Anyway, on the 5^th of May 2012 the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) ran a special train to commemorate Dr. Garret Fitzgerald, who passed away last year. Dr. Fitzgerald was a very well respected former Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister), as well as a former president of the National University of Ireland, and, a former Vice President of the RPSI. It’s because of this link to the RPSI that the organisation paid him this tribute.

The special ran from Dublin to Longford and back, along the Irish Rail Dublin to Sligo main line, and hence, though my home town of Maynooth. The train consisted of ex-DSER (Dublin and South Eastern Railway) 2-6-0 steam locomotive No.461 and the RPSI Cravens Coaches.

I was able to capture the train three times, twice in the morning, and once in the evening. The reason I was able to catch her twice in the morning is that she stopped in Maynooth for water, so I could catch her as she approached, cycle on ahead of her while she had a drink, and then catch her again when she continued her journey.

No.461 has not had a smooth return to mainline working after her most recent overhaul. She’s been notorious for racking up long delays, or, worse still, not making it at all, and having to be replaced at short notice. Sadly, she didn’t snap out of it for this tour. In the morning she was 30 minutes late arriving into Maynooth, and by the time she passed Maynooth again that evening she’d extended her tardiness to a whopping two hours!

You can see all my shots from the day on Flickr where I’ve collected them into a set.

As well as shooting Stills with my trusty Nikon D40, I also shot some video on my Nikon D5100. I’ve edited the video and some of the stills together into a movie of the day’s events which I’ve uploaded to my YouTube Channel. I’ve embedded the video below for convenience:

Last time I reported on a steam special (the Maynooth Shuttles), it was to, yet again, say that, despite our hopes, newly over-hauled steam loco No.461 couldn’t make it. Well, that finally changed this time, when she worked her first passenger-carrying train from Dublin in over a decade. She’s not quite running smoothly yet though, clocking up some very significant delays on this rail tour. Still, at least she’s out pulling trains on the main line!

No. 461 is a relatively modern steam locomotive, having been built for the DSER (Dublin South Eastern Railway) by Beyer, Peacock & Co. in Manchester in 1922. She was initially conceived as an 0-6-0 locomotive, in other words, having six driving wheels with no leading or trailing un-powered wheels, however, the DSER ran into problems with similarly sized 0-6-0 locos derailing because they were too heavy for the track, so, the design of No.461 (and it’s one sister loco) was altered, and two leading wheels were added, making her a 2-6-0 loco.

No.461 had quite a turbulent start to her life, spending some time very early on sheltering from the Irish Civil War in Belfast. After the Civil War was over she served the amalgamated Great Southern Railway (GSR), and later CIE, very well until she was withdrawn in 1965. She was restored to mainline running once before, pulling trains between 1990 and 2001.

You can read more about No.461 on the RPSI’s Website.

The two-day Spare Link rail tour kicked off with a light workout for No.461, just a short run from Dublin to the new M3 Parkway station just beyond Dunboyne. This took the train along the recently re-opened part of the old Clonsilla to Navan line, which had closed to passengers in 1947, before being re-opened as far as the M3 Parkway in 2011. I caught up with the special in Clonsilla Station. The junction for the Dunboyne branch diverges from the Dublin to Sligo main line just beyond the station.

The Royal Canal runs next to the Dublin to Sligo main line for most of it’s length between Dublin and Mullingar, and the section around Clonsilla is no different. Just beyond the junction with the Sligo Line the re-opened branch crosses the canal. The original bridge was left in place for many decades after the line closed, but, it had fallen into such a bad state of decay that it was demolished a few decades ago, so a new bridge had to be built. It’s at this new bridge that I caught No.461 as she returned to Dublin with the Spare Link.

When she left Clonsilla she was still on time, and all seemed to be going well, but her day was just beginning. From Dublin she would run the whole way down the east coast of Ireland to Wexford, and that’s when she started to pick up delays. She overnighted in Wexford before heading north again, up past Dublin and on to Howth. Howth is a very picturesque seaside town a little north of Dublin, and is served by a short branch line that diverges from the Dublin to Belfast Mainline in Howth Junction. This branch is electrified, and seldom sees any trains other than the electric DARTs.

The run up from Wexford did not go smoothly, lots of stops because of overheating axels, and, those stops were made more ‘interesting’ by a sticky mid-gear, making starting ‘challenging’. By the time she made it to Howth she was over two hours late. This was a good thing, because the traffic in the area was horrific. Since Howth is both picturesque and close to Dublin City, half the city seems to want to get there any time we get some good weather, and, the weather on the 25th of March was spectacularly good!

