Tralee and Dingle Railway

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irishrailwaynews	Tralee and Dingle Railway	Lead	[-]
Posts: 192 (27/02/08 09:52:11) Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None Short item in today's Examiner 27 February 2008 Steam train repair By Donal Hickey TECHNICAL problems with a train from Tralee to Blennerville have been resolved and the service will recommence in May. Out of service since August 2006, a back-up diesel engine is in place to support engine number five in the steam train. A visitor attraction, the line is Ireland's most westerly piece of railway and the only steam line running daily during the tourist season. It can carry 120 people and runs from Tralee to the Blennerville windmill. Originally, 31 miles of narrow gauge railway ran between Tralee and Dingle. The line crossed the Slieve Mish mountains at Glenagalt and then continued on to Dingle via Annascaul. In 1989, a 3.8km section of the line was restored and a steam train was soon operating on the old route to Dingle.
tallmanirl		#1	[-]
Posts: 99 (24/05/08 18:35:33) Full Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I was in Blennerville about 5 weeks ago. It still wasn't running.
jhb171achill		#2	[-]
Posts: 53 (25/05/08 08:50:04) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	That whole operation looks very shabby. The loco is theonly redeeming feature. the route is dull, as are the "stations", and as for those coaches..... the local authority need an input from proper railway heritage experts, not bean counters. If they can;t run it properly, it would be better to send the loco to Dromod, Moyasta or Finntown, and JCB the rest!
Georgeconna		#3	[-]
Posts: 4 (30/06/08 15:35:13) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hi Folks, An enquiry at the Aqua dome last week received a reply that it will not be running this year and to contact a number which I did not tkae down to find out more thats all I can add here. cheers George
Cyberbeagle		#4	[-]
Posts: 99 (30/06/08 20:03:09) Full Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I didn't even know it existed... Their website seems a bit poor, doesn't actually tell you anything about the modern railway, how it started or what it does or who runs it. Which, for a visitor attraction, is a bit of an oversight... Taking a look here http://blog.tralee.org/2008/03/16/the-current-state-of-the-tralee-dingle-railway/ poor No.5!! Turned into a narrow gauge 131... If they knew they couldn't deal with the problem, they should've asked RPSI to quote for an overhaul. See, the risks of running with only one engine. Once closed, it's harder to reopen...
3BG		#5	[-]
Posts: 38 (01/07/08 18:41:36) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I heard the injectors were being worked on by Alan Keef Ltd. Maybe like so many others on this island they assumed the service they would get in England had to be better than anything Ireland had to offer! It's a bit like the Giant's Causeway Railway except with tattier carriages - the staff are thin on the ground and obviously bored! A long way from Downpatrick in many ways!
jhb171achill		#6	[-]
Posts: 146 (01/07/08 19:48:35) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Indeed, 3BG... a shame. I feel that they'd be better to send the loco to Moyasta, or to Dromod or Finntown. Dunno about the Causeway, imagine what Seymour would make of it!
mpdfan	Finntown	#7	[-]
Posts: 94 (02/07/08 13:03:29) Full Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Thet are getting a restored steam engine already,coming in August from Boness. Part of their track extension is now open and they have almost finished upgrading the coach they bought from Shanes Castle.
MGH2		#8	[-]
Posts: 108 (02/07/08 13:54:47) Full Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	New engine, track extension? Tell us more. Mark
mpdfan	Finntown news	#9	[-]
Posts: 95 (02/07/08 14:45:16) Full Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Open every day from July to September,go up and see it for yourself and the extra half mile is right beside Lough Finn itself.
jhb171achill		#10	[-]
Posts: 148 (02/07/08 22:10:26) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	What coach did they get from Shane's Castle?
mpdfan	Finntown	#11	[-]
Posts: 96 (04/07/08 12:33:52) Full Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	It is a coach built by Alan Keef about 1991 that was never really used at the Shanes Castle line because it was too big. Looks good now in CDRJC red and yellow. Railcar 18 will be repainted in the winter and it will be joined by ex CDRJC coach 30 which is in the museum in Derry as a running vehicle.
Tallow Road		#12	[-]
Posts: 8 (29/06/09 20:59:43) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	What is happening on the Tralee and Dingle this year ? Anyone been there lately?
garfieldsghost		#13	[-]
Posts: 178 (29/06/09 23:48:56) Full Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Last I heard, the yard was overgrown and there were no funds available to get 5T back in action. Apparently she needs major work done to repair her boiler. Some locals reckon the loco could be scrapped, although I'm unsure how reliable their sources are. Next Heritage Railway Group meeting: Oslo Bar, Connolly Station, Dublin 1, Sat. July 4th at 2pm. www.heritagerailway.ie www.newirishlines.org Last Edited By: garfieldsghost 29/06/09 23:51:54. Edited 1 times.
