{"id":38651,"date":"2024-03-24T05:51:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-24T09:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=38651"},"modified":"2024-03-21T19:15:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-21T23:15:00","slug":"a-short-trip-on-a-really-old-train","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/a-short-trip-on-a-really-old-train\/","title":{"rendered":"A Short Trip on a ‘Really Old Train’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Earlier this month, while visiting Killarney, Co. Kerry, we stayed at the Great Southern Hotel, a grand old railway hotel across from Irish Rail’s station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years ago, I traveled from Killarney aboard Irish Rail’s Cravens carriages. These rolling antiques were heated with steam that wafted alongside the train as it sat in the station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On our recent visit, Kris and I decided to take a short spin out the line to Tralee and bought day return tickets, which we used to travel on the evening train. As the train approached Killarney, a young man on the platform, who was speaking with a friend on his mobile phone, exclaimed ‘Like, there’s this really old train<\/em>. One of the square ones.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With visions of the Cravens in my head, initially I had difficulty understanding what this fellow was describing. As the 2600-series railcars rolled into Killarney, it occured to me that these were now antiques that had been on the move for thirty years! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1982, I would have viewed sets of Budd-RDCs built in the early 1950s as ‘old trains,’ and those cars were just as old to me, as Irish Rail’s 2600s were to the young man at Killarney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Kris and I Traveled out and back on the old 2600s. Not quite the experience of traveling on Cravens, but we still enjoyed our trip!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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