I set myself up in Sutton Station, about half way along the short Howth Branch. This is a former Great Norther Railway of Ireland (GNRi) station, and it still retains it’s beautiful original platform canopy.

From the platform in Sutton I was able to capture most of the action near the end of the rail tour. No.461 first passed with the special, followed shortly there after by Irish Rail 201 class diesel loco No.217 running light engine. No.217 relieved No.461 in Howth, taking charge of the Rail Tour for the short final leg back to Connolly Station in Dublin. Finally, No.461 followed the special back to Connolly light engine. I was able to capture all four movements.

You can see all my shots from the day on Flickr where I’ve collected them into a set.

As well as shooting Stills with my trusty Nikon D40, I also shot some video on my new Nikon D5100. I’ve edited the video and some of the stills together into a movie of the weekend’s events which I’ve uploaded to my YouTube Channel. I’ve embedded the video below for convenience:

Having missed the 2011 Santa Specials because of technical issues, recently overhauled ex-DSER (Dublin South Eastern Railway) loco No.461 was suppose to make it’s return to Dublin for these shuttles after a 10 year absence, but, alas, it wasn’t to be. The weekend before the specials she encountered some more technical difficulties on her way from RPSI headquarters in Whitehead near Belfast down to Dublin. No.461 did eventually make it out to Maynooth the next day on an empty driver training run, though even that was not an unmitigated success because she was supposed to run all the way to Enfied, but only made it to Maynooth! Still, by early April she was finally ready, and she worked the Spare Link rail tour over two days (pictures and video coming soon).

With No.461′s on-going problems, RPSI stalwart loco No.186 stood in for her on the Maynooth Shuttles. Through no fault of No.186 the morning shuttle was over an hour late. Apparently someone had carelessly parked a track maintenance vehicle in front of the turntable in Dublin-Connolly station, so No.186 had to run the whole way around (and partially under) Dublin city to get to the nearest alternative turntable in Dublin-Heuston on the south-side of the city.

Still – it was a good day in all, with some lovely sunny periods between some very heavy showers!

You can see all my shots from the day on Flickr where I’ve collected them into a set.

As well as shooting Stills with my trusty Nikon D40, I also shot some video on my new Nikon D5100 (and my iPhone 4 when the D5100′s battery died). I’ve edited the video and some of the stills together into a movie of the day’s events which I’ve uploaded to my YouTube Channel. I’ve embedded the video below for convenience:

2011 was not a normal year though. The venerable steam locomotive No.4′s boiler certificate had expired in the summer, before work was finished on former DESR loco No.461 which was due to replace it. It was hoped that No.461 would be ready to work the Santa Specials from Dublin by December, but it wasn’t to be, she failed to perform on her trials, and had to go back to Whitehead for more work. She’s in service now, but her debut was not until March 2012. This meant that, for a change, the Dublin Santa Specials would be worked by Irish Rail diesel locomotives.

I’m sure the lack of steam was a great disappointment for the children, but, for rail fans it was a real treat. There are no scheduled locomotive powered trains on the line between Dublin and Maynooth any more, so 12 scheduled locomotive hauled services was a real treat!

On the first two weekends the trains were hauled by 071 class locomotives, No.080 on the first weekend, and 083 on the second. These were once a common sight on the line, having worked the InterCity services between Dublin and Sligo via Maynooth until the modern Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) replaced them. Back then they were still painted in Irish Rail’s old orange and black InterCity livery, but on their return last December they were painted in the new black and silver Irish Rail freight livery.

On the last weekend the trains were hauled by 201 class loco No.215 in the new Green and Silver Irish Rail InterCity Livery. These locomotives have never been a common sight on the Sligo line. Before the line was renovated they were too heavy to run on it, and since the line has been renovated the new DMUs have worked the InterCity services. To be best of my knowledge this is only the second time that a 201 class locomotive has been to Maynooth. The first being on the 13th of December 2009 when steam train No.4 broken down and NIR loco No.8208 in Enterprise livery had to step and and work the day’s Santa Specials between Dublin and Maynooth.

The first day the specials ran was the third of December. The weather was really not great, so I only ventured out to capture one of the two trains that day (the later one). My favourite shot from the day is the one below, taken in Maynooth station when the train was waiting to depart.

On the second day the weather was even worse, so I didn’t get any shots at all.

The third day was the 10th of December, and although it was dry, it was a very dull day with very poor light. My favourite shot from that day was also taken in Maynooth station, this time showing the locomotive in the process of running around it’s train.