Cyberbeagle		#14	[-]
Posts: 225 (30/06/09 10:11:57) Full Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	garfieldsghost wrote: Last I heard, the yard was overgrown and there were no funds available to get 5T back in action. Apparently she needs major work done to repair her boiler. Some locals reckon the loco could be scrapped, although I'm unsure how reliable their sources are. While I'd be sceptical about the view of locals (many of our "locals" would probably have scrapped our Sugarpuffs...) but I would hate to see any decision being taken unilaterally. Funding is always an issue on heritage railways, but if there's anyone from the Tralee and Dingle on this forum, then remember you're not on your own - there's other organisations who've probably been through the same situation and no-one wants to see another heritage scheme fold. I'm sure there would be people in all the various schemes who'd be happy to try to offer advice on where to look for funding or volunteer recruitment. I have to admit that the T&D Rly is a line I know very little about...
garfieldsghost		#15	[-]
Posts: 179 (30/06/09 10:30:13) Full Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	The thing is that the Tralee & Blennerville isn't (or wasn't?) run by volunteers - it's run by the local council with staff supplied by FAS. With such a scheme you'd think funding would be easy to obtain. Obviously not. Edit: When you remember that it's run on a purely commercial basis by people who don't necessarily have an interest in railways, there's always a risk that they won't care what becomes of the loco if the operation folds. Next Heritage Railway Group meeting: Oslo Bar, Connolly Station, Dublin 1, Sat. July 4th at 2pm. www.heritagerailway.ie www.newirishlines.org Last Edited By: garfieldsghost 30/06/09 11:55:00. Edited 1 times.
jhb171achill		#16	[-]
Posts: 530 (30/06/09 20:10:58) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	...and they won';t know what to do when things go wrong. A famous centrally involved RPSI stalwart once remarked, of preserved locos and coaches, in relation to their reliability and maintenance issues, "What we are dealing with here is life-expired redundant machinery". never was a truer word said; and those who seek to operate such things must appreciate this and ALLOW for it - which for one thing means that trying to operate a heritage railway with a single locomotive has its only parallel in the activities of King Canute. As I said before, I think they should just pack that sorry operation up and ship the loco and track - the only things of any value on it - to either Moyasta, Dromod or Finntown. As for those old rust bucket coaches with kitchen door handles on them, scrap them before anyone sees them and is put off trains for life.
trackie1		#17	[-]
Posts: 128 (30/06/09 21:17:41) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I passed through the level crossing near the aquadome. The line looks very overgrown and doesn't look as if it has been used for some time. It is a pity as it was really a good effort to show some history in action
dmcronin		#18	[-]
Posts: 98 (01/07/09 08:17:57) Full Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Doubt somehow that they'd have the gall to scrap 5T just like that. More likely as things deteriorate and get overgrown, vandals will have a field day...the sheds will get broken into/ransacked/torched...and then the council or whoever will have to dispose of the remains and level the eyesore.
TonyRPSI		#19	[-]
Posts: 131 (01/07/09 14:28:20) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	The Vivarais Railway in France which ran some 35km from Tournon to La Mastre seemed to suffer the same fate. However the Local Authority apparently have come up with €5M of the €11M they need, another €4M is hoped from the business communities and Tourist Amenities, who benefit from the passenger traffic, with the balance from whoever is given the licence to run the Railway. It goes to show if there is interest anything can be done. I doubt that Tralee and Dingle would need this type of investment.
garfieldsghost		#20	[-]
Posts: 180 (01/07/09 16:22:12) Full Member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	True, the T&D wouldn't require anything like those figures but I'd imagine the sum would still be considerable. I'd say No. 5 is in need of a new boiler at this stage - apparently it was leaking like a sieve before they removed it from the frames and the few years it's been left out in the open since then won't have done it any good either. So you're looking at a six figure sum just to get the steam loco back in action, never mind any other work that needs to be carried out. Is the level crossing there on a private road? If not then that's another huge expense... Next Heritage Railway Group meeting: Oslo Bar, Connolly Station, Dublin 1, Sat. July 4th at 2pm. www.heritagerailway.ie www.newirishlines.org

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