7th March 1992

ITG
The Cobh Rambler

Route :

Notes :
(1) Due to a security alert (?) this tour had to run some where and Sligo was the chosen option. A return via Moate was abandoned due to short notice.

Source : Jonathan Wilcox (taken from Websites/ITG "Irish Mail")

Tour Review
(from Martin Barnsdall)

After inbibing one or two Guinesses the night before, we awoke to the news that there had been multiple security alerts on the Dublin to Belfast main line AND the Dublin to Cork line. As we were taking the tour to Cork and on to Cobh we wondered quite what was going to transpire.

After walking down to Dublin Connolly, we met with many others that had the same questions in mind - would the train be cancelled, or would we pootle off somewhere else? Eventually 051 came in at right time and sat, facing north, at the platform. We boarded and waited. We waited a little more, then slightly longer. Eventually the news came through that we were heading for Sligo. Bugger. We had come down from Sligo the previous day behind 'A' class 021. The last thing we wanted to do was the Sligo branch again. But, hey ho, what the heck, we had paid our money and we were going to enjoy ourselves.

We had photostops at Enfield and Mulligar and two other places I can't remember the names of! Eventually we arrived at Sligo. Someone somewhere had primed Sligo council that a train load of cranks were heading that way and the enterprising bunch set up a staff on the station and were handing out maps and leaflets to tour participants, most of whom headed off for the nearest bar! At this point my mate and I stayed at the station with ITG tour organisers and a few others. The tour was reversed and the loco stuck the stock in the departure platform. At this point we thought the loco was going onto what remained of Sligo Shed. However, not so. The loco went onto the Sligo Quay branch and stopped at the top of the branch. The ITG committee then piled in the front cab. One or two others went to the rear cab - so did we! After clambering into 051 rear cab, the driver pelted down the branch and proceeded to cover a goodly proportion of the sidings. We bailed out at the bottom of the branch, whilst 051 made a couple of more trips to the top and ferried more people up and down. We boarded again and took the last trip to the top, managing the link onto the main line and reversing back onto the stock. Some poor souls who had spent the last hour or so in the nearest bar were somewhat miffed! In a word - Superb!

The journey back was fairly uneventful, and arrival back in Dun Laoghaire was in time for the late evening ferry.

Martin Barnsdall

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