Uploads from Photolab.AJ, tagged intercity

Being 'alone' with 5 trains

nobody@flickr.com (Photolab.AJ) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:25:33 -0700

I took an early morning walk during my last stopover in London, starting at the Heathrow Express, on which I came in. Paddington Station is one of those stations that have no trouble taking you back to the age of steam. Its high cast iron and glass roof says it all for that matter. Perhaps this is one of those stations where one wants to be greeted by locomotives blowing out fumes. Not being environmentally friendly for once or for the smell of diesel, but most certainly for the way those fumes play in the rays of sunlight coming through the roof.

Alas, that wasn’t going to happen that morning, a Saturday. The station was still very quiet. Only a few travelers - foolish enough by their own free will - to catch an early train. The five class 43 locomotives parked in the station where still snoozing and lightly snoring before their tasks of the day commenced. Riding of to Bristol or Penzance and heading back into London again.

It took some effort to get onto the platform. I normally ask a ticket inspector if he would let me go through the tourniquets without a ticket. A question normally accompanied by a little white fairytale to grease things my way… But that was no option this time, as even the inspectors weren’t at their posts yet. Maybe still drinking coffee to get their motors running for the day. Most definitely smoking – where are fumes when you need them?

After some walking around I noticed a walking bridge hanging over the trains at the end huge cast iron vault. I saw people walk on it, so why not give it a try. So much for station security. The bridge gave not only an easy access to the London underground, but also to all platforms without having to battle a tourniquet with an Oyster card only filled up to go around London’s city center.

I virtually had the platforms to myself, apart from two cleaning ladies doing some last minute clean-up. At first I took some photos of the separate trains. Looking for some nice angles and lines of the Class 43 engines and Mark 3 passenger cars. Their design dates back to the early 70s, so there’s bound to be a detail to illustrate that heritage. However, my ducking, bending and kneeling made one aware station guard get far too much interest in me.

Not wanting to get into a long discussion on what I was doing or worse – getting kicked of the platform again, I very soon got back to a more identifiable and familiar photography position. I decided making a panorama was the best option. It conveys that typical and cozy train shed mood very well. So, I made three series of eight or nine photos. As always I had forgotten to bring my tripod.

In the last series, one of the previous mentioned early passengers came taking a look at the trains and walked into my range. He even stopped to take a closer look. At first I was far from happy about it. I wanted a good shot of the trains. A bit hypocritical of course, as he was doing the same as I was and he even paid for it. But as you can see, in the end I promoted the guy to be a model in my pano. He helps to emphasize the early morning emptiness of this normally busy station. And wasn’t that the reason why I took the time to walk through Paddington station…

This pano consists of eight hand held photos merged and post-processed in PS11.

Best viewed in LARGE (contacts only!)

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nobody@flickr.com (Photolab.AJ) — Fri, 01 May 2009 04:36:06 -0700

Photolab.AJ posted a photo:

A class locomotive
“Enterprise” is the – suitable – name of the cross-border intercity train service between Dublin Connolly and Belfast Central in Ireland. I’ve written about this service earlier, so won’t make you read it again, although if you really want to….here’s the link.

Enterprise is being pushed/pulled by class 201 locomotives. They are the most powerful diesel locomotives operating in Ireland today. Each locomotive has six traction motors, which produce in total 2,970hp (2,210 kW) of traction. The beast hurdle along the track with a staggering 164 km/h or 102 mph.

34 of them were delivered to Irish Rail and two to NI Railways (NIR). After delivery they quickly began operating services on the principal routes; like to Cork, Galway and Belfast, replacing many older classes. The 201s also pulled freight trains, but since running freight trains has taking a dramatic turn in Ireland, they now work almost exclusively passenger trains, and have a new 'Intercity' livery applied.

The earlier mentioned maximum speed of 102 mph is nice to have, but questionable with regard to really needed or not. As this speed can only be achieved on the Dublin-Cork services utilizing new Mk4 pushpull rolling stock.

