{"id":28118,"date":"2019-11-12T05:28:40","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T10:28:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=28118"},"modified":"2019-11-12T05:28:40","modified_gmt":"2019-11-12T10:28:40","slug":"surprise-at-ballinasloe-three-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/surprise-at-ballinasloe-three-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprise at Ballinasloe\u2014Three Photos."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I really wasn&#8217;t expecting what I saw! (Click on Tracking the Light to see the whole story and photos).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was the second time in as many months that I arrived by train at Ballinasloe, County Galway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In September, the reason for my arrival was to photograph the Steam Dreams excursion operating with Railway Preservation Society of Ireland engine number 4. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See: <a href=\"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/2019\/09\/14\/steam-on-the-midland-at-ballinasloe\/\">http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/2019\/09\/14\/steam-on-the-midland-at-ballinasloe\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last week, Ballinasloe was to be the jumping off point for the latest of my Bord na Mona adventures (to be covered in Tracking the Light in the future).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Irish Rail&#8217;s Galway line wouldn&#8217;t be an operation characterized by variety. Except for the very occasional excursion, the vast majority of movements consist of the common 22000-series Intercity Railcars (ICRs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, when I positioned myself at the Dublin end of the down platform, my intent was to document the ICR that I&#8217;d arrive upon with Ballinasloe&#8217;s handsome Midland Great Western Railway station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"474\" height=\"316\" data-attachment-id=\"28119\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/surprise-at-ballinasloe-three-photos\/irish_rail_icr_at_ballinasloe_p1170107\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_ICR_at_Ballinasloe_P1170107.jpg?fit=3000%2C2002\" data-orig-size=\"3000,2002\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Irish_Rail_ICR_at_Ballinasloe_P1170107\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_ICR_at_Ballinasloe_P1170107.jpg?fit=709%2C473\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_ICR_at_Ballinasloe_P1170107.jpg?fit=474%2C316\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_ICR_at_Ballinasloe_P1170107.jpg?resize=474%2C316\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28119\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_ICR_at_Ballinasloe_P1170107.jpg?w=3000 3000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_ICR_at_Ballinasloe_P1170107.jpg?resize=205%2C137 205w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_ICR_at_Ballinasloe_P1170107.jpg?resize=709%2C473 709w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_ICR_at_Ballinasloe_P1170107.jpg?resize=1022%2C682 1022w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_ICR_at_Ballinasloe_P1170107.jpg?w=948 948w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_ICR_at_Ballinasloe_P1170107.jpg?w=1422 1422w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Why was the up-home signal green? We&#8217;d just crossed the up-Galway at Athlone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the 0735 Dublin to Galway train pulled away, I was startled and surprised to see a pair of 2800-series railcars ready to depart up-road. What was this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"474\" height=\"316\" data-attachment-id=\"28120\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/surprise-at-ballinasloe-three-photos\/irish_rail_2800s_transfer_at_ballinasloe_p1170110\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170110.jpg?fit=3000%2C2002\" data-orig-size=\"3000,2002\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170110\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170110.jpg?fit=709%2C473\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170110.jpg?fit=474%2C316\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170110.jpg?resize=474%2C316\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170110.jpg?w=3000 3000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170110.jpg?resize=205%2C137 205w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170110.jpg?resize=709%2C473 709w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170110.jpg?resize=1022%2C682 1022w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170110.jpg?w=948 948w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170110.jpg?w=1422 1422w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"474\" height=\"316\" data-attachment-id=\"28121\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/surprise-at-ballinasloe-three-photos\/irish_rail_2800s_transfer_at_ballinasloe_p1170112\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170112.jpg?fit=3000%2C2002\" data-orig-size=\"3000,2002\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170112\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170112.jpg?fit=709%2C473\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170112.jpg?fit=474%2C316\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170112.jpg?resize=474%2C316\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28121\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170112.jpg?w=3000 3000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170112.jpg?resize=205%2C137 205w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170112.jpg?resize=709%2C473 709w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170112.jpg?resize=1022%2C682 1022w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170112.jpg?w=948 948w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_2800s_transfer_at_Ballinasloe_P1170112.jpg?w=1422 1422w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>After I made my photos, it occurred to me that this was the weekly equipment transfer for the Ballina Branch. Ah, yes. And perhaps, I should have known. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m happy that I had camera in hand to picture this relatively unusual movement. Sometimes, even when you think you know what to expect, something sneaks up and surprises you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"color:#161cba;text-align:center\" class=\"has-text-color\"><strong>Tracking the Light Posts Daily!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I really wasn&#8217;t expecting what I saw! (Click on Tracking the Light to see the whole story and photos). It was the second time in as many months that I arrived by train at Ballinasloe, County Galway. In September, the reason for my arrival was to photograph the Steam Dreams excursion operating with Railway Preservation &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/surprise-at-ballinasloe-three-photos\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Surprise at Ballinasloe\u2014Three Photos.<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[10,48],"tags":[6011,2594,648,21,399],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Irish_Rail_ICR_at_Ballinasloe_P1170107.jpg?fit=3000%2C2002","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2BVuC-7jw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28118"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28118"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28122,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28118\/revisions\/28122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}