Tag Archives: County Clare

Tracking the Light Daily Post: Mixed Pair at Ennis, County Clare.

Dusk, May 18, 2003.

By this date it was unusual to find pairs of small GMs working passenger trains in Ireland. Mixed pairs (dual-cab 141/181s and single-cab class 121s) were even stranger, but not unheard of.

I was in position on the platform at Ennis to catch the arrival of this Gaelic Athletic League special that ran with 134 and 163 and a set of Mark II carriages. The crew wasted little time in running around the train in preparation for returning the empty train to Limerick.

Irish_Rail_GAA_special_at_Ennis_163_134_18May2003_Brian Solomon 234338
Exposed on Fujichrome Sensia 100 with a Contax G2 Rangefinder fitted with a 28mm Zeiss Biogon lens.

I had only a few minutes to make this image of the locomotives on the Limerick-end of the train before it departed. If you look carefully, you can set a shunter coupling the locomotives to the carriages.

I’ve always like the effect of dusk in this image. For me it serves as both a graphic and a symbolic role. However, I’m not completely satisfied with the composition. The orange cone in the foreground is distracting and the radio mast at the far right annoys me.

As I recall, I didn’t have time to refine my angles. Before I could relocate, the driver sounded the horn, throttled up and was on his way!

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