Tag Archives: #Irish Rail

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Square Format at Ennis (click the post to see the photo full frame)

My Rollei model T offered a square format, which presents an interesting way of composing photos.

In January 2002, I traveled from Dublin to Limerick by train, where I changed for the branch train to Ennis, Co. Clare. At the time, Irish Rail was still operating a short Cravens set with steam heat hauled by a lone 141-class General Motors diesel.

Upon arrival at Ennis, I made series of square photos of this quaint branch train on Fuji Neopan 400 black & white film. My intent was to preserve for posterity the train in the station.

I scanned this image using an Epson V600 scanner and performed some nominal digital processing to make the most of the black & white negative.

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Cherryville Junction 21 Years Ago.

On the afternoon of 23 January 2005, I aimed my Nikon F3 with 180mm telephoto at an Irish Rail passenger train approaching Cherryville Junction in Co. Kildare.

A ten-year old Class 201 General Motors diesel led the afternoon Up Waterford that consisted of a set of Cravens. These rolling antiques were steam heated and nearing the end of their regular revenue service.

I captured this once-common scene on Fujichrome. The lush green grass and distant mountains making for a distinctly Irish landscape.

In those days, I regularly paid visits to Cherryville Junction. This offered a great place to picture Irish Rail on the move. I can’t recall the last time I paused at this bridge over the tracks. Much has changed in the last two decades and Cherryville isn’t as interesting to me as it was in those days. Yet, someday, I hope to return and make some comparison photos.

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Great Northern at Killarney

Six years ago, I traveled with the RPSI to Killarney, Co. Kerry behind Great Northern 4-4-0 No. 85.

In the evening the train was stabled in the sidings at Killarney station where I made some photos using my old Lumix LX7.

A beautiful sunset made for a cosmic silhouette. Exposure in these situations is always a challenge. In this case, I exposed for the sky, allowing the train to go dark. Since I used the RAW format, the camera captured plenty of data in the shadow areas that was easily recovered in post processing.

Last night, I re-processed the camera’s RW2 (RAW) file using DxO PureRaw to correct for lens defects and demosiac the file among other improvements. This outputs as a DNG file that I imported into Lightroom for cosmetic adjustment.

Below are two scaled versions of the same image. The top is the output directly from the RW2 without PureRaw or Lightroom changes. The bottom is following conversion and cosmetic adjustment.

Improved image following conversion and cosmetic adjustment.

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074 drumming along at Stacumni Bridge

On this day in 2017, I photographed Irish Rail 074, wearing the black & silver freight livery, leading a down IWT Liner from Dublin’s North Wall.

This view is on the short stretch Irish Rail quad track near Stacumni Bridge on the the Cork Line. The accepted spelling of this classic location varies an it is often spelled as ‘Stacumny’ in modern media.

I was working with my FujiFilm XT1 fitted with a Fujinon 90mm prime telephoto.

Recently, I converted the original RAF RAW file into DNG format using PureRaw and made a series of small adjustements in Lightroom to improve the appearance of the photo. [Scaled and compressed for internet presentation.]

Irish Rail class 071 diesel number 074 leads the down IWT Liner at Stacumni Bridge near Hazel Hatch, Co. Kildare on August 28, 2017.

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New Train; old Signals

In April 2007, standing on the road bridge east of Limerick Junction, I framed one of Irish Rail’s relatively new Mark4 trains with an antique rod-operated mechanical semaphore. The Mark4 driving trailer was leading the train with an Enterprise painted Class 201 diesel at the back of the set.

The Mark4 train set entered service in 2006, while the signal was retired in late 2010.

This was exposed on Fujichrome film using a Nikon F3.

I scanned the slide with a Nikon LS5000 slide scanner powered by VueScan 98.4.2 software. This enabled me to make a multiple pass scan to maximize data capture. I then conducted final processing of the TIF file using Adobe Lightroom to better balance color, exposure and contrast.

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Irish Rail Transition

The mid-2000s saw a rapid transformation of Irish Rail.

Older equipment, some of which had served the railway for decades, was withdrawn as newer trains entered service. Stations were revamped, modified and improved with modern access and longer platforms. A series of new paint liveries were introduced and discontinued in rapid succession. In just a few years most of the trains were transformed from variations of Irish Rail’s orange liveries to schemes featuring two-tone greens and silver with dashes of safety yellow.

