Making an ‘E’ – the Maybach Diesel Model Assembly thread

[Mol_PMB]

You may have seen over on my other thread that I’ve been designing an etched ‘kit’ for an E401 class shunter in 4mm scale. I’ll document the build in this dedicated thread so that it’s self-contained and easier to find in future.

I've chosen this prototype partly because I like them and there is no kit option presently available and partly because, with none surviving, I suspect they will be a less appealing prototype for IRM to make. They're not the prettiest locos either, but as the largest class of 5'3" gauge shunters in Ireland they played an important part in railway history.

I've based my artwork on this official drawing, which is fairly well dimensioned and having checked them all it seems to be drawn to scale. I've also reviewed over 100 photos to work out the details not shown on the drawing, and where necessary I've scaled dimensions off the photos. So I can't claim perfection but the main dimensions are correct and we'll see in the test build whether it looks 'right'.

I have designed this model for myself, it’s not intended as a commercial venture. However, I could also make the etches available to others who would like to build one. This thread could also act as a set of instructions and will give forum members an idea of what’s involved in the construction. I could also consider a 7mm scale version - I've already had one expression of interest in that and I quite fancy a big one myself. 

For starters, here's the etch artwork that I've sent off to be made. I should be receiving the trial etch early next week:

This is just the bodywork and the 'functional' chassis will be a separate etch in a thicker material.

 

There were 19 locos in the E401 class, built at Inchicore in 1957-1958. Most survived into the 1970s but only a handful beyond 1975, and the last one was withdrawn in 1979.

The locos were all painted silver when new. From 1962, some received black and tan livery (without roundel); I think these were E402/403/405/406/412/415/419. Locos repainted from 1964 received black livery (with roundel) and this remained in use until the end. However, a few locos retained black and tan livery, and the regular Heuston pilot E402 was repainted in black and tan (with roundel) at some stage in the late 1960s and carried that livery until withdrawn in 1975. E412 also carried black and tan until at least 1975.

They were primarily used around Inchicore / Heuston / North Wall, but some ventured further afield including E414 based in Cork for some time, E410 trialled at Fenit and on the CBSCR, and another on the Harcourt Street-Bray line. Latterly their main duties were North Wall to Islandbridge transfer freights, and Heuston pilots. On the challenging route from North Wall to Islandbridge, they were thrashed mercilessly and when the 400hp E class were finally replaced with 141s, the permitted train load was reduced for a loco with more than twice the power!

The etch provides for several detail options to cover most of the class over their lifetime. The major visible variations are:

• Radiator side grilles (several variants)
• Small grille/panel below radiator grille on LHS (several variants)
• Removal of exhaust/silencer cowl on locos still in use in the mid-late 1970s
• Addition of emergency vacuum brake dump valve on cab backon locos still in use in the mid-late 1970s

Having looked at a lot of photos of these locos and the E421s, I've come to the conclusion that there are hardly any common features between these two outwardly-similar classes. If this project works out well I could consider doing an E421 as a follow-up if it doesn't feature in IRM's plans. However, it would be almost starting from scratch rather than a few minor tweaks.

Anyway, once the etch turns up next week, watch this space...

Mol

[David Holman]

Fascinating. Another form of scratchbuilding and every bit as worthy. Just looking at the art work makes my brain hurt!

[Patrick Davey]

Very interesting!  Good luck with what is an excellent project.

[exciecoachbuilder]

15 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

You may have seen over on my other thread that I’ve been designing an etched ‘kit’ for an E401 class shunter in 4mm scale. I’ll document the build in this dedicated thread so that it’s self-contained and easier to find in future.

I've chosen this prototype partly because I like them and there is no kit option presently available and partly because, with none surviving, I suspect they will be a less appealing prototype for IRM to make. They're not the prettiest locos either, but as the largest class of 5'3" gauge shunters in Ireland they played an important part in railway history.

I've based my artwork on this official drawing, which is fairly well dimensioned and having checked them all it seems to be drawn to scale. I've also reviewed over 100 photos to work out the details not shown on the drawing, and where necessary I've scaled dimensions off the photos. So I can't claim perfection but the main dimensions are correct and we'll see in the test build whether it looks 'right'.

I have designed this model for myself, it’s not intended as a commercial venture. However, I could also make the etches available to others who would like to build one. This thread could also act as a set of instructions and will give forum members an idea of what’s involved in the construction. I could also consider a 7mm scale version - I've already had one expression of interest in that and I quite fancy a big one myself. 

