Irish Railway Record Society
TRACK
Athlone-Westport-Ballina
In May, further track re-laying with
the IÉ standard of UIC 54 kg/m continuously welded rail on concrete sleepers
(CWR) between Manulla Junction and Westport resulted in the 08.05
Dublin-Westport and 13.15 Westport-Dublin being substituted by bus west of
Claremorris. This was followed by a period when the newly laid track was
ballasted, tamped and the welded rail ‘stressed’. At the same time, there
was considerable work on embankments, cuttings and level crossings. All work was
sufficiently complete to allow full services resume from 15 July. CWR is now
complete between Castlebar and Westport to add to the already effectively
completed line between Athlone and Claremorris. This leaves approximately 71/8
miles of plain track to be re-laid on the Westport line. The remaining gaps are
MP1073/4-1097/8, MP139-1403/4,
MP1447/8-1481/4, MP1603/4-1607/8
and the station yards at Castlerea, Ballyhaunis and Westport.
There
were also bus substitutions for the 11.30 Manulla Junction-Ballina and the 13.05
Ballina-Manulla Junction to allow re-laying work between Manulla Junction and
Foxford. These substitutions continued throughout the summer into the autumn.
Gaps in CWR have now been filled and the 61/2-mile section
between MP1471/4-1533/4 had been
completely re-laid by early September (See JOURNAL 147).
Cherryville
Junction-Waterford
Both main and loop platform tracks in Kilkenny were re-laid with CWR in
July. A spare locomotive was provided as run-round facilities were unavailable.
On Wednesday 7 August, 086 was observed performing this task. The two bay
platforms at Waterford station were also re-laid, mainly with second-hand
bullhead rail on concrete sleepers.
Re-laying
in the Kilkenny-Waterford section resulted in bus substitution of the 07.30
Dublin-Waterford, 10.45 Waterford-Dublin, 11.30 Dublin-Waterford and 14.45
Waterford-Dublin between 17 and 20 June and between 12 and 14 August. By the end
of August, various small gaps in CWR had been eliminated between Thomastown and Waterford.
CWR is
now in place
continuously from the south end of Thomastown station to Newrath No.2 crossing
near Waterford West. The section of double track between Waterford West and
Waterford Central has also been re-laid with CWR and Newrath No. 1 crossing has
been renewed. Mileage renewed was from MP421/2-431/8,
MP44-451/8 and MP57-581/4.
Remaining
track work on the Dublin-Waterford route includes re-laying less than 3 miles of
jointed track between Lavistown Junction and Thomastown, the removal of the loop
and all points at Thomastown and re-laying with plain track, installation of the
new loop at Ballyhale and the installation of points and crossovers at Athy,
Carlow and Muine Bheag stations as part of the Mini-CTC project. New crossovers
are prefabricated in most stations in preparation for this work.
Dublin
Heuston-Cork Both
up and down lines through Portarlington station have now been re-laid with CWR.
However, the 30-mph speed limit remains. The trailing crossover, no. 655, at the
south end of Kildare was renewed with a longer crossover on 26 May.
Cork-Cobh
Further
re-laying on the down line now sees CWR in place over 87/8
miles, leaving only 17/8
miles of plain track to be done. On the up line, 41/2
miles remain to be done and re-laying of approximately 2 miles between MP
173-175 commenced in Sept-ember. Track has not been re-laid on any of the
bridges over the estuary and these are speed restricted. A new crossover and set
of points is awaiting installation at Marino Point. Additional rock armouring
has been installed to protect the causeways across the estuary.
Dublin
Connolly-Rosslare Strand Re-laying
with CWR between Rathdrum and Arklow commenced on 27 May and continued on and
off at various times during the summer. Unlike previous years there was
relatively little disruption to peak holiday traffic. During re-laying, the
13.25 Dublin-Rosslare and was substituted by bus between Wicklow and Arklow,
where passengers boarded a second train to continue their journey. On 26 August,
the second train was formed by 164+190 + 5 Cravens + GSV off the 07.00
Longford-Dublin. They also worked the 18.20 Rosslare-Dublin. Work commenced at
the existing CWR at Woodenbridge and continued towards Avoca and Rathdrum.
