Irish Rail at Portarlington, Then and Now Views: Deja Vu all over again.

I was trolling through the archives searching for views of Irish Rail’s Mark 2 airbrake carriages and came across this view of class 071 locomotive 088 at Portarlington in summer 1998.

Irish Rail 088 leads a westward train of Mark 2 airbrake carriages at Portarlington in summer 1988. Exposed on Fujichrome Sensia (100 ISO) using a Nikon F3T with 135mm lens.

It makes for a fascinating comparison with a similar photo I made of the same locomotive hauling the recent Railway Preservation Society of Ireland autumn tour arriving at the modern Portarlington station.

Same locomotive, same location, looking the same direction but viewed more than 20 years apart. The tracks have been re-aligned, platforms extended, new footbridge constructed, and houses built in the distance, while 088 now wears Irish Rail’s gray and yellow livery.

In retrospect, I wish I’d located the vintage photograph prior to the tour so I could more closely match the angle.

The 1998 view is made from the old footbridge which is now out of service. The October 2018 photo was exposed from the modern footbridge, which is situated further east and slightly higher.

Tracking the Light Posts Everyday!

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