For starters, here's the etch artwork that I've sent off to be made. I should be receiving the trial etch early next week:

This is just the bodywork and the 'functional' chassis will be a separate etch in a thicker material.

 

There were 19 locos in the E401 class, built at Inchicore in 1957-1958. Most survived into the 1970s but only a handful beyond 1975, and the last one was withdrawn in 1979.

The locos were all painted silver when new. From 1962, some received black and tan livery (without roundel); I think these were E402/403/405/406/412/415/419. Locos repainted from 1964 received black livery (with roundel) and this remained in use until the end. However, a few locos retained black and tan livery, and the regular Heuston pilot E402 was repainted in black and tan (with roundel) at some stage in the late 1960s and carried that livery until withdrawn in 1975. E412 also carried black and tan until at least 1975.

They were primarily used around Inchicore / Heuston / North Wall, but some ventured further afield including E414 based in Cork for some time, E410 trialled at Fenit and on the CBSCR, and another on the Harcourt Street-Bray line. Latterly their main duties were North Wall to Islandbridge transfer freights, and Heuston pilots. On the challenging route from North Wall to Islandbridge, they were thrashed mercilessly and when the 400hp E class were finally replaced with 141s, the permitted train load was reduced for a loco with more than twice the power!

The etch provides for several detail options to cover most of the class over their lifetime. The major visible variations are:

• Radiator side grilles (several variants)
• Small grille/panel below radiator grille on LHS (several variants)
• Removal of exhaust/silencer cowl on locos still in use in the mid-late 1970s
• Addition of emergency vacuum brake dump valve on cab backon locos still in use in the mid-late 1970s

Having looked at a lot of photos of these locos and the E421s, I've come to the conclusion that there are hardly any common features between these two outwardly-similar classes. If this project works out well I could consider doing an E421 as a follow-up if it doesn't feature in IRM's plans. However, it would be almost starting from scratch rather than a few minor tweaks.

Anyway, once the etch turns up next week, watch this space...

Mol

Best of luck with this. The good old E class, the 'Scunthorpe united' of the diesel loco classes These loco's did all the shunting in Inchicore works, and for such a small engine they were incredibly powerful. I saw them shunting full length trains, including mk2's. I saw them pulling a line (albeit slowly, and blocking the main road that the tracks cross, for about half an hour) of disued loco's  A's, C's Sulzers etc from the siding beside diesel no1 in the works. In comparison to the GM sound, I thought the E's  sounded terrible, like a tractor ploughing a field... Paul.

 

[Mol_PMB]

Thanks for all the interest and support. 

In doing my research I was particularly inspired by these two photos in the Transport Treasury collection, which are very clear, sharp and well-lit photos of clean locos, and show the typical late 1950s silver, and late 1960s black condition:

The Transport Treasury | 1001-1997

The Transport Treasury | Ireland

For the cab end, and the third livery option, this shot by Jonathan Allen is also very clear:

E402 - Inchicore | 1972 and E402 has moved to Inchicore. She… | Flickr

There are quite a lot of photos of them after withdrawal at Mullingar, but often with parts missing, so they have to be interpreted carefully! In this photo again by Jonathan Allen we can see E403 and E408 with their final modifications - removal of the exhaust/silencer cowl and the addition of the vacuum brake dump valve pipework on the back of the cab:

E403 - Mullingar | The IRRS special made a brief lunch stop … | Flickr

In due course I'll post much longer list of Flickr photo links, which are very useful but many of them aren't so clear.

 

[Mayner]

A paper on the E401 & 421 Classes written from an drivers perspective by Dan Renehan appeared in an IRRS Journal during the late 70s/80s went into detail on the operation of both classes. The E401 Class were basically a "Southern" engine largly based at Inchacore, used on Kingsbridge pilot duties (Passenger & Goods) and for working Islandbridge Junction-North Wall Transfer Freights both as Train Engine & Banker. The E401s were replaced by 'main line' locos (often B101) as train engine on transfer freights and train loading reduced following a runaway at Island Bridge Junction after the brakes on a E401 failed while descending the grade from Cabra during the 1960s.