The next day, after a very wet start, the weather finally broke, and I was able to get my first few shots in nice light. My favourite shot by far from the day was taken as the train was on the return leg of the last special of the day. The sun had just broken through the clouds and was low in the sky giving amazing light, and I found a vantage point that let me shoot the train as it rounded the series of turns between Blakestown level crossing and Matt Goff Bridge in Leixlip.

The first day of the final weekend of the specials (17 December) was the only day where the weather was truly glorious from morning till evening. It was such a pleasure to be able to shoot in soft winter sunshine with beautiful blue skies over head. The shot below is my favourite from the day, showing off both the nice light and that lovely blue sky.

The weather on the last day was poor again, but, with a lot of good shots safely in the bag, I used the last day to experiment with some more unusual compositions and locations. As with all experiments, the success rate was not 100%, but, I do quite like the shot below, showing the special passing under Pike Bridge along the banks of the Royal Canal as it approached Maynooth.

You can see all my shots from the five days on Flickr where I’ve collected them into a set.

As well as shooting Stills with my trusty Nikon D40, I also shot some video on my iPhone 4. I used this footage, combined with the stills, as the raw materials for my first editing project with Apple’s relatively new Final cut Pro X. I’ve uploaded the videos to my YouTube Channel, and combined them into a playlist which I’ve embedded below.

It’s been a funny year for me, having struggled all year with health issues, but I still managed to keep taking photos, even if I did it less often, and even if my Photo of the Week segment on this blog fell into dereliction. Most of my photography this year was done while out on my doctor-mandated exercise routine, so more then normal, my shots all gravitate around the Royal Canal, and later in the year, also Carton Estate (after I discovered the great trails the estate has to offer). There were also strangely few shots taken in St. Patrick’s College, which was once one of my favourite muses.

In some ways it was a very evolutionary year for me, rather than a revolutionary one, I focused mostly on my on-going projects, trains, nature macros, and the Royal Canal, and didn’t really start any new projects. I also spent time re-visiting my experiments with long exposure shots, and also paid a lot of renewed attention to including the Moon in my shots, particularly in the second half of the year. I guess the most dramatic changes are that I’ve updated my HDR workflow in such a way that I find I get better results in situations with mixed white balances, and I’ve definitely made more of an effort to re-visit interesting places when the light is good, rather than making do with OK light.When it comes to my ongoing trains project, the change this year has been that I’ve continued to shift away from focusing on the trains themselves, and instead explore the relationship between the railway to the landscape it cuts through. That sounds like splitting hairs, but it really isn’t. When you’re not photographing the trains, but the railway, you compose your shots very differently, and you’re much more inclined to play with things like motion blur.

To Illustrate these points I’ve chosen three of my favourite railway shots from 2011. The first shows the historic barge Rambler making her way up the Royal Canal as a train races past. The canal and the railway line are very interlinked in the Maynooth area. Physically, the railway line hugs the banks of the canal for mile after mile, but the link is even deeper, with the canal having been bought by the railway company when they were building their line. The original plan was to drain the canal and run the tracks along it’s bed, but instead the Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) decided to have their cake and eat it, and to lay their tracks along the banks of the canal, while still running the canal as a going concern. The historic barge is original to the canal, and the railway line is still in operation. The composition was planned, but it was pure luck that the guy in the boat was good enough to stand in the perfect position, and obligingly look at the train!

on Flickr – Full-Size

As well as the canal and railway being closely intertwined, both are also very important to the local community. You’re never alone along the banks of the canal, there’s always someone out walking their dog, or jogging, or fishing, or something. The second shot I’ve chosen captures that aspect of the canal and the railway line, as well as serving as an example of making the most of good light, and my improved HDR technique. It shows a train passing under Louisa Bridge while a jogger makes his way in the opposite direction along the towpath.

on Flickr – Full-Size

The final railway shot I’ve chosen is the one that took the most work and planning. I had the idea for the shot a few weeks before it became possible, and it took me quite a few attempts before the weather, the Moon, and the train timetable all aligned with each other to let me have a go. The shot shows us a train racing past the peaceful rural scene at Pike Bridge, with the Moon reflected in the water of the Royal Canal, as the sky turns a wonderful salmon colour due to the sun setting behind the camera.

