RPSI Steam Dreams Tour, with loco's 461, No.4, 85 'Merlin' & NIR 112 - 15th - 21st June 2017

From the 15th - the 21st of June 2017, the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland ran their annual Steam Dreams tour which toured most of the Island of Ireland. The steam locomotives used were K2 class steam loco number 461, 'WT' class loco number 4, 85 'Merlin'. The diesel locos in the video are Irish Rail 201 class, Irish Rail 071 class and a very rare appearance of a NIR 111 class loco. The coaches that were used were RPSI Craven Coaches and RPSI Mk2 coaches.

0:00 - 0:40, Here we head to Prospect Road bridge where we see IE 201 class locomotive number 224 passing with the Inchicore - Connolly Craven transfer.

0:40 - 3:06, After catching the transfer we head to Lansdowne Road where we see RPSI K2 class steam locomotive number 461 passing with the first trip of the Steam Dreams Tour which was to Rosslare Europort.

3:06 - 4:09, Later on that Evening we head to Ballynerrin, Co. Wicklow which is just a 15 minute walk South of Greystones. Here we see IE 071 class locomotive number 075 passing with the return trip of the Steam Dreams tour from Rosslare, it was heading to Connolly before stabling for the night.

4:09 - 5:02, Here we see IE 071 class loco number 075 uncoupling from the Craven set as we see it heading towards Connolly sheds where it would stable for the night.

5:02 - 8:48, The next day we head back to Connolly again where we see RPSI K2 class loco number 461 returning from Rosslare, we then see it heading into the RPSI sheds.

8:48 - 9:15, After missing a brilliant shot of 85 'Merlin' hauling the Craven set to Killarney by an hour due to a timetable change, we then head to Old Cabra Road Bridge where we see RPSI 'WT'class steam locomotive number 4 passing as it makes it's way to Portarlington to swap duties with 85 'Merlin', unfortunately 85 ran very late back to Dublin so which meant I couldn't catch it as I had other things to tend to that day.

9:15 - 10:06, Now for the main event, here we an extremely rare sight of NIR 111 class locomotive number 112 hauling the RPSI Mk2 set along West Road as it makes it's way to Connolly, the last time a 111 was seen in Dublin was on Thursday the 25th of June 2015. Again it was 112, it was also doing duties with the Steam Dreams Tour. 111 or 8113 was supposed to take the MK2 set to Connolly but however the loco failed and the train was declared a failure at Poyntzpass. The passengers had to wait till later on that Evening in order to get to Dublin. 112 later traveled light engine ahead of the tour while 85 'Merlin' brought the Mk2 set to Dublin. 112 later brought the Mk2 set back to Whitehead but I couldn't go out for it as it was far too late at night. So at least this time I finally got a 111 hauling a tour in Dublin, just a pity I had to wait 2 years just to get that chance.

10:06 - 11:30, Sadly I couldn't get number 4 returning with the Cravens because the NIR 111 took main priority, they were both timed to arrive into Connolly at least two minutes apart from each other so I had to pick out which was more important, so the NIR 111 was the one that got filmed. After transferring the Steam Dreams passengers onto the RPSI Mk2 set, we head to Harmonstown Station where we see 85 'Merlin' passing through with the Steam Dreams tour to Whitehead. Shortly after NIR 111 class loco number 112 passes as it makes it's way back to York Road Depot in Belfast.

11:30 - 12:09, Having spent a over a day in Northern Ireland the Steam Dreams passengers return back to Connolly. The big surprise was that it was NIR 111 class loco number 112 again, that really made my day, anyways we see it here passing Clontarf Road with the return trip of the Steam Dreams Tour from Whitehead.

12:09 - 12:52, Having run round in Connolly and offloaded the passengers, we again see NIR 111 class loco number 112 passing with the empty RPSI Mk2 transfer back to Whitehead, we see it passing Portmarnock Station just as the daylight began to fade.

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