The raised silencer cowling (& silencer) was removed from the majority of the class following an exhaust fire occurred when one of the Class was working hard as Inchacore Works shunter. Apparrently oil tended to collect in the silencer resulting in a smoky exhaust and tendency to catch fire.  Ironically the loco that caught fire the last of the E401 Class to remain in service retained its silencer and exhaust cowl until scrapped.

The E421s appeared to be considered a "Northern" engine allocated mainly to Connolly used for shunting at Connolly & North Wall and North Wall-Liffey Junction Banking duties and do not appear to have been used to haul North Wall Transfer Freights.

Apparrently the hydraulic transmission on the E401 and E421 Classes were set up differently as a result of experience gained with the E401s. The transmission on the E401s was set up to allow the loco to accelerate and reverse direction quickly while shunting wagons while the E421 had a slower acceleration rate as a result of a high level of transmission wear experienced by the E401s shunting and operating transfer freights.  Perhaps a case for different DCC decoder accelleration rates for the sub classes..

One snippet from the Inchacore 150s book is that a German diesel engineer rumored to have 'jumped ship" from a German warship before WW11 assisted in CIEs dieselisation programme a photo in the book of an ex-works E424 is titled Hans Tomalie's "tank engine", which may reflect the "Works" view of the E Class as replacements of the GSWR tank locos used on similar duties,

[Mol_PMB]

Thanks John, it's a very good article with lots of personal insights from operating the locos, as well as the technical history. Reading that encouraged me to model the E401 and has been very useful in relating the modifications I've observed in photos to the technical details and the reasons for them.

The E401's stint on the North Wall transfer freights ended in 1974 and this work was reducing anyway with the transition from loose-coupled to liner trains. The major visible modifications you mention (exhaust/silencer cowl removal following E405's fire, also the emergency vacuum brake dump valve added following E410's collision with the buffers at Heuston while hauling the boat train, and E416's runaway with the Bell Liner) were applied around 1976, by which time many locos had been withdrawn. The mods were applied to most of those remaining in traffic (excluding E410) but that was a small proportion of the total fleet.

Other visible modifications were the radiator grilles, the access panel to the generator (under the radiator grille on the LHS) and the cutouts in the bufferbeams were I think mostly done for maintainability reasons rather than fundamental design changes. I'll try to illustrate these in this thread as we go forward.

Although mainly working in the Dublin area, members of E401 and E421 classes were allocated or worked elsewhere too - particularly in the Cork area which had 3 or 4 different E class over the years, but also Limerick, Shelton Abbey, Howth. They ventured elsewhere on odd occasions on trials (e.g. Newbridge, Harcourt St, Fenit, Courtmacsherry) or to rescue failed trains (Enfield), or even for filming purposes (Enniscorthy). They have been known to work passenger trains over short distances (Cork-Cobh once, and the Heuston-Dun Laoghaire boat train was in the Heuston pilot diagram at one stage).

[jhb171achill]

On 28/1/2025 at 10:20 AM, exciecoachbuilder said:

Best of luck with this. The good old E class, the 'Scunthorpe united' of the diesel loco classes These loco's did all the shunting in Inchicore works, and for such a small engine they were incredibly powerful. I saw them shunting full length trains, including mk2's. I saw them pulling a line (albeit slowly, and blocking the main road that the tracks cross, for about half an hour) of disued loco's  A's, C's Sulzers etc from the siding beside diesel no1 in the works. In comparison to the GM sound, I thought the E's  sounded terrible, like a tractor ploughing a field... Paul.

 

The two E421s at Downpatrick were referred to as the “tractors” there. I drove 421 a couple of times. I am not sure if the lads there dreamed that name up, or perhaps copied it from CIE men…

But yes, an apt label!

Mol - with an uneven wheelbase, what donor chassis do you propose?

[Mol_PMB]

2 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Mol - with an uneven wheelbase, what donor chassis do you propose?

The chassis is a challenge and I am proposing to design an etched chassis for use with commercially available gears such as those from High Level. It's a challenge though as there are different gauges and some people prefer compensation, suspension or rigid. I suspect I will try and cater for some options but it may be impractical do do all. I'm hoping that by the time I've built the body I will have the inspiration to design the chassis!

The wheelbase is 32mm + 20mm, so potentially one could use a 4-wheel motor bogie of either wheelbase and add an idler wheelset.

