Old Irish Rail 218 is a versatile machine as shown in the three views exposed over the years near Heuston Station.
In recent years, 218 has often worked the Dublin-Cork Mark 4 passenger sets, as well as liner freights and performed the occasion stint in permanent way service.
Irish 218 is ready to head down road at Heuston Station in Dublin in summer 2000. It’s along side 204 and 233. Exposed on Fujichrome Sensia II (100 ISO) using a Nikon N90S.On 11 September 2016—15 years after the infamous day—Irish Rail 218 works a Mark 4 set toward Cork. This view is from my often utilized location at Islandbridge Junction. Exposed as a RAW file with my FujiFilm XT1 and adjusted for contrast in Lightroom.Cloudy days yield opportunities too! On 27 February 2018 Irish Rail 218— now displaying its modified long number—leads a panel train into Dublin’s Phoenix Park tunnel. The next day snow blanketed Dublin and surrounding areas causing travel chaos.
Of the 201 class locomotives, 218 is another machine that ranks with numerous photos in my collection.
Next up in my 20 year retrospective featuring the Irish Rail 201 class is Irish Rail locomotive 217!
Is this anyone’s favorite engine?
I have many images of 217 over the years, and I’ve selected these three for presentation here.
Details in the photos below.
Irish Rail 217 pauses in the loop at Ballybrophy in June 2006. Exposed on Fujichrome using a Contax G2 rangefinder with 28mm Zeiss Biogon lens.September 2016, 217 passes Clondalkin on the quad track in suburban Dublin with the down Mark4 for Kent Station Cork. FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.Rare snow blankets Dublin on 28 February 2018. FujiFilm X-T1 photo. I made this photo through the fence at Memorial Road, you can see part of the fence blurred at right. Normally I’d crop this defect, but I left it in so you can see the challenge of photographing at this location. Careful positioning will allow for an unobstructed view, but I wasn’t as careful as I should have been.
Catching the light in Ireland can be a fleeting experience. Even on a bright day, cloud often covers the sky. Yet, sometimes luck shines on me. Such was the case last week when I made this photograph of the down Dublin-Cork Mark4 passenger train led by Irish Rail 215.
A brief wink of sun graced the front of the engine just as it approached.
