View allAll Photos Tagged GeminiAI

A competing social media site (S...C..t) suggested a filter for Valentines Day. Out of boredom I tried it and got frame one. Then I wondered what if Nadar was the photographer instead of me? AI answered my question with frame two and three. Painted by Rembrandt was frame four and five. Painted by Da Vinci was six and seven. Boredom gone.

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Edited using Gemini Ai to clone a jagged black unrendered band across some or all of the bottom and also across part of the top of this handheld panoramic image.

This problem is a consequence of the panning action and can result when panning panorama images handheld with an IPhone.

At this time Ai can sometimes have difficulties cloning these black unrendered bands unless the specific instructions to the Ai are carefully worded.

Of course the black band can always be cloned/removed manually in an editing program like Photoshop, Paintshop Pro or Luminar.

The only reason I didn't do that was because part of the problem with the image was that I needed the horizon straightened and it was faster and easier to just use an Ai editor. The negative of course is that the image saves at a lower resolution if using free Ai editing.

At this stage I cannot bring myself to pay the exorbitant cost of an annual Ai editing subscription, though it is being forced on me due to the fact that free Ai editing capability has been drastically wound back on all the Apps since the beginning of 2026 forcing me to at least consider subscription models.

 

I'd be interested to know which subscription photo editing Ai Apps people are opting for and if they are worth the money.

 

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This is a Google Gemini rendered Ai image of the scene at Coogee Beach on Xmas Day 2025.

The surf club and background buildings and the concourse are not rendered accurately but the hundreds of young women who turned up on the day in red bikinis is.

Many of the men were also wearing santa suits and red hats on Xmas Day.

The best one can say about this Google Gemini Ai rendition is that it has very generalised similarities to the Coogee Beach scene on Xmas Day 2025.

Note also that the image does not show any beach flags or teams of lifesavers.

My problems with Ai engines is that their algoriths unfortunately struggle with the realisation that the world does not revolve around American cultural norms.

  

Surveying the Jovian Ring System

 

This generative piece depicts a colossal, Jupiter-like planet dominating the frame with its intricate, swirling atmospheric bands and iconic storms. A massive, complex ring system cuts across the cosmos, flanked by several volcanic and rocky moons. In the foreground, a lone exploratory probe fires its thrusters, venturing deep into the vibrant, nebula-filled starfield toward a brilliant, distant sun.

 

Note: This image was created using an AI tool, Google Gemini, as part of my creative process and refined in Lightroom / Luminar Neo.

 

2026 Keith Jones All Rights Reserved

Subject Description: Please see the earlier version of this fictional Leyland National tram for background information.

AI Notes: This is further version of the recently-published Leyland National articulated tram. In this version, AI was requested to change to a higher viewpoint and populate the scene. The change of viewpoint was generally handled satisfactorily but, once again, AI made a mess of the overhead, creating inclined cables that would have been more at home on an aerial cable car system (I've attempted to correct this in Photoshop but the result isn't perfect). Interestingly, it's chosen to colour the roof grey, which is a reasonable choice given the perennial problem discoloured paintwork caused by of grease from the overhead wires and pantographs. Some passengers appear to be standing despite an explicit instruction that they all should be seated at the same height (01-Feb-26).

 

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A competing social media site (S...C..t) suggested a filter for Valentines Day. Out of boredom I tried it and got frame one. Then I wondered what if Nadar was the photographer instead of me? AI answered my question with frame two and three. Painted by Rembrandt was frame four and five. Painted by Da Vinci was six and seven. Boredom gone.

Gemini Ai Generated Image from a photo of the vessel under tow by tugs in Port Phillip Bay.

 

Cosco Istanbul is a Container Ship built in 2012 ( 14 years old ). Sails under the flag of [HK] Hong Kong.

 

Builder: Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (often referred to as Jiangsu New YZJ) in China.

 

Registered Owner: COSCO ISTANBUL MARITIME LTD.

 

Beneficial Owner / Commercial Manager: COSCO SHIPPING LINES CO. LTD.

 

ISM Manager: SHANGHAI OCEAN SHIPPING CO. LTD

Subject Description: This composition brings together separate images of the ECW-bodied Bristol RE and VR. Transit operated neither type although it did have VRs with Northern Counties bodies. On reflection, a standard ECW body may have been more appropriate on the VR than the full-height version depicted here, a choice depicted by the source image used.

