AllThingsDiesel

Wait until you hear about 071!

Today, 22036 performed the 09:00 and 21:00 from Belfast Grand Central to Dublin Connolly.

This is the first time an 071 has worn this livery since 087 held onto it up until its refurbishment in 2013! Credit: Eiretrains

I did a little more research on the Executive Mark 3s (7161 and 7162): 7161 & 7162 are two IÉ Mark 3 coaches built as 72-seat Standard Opens by BREL in 1987 and were converted to Executive carriages in 1992. They are notable as the two Mark 3 Executive coaches and for their "Wine Red" colour instead of the typical standard orange. In January 2003, 7161 was repainted orange, and 7162 received the same treatment a month later in February. I believe during 7162's repaint, the other half of the carriage, which was initially an open area, had more seats fitted to it. 7161's last outing was during a Wexford Opera special from Dublin Connolly to Wexford on the 31st of May 2007. The consist went as follows: 073 + 7120 + 7401 + 7157 + 7156 + 7162 + 7161 + 7603. 7162 was later marshalled as a standard in the International Mark 3 set for about a year before the rake was withdrawn (April 2008); its last recorded outing was on the 15th of April 2008. The consist went as follows: 7162 + 7119 + 7109 + 7128 + 7401 + 7606. I can't find any info of when they were refurbished and reupholstered, although it's known that the first one took place in either 1995 or 1996. I've also noticed that Restaurant car No. 7401 would often be paired with the Executive carriages.

29008 and another set made up for the 11:50 Credit: Ciarán Mac Aodha on Facebook

The line has since reopened, and a 29000 Class will operate the 11:50 Connolly-Belfast and 15:00 Belfast-Connolly.

On another note, the last time a Mark 3 Suburban/Push-Pull set was ever used was on the 09:15 Galway-Heuston service, pushed by 201 Class No. 234 "River Aherlow" and led by 6104. This occurred on the 3rd of June 2009. The consist ran as (from front-to-rear) 6104 + 6319 + 6303 + 6314 + 6312 + 6318 + 234. The last time the Mark 3s were ever used in regular service was the 13:45 Heuston-Cork, hauled by 201 Class No. 219 "River Tolka". This occurred on the 21st of September 2009. The consist ran as (from front-to-rear) 219 + 7602 + 7168 + 7407 + 7157 + 7144 + 7143 + 7115.

Very much so!

Adding onto my existing post... BREL built the following: Standards 7101–7144 Buffets 7401-7405 EGV 7601–7607 Inchicore built the following: Standards 7145–7172 Buffets 7406-7413 EGV 7608–7615 Push-pull/Suburbans 6301–6319 DVT 6101–6105 Belmond Grand Hibernian: 87104 "Carlow" ex 7601 EGV - BREL 81170 "Donegal" Crew Sleeper ex Mainline 7130 - BREL 87001 "Fermanagh" Sleeper ex Mainline 7116 - BREL 87002 "Leitrim" Sleeper ex Mainline 7158 - Inchicore 87003 "Waterford" Sleeper ex Mainline 7129 - BREL 87004 "Down" Sleeper ex Mainline 7149 - Inchicore 87005 "Kerry" Sleeper ex Mainline 7137 - BREL 87101 "Sligo" Restaurant ex Mainline 7171 - Inchicore 87102 "Wexford" Restaurant ex Mainline 7169 - Inchicore 87103 "Kildare" Observation ex Mainline 7104 - BREL 7122 was a spares donor and was eventually scrapped in May 2022.

Found this on Facebook!

Hi, just curious - has much happened since the last post?

Looks great so far. What kind of freight would run on the line? Intermodal/container trains?

Very nice! I would always see those wagons when going past Enfield station. Glad to see they've found a second life!