G class on passenger duty

[Turin60]

Coaches seem something of a hot topic at the moment, and much as I dislike coaches (particularly the building of them, and painting, and fitting out, and..........) having seen a photo from 1974 of a G class on a passenger service at Dunsandle I've got to ask, what sort of time window were G class used on passenger workings (I know the early ones weren't as they were not vacuum fitted).

The period I'm interested in would be the early 60's or would this be too early for them to be given such tasks, but if they were at this time what sort of passenger stock would be used? Something ancient found in some long forgotten corner of the rail system or a more modern vehicle with a modicum of comfort, I can say that a 6 wheeled coach gives a better ride than 4 wheels anytime, proved on the Mid Suffolk Railway last month (I'm not that old!).

John Bruce.

[leslie10646]

Well,  @jhb171achill, you've written the history of the line?

[Westcorkrailway]

There was an excursion to Castleisland in 1967 that made use of coaches. There was a special coach for the loughrea branch which meant it didn’t need a heating van. I’ve seen a photo on the IRRS page as early as 1964 with a G on a mixed train with the loughrea coach (still in green)

 

 

 

[Mayner]

A G611 was used for a short time on the Limerick-Foynes mixed train before the service was withdrawn in April 1963, though the last train was hauled by a B101 Class 'Birmingham Sulzer.

There are a number of September 1962 photos of G612 on the mixed in "Rails Through North Kerry" JHB, Barry Carse Colourpoint. The passenger accomodation on G612s train appears to be an ex-MGWR 6w 4 Compt 1st, there are photos of 36m a 6W Brake Comp (former Slip Coach) on the mided during the 50s.

G612 was introduced on the Loughrea Branch in February 1963 with Laminate Brake Second 1910 of 1959 converted to composite and fitted with storage heaters as the regular branch coach. Interestingly 1910 continued to run in late 50s green livery following its introduction on the branch while G613At one stage (1974?) Mixed train working was abolished on the Loughrea Branch replaced by separate passenger good/freight workings. Two G Class were allocated to the Branch with G613 working pasenger trains and G613 double heading and early afternoon goods with G611 to Attymon and back!

Final trains on the Loughrea branch were worked by B201 Class, apparently because of the poor state of the track.

Interestingly there seem to have been G611 Class goods and passenger liveries. G612 & 613 ran in the 1960s black and tan livery, while the G611 and possibly G617 ran in a simplified mainly black and white scheme.

Edited Friday at 12:05 by Mayner

[Jonathan Allen]

6 hours ago, Mayner said:

G612 was introduced on the Loughrea Branch in February 1963

4 February 1963 according to "Baronial Line of the MGWR" (TRA 1972 - reprint and update eagerly awaited).

[jhb171achill]

As others mention, a G with a specially adapted modern laminate brake (No 1910 of 1959) took over from steam and an old wooden composite in early ‘63. The G611 class (as you say, never the earlier three because they had no vac brakes) worked most trains but alternated with the C / B201 class on busy days. Of the seven, G611, 613, 615 and 616 seem to have been the most common, but 614 the least. 

By spring 1975 the G class were being sidelined and most of the remaining months had B201s. 141s and even a 181 made rate appearances, but increasing ones in the last year. Had the line survived, 1975 would have been the last year for the Gs anyway; so your period is 1963-75. 

The book is complete and has been awaiting publication for some time now. Hopefully this year. 

Six wheeled passenger stock was finally retired from service the same time the Gs started at Loughrea. The only stock they ever hauled was thus modern, on the Loughrea branch. Coach 1910 was replaced by a similar vehicle, 1904, a couple of years before closure following damage sustained during a rough shunt at Loughrea.

Even though a G never even saw a six-wheeler at Loughrea, for the few months one was trialled earlier on the Foynes branch, the passenger accommodation on that line was a single elderly MGWR brake third six-wheeler. 
 

 

[west_clare_wanderer]

4 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

As others mention, a G with a specially adapted modern laminate brake (No 1910 of 1959) took over from steam and an old wooden composite in early ‘63. The G611 class (as you say, never the earlier three because they had no vac brakes) worked most trains but alternated with the C / B201 class on busy days. Of the seven, G611, 613, 615 and 616 seem to have been the most common, but 614 the least. 

