Showing posts with label Irish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Irish. Show all posts
Thursday, January 01, 2026
A Straker Squire Motor Lorry pictured at St. James's Gate, c1918. Likely, the 1st Guiness cargo truck, each barrel held 104 gallons
Interesting brushed hanging from the hub caps
Saturday, November 15, 2025
Dublin researchers came to the obvious conclusion that reducing cars and prioritizing pedestrians makes streets safer. (Yes, and ships are safer in port, but that's not what streets or ships are for (John A. Shedd - 1928) )
What morons have not figured out that streets - are for cars, not pedestrians, not cyclists, not baby strollers, not wheel chairs, or electric bikes, or skateboards?
Why does anyone fund any research to review the obvious?
Anyone who wants safety for anything other than cars, can simply create a new thing for those things to move on. Elevated train tracks did wonders for getting trains and cars/bicycles/pedestrians separated, and elevated sidewalks are perfect for getting cycles off the roads, so make more of those, and use them for skateboarders, pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchairs and baby strollers.
Problem solved. And I didn't need to waste money or get a damn university degree in research to figure out the obvious
Sunday, October 12, 2025
The Guinness brewery business in Dublin began to expand rapidly in the late 19th century, and included construction of a narrow gauge railway with steam locomotive engine and a standard side tipping wagon with flat bogie wagons
At a lower level more than 8000 casks could be moved in a day, serving a broad gauge link, the quay and washing plant. On the middle level trains ran between the malt store and the maltings.
At the upper and middle levels, trains removed used hops and spent grain to the disposal points, while on the upper level malt and hops were taken to the brewhouse. At one time narrow gauge trains also served the jetty, connecting it with the cask cleansing and racking plant.
The railway transported raw materials like malt and barley and the finished product in barrels around the expanded brewery site.
It was an eight-mile-long, narrow-gauge network. Initially steam-powered, steam locomotives were gradually replaced by diesel engines in the 1950s.
The railway was in use until 1975. Two of the original narrow-gauge engines are now on display at the Guinness Storehouse in the Transport exhibition.
The steadily increasing output from Guinness’s Dublin Brewery in the Victorian era had reached such proportions by the 1870’s that the movement of large quantities of heavy and bully raw materials and waste products within the brewery was proving a serious obstruction to any future projected expansion.
the standard tip wagon, built to carry grain, hops and other bulky goods about the brewery. It was built as large as possible within maximum limits of a width of five feet, overall length of eight feet, a height of six feet, and a three feet wheelbase.
These four wheeled vehicles had a maximum capacity of eighty cubic feet and a weight in working order of 4 ton. The wagon body, made of bin steel plate, rested on end frames, with rollers enabling the body to be tipped sideways when the load was to be discharged.
The Guinness Brewery in St James’s Gate, Dublin was founded by Arthur Guinness in 1759, one of dozens based on the pure water available from the River Liffey. Guinness outlasted and outgrew all its competitors to become one of the greatest brewing empires in the world.
During the nineteenth century the business benefited from an explosive growth of sales in Britain. Output reached 750,000 barrels in 1875 and 1.2 million barrels in 1886, by which time St James’s Gate was the largest brewery in the world.
The steadily increasing output from Guinness’s Dublin Brewery in the Victorian era had reached such proportions by the 1870’s that the movement of large quantities of heavy and bully raw materials and waste products within the brewery was proving a serious obstruction to any future projected expansion.
The existing methods (horse tramway, and horse and cart) were both slow and cumbersome and very inefficient.
With the acquisition of land between the existing brewery and the River Liffey, further expansion was able to tale place and some activities previously carried out in the old brewery were transferred there. Moreover, as this land was situated near the Kingsbridge terminus (Great Southern & Western Railway), a direct connection with the Irish railway network could be effected, with barges working to and from a quay on the Liffey.
The solution to the transport problem lay in the construction of a narrow gauge railway network serving the entire brewery.
The solution to the transport problem lay in the construction of a narrow gauge railway network serving the entire brewery.
