Rolling Stock 162

Irish Railway Record Society

Rolling Stock

Cravens Withdrawing and cutting up of Cravens continued throughout the autumn and winter. Nos. 1531, 1533, 1547, 1554 and 1555 were cut up in September/October, with 1546 cut up in December and 1530 waiting to be cut up in January. By mid-December, 21 vehicles had been disposed of.

In early November, 1558 was taken from its regular link on the Ballina branch due to the condition of its wheels and brought to Inchicore. It was then stripped of all underfloor equipment, removed from its bogies and the body was sold to a restaurant in Co. Kildare.

Cravens finished on Ballina branch services on Saturday 9 December when 073 + 1516 + 1506 + GSV 3173 worked the 13:00 Ballina-Manulla Junction. The driver was Dessie Gallagher and the guard Noel Enright. The return working was worked by 2-car railcar 2603/04, which had run empty from Ballina. The Cravens set went empty to Claremorris and worked empty to Inchicore on Wednesday 13 December. Cravens were first used on Ballina branch trains in 1992/3.

In recent winters, performance of trains formed by Cravens carriages has been relatively poor, primarily due to the poor condition of heating vans, which has resulted in many trains operating with no heat. A 14:00 Dublin-Cork special in the first week in December that ran without adequate heating received media attention and was used to highlight the difference in passenger comfort levels between the 1960s Cravens and the latest CAF carriages. This led to the subsequent withdrawal of remaining Cravens.

The final scheduled working of Cravens carriages was on Monday 11 December on the 05:15 Athlone-Dublin Heuston. The train consisted of 1521 + 1505 + 1544 + 1532 + 1507 + 1523 + 3188. Thereafter, all Cravens were withdrawn and await scrapping. Not all will be cut up as the RPSI plan to preserve a set. This was also the last date for steam-heated trains in regular service in Ireland .

Generator-Steam-heating-Vans All are now out of use and scrapping continues. The following were scrapped between September and December: Dutch vans 3161, 3164, BR vans 3179, 3180 and 3183.

Mk III Push-Pull Driving trailers 6101-05 are receiving LED marker lights as they are overhauled in Inchicore. The programme to modify the vigilance system has been completed.

The remainder of this article appears in IRRS Journal number 162, published February 2007.