By spring 1975 the G class were being sidelined and most of the remaining months had B201s. 141s and even a 181 made rate appearances, but increasing ones in the last year. Had the line survived, 1975 would have been the last year for the Gs anyway; so your period is 1963-75. 

The book is complete and has been awaiting publication for some time now. Hopefully this year. 

Six wheeled passenger stock was finally retired from service the same time the Gs started at Loughrea. The only stock they ever hauled was thus modern, on the Loughrea branch. Coach 1910 was replaced by a similar vehicle, 1904, a couple of years before closure following damage sustained during a rough shunt at Loughrea.

Even though a G never even saw a six-wheeler at Loughrea, for the few months one was trialled earlier on the Foynes branch, the passenger accommodation on that line was a single elderly MGWR brake third six-wheeler. 
 

 

 

Thanks very much JB. That's absolutely fascinating. 

 

4 hours ago, jhb171achill said:

The book is complete and has been awaiting publication for some time now. Hopefully this year. 

I cannot wait! 

[flange lubricator]

With the arrival of the Park Royals this week here is the only picture I have seen of them with a G class a good size train for a G class a HV (heating Van ) ,PR coach ,LV (luggage Van and two 12 Ton covered wagons ,

[Mayner]

The Foynes mixed is an interesting one.

There was an article about a journey behind a J15 on the mixed in one of the British (steam era) railway magazines, the writer a visiting enthusiast appears to have been the sole passenger boarding at Limerick. 

It appears that the Mixed may have usually departed the goods yard unless passengers were travelling, our passenger was escorted by a member of staff to the end of a platform and instructed to wait while the staff member walked up the yard to fetch the loco & coach!

Loco and coach arrived at platform end to pick up our passenger, then propelled/reversed back towards the Check Cabin coupling onto its train, propelling the whole train back until it was clear of the junction with the Foynes/North Kerry line before departing for Foynes rather than using the "Direct Curve' that allowed trains to run between the passenger station and the North Kerry without reversal.

Must have been seeing things when I looked at several photos of a G611 on the Foynes Mixed (1962) in Rails through North Kerry it was G611 not 612! and it seems G611 had a re-paint (maybe partial) at some stage between 1962 & 67 loosing the tan element of her livery.

6w Brake Comp 36m the regular branch coach during the 1950s, a 4 Compt Atock 6w coach (possibly comp or 1st) appears in the 1962 photos of G611 on the mixed at Foynes and Askeaton. Without guards/brake compt were parcels/mails conveyed in a passenger compartment. Interestingly in the Askeaton photo the train was made up of G611, ex-Midland 6w coach, ex-GN bagged cement wagon, CIE KN (long) cattle wagon & ex-GN 20T goods brake. Bulleid open coupled behind the coach in the photo departing? mixed at Foynes. Solid rakes of Bullied opens behind and in the loop alongside (sheeted) the mixed at Foynes a fertiliser factory was a major source of traffic at Foynes before NET Shelton Abbey came on line during the mid 1960s

 

 

[Mol_PMB]

G class hauled railtours to Fenit and Castleisland which included Park Royals IIRC. Will check my library next week. 2 separate occasions and different locos / rakes I think. 

[Mol_PMB]

7th Sept 1963 G617 to both Castleisland and Fenit, several pics in IRRS Flickr including this one:

https://flic.kr/p/2qEvmLM

2 coaches and a tin van, including a green Park Royal. 

 

3rd Sept 1967 G611 to Castleisland, again several pics in the IRRS Flickr including this one:

https://flic.kr/p/2pBSLXY

1 coach and a tin van. 

[jhb171achill]

Yes, a couple of IRRS specials indeed. The pic above at Attymon showing a Park Royal and two tin vans would be on a day when the regular coach was away for servicing in Galway. When that happened, once every two weeks or so, they sent something like this. More usually it was a laminate with a heating van. Park Royals were extremely rare beasts indeed at Loughrea; the only time you'd be likely to see one usually was in the consist of one of the Mystery Trains from Dublin.