On 28 April 2007, I made this view of Irish Rail’s Class 201 diesel wearing the orange with safety yellow front scheme (introduced in 2005) leading Mark II carriages at Portarlington. A new handicapped access foot bridge has supplanted the traditional lattice bridge that connected the up and down platforms, while some work around the station and platforms had already begun. More changes to the station were soon to follow, which included easing the track curvature through the station-area to allow for higher running speed.

This photo is not a work of art, but rather a straight narrative image aimed at documenting the scene as it appeared on 28April2007.

There was a comparatively short window in time where it was possible to make transitory photos like this one. Soon all changed.

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Just Another Day at the Junction . . .

A dull winter sky prevailed at Limerick Junction, Co. Tipperary on 13 January 2006. Paused at platform 1 was Irish Rail 210 on a Cork-bound set of MarkIII carriages. A sister 201-class sat with a new MarkIV set in the sidings. The Mark IV was the vision of the future.

As far as I was concerned all of this action was a sideshow to what turned out to be Irish Rail’s final sugarbeet campaign. In truth, I was waiting for NIR 112 to run around its train to complete the laden beet run from Wellingtonbridge, Co. Wexford to Mallow, Co. Cork.

The end of the sugarbeet was just weeks away, but that is a slide for another day . . .

Fujichrome exposed using a Nikon F3 with 180mm Nikon lens. My shutter speed was 1/60th of a second. It really was pretty dull.

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Enterprise 201s at Islandbridge

For 15 years, Islandbridge was my Irish home. On my daily walks around Dublin on my visits during that period, I’d often pause at the location known as ‘the Box,’ which overlooks Islandbridge Junction near Heuston Station .

This selection of photos spans from 2005 to 2019, and portrays each of the four ‘Enterprise’ General Motor 201 diesels. While all of the 34 201 class were named for Irish Rivers, these original four Enterpise diesels carried Irish River names that had been previously applied to Great Northern Railway (of Ireland)’s respective VS-class 200-class steam locomotives— engines that had also worked Belfast-Dublin Enterprise trains.

General Motors locomotives 206 (River Liffey) and 207 (River Boyne) are owned by Irish Rail, while 208 (later 8208, River Lagan) and 209 (8209, River Foyle) are NIR locomotives. Regardless of ownership and paint, these 201 class would work various Irish Rail trains as well as Enterprise services.

Although an esoteric theme, I felt this would be neat way to portray these locomotives from this once-favorite location.

17May2005-River Liffey (having just crossed its namesake)
10Feb2019—River Boyne
7 March 2018 River Lagan running light.
River Foyle leading a liner on 7 November 2011.

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Fast Trains Converging at Ballybrophy

It was the afternoon on 7 April 2007. Up and down trains on the Dublin-Cork mainline were converging on Irish Rail’s rural station at Ballybrophy. I stood poised on the old iron foot-bridge with a Nikon F3 loaded with Fujichome and fitted with my Nikkor f2.8 180mm lens.

The up-train passed first with Irish Rail 205 leading a set of Mark III carriages. Notice that 205’s driver had switched off the headlight to avoid blinding his counterpart on 204. Seconds later 204 raced by in the down direction. 

I referenced the photo of 204 on Monday’s TTL and I thought I’d run it again here, although it was previously featured.   http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/last-light-of-an-april-day/. You can see the back of the up-train in the distance. Both trains were hurtling along at 90 (+/-) mph.

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Last Light of an April Day

I was looking for a suitable photo of Irish Rail class 201 number 204.

Initially, I selected a view of the locomotive racing downroad at Ballybrophy. However, as I was preparing the image in Lightroom, I though that it looked a bit too familiar. I wondered if I’d presented it on Tracking the Light previously.

Tracking the Light is approaching its 5000th post. While I have a pretty good memory, I’ll admit that I cannot recall the details of each and every post. Much in the same way that I don’t recall the details of each cup of tea that I’ve had on every morning for the last 12 years.

When I began searching the archives, I found the photo of 204 in question. ‘I thought so!’. I’d published it back in 2018!