on Flickr – Full-Size

Moving on to my nature macro project, I’ve also chosen three shots, in this case the change from last year is not the approach, but just the extra skill an extra year’s practice brings, as well as the results of a lot of patience. The first shot I’ve chosen is one I’ve wanted to get for a long time, a perfectly posed pair of male and female Common Blue butterflies (Polyommatus icarus). It’s a complete cliché to see these lovely butterflies sitting on a solitary stalk of grass, but that’s no reason not to want to get that shot for yourself!

on Flickr – Full-Size

One of the ways I’ve tried to improve my macro shots is to play around with angles and DOF a little more, and the big bulging eyes of Damselflies are great for that. My second chosen macros shot is of a Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) resting on a stalk of grass.

on Flickr – Full-Size

Finally, I’ve been very conscious of the backgrounds of my macro shots this year, and where ever possible, I’ve been using the dark waters of the Royal Canal to give a really striking black background for my flower shots. This is probably the one that’s come out best, showing a fine example of a Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) flower.

on Flickr – Full-Size

I mentioned that my new muse for the year was the beautiful Carton Estate near Maynooth. Previously I’d only known about the well known landmarks in Carton like the house itself and the lovely boathouse, but this year I discovered that there are public trails though the grounds, which afford some simply stunning views of the estate!

In the entire estate, there is one viewing point that captures my heart the most, it’s the view from the top of the hill in front of the house itself. This is the last piece of high ground before the plains of Co. Kildare open out, and the view to the west is just stunning. You have a view down sweeping lawns to the house itself (the lawns are now infested with golf holes, but oh well), and a big flat horizon, only broken by the steeple of the College Chapel in Maynooth, and because you are looking in a westerly direction, you get the most amazing views at sunset and dusk! I found it really hard to pick one favourite shot of this amazing view, in the end I settled for one taken deep into dusk, showing the house lit up in the distance, and stunning colour in the sky. This is another example of my evolving HDR technique. This one does need to be seen large, so click that link under the image!

on Flickr – Full-Size

I’m going to return to Carton for my absolute favourite shot of the year, but for now I’m going to move on. I’ve already mentioned that in other years St. Patrick’s College Maynooth (SPCM) had been one of my favourite muses, but that this year I shot very little there, well, I didn’t shoot nothing there, and I do have one shot I’d really like to include in this look back at my favourites of 2011. This also ties in to my renewed interest in including the Moon in shots, and to my new-found respect and admiration for good light. The shot shows the Moon next to the College Chapel, which is bathed in the most wonderfully soft warm evening light.

on Flickr – Full-Size

Finally, my very favourite shot of the year follows on from the same themes of including the Moon, and making the most of great light, and brings those elements back to Carton Estate. My absolute favourite shot of the year shows the Moon hanging over the idilic bridge across the river Ryewater in Carton Estate, while the whole scene is bathed in beautiful evening light, and just for good measure, the Moon is also reflected in the water. Again, this one really benefits from being seen large!

on Flickr – Full-Size

I’ve just ordered a new camera, which I’m sure will impact my shooting to some extent in 2012. I’ve really enjoyed shooting with the Nikon D40 for the last few years, but a few things about it were starting to annoy me, the noise at anything over 200 ISO in low light, the lack of auto bracketing, the small 6MP resolution, and the paltry three autofocus points among other things! I’m not sure how my new Nikon D5100 will change how I shoot, but it will be fun finding out

on Flickr – Full-Size

• Camera: Nikon D40
• Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
• Exposure: 1/640 sec
• Focal Length: 135mm
• Focal Ratio: f/8
• ISO: 400
• Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
• Exposure Bias: -1.0ev

The first is a very low-key naturalistic HDR showing two boats moored above the 14th lock on the Royal Canal at Jackson’s Bridge near Maynooth as a spring sun sets. This HDR was generated from four brackets.

on Flickr – Full-Size

• Camera: Nikon D40
• Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
• Exposure:
  • Bracket 1: 1/100
  • Bracket 2: 1/200
  • Bracket 3: 1/400
  • Bracket 4: 1/800
• Focal Length: 22mm
• Focal Ratio: f/11
• ISO: 400
• Camera Mode: Full Manual
• Processing: created by combining four RAW images into a single tonemap in Photomatix Pro, then running that tonemap through Topaz Adjust before importing into Aperture 3 for a few final tweaks

The second shot I’ve chosen was processed to capture the feeling and atmosphere of the scene, rather than to capture it exactly as it looked to the eye. This is a much more extravagant HDR, and perhaps a little hyper-real. It was the absolute sea of Dandelion seed heads and the reflection of the setting sun in the water that caught my eye and inspired me to stop and set up my the tripod for a full HDR. This beautiful stretch of the canal is located between Maynooth village and Jackson’s Bridge, and the wall running along the canal here is the boundary wall for St. Patrick’s College (SPCM). This shot was also generated from 4 brackets.