Even GAA and pilgrimage trains often consisted of (standing room only, no doubt) the branch train, one coach with possibly a Galway-based laminate as well, trundling up to the junction and adding its people to a main line special!

In other news, I spent all of yesterday with Barry Carse going through hundreds of slides with our next project in mind. He has amazing shots of all sorts of specials with consists that nobody would ever have thought of.

Edited Saturday at 19:53 by jhb171achill

[jhb171achill]

On the basis of the above, and turning to modelling, a reasonable background for a small-space model railway could be a terminus with a single passenger coach (green six-wheel passenger brake or brake laminate of 19XX series, a "G611" class loco (or two!), and if ever available a good RTR "C" class too, a CIE brake van (CK Prints) and some goods vans and beet trucks. Perhaps a very good starter set might be sold, with a "G", coach, and half a dozen wagons and a van!

[GSWR 90]

On 20/6/2026 at 5:50 AM, Mayner said:

The Foynes mixed is an interesting one.

There was an article about a journey behind a J15 on the mixed in one of the British (steam era) railway magazines, the writer a visiting enthusiast appears to have been the sole passenger boarding at Limerick. 

It appears that the Mixed may have usually departed the goods yard unless passengers were travelling, our passenger was escorted by a member of staff to the end of a platform and instructed to wait while the staff member walked up the yard to fetch the loco & coach!

Loco and coach arrived at platform end to pick up our passenger, then propelled/reversed back towards the Check Cabin coupling onto its train, propelling the whole train back until it was clear of the junction with the Foynes/North Kerry line before departing for Foynes rather than using the "Direct Curve' that allowed trains to run between the passenger station and the North Kerry without reversal.

Must have been seeing things when I looked at several photos of a G611 on the Foynes Mixed (1962) in Rails through North Kerry it was G611 not 612! and it seems G611 had a re-paint (maybe partial) at some stage between 1962 & 67 loosing the tan element of her livery.

6w Brake Comp 36m the regular branch coach during the 1950s, a 4 Compt Atock 6w coach (possibly comp or 1st) appears in the 1962 photos of G611 on the mixed at Foynes and Askeaton. Without guards/brake compt were parcels/mails conveyed in a passenger compartment. Interestingly in the Askeaton photo the train was made up of G611, ex-Midland 6w coach, ex-GN bagged cement wagon, CIE KN (long) cattle wagon & ex-GN 20T goods brake. Bulleid open coupled behind the coach in the photo departing? mixed at Foynes. Solid rakes of Bullied opens behind and in the loop alongside (sheeted) the mixed at Foynes a fertiliser factory was a major source of traffic at Foynes before NET Shelton Abbey came on line during the mid 1960s

 

 

Interesting info, thanks for this. I think G613 also worked the Foynes train, but after a quick look I can't find any photos of it doing so. I'd be very interested if anyone has so. Here is an IRRS photo of G613 with passenger coaches at Fenit in September 1963, I wonder what the occasion is for this?

Interestingly, G613 seems to have carried black and tan for its whole career with CIÉ; I think it was only repainted black and white while in storage in Athlone before it was moved to Tuam for use by CSÉ.

Edited Monday at 00:28 by GSWR 90

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, GSWR 90 said:

Interesting info, thanks for this. I think G613 also worked the Foynes train, but after a quick look I can't find any photos of it doing so. I'd be very interested if anyone has so. Here is an IRRS photo of G613 with passenger coaches at Foynes in September 1963, after the Limerick-Foynes services ended – perhaps the date is wrong?

Interestingly, G613 seems to have carried black and tan for its whole career with CIÉ; I think it was only repainted black and white while in storage in Athlone before it was moved to Tuam for use by CSÉ.

That pic is Fenit, not Foynes, and yes, the G611s (while delivered green) were repainted before turning a wheel and were always either black and white or orange, black and white in use.