Another option is a German V60 diesel shunter in HO scale, this has a wheelbase of 2650+1750mm in reality, which in 1:87 scales down to 30.5mm + 20.1mm, not far off. It has rod drive but in 16.5mm gauge the rods may fit between (and be hidden by) the E class sideframes. Older V60 models can be picked up fairly cheaply and the pictured example below seems to have geared drive to all wheels so the rods could be removed. New releases are pricey!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/135522349633

Other ideas/suggestions welcome!

 

[jhb171achill]

2 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

The chassis is a challenge and I am proposing to design an etched chassis for use with commercially available gears such as those from High Level. It's a challenge though as there are different gauges and some people prefer compensation, suspension or rigid. I suspect I will try and cater for some options but it may be impractical do do all. I'm hoping that by the time I've built the body I will have the inspiration to design the chassis!

The wheelbase is 32mm + 20mm, so potentially one could use a 4-wheel motor bogie of either wheelbase and add an idler wheelset.

Another option is a German V60 diesel shunter in HO scale, this has a wheelbase of 2650+1750mm in reality, which in 1:87 scales down to 30.5mm + 20.1mm, not far off. It has rod drive but in 16.5mm gauge the rods may fit between (and be hidden by) the E class sideframes. Older V60 models can be picked up fairly cheaply and the pictured example below seems to have geared drive to all wheels so the rods could be removed. New releases are pricey!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/135522349633

Other ideas/suggestions welcome!

 

Rods could be removed, too, I presume.

[exciecoachbuilder]

12 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

The two E421s at Downpatrick were referred to as the “tractors” there. I drove 421 a couple of times. I am not sure if the lads there dreamed that name up, or perhaps copied it from CIE men…

But yes, an apt label!

Mol - with an uneven wheelbase, what donor chassis do you propose?

That's interesting Jonathan, thanks for that info.

6 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

The two E421s at Downpatrick were referred to as the “tractors” there. I drove 421 a couple of times. I am not sure if the lads there dreamed that name up, or perhaps copied it from CIE men…

But yes, an apt label!

Mol - with an uneven wheelbase, what donor chassis do you propose?

 

[Mol_PMB]

3 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Rods could be removed, too, I presume.

I think they could on the old Fleischmann V60 model because all 3 axles seem to be gear-driven. Not sure about the newer V60 models - they may rely on the rods to transmit power.

My main focus for the chassis is going to be an etched one to scale, but I'll keep an eye out for RTR donor options.

 

 

[Mol_PMB]

While I'm waiting for the etch to be produced, I've been updating my livery matrix and photo lists. Here's the livery matrix for the E401 class:

The liveries carried were:

1. Silver, with large green numerals on cabsides and both ends, no snail, red bufferbeams.
2. Black and tan, without roundel, white vee on ends and white stripe at bonnet-top, large numerals on cabsides and both ends, red bufferbeams.
3. Black, with roundel on bonnet sides, white vee on ends, small numerals on side of cab and bonnet, large numerals on ends, red bufferbeams, colour-coded pipework
4. Black and tan, as (2) but with roundel

It appears that none were painted green.

 

Also, attached to this thread, is an Excel spreadsheet containing links/references to over 100 photos of the E401 class, including all class members. The dates range from construction (alongside CC1) in the 1950s to destruction by gas-axe in the 1980s. Despite that range and the quantity of photos, some of the class were very camera-shy. I expect that some locos spent long periods out of use, before they were officially stopped.

 

E401_photolist.xlsx

[jhb171achill]

6 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

 

It appears that none were painted green.

E401_photolist.xlsx
21.56 kB · 0 downloads

Correct. The only smaller diesels ever to be green were the original trio of G601 class (lighter green only) and the D class (lined dark green when new, lighter green later). 
 

The G611s and E421s were black / black’n’tan from new.

 

[Mol_PMB]

3 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Correct. The only smaller diesels ever to be green were the original trio of G601 class (lighter green only) and the D class (lined dark green when new, lighter green later). 
 

The G611s and E421s were black / black’n’tan from new.

 

G611s arrived in green but were painted BnT before entering service?

[jhb171achill]

5 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

G611s arrived in green but were painted BnT before entering service?

Correct. Never turned a wheel in green. 

[Mol_PMB]

Let's start looking at some of the detail differences, and I'll start with a complex one in the hope that someone else will know something!

