanning permission forGalwaystation