Irish Rail class 2000 six-car trainset number 22044 approaches Pike Bridge along the banks of the Royal Canal on a very blustery March morning with an InterCity service from Dublin to Sligo.
This is one of a number of shots I took while waiting for a very late steam special which it later transpired was held up by someone carelessly parking a track maintenance train in front of the turntable in Connolly Station!
I've shot from this location before, but it now looks a lot different as Waterways Ireland have come along and utterly removed the trees that lined the track here. There used to be a large tree which nicely framed the right edge of this view, but alas it's now gone. Parked in the harbour in the mid-ground you can still see Waterways Ireland's work boats.
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Tags: Boat Canal Royal Canal Class 22000 Class IE 22000 DMU-6 DMU trainset railcar Clouds Irish Rai Iarnród Éireann Maynooth Pathway path towpath Photomatix Rail railway Tonemapped HDR TTHDR Topaz Topaz Adjust Train
Continuing our long wait for a very delayed steam special myself and a few other train spotters had to take shelter under Pike Bridge as the heavens opened. While we were under there Irish Rail class 29000 four-car DMU number 29008 passed us by working a Commuter Service from Maynooth to Pearse Station in Dublin.
Tags: Boat Bridge Pike Bridge Canal Royal Canal Class 29000 Class IE 29000 Clouds DMU railer trainset DMU-4 Ireland Irish Rail Iarnród Éireann Kildare Maynooth Pathway path towpath Photomatix Rail Tonemapped HDR TTHDR Topaz Topaz Adjust Topaz deNoise Train
The first glimpse of steam on the Sligo line since September 2011 was the Maynooth Shuttle on the 3rd of March 2012. The RPSI operated two trains between Dublin and Maynooth that day, and this was my first view of the first of them, which was well over an hour late because someone had carelessly parked a track maintenance train in front of the Turntable in Connolly Station!
The water in the foreground is the Royal Canal, and you can see the silhouettes of quite a few railway buffs on top of Pike Bridge.
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Tags: Bridge Pike Bridge Canal Royal Canal Clouds Ireland Kildare Maynooth No.186 Pathway path towpath Photomatix Rail railway Reflection RPSI Maynooth Shuttle Steam Train Steam locomotive Tonemapped HDR TTHDR Topaz Topaz Adjust Train
RPSI Class J15 0-6-0 steam locomotive No.186 passes under Pike Bridge with the Dublin to Maynooth leg of the Maynooth Shuttle in March 2012. The train consisted of the RPSI Cravens coaches and a MkII generator van.
The water in the foreground is the Royal Canal.
This was the first steam along this line for over half a year, so it's not surprising she drew a crowd of admirers. You can see some silhouetted on the bridge, a few more over the wall on the right, and a few more sitting on bench near the bridge.
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Tags: Bridge Pike Bridge Canal Royal Canal Clouds Ireland Kildare Maynooth No.186 Pathway path towpath Photomatix Rail railway Reflection RPSI Maynooth Shuttle Steam Train Steam locomotive steam locomotive Tonemapped HDR TTHDR Topaz Topaz Adjust Topaz deNoise Train
RPSI J15 0-6-0 loco No.186 having just passed Pike Bridge with the "Maynooth Shuttle".
Tags: monochrome Black & White Ireland Kildare Sepia Maynooth No.186 Photomatix Rail Reflection RPSI Maynooth Shuttle Steam Train locomotive steam locomotive loco Tonemapped HDR TTHDR Topaz Topaz Adjust Topaz deNoise Train railway