East Coaster Railcruise – Gone West!
It was with some shock that our friends in the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland learned a few days ago that the railtour planned for Saturday 9 September will not be able to proceed as planned.
Unfortunately, essential engineering work means that the line will be closed between Bray and Wicklow all weekend. Iarnrod Eireann have apologised for this oversight – the railtour plan was predicated on the line not requiring to close until Saturday evening, but the engineering work must begin on the Friday evening.
Iarnrod Eireann have therefore offered an alternative destination – Sligo.
The railtour will operate as intended between Whitehead and Dublin in either direction, but with an expected earlier departure from Dublin Connolly as follows:-
| Whitehead Excursion | 07:30 |
| Carrickfergus | 07:47 |
| Belfast Central | 08:27 |
| Lisburn | 08:42 |
| Portadown | 09:06 |
| Drogheda | 10:10 |
| Dublin Connolly | 11:30 |
The train is expected to return to Belfast Central for 22:15 as planned.
Plans for the journey to Sligo are being finalised as we write, but they are expected to include several photostops and almost an hour in Sligo.
We realise this will disappoint many members, especially anyone who travelled on the IRRS/RPSI railtour a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, the only passenger guards passed for lines out of Heuston are reserved for Belmond operations due to the long hours involved, and to reschedule to a different day would cause severe inconvenience to those who have already arranged flights and accommodation.
Anyone no longer wishing to travel should contact Belfast Welcome Centre. Card payments can be refunded to your card, otherwise it will also be necessary to contact RPSI to request a refund via BACS transfer.
Membership 2017-18
A membership form for 2017-18 is available here. Membership rates remain at £10 (£5 concession) but members are asked to note that due to increasing bank fees, we can no longer accept payment in Euros.
2017/18 Programme
Full details of the programme will be made available on the day of the railtour, but this is the outline programme for 2017/18:
Wednesday 20 September (reconvened AGM) – Erwin Tisch and David Carson
Wednesday 18 October – Chris Playfair
Wednesday 15 November – Edwin McMillan
Wednesday 17 January – Michael McMahon
Wednesday 21 February – John McKegney
Wednesday 21 March – Sam Somerville
Wednesday 18 April (AGM) – Matthew Wilson
All meetings will be held at 7.15pm in Ashfield Girls’ High School, Holywood Road, BELFAST. The October and November meetings will be held in a classroom, and the remaining meetings will be held in the usual venue of the Drama Studio.
Annual General Meeting
The 2017 Annual General Meeting will be reconvened on Wednesday 20 September at 7.15pm.
All minutes and reports will be taken as read, but matters arising will be accepted in the normal way.
In the spirit of the Constitution, notices of motion will be accepted up to and including Thursday 31 August, and nominations for the post of Treasurer and the three Committee posts will be accepted up to Sunday 17 September.
Full papers and agenda will be issued to all members after the railtour.