AI Notes: This is an AI composition based on fully-liveried versions of the two buses previously prepared in Photoshop. As is usual in such compositions, AI has created its own version of each image before combining them. The Bristol VR was fine but the RELL was wrongly-proportioned and, most noticeably, too tall by reference to the VR. Previous experience suggested that this would be difficult to correct in AI so the necessary work was done in Photoshop (19-Sep-26).

 

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Subject Description: This is a re-worked version of an image that I prepared for the Ivatt Diesel Recreation Society, based on an original monochrome version by Geoff Plumb, with added night effects. I had intended to light the red taillights but couldn’t confirm which of the two pairs of lights on the nose they were.

AI Notes: This is a Gemini AI-enhanced version of a hand-coloured image based on a monochrome original. AI has added the night effects and two figures (10-Jul-26).

 

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© All Rights Reserved - Black Diamond Images

 

The Laguna Trading Post dates back to c.1835 when it provided respite for weary travellers along the long and isolated convict built Great North Road which ends in Cessock in the Hunter Valley.

 

The Laguna Trading Post continues to do so to this day. We were surprised to find a Tesla Destination Charger but unfortunately we couldn't get it to work.

The Trading Post has a cafe with a large eating area and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. It also is home to a bakery, a general store and a bottle shop, all operating 7-days a week.

The bakery supplies home made sourdough, pastries, cakes, pies and sausage rolls, all baked fresh daily.

The Trading Post also offers a great selection of locally sourced house wines and beers sourced from the Hunter Valley and wider parts of New South Wales.

 

Several other stores operate in the trading Post.

This image is a panorama taken inside Laguna Luxe, housed in a rough hewn timber and tin shed alongside the Trading Post. Laguna Luxe offers a range of homewares and lifestyle products through to clothing and footwear.

Musgrove Realty and Laguna Village Providore, which supplies fresh garden and farm produce, also operate in the Trading Post.

 

Image edited in Gemini Ai.

   

Subject Description: If there was ever a definitive design for a single-car BR diesel railbus, this would be a strong contender. Utilising the wide-body Class 142 bodyshell and with a central driving position and doors on each side at both ends, it would have enabled one-person-operation but it’s difficult to envisage many services that could be operated solely with single-car units. Whilst it would be possible to couple several units together at peak times and operate with a roving conductor on board, the benefits over operating the whole timetable with a conventional two-car set would be marginal at best. I suspect the cramped, central driving position would have resulted in some union resistance.

AI Notes: The railbus is a Photoshop edit of a Class 142 that had previously been re-liveried in original Provincial Services colours. Gemini AI was used solely to place the railbus in an appropriate scene; in fact, it was necessary to explicitly instruct it to lock the pixels of the railbus and change only the background to avoid any unwanted AI manipulation (09-Sep-26).

 

Protected by Copyright Law - do not repost under any circumstances. Do not rely on this image for historical research. Additional information about my Flickr images and the terms used can be found here:

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© All Rights Reserved - Black Diamond Images

 

Laguna Trading Post Est. 1835 – Great North Road, Laguna, NSW

 

History & Location

Est. 1835: One of the oldest trading posts in the Wollombi Valley, operating for nearly 200 years as a stop for travellers on the convict-built Great North Road

Location: Great North Road / Tourist Drive Route 33 in Laguna village, Lower Hunter Valley. Gateway to the Hunter Valley wine region

Former name: Known for years as the Great Northern Trading Post, or “Laguna Wine Bar” to locals

What it is today: “Trading Post Laguna Est 1835”

The historic site is now a village hub with several businesses operating from the old sheds:

 

33BREAD + WINE

 

Bakery, wine bar & café

 

Run by Andrew Taylor, Rosanna Marsh & chef Joel Humphreys. Fresh bread, pastries, local wine, focus on Hunter Valley & organic/natural wines

 

Café Marjorie

 

Café-restaurant

 

Part of the Trading Post complex

 

Laguna Village Providore

 

Deli & general store

 

Local produce, fruit, veggies, grazing platters, BBQ packs. Managed by Michelle & Shane Johnson

 

Laguna LUXE

 

Fashion & homewares

 

Curated selection in the Musgrove Reality space

  

Open daily from 8am with bar, bakery, wine shop, general store, and cafe-restaurant

 

Village context

Laguna is a “pioneer village on the Great North Road” with green fields, alpacas, and horses

The Trading Post is the “commercial hub” and “heart of the local community”

Other attractions: Gallery 33 for local art, Pigs Will Fly animal sanctuary, Mystwood bush cabins in nearby Wollombi

Heritage vibe

The current owners restored the building respectfully – pulled out floors, re-laid original bricks, repurposed old timber – to keep it as a general store/community hub. The name “33BREAD+WINE” references Tourist Route 33 and calls out bread and wine as staples

 

Basically: it’s an 1835 coach stop turned hip country providores/wine bar that still sells your essentials, serves Reuben sandwiches, and pours local Hunter Valley vino.