The entire class is named after Irish rivers. The 230 is named after “Abhainn na Bandan” or the River Bandon. The IÉ locomotives carry two nameplates, one in Irish and one in English, on each side of the locomotive. the 8208 and 8209 carry English language only nameplates, as they are owned by Northern Ireland Railways. That’s integration for ya…

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nobody@flickr.com (Photolab.AJ) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 05:37:07 -0700

Photolab.AJ posted a photo:

Dublin's planning on rails
The Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) is the rail line running along the coast of Dublin, from Malahide and Howth southwards as far as Greystones in the County of Wicklow – well known for the Wicklow Mountains of course. The DART forms part of the Dublin Suburban Rail network. DART’s system is administered by the national rail operator, Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail).

On its inauguration in 1984, the DART was operated by Coras Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) of whom IE is now a subsidiary. Part of the DART route, from the city centre of Dublin to Dún Laoghaire (a coastal town to the south of Dublin), is of historic importance as it was the first railway in Ireland. It was opened as the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, on 17 December 1834.

The original DART service ran from Howth which is north-east of Dublin, through the city centre and south to Bray in County Wicklow. This remained the route for 15 years, until more and more incremental extensions were realized. However, nowadays the Irish Government has ambitious plans to significantly expand the DART service. Under the Irish Government's Transport 21 investment program, the DART is to be extended with a new tunnel under the city from Heuston Station to the new Docklands station in Spencer Dock. This tunnel, known as the Interconnector or DART Underground, will allow for a much more effective integration with other elements of Dublin's transport system once complete. The plan will also significantly expand the DART service to the west of the city. But rest assured, The DART operation on the marvelous Connolly Station will still be there for quite some time, as the existing DART line will be modified to handle (even) more traffic.

Here you see two of the tree classes used by Iarnrod Eireann on the DART network. The total fleet numbers a total of 17 four-car trains, all of which were constructed by the Tokyu Car Corporation (東急車輛製造); a manufacturer of heavy rail cars in Japan. Beside suburban stock, this company also produces the EMU cars for the High speed Shinkansen or bullet train.

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nobody@flickr.com (Photolab.AJ) — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 02:46:25 -0800

Photolab.AJ posted a photo:

“Enterprise” is the name of the cross-border intercity train service between Dublin Connolly and Belfast Central in Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is jointly operated by Irish Rail (Iarnród Éireann) and Northern Ireland Railways. Here the service pulls into the grand Dublin Connolly railway station; in Irish called Stáisiún Uí Chonghaile.

The service was introduced as the "Enterprise Express" on August 11, 1947 by the Great Northern Railway. As the relation between Ireland and Northern Ireland has a rocky history, so did this train service. It suffered many and frequent disruptions over the years, particularly during the Troubles, when it was regularly halted by bomb threats. It caused such considerable disruption to the service that a campaigning group, the Peace Train Organization was formed in 1989.

The service is run in a push-pull configuration of eight coaches and a 201 Class locomotive. The coaches are “De Dietrich” passenger rolling stock built in 1996. The 201 Class locomotives are the newest and most powerful diesel locomotives operating in Ireland, and were built between 1994 and 1995 by General Motors.

At the same moment the Enterprise rolled into Connolly Station a DART-commuter train pulls out of the station. DART stand for Dublin Area Rapid Transit. It runs roughly along the east coast near Dublin, between Malahide/Howth and Greystones. This is a Class 8100 electrical multiple unit. The CIE 8100 class were the first trains used on the DART system.

Making this shot was pure luck. I saw the DART driving into the mirror while making shots of the Enterprise. In a reflection I changed position, frame and focus. Normally the DART-trains and Intercity trains aren’t mixed in such a way at Connolly, let alone they perform such an orchestrated movement.

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nobody@flickr.com (Photolab.AJ) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 05:03:15 -0700

Photolab.AJ posted a photo:

On a rainy day this train is ready for departure with a commuter train in the north of France. This is a mixed-traffic locomotive for pull-push stopping/semi-fast TER services. In total 294 machines were built since 1958.

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nobody@flickr.com (Photolab.AJ) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 04:06:03 -0800

Photolab.AJ posted a photo:

When driving through a train station at 140 km/h (87 miles/h), the station looks like this. Passing by Gouda Goverwelle

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nobody@flickr.com (Photolab.AJ) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:09:51 -0800

Photolab.AJ posted a photo:

Rembrandt on the train