Much of the basic system was laid between 1873 and 1877 under the supervision of Samuel Geoghegan who joined the brewery engineering staff in 1872 at the age of 28 and rose to the position of Head Engineer in 1875.
Mr Geoghegan set himself certain limits on the size of the narrow gauge lines and rolling stock. The track maximum gradient was to be not steeper than one in forty. A difference in levels of about 50ft existed between the old brewery and the newer land which sloped sharply down to the Liffey, the two areas being separated by James’s Street.
To connect the two halves of the works and overcome the difference in levels, Mr Geoghegan constructed a spiral tunnel in the old brewery and tool the narrow gauge line under James’s Street. The spiral section replaced a short-lived hydraulic lift, a clumsy and slow apparatus which could only manage to tale one wagon at a time, causing trains to be broken up and re-assembled on different levels. The single track spiral tunnel contained the line’s steepest gradient, 1 in 39, and, in 2.65 turns raised the line about 35ft, with a spiral radius of 61.25ft.
The narrow gauge track was largely laid in granite setts, for the benefit of road vehicles in the brewery yards, and this also applied to lines laid on the quay.
To connect the two halves of the works and overcome the difference in levels, Mr Geoghegan constructed a spiral tunnel in the old brewery and tool the narrow gauge line under James’s Street. The spiral section replaced a short-lived hydraulic lift, a clumsy and slow apparatus which could only manage to tale one wagon at a time, causing trains to be broken up and re-assembled on different levels. The single track spiral tunnel contained the line’s steepest gradient, 1 in 39, and, in 2.65 turns raised the line about 35ft, with a spiral radius of 61.25ft.
The narrow gauge track was largely laid in granite setts, for the benefit of road vehicles in the brewery yards, and this also applied to lines laid on the quay.
Friday, August 22, 2025
Stephen sent me a link to this cool radio, and the 53 Zodiac it's in... I've never seen one of these Ekco radios! This car was originally registered in Ireland, and that's a very rare country to get car info from! Thank you Stephen!
Really cool! In fact, I don't think I've seen a radio with a hinged front panel
Saturday, June 08, 2024
this year the Carlow Rally marks the 20th year since the Mk II Challenge, Ireland's ongoing version of the IROC, but on pot hole bumpy rally roads, with 50 Ford Escort Mk IIs competing
and a proper trophy!
See the full video at
but seriously, skip the first minute, then learn a bit about it, it was originally started as a low cost series using existing out of date cars, the top spec is now 2.5 litre, 9k RPM, 6 speed, limited ‘125% of max factory displacement’ engine size rule, 2wd.
Fully plumbed, this car tips the scales under 2,204lb, with a power-to-weight ratio on a par with the latest Porsche GT3 RS.
then get to 6:50 to see the start of the racing
Thank you Kim!
Monday, April 01, 2024
Liam Neeson ran a forklift after university, when he used to work at the Guinness bottling plant that used to operate in Ballymena.
Neeson said: "I loved it - it was a great job actually. My job was when the cases of Guinness came down, someone was stacking them on a palette, once they were stacked my forks would go in and lift them. Either load the lorry or stack them where they needed to be."
Wednesday, January 11, 2023
I am amazed, these are genius. Art on things with wheels, two of my favorite things... how have I never seen these until now? Izzy Wheels, because until now wheelchair users have had no choice in the appearance of their equipment.
In 2016 Ailbhe, who was studying at The National College of Art and Design, chose to design a range of removable wheel covers that matched her sister's colorful style. The idea was inspired by Izzy who was born with Spina Bifida.
Izzy Wheels has since won eight national awards, are now selling in 30 countries, and were named on Forbes 30 Under 30.
"What’s also been exciting is discovering other communities of people online who share this same positive relationship with their mobility equipment. We are contacted by lots of people who felt inspired by us to decorate their walking frames, canes and prosthetic limbs with art. Schools have even started doing art workshops with their students to design wheel art, inspired by our work."
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