Source - Meta Ai

 

Image edited in Chat GPT Ai.

   

Stopped raining so we went out and so it seems some wildlife did too..!

He probably likes visiting the trout farm on Ladybower Reservoir just behind him!!

Several former London Transport side-engined AEC Q single-deckers were exported to Cyprus between 1953 and 1955. Two centre-entrance 4Q4s were used as staff buses by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus and two front-entrance 5Q5s were acquired by the Famagusta Bus Service, which had commenced operations in 1954 with three former Sunderland & District Leyland TS8s. Former London Transport Q158 (CLE 181) and Q182 (CLE 205) were registered TM 249 and TK 446 respectively. I have no livery information for this operator but urban buses in Cyprus were traditionally blue and white. A monochrome view in Chris Whickham’s book The AEC Q - Not Just for London suggests the 5Q5s may have been all-over blue. TK 466 passed with the business to the Famagusta Bus Union in 1956 but was withdrawn the following year.

AI Notes: The 5Q5 was prepared in Photoshop without any intention of using AI but, not satisfied with my attempt at a Cyprus setting, I decided to give Gemini AI a try. Whilst probably generic, the scene does seem to capture the feel of Famagusta as I imagine it to have been in the 1960s (31-Jul-26)

 

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Subject Description: How many of us are old enough to remember a brand-new Class 17 featured on the children’s TV programme Blue Peter? This was enough for me to recognise the only one I ever saw in BR service sometime in the early 1960s. Despite their disastrous service record, I’ve always had a special affection for these quirky locomotives. Only one survives and I was pleased to ride behind it on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway in the 1980s.

AI Notes: This is a largely Gemini AI-generated image with only finishing details, such as headcode, added in Photoshop. The generic background is not intended to represent any specific location (13-Mar-26).

 

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-Model & make up:: Alexandra Gavira

 

Subject Description: This image depicts Class 21 D6142 with a short train of goods wagons running with a Class 9 (local goods) headcode. The locomotive is in original condition with tablet-catcher under the driver’s side window but with added yellow warning panel.

AI Notes: Produced at the same time as the view of D6114 in the Scottish landscape, this image suffered the same problems and was initially abandoned but later revived in Photoshop (05-Sep-26).

 

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Subject Description: The subject of this abandoned project was intended to be a Leyland four-wheel railbus like that in the linked image but with livery and background changes. I had in mind a preservation-era East Kent Railway scene.

AI Notes: Gemini AI was tasked with simply changing the livery of the railbus to a plain overall Malachite Green (to which I would have added final livery details in Photoshop) and undertaking some background changes. It was explicitly instructed to preserve the structure of the railbus and its four-wheel chassis. These are just four of the many failed attempts to get close to what I wanted - remember that AI was only tasked with changing the livery. This is proof - if proof were needed - that AI does not and cannot edit images; it always creates a new version based on its interpretation of what you’ve uploaded and/or asked for. There was no mention of Leyland National in my instructions or in the image itself but AI has clearly identified LN body parts and incorporated a standard Leyland National bus front and a steering wheel behind the windscreen on two of the drafts. Aside from the awful paint finish that I could have sorted, the final version came close to something that I could take forward in Photoshop but, by then, my willpower had gone (15-Sep-26).

 

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Subject DescriptionThe Class 71 was the only class of electric locomotives built at BR’s Doncaster works. Visually, it was a plain but neat design with some attractive curves. The 24 examples were delivered new between 1958 and 1960 and spent their entire working life on the Southern Region. Built as 2,700 hp 'straight' electrics with third rail power pick-ups and bow collectors for overhead supply in yards, 10 were later rebuilt as Class 74 electro-diesels, an example of which is depicted on the right of this image. All Class 71s were withdrawn by the end of 1977 but E5001, one of the un-rebuilt examples, survives in the National Collection.

AI Notes This is an AI composition of two very different images. The Class 71 was photographed at Locomotion Shildon under fluorescent lighting and partially obscured by display boards and overhead signs. The Class 74 is a hand-coloured version of a monochrome original. There were noticeable perspective differences between the two, with one being from a lower viewpoint. Other than the need to remove overhead line equipment in Photoshop, AI has made a very good job of bringing the two images together, although it failed to add the third rail power supply (06-Aug-26).

