For ME this was the Enterprise

[Flying Scotsman 4472]

I didn't want to hijack Boskonay's layout thread.

 

http://www.irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/4-Amiens-Street-Terminus?p=16917#post16917

 

201boy raised the question of the enterprise so here she is in all her glory just as I remember her. For me this was the Enterprise. Today's 201's and DD's just don't have the same character or appeal for me. If only we could turn back time

 

 

Edited December 3, 2012 by Anthony

[Robert Davies]

That is (was) one mighty fine looking and sounding train.

 

<sigh>

[BabyGM]

Great video you can just see the Boyne viaduct in the background

[Dave]

Nice video

[NIRCLASS80]

Great video, thanks for the link

[201bhoy]

Oh no I admit that I would prefer these to a 201 and DDs but I'd take the Enterprise over some mk4 rubbish any day! Had a brilliant ride down to Dublin once behind 111 and the Gatwicks!

[WRENNEIRE]

Had a brilliant ride down to Dublin once behind 111 and the Gatwicks!

 

Any pics of her:x

[201bhoy]

Any pics of her:x

 

Nah I was 8! My first experience on the Gatwicks!

[jhb171achill]

I'm afraid on oul wan like me would have to hark back to the days of a hotch potch of park royals, laminates, cravens and bredins, no two identical, with an "A" or (much less often) a "pair" up front! Steak dinner in a swaying 24xx dining car, with a dribbly-spout teapot....

[heirflick]

I'm afraid on oul wan like me would have to hark back to the days of a hotch potch of park royals, laminates, cravens and bredins, no two identical, with an "A" or (much less often) a "pair" up front! Steak dinner in a swaying 24xx dining car, with a dribbly-spout teapot....

 

youre an ould romantic at heart J! the enterprise for me was a maroon liveried hun and coaches - seen when i wasnt 2 hands higher than a duck, holding on to my Dads hand in Malahide station! its an image i will never forget.....memories!

[201bhoy]

youre an ould romantic at heart J! the enterprise for me was a maroon liveried hun and coaches - seen when i wasnt 2 hands higher than a duck, holding on to my Dads hand in Malahide station! its an image i will never forget.....memories!

 

Lol I remember sitting at Finaghy station in the car eating a happy meal with the football on the radio when I was about five... waiting for the enterprise to rush through! Those were the days!

[heirflick]

a happy meal? i was lucky to have a hairy bacon sambo with the hairs still on...could have been my dads eyelashes but i didnt care - it was Gorgeous

Edited December 7, 2012 by heirflick

[patrick]

In the mid seventies my family would spend a week at Butlin's Mosney every summer. My favourite attraction there was not the rides or swimming pools but the view of the Dublin Belfast main line from the comfortable first floor lounge near the billiard room. There was a lot of freight in those days, bulk and bagged cement, mostly behind B class Metro-Vics, Guiness liners and loose coupled goods. One day an A class and some coaches all painted black and lettered SNCF passed by. I later learned it was used in filming a Pink Panther movie on the Kingscourt branch. The highlight was always the NIR Enterprise in maroon livery and Hunslet's fore and aft. That will always be my favourite Enteprise.

[heirflick]

 

never knew they ran like that....anyone a pic of this formation?

[jhb171achill]

Ah yes! The double ended Enterprise. A relative of mine was in the UTA when initial talk was of these three engines being ordered from Hunslet, the plans having been made about the time of the handover to NIR. The loco people wanted 141s, citing the good track record on CIE and the compatibility of same. But the politicial masters insisted on buying a British loco. British, or American, or not, the engines had no precedent and therefore were something of an experiment to the fledgling NIR. Thus, like many prototypes they were found to be somewhat underpowered for a heavy Enterprise, so partly for this reason and partly to assist turn-round at termini*, the train was initially topped and tailed, usually by 101 and 102. When loadings were light, and also in later days when the trio became less reliable due to operating flat out (sound familiar?), one loco only was more normal, pushing one way and pulling the other.

 

(* In pre-Hunslet days, the Enterprise in the recent past had been railcars, 70 class and prior to that AEC / BUT sets, so running round the Enterprise had already become something of a past event).

 

The sound of a topped and tailed train at full pelt was something to remember, like a pair of 121's with a heavy beet climbing up to Ballycullane.....

[Mayner]

I always preferred the maroon livery, the blue and grey just looked so bland.

 

The new train was a total surprise the first time I took a look inside Amiens Street some time around 1970, 7-8 years later I used to watch the 17:30 to Belfast climbing through Killester while waiting on the bus home from work.

[heirflick]

come on lads....someone must have a pic of that formation!!

[Eiretrains]

Check out Markle's Northern Ireland Railways Archives Vo.1 & 2 and NIR Then & Now DVDs which show the maroon Hunslets 'top & tailing', as well as operating single. Btw I likewise like the maroon livery, and if an 80 Class ended up at Downpatrick I'd like to see it in that livery.

[jhb171achill]

Eiretrains, you never know what you might see at Downpatrick in the future!! :-) Yes, I prefer the maroon and blue too. The light blue and grey, and the lighter blue on Hunslets (and, for that matter, 111s) was somewhat drab. Interesting to speculate what a trio of 181s would have looked like in maroon, if NIR had gone for them!

[Flying Scotsman 4472]

It's very interesting looking at the various generations of members. A lot of the older generations its the maroon and blue and as they get younger they come down the liveries to the present day. It good to see a lot of memories been recalled I think the nicest is heir flicks story with his father. Any more stories or memories out there about the Enterprise please share.

