NIR Gatwick Driving Trailer

[GNRi Milepost 105]

I was at Lisburn station today and the stored Gatwicks there had me wondering if NIR had intended to use the 111's with the late arriving Driving Trailer. Did IE ever try the 071's on push-pull services? Is the trailer still at York Road or did NIR quietly get rid of it?

[UP6936]

Yes the trailer was for use with 111s, and I believe they have conducted test runs with the gatwick set and dbso. No, 071s have never run on push pulls as they aren't PP fitted, although they have hauled PP rakes around, however in this event the PP is treated like a standard MK3 set, with running round at termini. And yep, it's still in York road, but hasn't moved an inch in years and to be honest I doubt it could move now without work being undertaken beforehand.

[GNRi Milepost 105]

Must be an embarrassment to someone in NIR, quietly decaying away. Were there any other expensive white elephants on the Irish railway system?

[Warbonnet]

Must be an embarrassment to someone in NIR, quietly decaying away. Were there any other expensive white elephants on the Irish railway system?

 

A clutch of 201s, Alsthom DARTS, One of the railcar classes.... There's been a few recently!

[UP6936]

A clutch of 201s, Alsthom DARTS, One of the railcar classes.... There's been a few recently!

 

CC1 kinda too?

[GNRi Milepost 105]

There seems to be quite a few turkeys. At least most carried fare paying passengers on Irish metal. I suggest the driving trailer could be used as a summer house or chicken shed somewhere!! More likely to end up as scrap metal, I must keep an look out on the M2 Northbound.

[Railer]

A clutch of 201s, Alsthom DARTS, One of the railcar classes.... There's been a few recently!

 

You can add half the Mk4 fleet to that with only 2 sets a day seeing any used while the other 6 are left idle after only 6-7 years of use.

[jhb171achill]

There have been many, over the years. The Cavan and Leitrim's last loco, No. 9 "King a Edward" (a huge chunky 0.6.4T) was rarely used and scrapped after (I think) less than ten years, because it was too heavy for the track. My grandmother remembered that it remained in its original green paintwork all its life until the GSR took it away to be scrapped.

 

Even the CDRJC, known for its obsessive recycling of everything, bought a tram body for conversion to a railcar trailer, but found it unsuitable and broke it up.

[StevieB]

It would be very easy to lay all the blame at the feet of IE and NIR, but even the banks didn't see it coming and they got us into this mess, whether it's Ireland, UK or almost anywhere. 100 posts and you get an upgrade!

Stephen

[Railer]

The Alstom DARTs and 2700 DMUs were true turkeys though. Reliability and mechanical problems throughout. 2700s only worked well in pairs and with regular maintenance. They were bad purchases by IE.

[Blaine]

Yes the trailer was for use with 111s, and I believe they have conducted test runs with the gatwick set and dbso.

 

It never left York Road after it was delivered. A £400k waste.......

[jhb171achill]

Thankfully, the spirit of Henry Forbes was more the norm than waste. Most Irish railways over the years have been much more disposed to recycle than waste.

 

With the best will in the world, all the above "turkeys" have been born out of a genuinely perceived need, and I suppose railway management like the rest of us can't get it right all the time.

 

Think of the money spent on the various high speed trains (like, for example, the British "Advanced Passenger Train") which never ran, or the criminal waste of money in BR building so many fine standard steam locos in the 1950s, only to withdraw and scrap them as little as 7 or 8 years later....

 

Other countries likewise.... USA for example.

 

Meanwhile, in this country we have recycled several Mk 3 genny vans for the Enterprise. It's tempting to think that elsewhere other railway administrations would have scrapped them and ordered new builds. Sometimes a lack of money is a good thing when it comes to waste avoidance!

 

Now, of course, against that to some extent is the scrapping of the Mk 3 fleet. But nobody wanted to buy them!

[tonybonneyba]

You can add half the Mk4 fleet to that with only 2 sets a day seeing any used while the other 6 are left idle after only 6-7 years of use.

 

Put the ducks on a new route, maybe Derry\Londonderry - Cork Via all enterprise stops & intercity & too shorten the route, go via the Antrim Branch into Lisburn Plt 3.

[heirflick]

CC1 kinda too?

 

well,at least Bulleid was trying to keep steam alive - that counts for something i suppose. cant for the life of me understand why she wasnt preserved:confused:

[Mayner]

Most large organisations tend to have white elephants tucked away. Guinness spent/wasted millions on product development that flopped anyone remember Guinness Light?

 

Apart from the 500 & 800 Class 4-6-0 & the Woolwich most of the GSWR and GSR steam locos of the 1920s & 30s were flops or not as good as engines they were intended to re-place.

 

The whole business of the Drum Battery Train puts the waste with Alstom DMUs & EMUs into the halfpenny place, the final units were withdrawn after less than 10 years service because no one was willing to fund the cost of replacement batteries. This was at time CIE was struggling to import coal while new hydro electricity and peat burning power stations were coming on line.