 

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Subject Description: The Bristol MW served the Tilling Group well in bus, coach and dual-purpose form. Many were downgraded or occasionally upgraded between these categories during their long service lives. West Yorkshire’s dual-purpose examples carried several liveries, of which this predominately cream version was possibly the most attractive. They would have been a good choice for the long X70 between Leeds and Grassington via Bradford and Ilkley that was extended to Keld on certain days.

AI Notes: This is a Gemini AI composition that incorporates an image of the Bristol MW that I’d prepared in Photoshop several years ago. On this occasion, AI got it pretty much right first time, although I did need to task it to remove a modern bus stop and other unwanted embellishments (30-Aug-26)

 

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Subject Description: This is a new version of an image that was not intended to be taken too seriously. It’s clear from the large headlights that the prototype Deltic was designed with an eye to the export market, although no such opportunities arose. Even if it had been demonstrated in the USA, it is unlikely that any sales would have resulted so this fictional Union Pacific version is presented with a large slice of artistic licence. Note the US-style buck-eye couplers and the lack of buffers.

AI Notes: This is an AI Gemini-generated composition based on my earlier photoshopped version of the locomotive. There were a few issues with relative scales, AI not appreciating the significant differences between British and US loading gauge, mitigated by instructing AI to keep the US locomotives in the background. The signals and their placement are not very convincing (03-May-26).

 

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Subject Description: H533 YCX and H539 YCK were Ikarus-bodied DAF SB220s leased by OK Motor Services in May 1991. Both were operated in dealer white with OK Travel fleetnames until returned to the dealer the following year. They were photographed together at Peterlee Depot in the summer of 1991.

AI Notes: This demonstrates how AI can be used to bring a very poor image up to a useable standard. The source image was taken in fading daylight at the end of a very wet and dreary day. The negative is very grainy and lacking in detail, particularly in the background. My thought was that, if I can’t revive the background, best hide it under darkness. This was a two-minute job by asking Google Gemini AI to 'make night scene' (22-Jan-26).

 

Not to be re-posted on Facebook or anywhere else but you are welcome to post a link. Follow the link below for additional information about my Flickr images, including an explanation of the terms used:

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Subject Description: This is the first of a new set of images featuring the English Electric prototype Deltic locomotive DP1. These were intended to replace earlier images but the two versions are so different that the originals have been retained. In this first image, Deltic is depicted alongside a fictional Type 1 (later Class 20) locomotive in the same powder blue livery.

AI Notes: This Gemini AI-generated image is based on separate images of the Class 20 and Deltic prepared in Photoshop. On this occasion, AI has recreated both locomotives quite accurately without any obvious bloomers (01-May-26).

 

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Subject Description: Morris Bros ran Bedford KM tippers on coal haulage but I have insufficient information to produce an accurate representation, hence the description of this image as fiction. Introduced in 1966, the KM was a logical extension of Bedford’s TK range but, apart from the basic cab structure, it was an entirely new design thus warranting its own model designation. Distinguishing visual features included the double bumpers, twin headlights, ten-stud hubs and larger tyres.

AI Notes: This is an AI re-liveried version of a hand-coloured image that I prepared in a different livery several years ago. AI has added a new Welsh Valley-themed background that is not intended to represent any specific location (16-May-26).

 

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Subject Description: The Class 22 ‘Baby Warships’ are the lost diesel-hydraulics. One was set aside for preservation but tragically cut-up in error. Ironically, they are of a size and power output that would have been ideal for many of today’s preserved railways. All 58 were scrapped, as were the 58 outwardly similar but longer Class 21/ Class 29 diesel-electrics. This scrapyard scene is a forerunner of a series of images later this year depicting the Class 22s in original green and later blue liveries.

AI Notes: This began life as a hand-coloured version of a monochrome image depicting a sister locomotive in ex-works condition. The rust and grime, and the scrapyard setting, were added using Gemini AI. These are effects that I will be using very sparingly, having seen them over-used elsewhere (16-Mar-26).

 

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Subject Description: Several of these Bedford TKs were noted during visits to Northern Cyprus in the early 2000s. Whist possibly bought new, they were more likely acquired second-hand from UK fire services or from the British Forces in Cyprus.