[heirflick]

jhb, one of the lads here might be able to photoshop one if we ask nicely!

Edited December 10, 2012 by heirflick

[Flying Scotsman 4472]

jhb, one of the lads here might be able to phptoshop one if we ask nicely!

 

Seamus I think there might be footage on YouTube somewhere

[jhb171achill]

True, Anthony. I know there are several here beyond my time; and also a few younger than my youngest offspring... which is great. That's what is so good about this hobby, and of railways in general. I spent last evening in the company of a friend whose dad and my own dad would have known each other on IRRS trips in the fifties.... my nephew is now involved with real-life preservation and also has a black'n'tan era layout.....

[jhb171achill]

Ah Heirflick, a photo shopped 141 / 181 (or a 121?) in NIR Enterprise maroon would be a REAL talking point!

[201bhoy]

It's very interesting looking at the various generations of members. A lot of the older generations its the maroon and blue and as they get younger they come down the liveries to the present day. It good to see a lot of memories been recalled I think the nicest is heir flicks story with his father. Any more stories or memories out there about the Enterprise please share.

 

I suppose my story was a little less glamorous...

[Hunslet 102]

Hunslet in maroon was the only livery for these classic locomotives.A full set with a locomotive top and tail is a sight to behold.As mentioned,the Markle range of DVDs has some great footage of the Enterprise down through the years.They also have great footage of the CIE Enterprise,from the mixed bag of Cravens,Laminates,Park Royals etc to A class with mk2s in Supertrain livery.

[Guest hidden-agenda]

I was at the Downpatrick railway on Sunday visiting Santa and in a glass case in the new gallery is an O gauge Hunslet. Unfortunately the train arrived into the platform and the girls wanted to get a seat so i only got a fleeting look at this model so if your up at Downpatrick get a look at this it looks a brilliant job.

[jhb171achill]

Hidden Agenda, that's an officially made model by / for NIR - very accurate in al details and a must to see for anyone modelling one of these engines.

[Guest hidden-agenda]

I only got a fleeting glance at it John but once i get down for look about with-out the clan i can have a bit of time to study it. The gallery is excellent and well lit but my only wish it to see a full compliment of preserved diesels. Who knows may-be a 121 or C class at some stage ( wishful thinking) might take a holiday up here.

Regards Gareth.

[jhb171achill]

Yes, that would be good and is a work in progress. The DCDR has a long-standing very good relationship with the ITG in such matters. The ITG owns (as you would know) 4 of the 7 diesels there, and a future visit of a "C" class or a "121" would certainly be do-able. Personally, I'd love to see a C there (or should that be to C a see?).

[islandbridgejct]

April 1973 or thereabouts. My granny used to bring me to Malahide on a Friday evening. She said the twigs pointed up to heaven in Spring time. There'd be an up cement, down push-pull, down semi-fast to Dundalk, and then, about 5.40, the signals would clear again, the blue and maroon trailer would appear beyond the quarry sidings, stream under the bridge, wheels beating on the rail joints, quick count - 8 coaches, and then the Hunslet at the back would roar through the station, shattering the peace, whirling leaves and papers in its wake, and rock out across the estuary. It was twice as loud as anything CIE ran and the silence seemed to seep slowly back into the vacuum it left behind it. I was 6 years old, and that was the Enterprise.

 

Alan

[jhb171achill]

What a description! Just brings it back... yes, those locos had an amazing sound, especially when just one was on, it would have raised the roof!

 

The last run I ever had with one was with a 3-coach Mk2 push-pull in early 1990, when it picked me up at Botanic and deposited me a Lambeg. It was on an all stops Bangor to Portadown and even then it was an extreme rarity, as it was hardly ever in traffic, still less on a passenger train. By that stage it was faded blue, shorn of nameplates, and a sorry sight. I heard that on arrival in Portadown that evening it failed. I am not sure if it ever ran after that, but if it did, I'd say it was back to its irregular stints as Adelaide shunter.

[Kirley]

Painting a picture with words Islandbridgejct, you are a poet if you didn’t know it

[islandbridgejct]

Thanks Kirley, but I should probably stick to the words too. I'm on my 5th attempt at a convertible van in plasticard - bought 3 from Des and they're lovely but then decided I couldn't have white metal filings and scrapings around the house after the trouble we went to to get rid of the lead paint. So the first one's too long. The second's too short. The third is just right, but the arc on the roof is wrong. Finally got the arc right by filing a piece of brass to the right shape and using it as a template. Now the floor is too low, or do I mean too high...

 

I actually preferred the 071s - I loved the high whine of the turbo, and still do - with a rake of ACs, but they didn't come until later (the CIE set had a 001 and Cravens), and they weren't really 'the Enterprise' either.

 

About 3 years ago we were out for a walk by the Royal Canal and I heard a low throbbing sound in the distance, just on the edge of hearing. Train coming I thought, and listened again, but couldn't hear anything, just the wind in the bare branches, but it kept coming back - a distant rumble almost out of earshot. Then it picked up and eventually after 4 or 5 minutes an 071 came into view with 10 or 20 timber on, rumbling away at about 25 miles an hour. Whether it's whining to itself on a siding at Limerick Junction, pitching up and down as it sways along the main into Portmarnock, or grumbling along with any freight that's thrown at it, accept no alternative.

 

Anyway, NIR painted them a funny colour but you always knew they were the real deal underneath it.

 

Alan

[jhb171achill]

I saw someone photoshop one into lined NCC maroon one time - looked well believe ot or not!