For anyone who likes Irish traction, the Irish Traction Group may be of interest to you. It currently owns 12 heritage diesels, 4 in working order (based at Downpatrick & County Down Railway in Northern Ireland) and 2 more well on course to being operational.
The ITG has recently created a facebook and twitter account to provide up-to-date info on the groups activities. If you fancy joining or getting involved by volunteering, feel free to contact the group for further info.
In the interest of transparency, I should declare an interest in being a member and volunteer with ITG. Keeping things relevant, if you want Irish rolling stock for Trainz, domsarto has been slowly building up a number of fantastic Trainz items, including the General Motors (EMD) 141 class. The 141 uses photo textures and custom sound files from the ITG's operational 141.
Briefly, for anyone interested or unaware of the Iarnród Éireann GMs, the 141 class is a descendant of the more common GL8 'switcher' locomotive. IÉ (at the time known as CIÉ) ordered 15 GL8s from GM which constituted the 121 class. They differed from the standard export model in having a far higher cab to aid driver sightlines as CIÉ had a requirement for two way running. Despite this, a 121 was involved in a minor collision with a PW vehicle and the decision was then made to operate the 121s in tandem, with a cab at each end.
Given the reliability and avialability of the 121, CIÉ ordered a further 37 locos from GM, the JL8 (141 class). Mechanically, these were essentially the same as the GL8 but had double cabs and braking on all wheels, the 121 only having brakes on 2 wheels on each bogie. The 141 class also proved extremely reliable and CIÉ went on to purchase 12 JL18 (181 class) and 21 JT22CW (071 class) from GM.
The only locos operating on Irish rails these days are all GM built (071s and 201s). The 071s are now 36 years old and still providing regular service on frieght and PW services.
The ITG has recently created a facebook and twitter account to provide up-to-date info on the groups activities. If you fancy joining or getting involved by volunteering, feel free to contact the group for further info.
In the interest of transparency, I should declare an interest in being a member and volunteer with ITG. Keeping things relevant, if you want Irish rolling stock for Trainz, domsarto has been slowly building up a number of fantastic Trainz items, including the General Motors (EMD) 141 class. The 141 uses photo textures and custom sound files from the ITG's operational 141.
Briefly, for anyone interested or unaware of the Iarnród Éireann GMs, the 141 class is a descendant of the more common GL8 'switcher' locomotive. IÉ (at the time known as CIÉ) ordered 15 GL8s from GM which constituted the 121 class. They differed from the standard export model in having a far higher cab to aid driver sightlines as CIÉ had a requirement for two way running. Despite this, a 121 was involved in a minor collision with a PW vehicle and the decision was then made to operate the 121s in tandem, with a cab at each end.
Given the reliability and avialability of the 121, CIÉ ordered a further 37 locos from GM, the JL8 (141 class). Mechanically, these were essentially the same as the GL8 but had double cabs and braking on all wheels, the 121 only having brakes on 2 wheels on each bogie. The 141 class also proved extremely reliable and CIÉ went on to purchase 12 JL18 (181 class) and 21 JT22CW (071 class) from GM.
The only locos operating on Irish rails these days are all GM built (071s and 201s). The 071s are now 36 years old and still providing regular service on frieght and PW services.