The Irish Traction Group is a railway preservation society dedicated to preserving

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

s from Irish Railways. It was formed in 1989, with the intention of attempting to preserve at least one example of every type of diesel locomotive to have operated on Irish Rail.

History

The Irish Traction Group was founded on 4 June 1989 with the intentions to preserve one locomotive of each class of diesel locomotives to have been operated on the Irish railway system. However, they were unable to initially purchase any locomotives from

Iarnród Éireann Iarnród Éireann () or Irish Rail, is the operator of the national railway network of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). It operates all internal InterCity, Commuter, DART and fr ...

, who wanted the ITG to have a home for their locomotives before they would consider selling any locomotives to the group. Initially the group was offered the old Portarlington goods shed in December 1990, but were unable to procure the building when IE decided to redevelop the property in March 1991. The group was later offered the old

Carrick-on-Suir Carrick-on-Suir () is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It lies on both banks of the River Suir. The part on the north bank of the Suir lies in the civil parish of "Carrick", in the historical barony of Iffa and Offa East. The part on the so ...

goods shed, which they had previously considered but decided against it due to its poor condition, removal of its siding, and its distance from Dublin. However, with few other sites available, the group reluctantly agreed to lease the shed in May 1992, with a one-year rent-free period for the shed to be rebuilt as a workshop. Subsequently, IE began the process of selling diesel locomotive C226 to the group; this was the first locomotive to arrive at Carrick-on-Suir on Sunday 6 December 1992 for restoration.

Locomotives

The ITG owns thirteen locomotives and has previously owned another three locomotives:

Locomotives currently owned by the ITG

* 001(A) class: A3R & A39R * 101(B) class: B103 * 121(B) class: 124 * 141(B) class: 146 & 152 * 181(B) class: 190 * 201(C) class: 226 & C231 * 601(G) class: G601 * 611(G) class: G611, G616 & G617

Locomotives formerly owned by the ITG

* NIR 1 Class: 1, 2 and 3. Purchased from NIR as their DH class in 1994, the ITG sold locomotives DH 2 and DH 3 to Beaver Power Ltd in 2005 for work in Sri Lanka, and were subsequently overhauled at Beaver's Merthyr Tydfil workshops, the work including regauging to 5' 6" and the fitting of a new diesel engine. In 2010, the ITG sold locomotive DH 1 to Beaver for eventual overhaul (it had been moved with DH 2 and DH 3 in 2005 for use initially as a source of spare parts) and reuse in Sri Lanka; today, DH 2 is operational at a Holcim cement plant in Puttalam province,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, while DH 1, stripped for parts during the rebuilding of the other two, remains stored at Merthyr Tydfil. After several years of operation, DH 3 has also been stripped for parts in Sri Lanka for the upkeep of DH 2.

Location

The ITG are based in the former

goods shed in Carrick-on-Suir,

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

. In addition to the Carrick on Suir goods shed, which serves as the group's main restoration base, some of its locos are located at Moyasta Junction on the preserved

West Clare Railway The West Clare Railway (WCR) originally operated in County Clare, Ireland, between 1887 and 1961. This narrow-gauge railway ran from the county town of Ennis, via numerous stopping-points along the West Clare coast to two termini, at Kilrush ...

, Co. Clare. Locomotives A39R, 146, 190, C231, G611 & G617 are on loan to the

Downpatrick & County Down Railway The Downpatrick and County Down Railway (DCDR) is a five-foot, three-inch (1,600 mm) gauge heritage railway in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is operated by volunteers and runs passenger trains using steam and diesel locomotives, dies ...

, where they are used to haul regular heritage services.

Restoration

At present, the ITG have four locomotives at their Carrick-on-Suir site, mainline locomotives 226 and B103, and shunting locomotives G616 and G601. Present work is focused on restoring 226, while B103 and G601 are stored outside under protective steel covers. G616 is currently stored inside the shed in a partially dismantled state, the results of an overhaul started in 1993 but stopped in 1996 due to a lack of volunteers to continue work on the locomotive. Work resumed on this locomotive in early 2012. The engine was started for the first time in some 26 years on Saturday 29 September 2012.

At present four locomotives, A3R, 124, 152 and 190 are located in Moyasta. C231 was previously stored at Moyasta but has been moved to Downpatrick and County Down Railway; it has been restored to running order. Locomotive 152 was undergoing repairs to its brake valves and cabs when it was sold to the ITG in 2010, and could be brought back to operating condition in the future if required. The other locomotives are all cosmetically in good order, but have all been in storage for long periods of time.

References

External links

Irish Traction Group home page
{{Heritage railways in the Republic of Ireland Heritage railways in the Republic of Ireland Carrick-on-Suir