 

[GSWR 90]

1 hour ago, jhb171achill said:

That pic is Fenit, not Foynes, and yes, the G611s (while delivered green) were repainted before turning a wheel and were always either black and white or orange, black and white in use.

 

Sorry, misread the caption – thanks for the correction! That raises the question, I wonder why it was hauling passengers in Fenit? This is therefore probably G617 with the above-mentioned railtour? 

[Mayner]

There is a paragraph on Loughrea/G Class rostering in the Irish Railway News of the Feb 1975 edition of the IRRS Journal. "By September G613 & G616 which were in Limerick Junction were brought gradually to the Loughrea branch. G613 was refurbished and the two locos stored in Loughrea prior to commencing service in mid-December. G613 appears to work the branch passenger train oof 1904 only" Now the really interesting bit: "In the interval between the arrival of the 12:00 ex Attymon (with driver) and the 15:35 departure, G616 is brought out of the goods store and aided by G613 prepares its goods train for Attymon"  

G613 and G616 were in Thurles for the 1973/4, but this year G617 is there overhaauled and repainted in the black-and-tan livery.

One Journal (don't remember year) commented that the CSE locos had been more reliable than the CIE G Class!

[jhb171achill]

10 hours ago, GSWR 90 said:

Sorry, misread the caption – thanks for the correction! That raises the question, I wonder why it was hauling passengers in Fenit? This is therefore probably G617 with the above-mentioned railtour? 

Yes, an IRRS jaunt. 

[jhb171achill]

8 hours ago, Mayner said:

There is a paragraph on Loughrea/G Class rostering in the Irish Railway News of the Feb 1975 edition of the IRRS Journal. "By September G613 & G616 which were in Limerick Junction were brought gradually to the Loughrea branch. G613 was refurbished and the two locos stored in Loughrea prior to commencing service in mid-December. G613 appears to work the branch passenger train oof 1904 only" Now the really interesting bit: "In the interval between the arrival of the 12:00 ex Attymon (with driver) and the 15:35 departure, G616 is brought out of the goods store and aided by G613 prepares its goods train for Attymon"  

G613 and G616 were in Thurles for the 1973/4, but this year G617 is there overhaauled and repainted in the black-and-tan livery.

One Journal (don't remember year) commented that the CSE locos had been more reliable than the CIE G Class!

Yes. I have pictures of this in the book. As well as the fact that had the line survived, the Gs were going anyway, another thing that ended that year in any case was cattle, and yet another was mixed trains. While right to the end, the timetable still officially showed services operating as mixed, in practice the midday goods did the job, usually with 616.

By this stage, inward goods consisted typically of one or two vans mostly containing supplies for McInerney’s supermarket. In late autumn / early winter beet pulp too. Incoming general goods, beer, oil (in cans) fertiliser and all the other normal stuff had slowed to a tiny trickle. OUTWARD goods was virtually non-existent and has been for years, bar a few parcels in the guards van. 

Cattle traffic halved between the 1930s & 50s, then halved again by about 1963. After 1968 or 9 another steady drop.

Passenger figures were usually single figures with one exception - daily school traffic Dunsandle - Loughrea and back. With cattle traffic finishing in 1974, the most optimistic pro-rail folks still couldn’t have made a case to retain the line. Moreover, the entire track would have needed to be ripped up and replaced, the ballast too, and even the lineside drainage. 

 

[Turin60]

Thanks for all the input folks, much food for thought.

John Bruce.

[Metrovik]

From Irish traction in colour. A good read if you're not sure where you want to model but like the 50s and 60s. 

[Mol_PMB]

Here's the G class livery matrix I did last year, and attached a list of over 200 links to G class photos. I probably have a few more images found since then, that I haven't yet added. But it's a good start.

There are loads of photos of silver G601s and several of the green G603 (I don't think any others were green), but they were very camera-shy in black livery until withdrawn and dumped at Inchicore. 

The G617s all entered traffic in black and tan (with large numbers, no roundel), but four of them were later repainted in the simpler black livery with roundel and small numbers.

In black livery, G601-3 and G616 had their roundels lower down than G611, G614 and G615.

 

G_class_photolist.xlsx