Instead, I’m presenting a view of Irish Rail 204 racing downroad at Kildare in the last rays of sun on 6 April 2002. I’d spent the day photographing Irish Rail. And of the photos that I made, this one seemed among the least remarkable.

An Irish Rail 201 class diesel leading a set of Mark II carriages was hardly noteworthy in 2002, but the light was nice, and I always try to make the most of a passing train. Today, I’m happy that I took the time to preserve the scene for posterity.

Fujichrome Sensia II.

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Irish Rail 202

On several occasions I have discussed Irish Rail’s most elusive 201 class diesel. Of the 34 201s built by General Motors, I found that old number 202 was the most difficult to find.

By contrast, in my years photographing trains in Ireland, some of the other 201 class seemed to present themselves at every opportunity. Of these, 215 and 234 come to mind.

In summer 1998, I made this rare trailing view of Irish Rail 202 running light under wire at Killiney. This photo features the locomotive’s non-standard number font which existed at one-end of the double cab diesel.

Exposed on Fuji Sensia (ISO 100) with a Nikon F3T.

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Irish Rail 201 in Fresh Paint

Irish Rail’s EMD-built class 201 diesels made their debut in 1994—30 years ago.

On the evening of 27 April 2006, a few miles from the top of Ballybrophy bank, I made this Fujichrome color slide of the class leader wearing a fresh coat of paint as it raced download from Dublin to Cork.

Exposed on Fujichrome Sensia II (100 ISO) using a Contax G2 rangefinder with 45mm Zeiss lens.

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Editing the View I Didn’t Often See

I walked by this location almost everyday I was in Dublin, but I rarely ever saw this angle. My common spot was around the corner where I could get a clear view over the wall.

On September 20, 2016, I was working with my FujiFilm XT1, which had an extendable, adjustible rear panel display. I had had some help from fellow photographer Jay Monaghan who assisted me to get this angle.

The light was dull and this suited the angle, which would have been partially shadowed had the sun been out.

Belmond’s luxury Grand Hibernian tour train was departing Dublin and I made a sequence as the train passed.

Yesterday, working with Adobe Lightroom, I made a series of post-processing adjustments to the RAF RAW file, including some exposure and contrast adjustment to the AI-masked sky to bring in cloud detail.

I also lightened the shadow areas, while globally increasing contrast and saturation, and corrected the level.

The first photo is the scaled but unmodified image. The second shows the mask in the Adobe Lightroom work window. The last two are my final interpretations, the fourth features addition of a slight vignette.

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Cove versus Cobh—two places, two spellings, two different countries.

Cove and Cobh are spelled differently, but pronounced the same. In February, Kris and I visited Cobh, County Cork in Ireland; on Sunday we photographed near Cove, Pennsylvania along the old Pennsylvania Railroad Middle Division, now Norfolk Southern’s busy Pittsburgh Line.

The following photos offer contrasts in subject matter, camera equipment, and photographic techique. About the only commonality is railway heritage, steel wheels and our recent visits!

Lumix LX7 photo at Cobh, County Cork on February 29, 2024.
Lumix LX7 photo at the former railway terminal in Cobh, County Cork, now the Cobh Heritage Centre.
Irish Rail 2600 railcars arriving at the Cobh station on February 29, 2024. Lumix LX7 photo.
Norfolk Southern double stack container train works west at SIP 166.8 in Cove, Pennsylvania. Nikon Z6 with Nikkor Z-series70-200mm lens.
Norfolk Southern double stack container train works west at SIP 166.8 in Cove, Pennsylvania. Nikon Z6 with Nikkor Z-series70-200mm. This image was made just a few seconds after the first and has a subtly different focus point and composition.
Cove, Pennsylvania. Nikon Z7-II with Nikkor Z-series 24-70mm lens. That pole shadow irks me.
Cove, Pennsylvania. Nikon Z7-II with Nikkor Z-series 24-70mm lens.

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Blast from the Past; Vintage Chrome at Manualla Junction

Part of the reason for our recent trip to Ireland was to retrieve my belongings that have been stored there since the Covid-19 pandemic.

