Mixed mk2d + Cravens rakes?

[murphaph]

There's a pic on eiretrains here of a rake of mk2ds and Cravens seemingly coupled together and coupled to a 201.

http://eiretrains.com/Photo_Gallery/Railway Stations L/Limerick/IrishRailwayStations.html#Limerick_20061126_0022_CC_JA.jpg

Was this just a stock movement if indeed these coaches were actually coupled together or what was going on?

[Railer]

Yes this happened quite a bit for stock moves in regular trains. 

Happened a good bit on the Sligo line with replacement Craven's sent from Connolly to Sligo on MK2 sets.

[murphaph]

So it would have been regular train + coupled on stock move stock? Could passengers access just the regular part of the train?

[Garfield]

The Cravens would usually be placed on the far side of the generator van from the main set. They'd be locked to prevent access, and obviously couldn't draw light or heat.

[murphaph]

Did it happen the other way around at all with mk2ds running locked out and empty? Does anyone know of any more pictures of this?

[ttc0169]

When the Ballina branch Cravens and GSVs needed to be swapped out for exams the replacement coaches would be taken from the Friday’s only service,

When Mk2ds replaced the Cravens on the Fridays only service it was normal practice to attach the replacement coach between the locomotive and Mk2d EGV on the outward journey and again after shunting took place in Ballina the coach or GSV would be attached between the locomotive and first coach,

On a few occasions I witnessed a Cravers coach ‘tagged’ onto the rear of the Mk2s,this technically  wasn’t allowed due to the screw shackle being used to couple to the Mk2,had the coupling broken then it would have been difficult to recover-although the emergency coupling could have been used it would restrict the speed of the train to 25mph. 

Passengers were not permitted to travel in these coaches and they were always locked out of use while the rest of the train was in service. 

[ttc0169]

2 hours ago, murphaph said:

Did it happen the other way around at all with mk2ds running locked out and empty? Does anyone know of any more pictures of this?

No-Mk2s normally operated in fixed formations on a diagram that started and finished in Dublin Connolly or Heuston stations,

On rare occasions if a fault occurred with a Mk2-then the coach would be locked off with passengers moved to another coach-with the offending coach being shunted next to the locomotive when returning to Dublin. 

[murphaph]

What was different with respect to coupling the swapped in/out Craven between the loco and Mk2d EGV as compared to simply attaching to the rear of the train? Did the EGV have different couplings than the passenger coaches?

[ttc0169]

2 hours ago, murphaph said:

What was different with respect to coupling the swapped in/out Craven between the loco and Mk2d EGV as compared to simply attaching to the rear of the train? Did the EGV have different couplings than the passenger coaches?

If the said coupling broke between the Cravens and the EGV then the locomotive could be used to shunt the coach quickly to a siding,

Mk2 coaches had buckeye couplers while Cravens had screw couplings