At the front of the loco was the radiator, with a grille each side and a fan on the top. We'll come to the radiator grilles later. Underneath the radiator, on the left hand side of the loco, was the generator, belt-driven from the end of the engine. Below the radiator grille on the left hand side, some locos had a removable access panel for the generator, some had a small grille, and some had plain sheeting.

In black livery, the difference between these is more obvious than you might think because it affects the positioning of the painted number in this area. In the other liveries, the presence of the panel itself is quite obvious.

There aren't enough good photos of the LHS of the locos to make definite conclusions, but I think I've found a pattern.

Have a look at this photo from Ernie, at Inchicore in the mid 1960s:

• Nearest, below the radiator grille, E402 has a removable panel with two handles and bolts round the edge.
• Then, E417 just has plain sheeting in this area, no access panel or grille.
• Next, E418 isn't very clear but the positioning of the number in this area suggests that it's like E417, a plain sheet.
• Finally, the fourth loco (unidentifiable but I can probably narrow it down to E415 or E419) has a louvred grille in this position.

Careful study of many other photos has found that:

• In the earlier silver livery period, E403, E408 had the 'removable panel with two handles', whilst E407 had a removable panel without handles.
• In later years, the 'removable panel with two handles' was seen on E402, E403, E408, E410, E411, E412. E407 retained its panel without handles.

 

• E414 when new in silver had the louvred grille, by far the best view is this IRRS one by Sean O'Brien at Cork in 1961: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511885685/ I have taken a tiny crop to show the grille:

• E419 in black had the grille too, as did one of the locos in BnT livery (in the distance in Ernie's photo above)
• In later years, the 'plain sheeting' was seen on E413, E417, E418.

 

So my assumption is that:

• E401-E412 were built with the removable panel. Most had two handles (possibly added a bit later to make the panel easier to hold), but E407 never got the handles.
• E413-E419 were built with the grille, but in most cases it was plated over with plain sheeting later in life.

 

The basic etch comes with the grille. That can be cut out and replaced with parts (also on the etch) to represent the removable panel, with or without handles.

 

P.S. How's my OCD diagnosis doing?

Edited Wednesday at 18:03 by Mol_PMB
PS

[Horsetan]

34 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

....How's my OCD diagnosis doing?

It's up there with Father Ted looking for landmarks in Ireland's largest lingerie department. 

[Mol_PMB]

Now let's cast our eyes upwards a bit to the radiator grilles themselves. As built on all 19 locos these were louvred in three panels, matching the style of the louvres in the bonnet side doors.

Nicely illustrated in this photo by Ernie, and on this Transport Treasury photo: https://www.transporttreasury.com/jim-flint-jim-harbart-1001-1997/hab80c1ff#hab80c1ff

These grilles seem to have been fixed in place, which would have made it awkward to inspect and maintain the radiators. Maybe they were supposed to be accessible from the door on the nose, or by removing part of the bonnet top.

Photos indicate that most locos carried the original grilles until about 1962/3, and they were then replaced. E405 received a replacement grille while still in silver livery, and I haven't seen any photos of locos in BnT or black liveries with the original grilles - most were probably renewed at the same overhauls when the locos were repainted.

The replacement type of grille is shown very clearly in Ernie's photo of E415 here, quite freshly repainted in BnT. Rather than being flush with the bonnet side, the grille is a separate component with a raised frame around it, and a fine mesh grille. This type of grille seems to have been fitted to most or all of the class:

Variants on this included some locos with grilles partially blanked off, such as E402 here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53506934384/

Or with even more blanked off, such as E417 in my previous post, or completely blanked off as E403 in a Casserley photo. I suspect the blanking plates may have been a seasonal thing.

The other extreme was no grille at all, and no frame around the hole. E404 seems to have been like this for some years - you can see inside to the radiator panels themselves here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/54255280788/

 

The bonnet etch contains the original louvred grille, but this can be cut out and the later type of grille is provided as an overlay.

The etch also provides a partially blanked off option, as on E402, and a set of plain frames to help you do your own thing for the grille.

If you want to do E404 then you'll have to add the interior details yourself!

 

[Patrick Davey]

Impressive research as always @Mol_PMB - looking forward to seeing lots of excellent models developing from your considerable efforts.

[Mol_PMB]

E416 is one of the camera-shy locos, and looking again at this photo (the only one I have found, and that was today) I've just realised it has a different livery variant from everything else, so my livery matrix is wrong...