on Flickr – Full-Size

• Camera: Nikon D40
• Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
• Exposure:
  • Bracket 1: 1/50
  • Bracket 2: 1/100
  • Bracket 3: 1/200
  • Bracket 4: 1/400
• Focal Length: 42mm
• Focal Ratio: f/8
• ISO: 200
• Camera Mode: Full Manual
• Processing: created by combining four RAW images into a single tonemap in Photomatix Pro, then running that tonemap through Topaz Adjust before importing into Aperture 3 for a few final tweaks

The first shot I’ve chosen is the best shot I’ve managed to get (so far) of the Ringlet Butterfly (Aphantopus hyperantus). Although this butterfly is listed in books as quite common, I’ve not come across many of them around Maynooth, and those few I have come across have been very restless and easily frightened, so they proved difficult to photograph. After much persistence I did manage to get this shot though, which I’m rather happy with.

on Flickr – Full-Size

• Camera: Nikon D40
• Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
• Exposure: 1/320 sec
• Focal Length: 200mm
• Focal Ratio: f/5.6
• ISO: 200
• Camera Mode: Full Manual
• Processing: Apart from the usual basic tweaks in Aperture this shot was also tweaked a little using Aperture’s Dodge & Burn plugin.

The second shot is of one of my favourite butterflies, the beautiful Common Blue Butterfly (Polyommatus icarus). These guys are the complete inverse of the Ringlet Butterfly. They are not at all easily frightened and will happily sit there and let you shoot away for ages. They also love basking in the late afternoon sun, which is the absolute perfect light for photography. I don’t know of any other species in Ireland that’s as friendly to photographers as the Common Blue.

on Flickr – Full-Size

• Camera: Nikon D40
• Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
• Exposure: 1/1000 sec
• Focal Length: 200mm
• Focal Ratio: f/5.6
• ISO: 400
• Camera Mode: Aperture Priority

This first shot was taken on a beautiful summer evening and shows No.22043 rounding a corner at about 80mph as it approaches Maynooth with an InterCity service from Sligo to Dublin. The unit was quite new when this shot was taken, but already one of the covers for its couplers was missing.

on Flickr – Full-Size

• Camera: Nikon D40
• Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
• Exposure: 1/640 sec
• Focal Length: 165mm
• Focal Ratio: f/5.3
• ISO: 400
• Camera Mode: Full Manual
• Processing: tonemapped lightly with Topaz Adjust, then tweaked a little using the built-in Dodge & Burn plugin in Aperture 2

The second shot is a more recent one, taken on a lovely spring evening this February, and shows the same trainset, this time approaching Pike Bridge with an InterCity service from Dublin to Sligo.

on Flickr – Full-Size

• Camera: Nikon D40
• Lens: Sigma EX 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM
• Exposure: 1/200 sec
• Focal Length: 30mm
• Focal Ratio: f/3.5
• ISO: 200
• Camera Mode: Full Manual
• Processing: created by tonemapping a single RAW image with Photomatix Pro, tweaking the result with the Topaz Adjust 4 plugin, and finally making a few small adjustments in Aperture 3

The shot was taken on a fantastic summer day over-looking a field of Rape-seed flowers with an ancient ring fort in the left mid-ground, and the ruins of Rathcoffey Castle on the horizon.

The colour version was generated by tonemapping a single RAW image with Photomatix and Topaz Adjust, while the monocrhome version takes the colour version as it’s starting point before using the channel mixer in Aperture to convert it to a nice contrasty black and white shot.

on Flickr – Full-Size

• Camera: Nikon D40
• Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
• Exposure: 1/800 sec
• Focal Length: 18mm
• Focal Ratio: f/8
• ISO: 200
• Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
• Processing: created by tonemapping a single RAW image with Photomatix Pro, tweaking the result with the Topaz Adjust 4 plugin, and finally making a few small fixes with Aperture’s built-in Dodge & Burn plugin

on Flickr – Full-Size

• Camera: Nikon D40
• Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
• Exposure: 1/800 sec
• Focal Length: 18mm
• Focal Ratio: f/8
• ISO: 200
• Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
• Processing: created by tonemapping a single RAW image with Photomatix Pro, tweaking the result with the Topaz Adjust 4 plugin, and finally making a few small fixes with Aperture’s built-in Dodge & Burn plugin before using Aperture’s Channel Mixer brick to convert the image to monochrome