Slieve Mish Railtour (1997)

A railtour to Tralee, taking in a visit to the short-lived Tralee & Dingle narrow gauge heritage line. Saturday 10th May: (171) Dublin Heuston - Mallow; (461 LE) Inchicore - Mallow; (171 LE) Mallow - Cork; (461) Mallow - Tralee. Sunday 11th May: (171 LE) Cork - Mallow; (461) Tralee - Mallow; (171) Mallow - Dublin Connolly; (461 LE) Mallow - Dublin Connolly. Monday 12th May: (171) Dublin Connolly - Dundalk. NIR railcar from Dundalk to Whitehead.

10/5/1997: No.171 heads the tour train south across the River Barrow at Monasterevin. (J. Hunt)

10/5/1997: A water stop in a soggy Thurles. (J. Newman)

10/5/1997: Hopefully no Up train is expected at Thurles! (J. Newman)

10/5/1997: At Mallow there was a locomotive swap and No.461 took over for the Kerry Road. (M. Olver)

10/5/1997: No.461 in Mallow. (J. Newman)

10/5/1997: No.461 traverses the wilds between Mallow and Killarney. (J. Hunt)

10/5/1997: Crossing the Quagmire Viaduct. (J. Hunt)

10/5/1997: No.461 has arrived in Killarney and is taking water. (J. Newman)

10/5/1997: No.461 and train at Killarney. (J. Hunt)

10/5/1997: During the stopover at Killarney, a Tralee train heads up the bank from the headshunt. (M. Olver)

10/5/1997: No.461 leaving Killarney for Tralee. (M. Olver)

10/5/1997: A fine view of No.461 between Killarney and Tralee. (J. Hunt)

10/5/1997: Crossing trains at Farranfore. The bay for the closed line to Valentia was to the right.

10/5/1997: No.461 waits for the crossing gates at Farranfore. (J. Newman)

10/5/1997: No.461 has made it to Tralee.

11/5/1997: On Sunday morning before the tour train left Tralee, a visit to the Tralee & Dingle was arranged. No.5T is at the terminus at Blennerville. (M. Olver)

11/5/1997: No.5T running round at Blennerville. (M. Olver)

11/5/1997: No.5T running round at Blennerville, with a view of the bleak marshy ground between there and Tralee (M. Olver)

11/5/1997: Ready for departure from Tralee. Railtour regular, John Hadden, looks on.

11/5/1997: The tour train has run from Tralee and is crossing the River Blackwater outside Mallow. (J. Hunt)

11/5/1997: No.171 ready to depart north from Mallow. (Courtesy J. Coleman)

11/5/1997: No.171 on the middle road (Up Main) at Kildare. (J. Newman)

11/5/1997: Rounding the curve at Islandbridge on the approach to Phoenix Park tunnel. (J. Newman)

12/5/1997: On the Monday the train went north as far as Dundalk. Here it is approaching the entrance to Buckies Sidings before Drogheda. (J. Newman)

13/5/1997: The Tuesday coach tour was to the Foyle Valley Railway. The County Donegal Railways railcar is outside the Museum shed, on the site of the old GNR(I) Foyle Road station throat.

13/5/1997: The railcars are at the limit of travel, towards the border on the GNR(I) Derry Road, closed 1965.