AI Notes: This is an AI composition using an image taken on the forecourt of North Nicosia fire station in the early 2000s. Whilst generic, the AI-generated background is a good representation of North Nicosia. I’m unsure why AI has included a white Ford Transit with red and blue beacons - I can’t recall seeing any such vehicles (31-May-25).

 

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Subject Description: Stockport Corporation operated a tram system between 1901 and 1951, with through running onto the connecting Oldham, Ashton and Hyde, and Manchester Corporation systems. A total of 87 tramcars were owned throughout the life of the system. No 20 was one of 20 double-deck, open-top trams purchased from Dick Kerr of Preston in 1902-3 that were later rebuilt as closed-top cars.

AI Notes: This was quite a transformation by Gemini AI. It began as a photograph of a large-scale model that I took at a model exhibition. AI was tasked with making the tram look real and placing it in a street scene like Stockport or Manchester (I didn’t want to be too specific). I suspect that there is little of the original image left and that AI has, in effect, constructed a wholly new image by reference to the model and archive photos scraped from the internet (03-Jan-26).

 

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Subject Description: This is the one that we all wanted. Introduced in 1956, Dinky Supertoys No 660 was the flagship of the Dinky Toys post-war military vehicles range. Based on the Thorneycroft Mighty Antar MKI, it was an imposing model, measuring over 13” with its rear ramps down, and loaded with play value. Despite its high price, Dinky sold thousands over an eight-year period. Development of the real truck began in the 1940s, initially for oil field work, transporting oversize pipe hundreds of miles in the desert. It was subsequently adopted by the British Army as a tank transporter to carry the new Centurian tank.

AI Notes: This is a largely AI-generated image with only minor corrections being necessary in Photoshop, principally the removal of unwanted lettering and insignia (28-Mar-26).

 

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Subject Description: This image is intended to represent a (fictional) right-hand drive Bristol VRT-LL demonstrator that ultimately found a home with Calypso Transport of Gibraltar.

AI Notes: This is a new version of an old image that has been completed with the assistance and hinderance of Google Gemini AI. The experience could not have been more different from that of the Hong Kong Bristol VR, which was based on the same base image, albeit a mirror image (and, of course, in a different livery that had previously been applied in Photoshop). Not liking that it depicts a left-hand drive vehicle, AI moved the driving position back to the British offside - right next to the doors, which remained where I'd placed them (but it still managed to mess with them). Predictably, the registration number and destination text ended up as jibberish and, strangely, AI replaced the destination unit with two separate single-line units (it must have referenced an image of a different bus). It took a lot of time and effort to correct these anomalities in Photoshop. The position of the bus in the road suggests that the front wheels should be turned one way or the other but I couldn’t get AI to do this and decided to leave it for the moment. (22-Jan-26).

 

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Subject Description: This alternative view of the Class 17/14 combination on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway is the one that I initially set-out to prepare but had to put-aside in favour of the Oxenhope version due to ‘technical’ problems. Those problems have now been sorted and here is the planned view of the pair in a representation of Oakworth station.

AI Notes: This is a Gemini AI composition that combines images of the two locomotives, taken at different locations, with a view of Oakworth station. This was one of those AI projects that really tested my patience and ultimately required a lot of corrective work in Photoshop. AI either got the train (almost) right and the setting wrong or via versa and, when correcting one, repeatedly messed-up the other - but not in a way that I could blend subsequent versions to get what I wanted. Ultimately, I settled for a version with an incorrect second track and some inaccuracies in the Class 14 and corrected both in Photoshop. The setting is not 100% prototypically correct but much better than it was (27-May-26).

 

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Copyright - All Rights Reserved - Black Diamond Images

 

Here is a clear, chronological “life history” of Spirit of Tasmania IV — but unlike a traditional ship biography, this one reads almost like a modern maritime saga, shaped as much by politics and infrastructure as by the sea.

 

🚢 Birth of a replacement era (2017–2021)

 

The story really begins before the ship itself existed.

 

In 2017, the Tasmanian Government and TT-Line decided to replace the ageing Bass Strait ferries with larger, more modern vessels.

After failed negotiations in December 2018 with the German shipbuilder, Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG), the agreed contract was mutually cancelled in February 2020 due to the shipbuilder's financial difficulties.

 

These delays, including the onset of the COVID pandemic, resulted finally in a contract being signed by the Tasmanian Gutwein Liberal government between April 14 and 16, 2021 with Rauma Marine Constructions (Finland).

