30/12/18 - The Christmas Choo Choo

I fell in love with the goods trains that used to visit Ardee station from a very early age and was a regular visitor to the station to observe the comings and goings. The passenger service had been discontinued in 1934.

I was just reaching my teenage years, by which time I was able to ramble down to the railway station on my own, in the mid 70's but unfortunately the train service was discontinued in 1975. I have great memories of travelling on some of the special excursions to Dublin that were ran before the station and line closed down.

So it's no surprise that I still have that fondness for the steam trains that are ran by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland and I was out photographing the recent Mince Pie Special that ran on 30th December. No 85 (Merlin) towed the carriages on the morning trip from Belfast to Dublin whilst it was No 4 who had the honour of towing them on the return trip.

27/12/18 - Tullyallen Tractor Run

I took a spin up to Tullyallen this morning to get some photos of the Tractor run that is held each year.
It's in aid of NECRET , the North East Cancer Research & Education Trust.
Last year they had over 250 vehicles in attendance and I'd safely say that this year's number will exceed that. They donated over €22,000 to local charities and causes after last year's event.

Road Racing Heroes - Joey Dunlop

I was thinking about adding a post with some of my road racing photos on it and was wondering where to start. In reality, there is only one place to start and that is with the undisputed king of road racing, Joey Dunlop. I remember seeing him race when we started going to Skerries in the early 80s and he was definitely the one who was talked about for days and weeks afterwards.

My favourite photo of Joey was taken on the morning of the Skerries Road Races in 1989, I think it was shortly after he got the works Honda ride for the F1 championship. I was taking a few shots of the bikes and didn't recognise him as he walked over. I asked if he'd pose for a photo and got a typical Joey response "Ach surely, but hurry up. I don't want my friends to see me dressed like this!". It must have been a condition of his contract with Honda that he had to be 'presentable' for any media briefings. He said he was just back from doing a couple of interviews. 
It was the first shot that I ever took of him and has turned out to be the most enduring.









Click on the Fallen Heroes link at the top of the blog if you would like to see some of the other tribute posts that I've posted.