BARRY CARSE

In the early 1970s CIÉ was in need of a new fleet of carriages to replace the ailing 2600-class AEC railcars and other small carriage fleets. An order was given to British Rail Engineering Ltd, Derby, for 73 vehicles based on its Mk lld body design and featuring air-conditioning. Deliveries were made to CIÉ in 1972, starting with a single vehicle arriving on 12 January – Restaurant Car - 5401. The fleet was:

5101-5106 6 Super Standard 42 seats

5151-5159 9 Composite 24 seats Super Standard + 24 Standard seats

5201-5236 36 Standard with 64 seats

5401-5411 11 Restaurant Car with 30 seats

5601-5611 11 Electric Generator Vans (EGVs)

Total 73

The air-conditioning evaporator units were fitted in the roof at the end of the coach above the toilet. The inlet fans pulled air through the filters, making it fresh and clean to breathe. They also contained a bank of heaters used in preheating. Above the doors there were vents to extract used air. Further along were ducts in the ceiling supplying fresh cooled air from evaporator unit and also hot air in the heating mode. It was all designed to maintain an interior temperature of around 22°C or 71.6°F.

The doors featured wide wrap-around type whilst the gangways were of the Pullman type. Each of the 36 standard class coaches was, provided with a small brake compartment whereas in the Super Standard and composite coaches a public address cubicle was fitted. All of the passenger carrying vehicles were fitted with B4 type bogies, complete with friction dampers, but the EGVs had B5 bogies which were heavier sprung. These EGVs contained two Detroit Diesel engines which powered the generators and in turn provided 380V electrical supply for the various onboard services. Buckeye couplers were fitted on all vehicles. The all-electric kitchens were fitted out at Inchicore Works. The length of the vehicles was standard at 64’ 0¾” (19.52m) and the width was 9’ 2” (2.8m).

The first trials took place to Thurles on 25 September 1972 and by October the trials were running to Cobh using the carriage shed there for stabling. All types of motive power were used to gain experience. After various experiments with liveries, a gold brown with a black band around the windows was selected and locomotive A1R was chosen to be repainted in the new livery to match the coaches. For a short time it was A1 but it then became 001 and undertook photographic runs on the D&SER section to Arklow.

One of the earliest revenue earning trips was on 14 November 1972, when 001 + 5602 + 5102 + 5401 departed from Heuston at 17:28 for Cork carrying a visiting United States Politician from the House of Representatives. However the real launch for the general public came on Monday 4 December 1972, when selected services between Heuston and Cork were worked by Mk lld stock. By this stage locomotives 158, 183, 185, 187 and 188 were painted in the new livery. A new era had dawned for passenger comfort on CIÉ and with a very imaginative timetable about to be introduced in April 1973 the situation for the railways was looking very good. A week after their introduction on the Cork services the Limerick Sairseal AC set was introduced and a week later they were introduced to the Galway Cu na Mara and Waterford Deiseach. At the end of January 1973 there was a set based in Tralee. When the spectacular timetable came in on 2 April 1973 there were 8 links with sets based at, Heuston (2), Cork (2), Limerick, Tralee Galway and Waterford. Around this time 5 Composite coaches were converted to all standard with 54 seats. In June 1973, the Connolly based Enterprise links to Belfast became Mk lld AC stock. Instructions were issued in 1976 permitting larger sets, which up till then were EGV + Restaurant Car + 8 Standards. If the size of the train was 12 or 13 this must include two EGVs and the load was equalised on each van by not connecting the jumper cables between the two centre coaches.

