I have been trying to get some XC skiing in this season.  This season had been set to a slow start.  We did not have sufficient snows in December.  I was bicycling in Vermont during December.  Now, we had some snow in Janaury.  The Open Slope @ Barlett Mountain in Windblown did not have much snow.  The temperatures were not right.  There was a mixture of ice and packed powder.  There was more glide and a better base towards the Valley Trail.

The Barlett Backbone looks like a great trail.  I still have not tried going down the trail.  I went up the east side climb on one occasion.  The Zig Zag is always fun to take down the mountain.

N1EY

 

Whiteshead, Co. Antrim is situated to the north of Belfast.   It is a town set by the bay.   Running along the waterfront is the railroad.  The railroad used to go considerably further to the northwest, than it does now.  The railway still provides service from Whiteshead to Belfast.  Adjacent to the mainline is a large set of shops where almost all of the Irish Steam preservation efforts continue.

Commuter train (northbound)

The town is a fairly bucolic.  To the left of the train in the above picture is the bay and one of the local yacht clubs.  On the other side of the bay is where County Down starts.  Here, we are located in the southern part of County Antrim.  County Antrim runs from Belfast at the southern point to the northern coastline.  The Giant’s Causeway lies within County Antrim, as well.  Many of the railways which were laid near the coast in Co Antrim are now inactive.

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I have my new classic skis.  I went for the manual bindings.  These have a lever to lock down the boot after you have inserted your feet.  I had several problems with the automatic bindings.  In general the automatic bindings require you to be standing in order to release the bindings.  The manual do not have this requirement.  The automatic bindings do not necessarily hold.  The manual bindings do not suffer as acutely from ice build-up.  An accumulation of ice in an automatic binding will most likely prevent entry, if you do not clear it.  Always carry WD-40!  In the past WD-40 has helped me as it worked rather well to clear the bindings.

N1EY

 

Iarnroad Eirann has slowly transformed itself.  Many of its’ right of ways are now fully signaled.  Branchlines which had been closed for decades have been reopened.  Somethings are puzzling.  Awhile ago IE actually closed the Waterford to Rosslare line; this essentially requires a Cork to Dublin trip in order to travel from Cork to Rosslare.

Still, there are some beautiful spots along the railways.

For the most part the Irish railways operate the newer diesel multiple units(DMU) instead of the traditional locomotive hauled carriages.  Formerly the capacity for each line was provided by a train which could have 10 passengers.  Yet, the train only operated once a day.

There are several issues with the former operating scheme.

1) It decreased equipment utilization.  This actually increased each train trip’s cost.

2) It decreased network functioning as you could not ride to a junction point and switch to another train in a reasonable time.

3) It required more yard work.  This included turning of equipment.

4) A limited schedule defeated the accessibility of the railways to the average customer.  More operating times have encouraged people to make trips as they could leave at a reasonable hour in perspective of their own unique schedules.

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I am trying to use Endomondo on my android phone. The Pro version has a low power feature. This seems to severely reduce accuracy. The battery life does not seem to be significantly improved, either.
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We continue to wait for some serious snow accumulation in the northeast. The 2011-2012 season has little snowfall, so far. This is not good for the Nordic system. The resorts which operate Nordic schemes do not have snow generating capability.
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A lot of people showed for the Charles River Wheelmen’s first ride around Boston for the year.  The weather was nice.  We rolled from the Boston Common and visited all of the major spots in town.  This is one of the club’s first winter rides of the year.  It was well attended with over 50 participants.

N1EY

 

Above is the roadway heading into Fintown, Co. Donegal.    As you can see there is a bit of mountaineering to be conquered in the area.  The narrow gauge railway benefited from a good choice of right of way in several spots.

In Fintown, I had the good fortune of visiting an operating heritage railway in County Donegal.  This railway is located to the west of Derry.  Originally this was a mainline which carried mostly goods and people from county to Derry.  Derry was the commercial powerhouse which provided most of the trade to County Donegal.  Very little of the this railway actually remains.  It was orginally built as Irish standard gauge, but the consolidation of this short line with another short line in the county lead to it being converted to narrow gauge.  Narrow gauge would have necessitated transfer of goods from Irish Gauge laden cars to narrow gauge cars in Derry.  However, much of the goods had to be transloaded in Derry due to physical connection issues, regardless of gauge issues.  Some of the narrow gauge railway remains in Derry as part of a sister museum located in the Queen’s Country.

This railway segment is situated in the Republic.  It is in the town called Fintown.  The railway lies adjacent to large lake.   The railway was originally incorporated as the Finn Valley Railway. The lake has an interesting set of features including large relative length in comparison to its’ breath.  The museum has maintained a website a http://www.antraen.com/about.php.  The railway did not run through Letterkenny, but another narrow gauge line emanating from Derry, did.  The other main line meandered around Donegal for a bit.  This other line did not become consolidated with the other line into one railway system for Co. Donegal.  Eventually the consolidation was nationalized.  Railways through the northern part of Ireland crosses international boundaries, which made them unique in a sense; the railroads were nationalized by two sovereign powers.

The terminus of the line through Fintown was in Glenties.  This was not near the water.  There was little need to connect with any shipping in Donegal.  All of the processed goods were shipped to Co. Donegal via transloading in Derry.

When I arrived at the museum I discovered that the officers of the museum from Derry had actually arrived at the museum.  They had come to inspect their car which is in the picture as seen above.  The officers of the Fintown organization had also made themselves present.

I was able to learn a lot about the Irish railways from these gentlemen.  It was one of a few places in which I met a large number of Irish railfans.

There is railway museum in Donegaltown.  This museum only has a static set of displays.  A branch connected to the line as mentioned above.  this line went to the south with a run to Killybegs.  Donegaltown was in the middle of this branch.  This line was originally incorporated as the West Donegal Railway.  It had always been a narrow gauge railway.  This line also had a branch which ran to Ballyshannon, which is the host of several excellent examples of Irish beaches.

N1EY

 

I have been taking some lessons at DanceSport Boston. The system as used by DSB has been effective. I have been making some improvement in my Waltz. I have made some incremental improvements. My box step has become more aligned with the technical outline.
Ballroom dancing does exercise the hip flexors and other muscle groups which do not receive much utilization in other activities. In general the dancing has been a good alternative workout routine to engage phasic muscle groups.
N1EY

 


Here is another nifty spot in the North.  I really liked Co. Antrim.  I stayed in Belfast and drove north to see the coastline.  At this point you are very close to Scotland.  IT is less than 15 miles away.  I could see it!  Look at the sand.  The sand is smooth and has a wonderful color.  Just look at the hillside!  This is the village at Cushendun.

N1EY

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