This was our third trip across to Ireland since April 2022. This time around we filled several more suitcases with my things. This included an estimated 8,000 of my color slides, 1,000 hand made black & white prints, a tripod, a Nikon F3 camera and my prized Nikkor f2.0 35mm lens, plus some books, notes and memorabilia.

Since returning to Pennsylvania, I’ve made a project of scanning many of the slides that I brought back. Among the gems I collected is this view I’d exposed of the Ballina Branch train at Manulla Junction on 1 May 2006 with GM 071 class diesel number 075.

This photos made extra special for me because during our wanders around County Mayo in March we caught a sister 071 locomotive 074 leading a timber train at this same location. See: http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/2006-2024-changes-at-manulla-junction/

1 May 2006; Manualla Junction the way it used to look before the mini-CTC project of 2007 altered the track and signaling. Exposed on Fujichrome using a Nikon F3 with 105mm lens.

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Relics at Ballina

On our recent trip to Ballina, Co. Mayo, we paid a couple visits to the Irish Rail Station.

I remember photographing the 2800-series railcars when they were lifted off the boat back in 2000.

What really caught my attention was the 1990s-era Irish Rail sign, which for me was a pleasant reminder of years gone by when every station on Irish Rail had a similarly styled sign.

Exposed digitally with a Nikon Z7-II with a 24-70mm lens set to 32mm.

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Victorian Train Shed

The magnificent curved train shed at Cork’s Kent Station makes for a classic environment to photograph modern trains.

Irish Rail runs frequent services from Kent Station, with an hourly scheduled service to/from Dublin, most of which serve platform 4 below the train shed.

During our recent travels around Cork, Kris and I paid several visits to Kent Station and were offered tours by our friends at Irish Rail.

Working with my Nikon Z7-II, I made these photos at the station aiming to make the most of the curved Victorian train shed, both as subject and setting.

Dublin end of Kent Station.
Dublin end of Kent Station.
Dublin end of Kent Station.
Irish Rail 201-class diesel 228 wearing the modern Enterprise livery arrives at Kent Station with the 1300 x Dublin train.
Irish Rail 201-class diesel 228 wearing the modern Enterprise livery arrives at Kent Station with the 1300 x Dublin train.
Irish Rail 201-class diesel 228 wearing the modern Enterprise livery arrives at Kent Station with the 1300 x Dublin train.

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Materials Train at Drumcondra

In mid-October, I made a brief stop at Irish Rail’s Drumcondra station on Dublin’s North Side to photograph locomotive 074 leading a laden materials train toward the North Wall.

The sun and clouds cooperated nicely, and I made these digital photos using my Nikon Z6.

This was a fortuitous catch for me as I only had a few minutes to invest before moving on to my next objective. There were times in years past that I may have invested hours to catch an obscure railroad movement, so it was satisfying for me to see this relatively elusive train without much of a wait.

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Athenry at Dusk

It’s been more than 23 years since my first visit to Athenry, County Galway.

On that day, my objective was to see an Irish Rail cement train (traffic long gone), and visit the signal cabin (which was then an active block post and interlocking. I was there the day it closed in May 2003.)

Last month, on our way back from Maam Cross, Kris and I were delivered by road to Irish Rail’s Athenry station. It was wet and windy. We had a half hour to wait for the evening Galway-Dublin train to arrive.

During the interval, an Irish Rail 2800-series railcar on its way from Galway to Limerick arrived to make its station stop before changing directions to head down the Western Rail Corridor.

I made this selection of action photos using my Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera set at high ISO (between 8000 and 12000).

This two-piece 2800-series railcar had just arrived from Galway.
The Galway-Limerick railcar has the ‘feather’ to take the switch for the Western Rail Corridor toward Ennis and Limerick.
The evening Galway-Dublin train approaches Athenry.

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Compare: RAW versus Camera-Profiled JPG

On August 28, 2014, I made this photo of a down InterCity Railcar on Irish Rail’s Quad Track near Clondalkin in west suburban Dublin.

I was photographing with my Canon EOS7D fitted with a prime f2.8 200mm lens.

I had the camera set up to simultaneously expose a Hi-Res RAW and a color-profiled JPG file using the Canon pre-programed ‘Standard’ setting. (Recorded to the file as ‘sRGB IEC61966-2.1’)

Normally, I’d make adjustments to the RAW file.