Seen here in 1972 on the RPSI website: https://www.steamtrainsireland.com/members/galleries/68/eblana-railtour-1972

This is black with white vee at each end. But it has no roundel on the side, and a large number on the cabside. It's an intermediate livery like a few of the black A and C class had, including A55 modelled by IRM.

A 'normal' black E401 class would have a roundel and the side number would be smaller, and on both the cab and the bonnet, as shown in this nice view of E407 by David Heath in 1964:

Another modification is also visible by comparing these two photos. As-built the locos had plain rectangular bufferbeams as seen on E407 (1964), but around 1970 they had notches cut in the bottom near each end, as seen on E416 (1972). I think this was so that they could be lifted more easily by crane. As the locos aged they seemed prone to axle failure and this simple mod may have been driven by the need to lift them more often.

Here's a photo of the other end of E407 in 1970 with the notch looking newly-cut, and the paint not even touched up afterwards:

http://www.hatspics.co.uk/photo_expanded.php?id=7008035
E402's notches look a bit neater in this 1972 photo by Jonathan Allen at Inchicore:

I think all the locos still in traffic in 1970 received these notches.

The model etch has half-etched notches in the back face of the bufferbeams and they can be filed out to represent the later condition.

[MD220]

The 421 class had lifting eyes which pivoted out from recesses behind the buffer beams, perhaps this was a lesson learned from difficulties in lifting the 401s !

[Mol_PMB]

Thanks! That useful bit of info supports my theory about the cutouts being for lifting. That theory was based purely on my experience of lifting other types of locos and rolling stock. 
It’s odd that the E401s had plenty of lightweight lifting eyes for the bonnet and exhaust covers, yet no good provision for lifting the whole loco. Perhaps some bright spark thought it wouldn’t need maintenance! 

[Mol_PMB]

Today's progress has been an email discussion with Iain at 4Dmodelshop to perfect the artwork - a few extra tabs needed to maintain structural integrity of the etch, and a couple of holes changed to half-etch again to strengthen the etch in production. Iain's really good with this - as ever there's a balance between how many tabs are needed for production purposes, vs how many need to be cut and filed back in building the model.

I have also placed some orders for the fairly small number of parts that can't be etched, as follows:

• Horns and windscreen wipers from A1 models
• Axlebox castings, handrail knobs, various bearings from Wizard models
• A selection of gears, gearboxes, motors and suspension parts from High Level models
• Buffers from Sutton Loco Works (it's really hard to find good large 4mm scale buffers these days - they're out of stock everywhere)

I'm hoping that with some parts in front of me, I'll be able to finalise the chassis design. I think I've nearly mastered the 21mm gauge version (which is the one I want) but I appreciate the need to find an OO gauge solution too.

I still need to source some 2mm diameter axle material, and probably some wheels too, though they can be standard wagon wheels.

It's probably way too early to think about paint and transfers!

 

I think I am going to start by building the trial etch as a silver one in original condition, probably E410 although E414 is also appealing.

If I need to do some revisions and test-build again, I may do a black one, possibly go to the other end of their life and implement the mid-1970s modifications.

[Mol_PMB]

Talking of the mid-1970s modifications, the externally visible ones were the removal of the exhaust/silencer and its cowl, and the fitting of the emergency vacuum brake dump valve pipework on the back of the cab.

These mods were only applied to the locos still in traffic at the time (E403/4/8/9/12/14 but not E410), and photos of them in use with these mods are very hard to find. There aren't even that many photos of them after withdrawal.

The best view post-withdrawal is this photo on Flickr by Jonathan Allen, showing E403 and E408 with the pipes on the cab back and the exhaust cowl removed:

Murray Liston took a similar view from a slightly higher angle:

From the IRRS archive, here's E408 in use at Heuston with the vac dump valve pipework just visible:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511291856/

And from Jonathan Allen again, E413 with the exhaust cowl removed, at Inchicore. Interestingly E413 isn't on the list of locos with this modification, and may never have re-entered traffic?

Here's E412 with the exhaust cowl removed, and still in use:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511278573

There are several more photos of E403 as well:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53569588917/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53509328774/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53570446021/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishrailwayarchive/53511614884/

And this of E414:

https://www.geograph.ie/photo/2856680

If anyone can point me towards more photos of the modified locos I'd be really pleased to see them. Especially a better view of the pipes on the back of the cab, or the cropped exhaust outlet on the bonnet top.