Irish Railway Record Society

Rolling Stock 

Mk IId Two sets remained in service until Tuesday 5 February when they worked the 17:10 Dublin-Athlone and 17:50 Dublin-Galway. No Mk IId sets then operated until Friday 8 February, when one set (EGV + 6) operated the 17:10 Dublin-Athlone. It worked Galway line services over the weekend and remained the sole Mk IId set in service.

On Monday 11 February, it worked the 05:05 Athlone-Dublin, 09:10 Dublin-Galway, 13:10 Galway-Dublin and 19:15 Dublin-Galway. The set worked the 13:25 Dublin-Limerick and 17:35 return Tuesday 12 to Thursday 14 February.

Withdrawn vehicles were brought directly from Heuston yard to the scrap line near Diesel 1 in Inchicore. For a period in March, the scrapping arrangements in Inchicore were changed. Instead of scrapping the complete vehicle in Inchicore a large tracked excavator with a steel jaws sliced the vehicles into segments and they were removed off-site by lorry for cutting up. By the end of March, full scrapping was again taking place in Inchicore and less than a dozen vehicles were awaiting cutting up.

The remaining set was strengthened by one vehicle in March. On Sunday 30 March, it worked the 11:30 Galway-Dublin (locomotive 078) and 16:05 return (locomotive 224).

The last scheduled Mk IId service was the 05:05 Athlone-Dublin Heuston on Monday 31 March. The train was formed by 224 + 5602 + 5403 + 5102 + 5106 + 5203 + 5221 + 5211. Next day, 152 hauled the set from the former freight sidings in Heuston to Inchicore for scrapping, departing at 10:46. Scrapping of this set commenced the same day with three vehicles cut up within 24 hours.

A few remaining vehicles still remained to be cut up, including electric generator vans (EGVs). The scrap contractor salvaged the engines and generators and cut up the bodies.

Two former IÉ Mk IIds were purchased by the RPSI. They were 5106 and 5203. Both were removed by road from Inchicore to Whitehead on Thursday 10 April. One vehicle was not cut up. Mk IId State Carriage 5408 has been little used in recent years. It remained under cover in Inchicore. The rest of the IÉ Mk IId fleet had been scrapped by 10 April.

Withdrawal of the Mk IIds saw the end of scheduled vacuum-braked passenger trains, clasp-braked passenger vehicles and passenger operated slam-shut doors with large droplights (opening windows) on IÉ.

Mk III Two Mk III sets are kept available to cover for planned maintenance and failures of the CAF Mk IV trains. One is based in Cork and the other in Dublin Heuston. This arrangement has worked well in ensuring that the successful hourly service is maintained.

In April, IÉ offered the Mk III carriage fleet for sale. The advert stated that the fleet, 133 carriages built between 1984 and 1988, was being replaced. It said that the IÉ may retain some vehicles and that between 85 and 133 were for sale. The number of 133 vehicles includes all existing Mk III, Mk IIIa and Mk III push-pull carriages.

Mk IIIa The single Mk IIIa (International) set primarily worked Galway line services for most of its existence and was branded Cu na Mara. In recent times, the set also worked Westport services.

By March, three Mk IIIa vehicles (6202, 6205 and 6206) were out of service with wheels at scrapping level. The Mk IIIa set operated the 09:15 Galway-Dublin on Monday 14 April and was then taken out of service. On Wednesday 16 April, 086 brought the set to the Dardanelles sidings in North Wall for storage. Also placed in storage was 6208, which was taken from Monday’s 07:15 Tralee-Dublin. Standard 6202 remained in Inchicore.

Copyright © 2008 by Irish Railway Record Society Limited
Revised: March 04, 2010 .