In this case, I’ve opted to display the two files without adjustment for point of comparison.

Canon JPG with camera ‘Standard’ color profile: ‘sRGB IEC61966-2.1’
Canon camera RAW (CR2 file).

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Inchicore in the Details

Last month I was invited on an official tour of Irish Rail’s Inchicore Works. I joined a small group of journalists preparing a feature on the upcoming 175th Anniversary open house that occured about 10 days later (after I returned to the USA).

On my casual walk-around I had the opportunity to chat with a variety of Irish Rail employees and retirees.

In addition to some photos of locomotives and railcars, I made numerous vignettes of the shops and the details thereof using my Lumix LX7.

In a future post, I’ll include some more of the locomotive photos.

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Three DARTS at Blackrock.

Monday, 25 April 2022, we had the sun, the sea and the DART!

Working with my Lumix LX7, I made these view of Irish Rail’s DART serving the station at Blackrock in Co. Dublin.

This is the oldest suburban railway in the world: the old Dublin & Kingstown opened for business in 1834.

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Irish Rail at Islandbridge Junction—25 April 2022

Yesterday, I returned to my old location at Islandbridge Junction in Dublin for the first time since November 2019.

Although I’d made countless photos here over the years, it was nice to be back at this once familiar place again.

The procession of passenger trains was certainly down from pre-Covid times, but in the course of about half an hour I photographed five trains passing through the junction.

I made these views using my Lumix LX7 and processed the Lumix RAW files using Adobe Lightroom.

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Ballast Crossing the Liffey a Dozen Years Ago.

I was still new to the concept of digital imagery on 22 April 2010 when I made these views with my old Lumix LX3 of an Irish Rail ballast train running around at Platform 10 at Dublin’s Heuston Station.

This view from the top of the Phoenix Park Tunnel was just a short walk from my old apartment at Islandbridge. The dust in the air was the result of a volcanic eruption in Iceland.

The old four-wheel ballast wagons were nearing the end of their days in permanent-way traffic.

In just a few days, I hope to be able to make a modern day view from this Irish vantage point. Fingers crossed.

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Stacumni Bridge Two photos a year minus a Day.

I visited Stucumni Bridge on the Dublin-Cork line on March 9, 2016 and March 8, 2017.

On both visits I worked with my FujiFilm XT1 to photograph Irish Rail trains on the quad track.

I only noticed the succession of dates when preparing this post. Kris said, ‘That’s really cool, you should include both photos.

I think it’s interesting that I selected a similar focal length and angle for both images.

The1020 down Heuston Station to Portlaoise train passes Stacumni Bridge on March 9, 2016.
Irish Rail’s UP IWT Liner with Container Pocket Wagons on March 8, 2017.

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Up IWT Liner-Five Years Ago

It was a typical overcast afternoon in Dublin on March 7, 2017.

I was in position above Irish Rail’s Phoenix Park Tunnel on Conyngham Road, not far from my bus stop.

Not far off camera to the right was the location of the Islandbridge apartment where I resided on/off for 15 years when visiting in Dublin.

Working with my first Lumix LX7, I made this image of Irish Rail’s UP IWT Liner from Ballina.

The RAW file was a little on the dark side, so I adjusted the image using Lightroom. I lightened the shadow areas, while working with the ‘Select Sky’ feature to hold detail in the sky area.

Not long after exposing this photo, I walked down to Ryan’s pub on Park Gate Street to meet some friends for a pint.

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Nine Years Ago-Irish Rail Pan in Blue Light

On the evening of February 25, 2013, I was walking along the wall on the St. Johns Road in Dublin. There’s a low spot where a few stones have been dislodged, and it was here I peered over the wall.

A Cork train was heading down road behind 201-class 219. Working with my old Lumix LX3, I exposed this pan photo.

Irish Rail 219 departs Dublin Heuston Station on February 25, 2013.

The original file was a bit dark, so I lightened the camera-RAW file using Lightroom and scaled it for presentation here.

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Irish Rail 201 framed.

In May 2001, I stood on the old footbridge at Irish Rail’s Kildare Station and framed an up-road train using the bridge’s lattice iron-work .

