Irish Railway Record Society

Rolling Stock 

LOCOMOTIVES  

121-Class Locomotive 124 generally contin-ues to operate the Limerick based 3-piece Mk III push-pull set. A set set, using the maintenance spare vehicles, was based in Cork for a period in November for training purposes with either a 201-class part-time or locomotive 134. Locomotive 134 is generally in freight service based in Limerick and is often seen in multiple on the Limerick-Athy cement. Locomotive 123 has been withdrawn, but has been in occasional use as a pilot locomotive in Inchicore. Both 124 and 134 have also been in Inchicore for work.

141/181-class   It is understood that at least three members of the class are stored in Inchicore ‘not for immediate repair’. They include 150, 157 and 188.

201-class  Work continues on the programme of major engine overhauls. Locomotive 218 returned to traffic in November.

 ROLLING STOCK

Mk III   The programme of installing new generator sets into Mk III EGVs continues in Inchicore, with about half the fleet completed by the end of 2003.

Mk III Push-Pull   By the October public holiday weekend, all Mk III push-pull sets had been transferred from Connolly suburban working to mainline services operating out of Heuston. They worked a variety of services including, at various times, the Fridays-Only 16.05 Dublin-Cork, the 05.30 Galway-Dublin, 11.00 Dublin-Galway, 15.10 Galway-Dublin and 19.00 Dublin-Galway. This often resulted in no catering facilities as the set used had not been fitted out with tables and hot tea/coffee cannot then be served. They also worked the Fridays-Only 17.30 Dublin-Tralee and the 05.15 Cork-Dublin the next day.

Mk IId  The programme of renewing gangway ends of Mk IId carriages continues in Inchicore.

Mk IIab   One of the two sets remained in service for weekend use to 31 October. On 24 October, the 18.05 Dublin-Athlone was formed by 202+EGV+6 Mk IIab. Both sets were withdrawn in November and will be scrapped. It is understood that two 4600-class EGVs are being retained as vans for transferring Mk III and other air braked vehicles between Inchicore and Heuston/Connolly.

DIESEL RAILCARS

New Railcars  On 28 November, The Minister for Transport, Mr. Séamus Brennan, announced €38 million in funding for a further order of 36 diesel railcar vehicles. These will be additional to the 80 vehicles of the 2900-class now entering service and are to be delivered in 2005. The Minister said that ‘as the 116 (80+36) new rail cars come into service, the 64 carriages of 1963 vintage and many of the 1969-72 vintage will be taken out of regular service and will be used only when particular circumstances, such as major sports fixtures, require them to meet the demands of occasional once-off large gatherings’. This refers to the Cravens, GSVs and Mk IId fleet. It is understood that the new railcars will be 4-car 2900-class CAF sets with minor modifications.

2600-class   On 5 November, 2607 -08 arrived in Limerick to commence driver and maintenance staff training prior to the introduction of the new timetable on 14 December. By late November, they were often found working Limerick-Limerick Junction services. Two sets are in use on Cork-Cobh and Cork-Mallow/Charleville services, with a third set observed as back up.

The maximum engine speed is being increased from 2,000rpm to 2,100rpm, as in the 2700-class and 2800-class. The first set completed was 2603/04, which also received overhauled bogies, generator sets and coolers. Work continues in Drogheda on other members of the class, with the maintenance backlog being reduced.

The maximum permissible size of a 2600-class train has been increased from 6 to 8 vehicles from the commencement of the new timetable in December.

2700-class After receiving attention in Drogheda , single car railcar 2753 was sent to Limerick for trial and training purposes in November. One such trial, consisting of 2607/2608+2753, was in Birdhill from 15.33 to 15.42 on 5 December where it crossed the 15.00 Limerick-Ballybrophy, 144+1 Craven+GSV. The second single car unit, 2751, arrived in Limerick before the introduction of the December timetable after receiving attention in Drogheda depot.

The first weekday of the new timetable saw the 15.00 Limerick-Ballybrophy formed by 2751+2753. During the first few weeks, services were formed by railcars if the driver had been trained on them; otherwise they reverted to locomotive haulage. The two single-car sets are also to be used in multiple on other Limerick based services when the 2600-class railcar or the 3-car push-pull set is being serviced. In December, a notice was issued banning the operation of 2751 or 2753 on their own as single car trains.

By December, Drogheda depot had nearly eliminated the maintenance backlog on this class and reliability was noticeably improved, although toilets continued to be a problem.

2800-class   This class now also work Kildare line services from the commencement of the new timetable on 14 December. On Thursday 27 November, 2819/20 passed Cherryville Junction towards Athy on a clearance trial.

2900-class (CAF, Spain )   Deliveries of new railcars continued in October, November and December, with trains being offloaded in Dublin Port at North Wall. The new trains were then diesel hauled to Drogheda instead of Inchicore Works, where they were set up for trial running. By 1 December, with the delivery of 2969/70/71/72 and 2973/74/75/76 eighteen out of twenty sets had been delivered. These were towed from North Wall to Drogheda by 170, passing Clontarf Road at 19.47.

Trial running and mileage accumulation continued to be based out of Limerick and Cork . On 5 November, 2953/54/55/56 passed Dromkeen at 09.15 on such a trial run, with a second set, 2957/58/59/60, stabled in Limerick . Route clearance trials were also carried out, with  2925/26/27/28 arriving in Sligo at 14.50 on 3 December.

With extra sets commissioned, an 8-car 2900-class took over the 08.32 Drogheda-Pearse from early October and another the 17.50 Dún Laoghaire-Maynooth link from late October. Thereafter, they appeared on most four or eight-car links on these routes. Sanding equipment was commissioned on 8 December. It applies automatically during braking and by manual operation during acceleration. Performance and reliability of these railcars continues to very good in comparison with previous vehicle types when first introduced.

The new railcars were officially launched by the Minister for Transport on Monday 13 October, when special trains operated from Dublin to Balbriggan.

DART

8510-Class   Four-car Tokyu 8510-class sets can now operate in multiple with two-car Alstom 8200-class.

8520-class   Ten four-car sets are under construction by Tokyu Car Company in Japan . They are similar to the 8510-class, except they will feature air-conditioning and have a flatter roof. The destination displays will be updated by a GPS system. Delivery of the first vehicles is expected in 2004

The remainder of this article appears in IRRS Journal number 153, published February 2004.

Copyright © 2004 by Irish Railway Record Society Limited
Revised: October 06, 2006 .