Kilkenny

The well known town of Kilkenny was first served by rail when the Great Southern & Western Railway extended their then Waterford line south from Carlow in the early 1850s. The line terminated at Kilkenny, and when it was extended south to Waterford trains had to run around at the station. In 1878 however, a line was built northwards from the Kilkenny terminus to Portlaoise via Abbeyleix which dispensed with the run around of trains, this providing Dublin to Waterford trains an alternative route to that via Carlow. The Portlaoise line however was closed in December 1962, and Kilkenny is once again a partial terminus.

The original station building and train shed at Kilkenny are now redundant, with the main building now utilising the former goods shed and yard. To avoid the run around, a direct curve was built at Lavistown in 1995 to allow frequent Bell Liner freight trains to avoid Kilkenny Station. Today, the direct curve is only used by NFDS container and timber trains.
This was a ritual performed for many years by the Dublin-Waterford trains; the running around at the terminus station in Kilkenny, which 071 Class loco No.086 is seen doing here in early 2002. No.086 is now seen at the head of its Waterford to Dublin train at the south end of Kilkenny Station prior to departure. The Waterford trains are nowadays formed of the 22000 Class diesels railcars. 141/181 Class locomotives Nos.190+152 stand at Kilkenny Station having run around the Mk2 stock which formed the Irish Traction Group's 'Docklands Pioneer' special to Waterford. 201 Class loco No.217 gets a clear aspect (the white lights) from the shunt signal at the north end of Kilkenny Station while running around a Waterford bound train.
This is the 1980s Mk3 coaching stock, built by British Rail Engineering Ltd in Derby. These coaches have since been replaced by the 22000 Class railcar units. This is the former train shed located at the north end of Kilkenny, where this part of the station is no longer used. With the closure of the line north to Portlaoise in 1963, Kilkenny was effectively made a dead end terminus. Loco No.217 backs onto the 11:30 Dublin to Waterford service at the south end of Kilkenny Station. The tail lamps will soon be fitted to the rear of the Mk3 coaching stock. To the right of the 217 is Kilkenny signal cabin, which dates station's rebuilding and resignalling programe of the mid 1970s. The cabin at this time had been made redundant.
217 is seen again at Kilkenny, viewed from the station footbridge as it runs around the 15:00 Waterford to Dublin service. In the background are the original station buildings dating from 1848. Kilkenny Station, looking south towards Waterford/Dublin. The former goods shed on the right is now the station building, following the closure of the main building in the 1970s.