Irish Rail locomotive 213 (of the 201 class EMD diesels) led Mark III carriages. At the time this was about as common as one could expect for an Intercity passenger run.

Now, the Intercity MarkIII carriages are long gone, and old 213 is among the 201-class diesels stored at Inchicore.

I made the square image with my Rolleiflex Model T. Kodak 120-size Tri-X film processed in a customized mix of Ilfotec HC developer.

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2001 Sunset at Heuston Station

On an evening in Spring 2001, I made this monochrome silhouette at Dublin’s Heuston Station using my Rollei Model T. The photo brings back memories of another time.

The place has much changed in the intervening 21 years since the click of the shutter.

This shows Irish Rail class 141/181s working as shunters, a practice that ended about a dozen years ago when locomotive hauled consists were phased out in favor of modern self propelled Intercity Railcars (ICRs). Among the other changes: the platform arrangement was altered and extended, while the trainshed roof restored.

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Orange Railcars at Connolly Station

In May 1998, I stood at the south end of platform 5 of Dublin’s Connolly Station where I made this view of 2600-series diesel multiple units as they accelerated away from the platforms toward Tara Street on the Loop Line.

I was working with my Nikon F3T loaded with Fujichrome Sensia II (ISO 100).

At the time the 2600s were a common sight in Dublin.

This photo reminds me of my first impressions of Dublin and how much has changed since 1998.

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Guinness over the Liffey

July 2005. The view from my old flat at Islandbridge in Dublin.

Irish Rail 165 leads an evening Guinness Transfer over the RIver Liffey heading into the Phoenix Park tunnel toward Dublin’s North Wall.

I made this image on Fujichrome using a Nikon with a 180mm prime telephoto.

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Manulla Junction—May 2002

2002 was a productive year for my photographic adventures.

Working with my Contax G2, I exposed this sequence of black & white photos on Kodak Tri-X at Irish Rail’s Manulla Junction in County Mayo.

This isolated station served as the transfer point for passengers traveling on the Ballina Branch.

In the the long view, the Ballina branch train can be seen to the right, with the Westport-Dublin train on the left.

Leading the Dublin train is Irish Rail Class 201 #215.

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Wicklow Silhouette

On 3 April 2002, I traveled from Dublin to County Wexford on the morning train.

My friend and fellow railroad photographer, Hassard Stacpoole, and I were headed to Wexford town to intercept one of the last bag cement trains that was being unloaded there.

Once common, by mid-2002 Irish Rail’s bag cement runs were on the wain.

At Wicklow, our train paused in the loop to cross an up passenger train on the Dublin & Southeastern route.

Exposed on 35mm Kodak Tri-X using a Contax G2 rangefinder camera.

When our train paused at Wicklow Station made this view of a lattice-mast semaphore, which at the time was still in use to protect train movements.

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Sunset at Duncormick, Co. Wexford

In July 2003, I exposed a single frame of 120 size Tri-X looking toward the old Duncormick Station on Irish Rail’s lightly used South Wexford line.

I’d processed the film in Ilfotec HC shortly after the time of exposure. The other day I scanned this photo along with other images on the roll.

Working with Adobe Lightroom 5.0, I made use of the ‘select sky’ feature under the ‘New Mask’ option (located at the righthand side of the control panel and indicated with a pixilated circle icon) to make the sunset sky more dramatic.

Previously, I would have achieved a similar effect by creating a linear gradiation mask to make my adjustments.

The advantage of the ‘select sky’ mask is that it neatly segregates the sky area from the rest of the image and allows for a cleaner adjustment while requiring less work on my part.

In this case, to make the sky appear more dramatic, I used the ‘clarity’ slider, moving to the right (+) which increases the constrast without a substantial loss of detail.

Below are both the unaltered scan of the original black & white negative, and my adjusted version. In addition, I’ve included a screenshot of hte Adobe Lightroom control panel.

Unadjusted reversed scan from the original 120-size black & white negative. This was scaled for internet presentation.
Adjusted scan with ‘select sky’mask feature used to improve the sky contrast.
Adobe Lightroom 5.0 control panel. Notice the position of the Clarity slide while in the ‘create new mask’ -‘select sky’ mode.

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