While on the Belfast service during the late 1970s and 80s, there were two serious deliberate incidents involving the Mk lld sets. On 6 February 1976, the 17:30 Belfast-Dublin Enterprise service composed of B174 with 5228 + 5231 + 5208 + 5406 + 5101 + 5608 was derailed at Terryhoogan, just north of Scarva. Five pounds of explosives had been placed under the outer (cess side) rail. The second incident took place at Newry on Friday 9 August 1985 when vehicles 5105, 5409 and 5215 were damaged by explosives and subsequent fire. Locomotive No. 077,which was hauling the service, was not damaged nor were the remaining vehicles. Dining car No. 5409 was cut up in Inchicore in October 1993. The other two vehicles, 5105 and 5215, were sent to Derby for repairs in 1987 and returned in 1988, with 5105 fitted out as a Standard class coach.

In April 1978, the visit of the Queen Margrethe of Denmark produced a Royal Train consisting of 5601 + 5153 + 5406 + 5106 + 5202 + 5401 + 5402 + 5610. Carriage 5153 was the dressing room, while 5406 was the State Coach. The train did a tour of the South East travelling out from Heuston via Kilkenny and returning from Waterford to Bray via Rosslare Strand. 5406 was to remain the State coach until 5408 was modified in 1981 to replace it. President Mary Robinson, who held office from 1990 to 1997, used the vehicle extensively. In more recent times it was little used mainly due to the availability of the Mk lll Executive Set. During the Papal visit in September 1979 a standby set was ready to transport the Pope in the event of bad weather but it was not required. The set, for the record, was 075 + 5609 + 5406 + 5409 + 5104.

In July 1984, Irish Rail introduced the Mk lll vehicles and the resulting cascade of coaching sets saw the Belfast remain with a Mk lld set, Heuston had three sets, the Wesport line required two and one was based in Limerick. 5105 was converted to Standard in 1988 and all but 5106 would follow suit.

As more Mk lll sets were introduced the Sligo line received it’s first Mk lld set in 1987 and the Rosslare line the following year. The Sligo line was very interesting, particularly on Sundays. Unlike now when there are six trains from Sligo and one from Longford to Connolly, back in 1990, for example, on Sundays there were only two trains from Sligo, one in the early morning and the other at 18:00. As one could imagine the 18:00 Sunday train from Sligo was very popular and leaving Mullingar on the 13-piece Mk lld set there was only standing room. It was not unusual for 13-piece sets on a Sunday to work on the 18:15 ex Westport or the 18:20 from Waterford and 18:20 from Cork. The AC stock was popular on the Rosslare and Sligo lines especially when the passengers realised what the alternative in the form of railcars was like.

In 2001, one set was refurbished and painted in a revised livery (see JOURNAL 146, page 177). Inside the seats carpets etc. were refurbished and it presented a very tasteful appearance. Corrosion was dealt with also, at this stage it was becoming a serious problem and from the outside it was very obvious around the toilet area. The set in the new livery generally worked on the Galway line.

The Mark lld sets visited unusual routes and branch lines. As early as 1973, they worked seaside excursions to Youghal. In December 1973, a set was trapped in Tralee by flooding on the Mallow-Tralee line and a derailment at Farranfore, the solution was to work the set over the North Kerry line to Limerick. They also worked Knock specials via Ennis and Tuam to Claremorris - an example being the 07:15 Cork-Claremorris on 10 October 1976. Diverted trains or specials over the Moate line often were formed of these coaches also. On NIR, they would have worked further than Belfast. A Limerick hurling club hired a ten piece Mk lld set to go to Ballymoney on 11 February 1990.

Bodywork corrosion caught up with them and in the last few years withdrawals started to happen. In addition, the advent of the CAF Push Pull sets on the Cork line cascaded the Mk lll sets onto Mk lld links. Railcars replaced the Mk lld sets on the Rosslare and Sligo lines.

By 2008 the only regular link was 17:10 Heuston-Athlone commuter train returning next morning at 05:05. On Saturdays it formed the 17:50 to Galway returning on the nonstop 11 30 Galway-Heuston. The final working was the 05:05 Athlone-Heuston commuter service on 31 March 2008.

The remainder of this article appears in IRRS Journal number 166, published June 2008.