 

Purpose

Replace Spirit of Tasmania I & II

Increase:

Passenger capacity (~40%+)

Freight capacity (~39%)

 

👉 This was envisioned as a transformational upgrade to Tasmania’s “sea highway.”

 

⚓ Construction in Finland (2022–2024)

Key milestones

Steel cutting: early 2022

Keel laid: 28 October 2022

Launched & named: 27 October 2023

 

She is a large modern Ro-Pax ferry:

 

Length: ~212 m

Capacity: ~1,800 passengers

LNG-powered (first on the Bass Strait route)

 

👉 Technologically, she represents a major leap—cleaner fuel, higher efficiency, and much greater carrying capacity.

 

🌊 Sea trials and delivery (2024)

June 2024: Sea trials begin

September 2024: Officially handed over to TT-Line

 

At this point, everything looked on track.

 

👉 The expectation:

Arrival in Tasmania by late 2024 and entry into service shortly after.

 

❄️ The first twist: stranded in Europe (late 2024–mid 2025)

 

Instead, the ship entered one of the most unusual chapters in Australian maritime history.

 

What went wrong

Devonport’s new berth was not ready

Baltic winter ice prevented her staying in Finland

Result

Moved to Leith, Edinburgh (Scotland) for lay-up

Cost: about $47,000 per week in berthing

 

👉 Attempts were made to lease her out in Europe—but with little success.

 

Public and political fallout

 

This became a major political issue in Tasmania:

 

Cost blowouts

Infrastructure miscalculations

Leadership resignations

 

The ferry even became something of a curiosity in Scotland, drawing attention simply for being “stranded.”

 

⚙️ Further delays: technical and planning issues (2025)

Planned departure for Australia in May 2025 delayed due to LNG system problems

 

Eventually:

 

Departed Europe mid-2025

Arrived in Hobart in August 2025

 

👉 Even then, she still couldn’t enter service.

 

🇦🇺 Return to Australia—but still idle (2025–2026)

 

Despite finally reaching Australia:

 

The core problem remained

The Devonport terminal upgrade:

Originally ~$90 million

Blew out to nearly $500 million

Additional issues:

Design mismatches between ship and berth

Further costly modifications required

Result

The vessel has spent extended periods:

In Hobart

In Geelong / Port Phillip Bay

 

👉 Fully built, delivered, and operationally ready—

but with nowhere suitable to dock in regular service.

 

📅 Planned entry into service (2026)

Current expectation: October 2026

 

Route:

 

Geelong ↔ Devonport

 

👉 When she finally enters service, she will become:

 

The primary Bass Strait ferry

A major boost to freight and tourism capacity

The bigger picture: what makes her story unique

 

Spirit of Tasmania IV represents:

1. Modern maritime ambition

LNG propulsion

High-capacity ferry design

Major infrastructure investment

2. Infrastructure dependency

A ship that cannot operate without:

Purpose-built terminals

Matching engineering specifications

3. Political and economic controversy

Cost overruns nearing $1 billion total project scale

Ongoing public scrutiny and debate

 

✅ Final perspective

 

The Spirit of Tasmania IV has already had a remarkable “life”—even before entering service:

 

Conceived as a transformational transport upgrade

Built as one of the most advanced ferries in the region

Stranded internationally due to infrastructure delays

Returned to Australia—but still waiting

 

Currently berthed at Williamtown in Port Phillip Bay the ferry is expected to finally commence operation late in 2026

 

This Gemini Ai generated image was created from the image in the first comment below.

Subject Description: This is a new version of an image published many years ago. In addition to the role of training military personnel in railway operations performed by the much-lamented Longmoor Military Railway, the British Army has always made use of Britain’s railways for moving stores and even road vehicles, particularly during major exercises. Since the closure of the LMR, it has maintained a small fleet of diesel shunters for working in army depots. This fictional image assumes that some larger types were maintained for on-going training in mainline operations. This fictional Class 20 carries a mainline running number in the Class 01 series allocated to Network Rail-certified private-owner locomotives.

AI Notes. As noted above, the Class 20 was prepared in Photoshop some time ago. It has since been uploaded to Gemini AI was the instruction to place in a 1990s British Army supply depot with a train of flat wagons loaded with army Land Rovers. No problems were encountered with this project (18-Feb-26).

 

All rights reserved. Not to be posted on Facebook or anywhere else without my prior written permission. Comments on this image are welcome here but for everything else, please send a Flickr mail. Further information about my Flickr images can be found here:

www.flickr.com/photos/northernblue109/6046035749/in/set-7....

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