Re-laying then re-commenced at the
level crossing at Shelton Abbey heading
During
August, MP791/2-81 (at Edermine Ferry) in the
Enniscorthy-Rosslare Strand section was re-laid with CWR. The 07.20 Maynooth-Rosslare
Europort and 14.45 Rosslare Europort - Dublin Connolly were substituted by bus
between Enniscorthy and Rosslare Europort. The level crossing at Edermine Ferry
had previously been renewed on Wednesday 3 and Thursday 4 July, with the 18.30
Dublin-Rosslare on the Wednesday and all trains on Thursday, except the 18.30
Dublin-Rosslare Europort, being substituted by bus south of Enniscorthy.
Re-laying
of the up line from Glenageary to Dalkey with CWR was completed in June. Both
lines are now laid in CWR on hardwood sleepers from the end of the slab track at
Sandycove to Dalkey station. CWR is now continuous from Pearse to Wicklow with
the exception of Dun Laoghaire, Dalkey and Bray station areas. Long welded rail
is laid out for installation on the Loop Line between Connolly and Tara Street
stations.
Limerick-Ennis-Athenry
The 11.20 Limerick-Ennis and 13.25
Ennis-Limerick have been suspended almost continually, except on Fridays, to
allow for track renewal. This work also included substantial work to drainage,
fencing, cuttings and embankments. New CWR was laid commencing at Ennis Junction
MP03/4 (near Limerick Check Cabin) towards Ennis and,
allowing for some sections already laid last year, had reached MP73/4
by early September. Long welded rail was laid out in preparation for closing the
gap from MP73/4 to existing CWR at MP9. When this is
complete, there will be 14 miles of CWR on the 24-mile branch.
The section from Ennis to Athenry has now no regular traffic, but has occasionally been used for loading ballast. On 6 September, a train loaded ballast at Ardrahan for track re-laying the Ennis-Limerick Section.
Dublin-Sligo
Track
re-laying continued in May, with the 08.28 Dublin-Sligo and 13.25 Sligo-Dublin
operating to and from Longford only. The last stretch of plain track on the
entire line was re-laid with CWR on Friday 17 May, leaving only station and
bridge areas to be done (See JOURNAL 148). Bus substitution continued to 1
August to allow ballasting, tamping and stressing of the new track. The Shannon
Bridge at Drumsna is scheduled to be renewed in 2003.
In
early August, the main and loop tracks through Killucan station were excavated
and re-laid with CWR. Over the night of Saturday August 17 and the morning of
Sunday August 18, the level crossing was renewed. The opportunity was also taken
to renew a culvert at nearby Thomastown level crossing. Saturday evenings 17.15
Connolly-Longford and 18.50 Pearse-Longford terminated in Mullingar to allow the
trains return empty to Dublin before the possession commenced. All platform
tracks in intermediate stations between Connolly and Mullingar have now been
re-laid. Renewal of points at Enfield and Killucan and re-laying of stations
such as Mullingar will be done in conjunction with the installation of Mini-CTC
on the line.
Newcomen
Junction-Glasnevin Junction
(MGWR)
Work on removing old track, excavating and laying in new CWR continues as
resources permit. The eastbound line is largely done, with work now concentrated
on the westbound line. A stockpile of sleepers is available in North Wall for
this re-laying. A CWR train hauled by 153+148 operated on the line on 8 June.
The
Newcomen Junction - Glasnevin Junction line was scheduled to re-open from 10
September, but did not do so until the afternoon of 30 September. The opening
was only as far as a temporary buffer stop on the down line close to Croke Park
including the steep and sharply curved section from Connolly station to Newcomen
Junction. The first revenue train was a fertiliser special on Thursday 3 October
from Shelton, which left Connolly for Newcomen Junction at 11.25. It was
temporary flood prevention measures in advance of possible high tides at the
autumn equinox that kept the line closed. Sandbags were placed across the line
to prevent the Royal Canal overflowing into the adjacent yard tracks.
The
plan had been to re-connect signals and to erect steel buffer stops 210-metres
beyond the first set of westbound signals on the branch at the Newcomen end. At
the Glasnevin end, similar buffer stops were erected on both lines but nearer
the actual junction. Special arrangements were made to allow Infrastructure
Division engineering equipment access the closed lines for re-laying work.
The
Newcomen Lift Bridge remains fixed in the down position with its operating
mechanism disabled. In the event that Waterways Ireland requires the bridge to
be lifted for Royal Canal traffic, it must be raised by Infrastructure Division
staff and then with the line under an absolute track possession.