DART

MALLIN RAILWAY STATION

October 12, 2023 by infomatique

LOCALLY KNOWN AS DUN LAOGHAIRE STATION

I worked in Dun Laoghaire for a total of about fifteen years and was, for much of my time there, unaware that the railway station was named Mallin Station. I cannot remember exactly the event but as far as I can remember an American tourist asked me for directions to Mallin Station so I suggest that it was best to visit Dun Laoghaire station and ask at the ticket desk.

Also called Kingstown Harbour the station was renamed Kingstown in 1861, and renamed Dún Laoghaire in 1921. It was given the additional name “Mallin” on 10 April 1966, 50 years after the Easter Rising, when Córas Iompair Éireann renamed 15 major stations after Republican leaders. It is named in honour of Michael Mallin, a leader in the 1916 Easter Rising. although it is usually referred to simply as Dún Laoghaire.

COMPRESSED VIEWS OF TARA STREET TRAIN STATION

August 19, 2023 by infomatique

I USED THE EQUIVALENT OF A 130MM LENS

The station was really busy because of the rugby match at Lansdowne Road. Five-try Ireland comfortably beat England 29-10 in a World Cup warm-up at the Aviva Stadium.

The station has two through platforms above street level with ticket areas and retail outlets at street level. The platform retaining walls, the stairwells and canopies were originally timber planking but upgraded to include escalators and fibreglass panels in the 1970s and 1980s.

More recent changes have seen new stairwells installed and platforms lengthened to reflect the increasing throughput. There are proposals to build in the airspace above the station and adjacent property has been acquired for this purpose.

The station opened on 1 May 1891.

It is on the ‘Loop Line’ which was constructed towards the end of the 19th century by the City of Dublin Junction Railway, connecting the Dublin & Kingstown terminus at Westland Row (now Pearse Station) and Amiens St (now Connolly Station) on the Great Northern Railway (Ireland), and linked into the Midland Great Western freight line, thus joining up all the main railways in Dublin.

The completion of the Irish Rail City Centre re-signalling project has seen an:

Increase in the number of Northern and Maynooth line suburban trains stopping at Tara street.
Trains from Newbridge also serving Tara Street station.This has been made possible by increasing the ability of the signalling system in the city centre to operate 20 trains per hour in both directions instead of 8.

The project began in March 2015 and was commissioned on 17 July 2016.

The future plans for Tara Street Station in Dublin include the construction of a 22-storey mixed-use development adjoining the station. The development, which has been approved by An Bord Pleanála, will include a 200-bedroom hotel, 430,000 square feet of office space, and a rooftop bar. The development is expected to be completed in 2025.

The development is part of a wider regeneration of the Tara Street area, which is also home to the new Metro station. The Metro is a planned underground rapid transit system that will connect the city centre with the suburbs. The Tara Street station will be a major interchange station for the Metro.

The redevelopment of Tara Street Station is expected to improve the connectivity and accessibility of the area, and to boost economic activity. The development is also expected to create jobs and to generate revenue for the city.

I used an 85mm lens on a Sony FX30 body which is equivalent to using a 130mm telephoto lens.

A telephoto lens is a type of camera lens that is designed to magnify distant objects. It does this by having a longer focal length than a standard lens. The focal length of a lens is the distance between the optical centre of the lens and the point where the light rays converge to form a sharp image. A telephoto lens typically has a focal length of 70mm or longer.

The benefits of using a telephoto lens include:

The ability to magnify distant objects, making them appear closer. This is useful for wildlife photography, sports photography, and other situations where you want to get close to the action without actually being there.
The ability to compress the background, which can make the subject appear larger and more dominant in the frame. This is a popular technique in portrait photography.
The ability to create a shallow depth of field, which blurs the background and makes the subject stand out. This is also a popular technique in portrait photography.
Telephoto lenses are not without their drawbacks. They are typically larger and heavier than standard lenses, and they can be more difficult to use. They also tend to be more expensive.

LONGFORD TERRACE AND CLOSE BY

July 4, 2023 by infomatique

SALTHILL AND MONKSTOWN TRAIN STATION

I got off the train at Salthill-Monkstown Station with the intention of walking to Dalkey but I ended up exploring the Glenageary area instead.

Longford Terrace, Monkstown is a set of 28 houses in two terraced blocks of Victorian buildings all of which face the sea and the railway track. There is a linear park between the houses and the railway and I think that it is known as Seapoint Park.

Salthill and Monkstown railway station serves the areas of Salthill (on the coast) and Monkstown (just inland) in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland.

It is situated between Seapoint and Dún Laoghaire DART stations. The station has a car park, ticket office, automated ticket and vending machines. The ticket office is open between 05:45-00:15 AM, Monday to Sunday. The original Salthill station opened in May 1837. It was built by the Dublin and Kingstown Railway. It closed in 1960 and was electrified and reopened in 1984 with the arrival of DART services.

BOOTERSTOWN MARSH AND TRAIN STATION

May 28, 2023 by infomatique

I USED A SIGMA DP3 QUATTRO

PHOTOBLOG DEDICATED TO SIGMA CAMERAS

Today I got the DART [Dublin Area Rapid Transit] to Booterstown and I then walked to Blackrock. The trains were packed and there were many visitors from the UK because it is a major holiday in the UK. I had intended to get a train from Blackrock to Dun Laoghaire but changed my mind as the last of my four batteries was at 20% [this is one of the major problems with the Sigma DP3 Quattro].

The area is home to Booterstown marsh, a bird sanctuary which has been leased for many years by An Taisce, who have worked to protect it. Species seen regularly include mallard, Eurasian teal, common moorhen, water rail, grey heron, little egret, common redshank, greenshank, Eurasian curlew, common snipe, Eurasian oystercatcher, bar-tailed godwit, common kingfisher, sedge warbler and dunlin.

The Catholic Church of the Assumption is a focal point of the area along Booterstown Avenue.

Booterstown has a dedicated Circus Field located along the Rock Road, where both Tom Duffy’s Circus (June/July) and Fossett’s Circus (October) are set up once a year.

The Old Punch Bowl pub, which stands at the bottom of Booterstown Avenue, was established in 1779.

Merrion Cemetery is an old cemetery that was used from the 13th century to 1866 and is located at Bellevue between Booterstown and Merrion off the Rock Road.

Booterstown was recorded in 1488 as one of the locations for the boundary of The Pale … “He’s out there … totally beyond the Pale of any acceptable human conduct.” That’s how the U.S. Army describes Marlon Brando’s rogue colonel, Kurtz, in the movie Apocalypse Now.