December 07, 2005
E428 at Dunsandle
On a couple of hundred yards of track, surrounded by field and road, sits the E428 - the first modern diesel locomotive to see service in Ireland. Its parked at Dunsandle - a station that will be unaffected by the largesse of the Transport 21 master plan.
I'm not sure if the E428 ever pulled up outside Dunsandle during it's working life - it plied the Dublin - Cork route for most of the time. Dunsandle station was the halfway point between Attymon (the link to the main Dublin to Galway rail line) and Loughrea station. The Attymon and Loughrea Light Rail was a so-called Baronial line, built under a nineteenth century equivalent of a Public Private Partnership. It began service 115 years ago (Dec. 1st 1890) and closed November 1st 1975 - in the 85 years of service, mankind went from hot-air balloons to space travel - and was intended to be used for transporting sheep and cattle to the ports. I think there was also a plan, in the later years, to transport cargo from the nearby Tynagh Mines which didn't work out.
The Ballinasloe - Galway stretch of the Dublin-Galway motorway will pass right by the station, and one of the off-ramps will slice through the old rail line right in front of the locomotive's current resting spot. It hardly matters - the tracks were pulled, and the land sold off, after the line was closed - there is no hope of reincarnation.
There was great commotion when the locomotive, and rolling stock were hauled into position. I'm reliably informed that RTE's western correspondent, Jim Fahey, missed it all though he was allegedly sitting in a pub less than a mile away. Looking at a couple of scoops of a different kind, no doubt. A few more snaps here...
UPDATE:December 17th 2005I should have mentioned that Dunsandle Station has its own website, with lots of photographs of the train and wagons arriving at the station.
galway, ireland, irishblogs,monasette
Posted by Monasette at December 7, 2005 10:21 PM