Categories
General

Lightly used railways

As part of the mass hysteria around COVID19, a number of lightly used railways in Ireland (e.g. the Ballybrophy to Limerick Line) have been closed “temporarily” (one wonders how temporary these closures will be – CIE has never been one to waste a crisis to close railway lines).

As an alternative method of transport on these lines going forward, I give you this idea from Romania.

Categories
General

Copper recovery

This is not quite IH, but close enough to merit a mention.

As I am recovering old electrical wires whilst gradually doing up my (1950s) house, I wondered how is the copper recovered from these wires (and those inside WEEE separated electrical equipment).

I searched on Youtube (the home of just about anything!) and, among others, found this video, where an individual recovers the copper from old wire as a one man project, making ingots out of same.

I’m not sure of the economics of it, but judging by his collection (at the end of the video), it is an interesting way to pass the time and retain some metals at the end of it.

Categories
Overseas

It is not COVID19, it is…..

a coup, or something else, or so one engineer (train driver) in the US thought.

To react to this “coup”, he ran his locomotive off the end of the line in some sort of attempt to attack the USNS Mercy in the Port of Los Angeles.

Categories
General

We have a dissenter!

But he is not in Ireland, before the mob forms.

The Guardian reports that a former Supreme Court judge in the UK has criticised the actions of Derbyshire police in using drones to enforce social distancing and has also gone so far as to describe placing the nation under effective house arrest as hysteria, stating:

“Yes, this is serious, and, yes, it’s understandable that people cry out to the government, but the real question is, is this serious enough to warrant putting most of our population into house imprisonment, wrecking our economy for an indefinite period, destroying businesses that honest and hardworking people have taken years to build up, saddling future generations with debt?”

Categories
Overseas

The horizontal elevator

No, I haven’t lost it, nor has Willy Wonka materialised in real life (although given the strange environment we are in currently, all bets are off!).

If, at some point in the future, our overlords deign to allow us out of our prisons, sorry, houses, and to travel overseas again, there is, in Genoa, Italy, an innovative combination of railway and lift in use for passengers, details of which can be found here.

The concept is not exactly rocket science – mine shafts would have used a similar concept to load coal/ore in railway wagons into a lift with rails therein, hoisted them to surface and run the wagons off onto another railway.

Categories
Locations

Youghal lighthouse keeper’s cottage

The Irish Examiner has an article on the restoration of a lighthouse keepers cottage adjacent to the lighthouse at Youghal, Co. Cork.

Categories
Events

Guinness Roll of Honour

The Western Front Association are holding an event in the Dublin City library on Pearse Street, Dublin 2, on 4th April 2020 from 14:00 – 17:00.

The presentation looks at a number of Guinness employees who served in WW1, returning to employment in Guinness after the war. Further details can be found here.

Categories
History Locations

Dinish Island, Co. Cork

Another article in the Irish Examiner’s series on the islands of Ireland – this one covers Dinish Island in Co. Cork, which was developed as a centre for fish processing.

Categories
History

Commissioners of Irish Lights looking for decorators

Many decades ago, the playwright Brendan Behan was employed by the Commissioners of Irish Lights – the all Ireland body responsible for lighthouses – as a painter. This was a role he didn’t appear to be good at – the keeper of St. John’s Point lighthouse in Co. Down writing to Head Office to complain about Behan’s work ethic (or lack of!).

Many years ago, the IHAI visited the lighthouse museum at the Bailey lighthouse on Howth Head and the original letter is on display there.

Behan is long dead (1964) so he is unavailable to respond to the Commissioners’ tender request for lighthouse painting services.