Unlike the steam loco due to pull this #RPSI “The Midlander” special, the #IrishRail 071-class diesel locos have two cabs, so the look the same from both ends! Here the loco is pulling the return leg from #Maynooth back to Dublin along the #RoyalCanal, using the opposite cab to the first leg!
A sunny summer commute for the passengers on this #IrishRail service to Dublin as it accelerates away from #Maynooth along a very lush and green #RoyalCanal. #train

The Hottest Day

So the heatwave continues. The forecast for Maynooth today has temperatures exceeding 30°C, and higher in the South.

This kind of heat is very unusual for Ireland; the highest temperature ever recorded on the island is 33.3°C, in Kilkenny, way back in 1887. That record may well be broken today…

Actually the temperature readings in 1887 were given to the nearest degree Fahrenheit; the reading on 26th June 1887 was 92°F, which means somewhere between 91.5°F and 92.5°F (which is 33.1–33.6°C), so the central value of 33.3°C is not unreasonable, though the number could have been as low as 33.1°C or as high as 33.6°C. For a discussion see here.

It’s worth also repeating the fact I mentioned a few days ago on the Solstice, that this evening we will have the latest sunset of 2026, at 9:59:38 pm.

Yesterday afternoon we had a Staff Barbecue, which was held in nice – but not quite so hot – weather. It was very well attended and a pleasant occasion all round with plentiful burgers, hotdogs and booze. I must say it was very generous of the President to pay for all that out of her own pocket. (Is This Right? Ed.)

#2026Heatwave #Heatwave #Maynooth #Weather
Right on time, but not at all what myself and my fellow train spotters were expecting, the fifty year old diesel loco 071, in it’s commemorative original 1970s livery appeared pulling the #RPSI “the Midlander” ‘steam’ special towards #Maynooth at Pike Bridge on the #RoyalCanal. #IrishRail
Former Great Northern Railway of Ireland (#GNRi) 4-4-0 #steam loco No. 171 Slieve Gullion pulling “The Midlander” out of #Maynooth and back towards Dublin along the #RoyalCanal on an #RPSI special. #BlackAndWhite
Jogging down the #RoyalCanal eastward away from #Maynooth in the summer sun.
With a little help from the channel mixer and some selective adjustments in Photoshop, this nice but not quite perfect colour image makes a striking monochrome! #RPSI #steam #Maynooth #RoyalCanal #BlackAndWhite
Having picked my spot carefully, tested my composition with a Commuter train, the Irish weather played a mean trick on me! A cloud blotted out the foreground sun just as former #GNRi #steam loco No. 171 Slieve Gullion approached #Maynooth along the #RoyalCanal with “The Midlander”! #RPSI
An #IrishRail Commuter #train approaching #Maynooth along the banks of the #RoyalCanal on a glorious summer afternoon!
Arrowheads in the #RoyalCanal under Pike Bridge at the entrance to #CartonHouse east of #Maynooth. #Bloomscrolling