| Córas Iompair Éireann A class (later 001 class) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) 001 Class locomotiveNo. 051 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TheCóras Iompair Éireann001 Class locomotive was manufactured byMetropolitan-Vickers at their Dukinfield Works inManchester. The 001 Class locomotive was the backbone of mainline passenger and freight train services on the Irish railway network for forty years from 1955 until the mid-1990s when they were replaced by the new201 Class.
Viewingdieselisation as a way of bringing operations into profitability, CIÉ placed an order for 94 diesel locomotives to be built by a British consortium on 5 May 1954: sixty being the 'A' class (later 001 Class), and the remainder being smaller'C' class locomotives forbranch line work. With components fromMetropolitan Cammell, theEnglish Steel Corporation,Crossley Brothers andMetropolitan-Vickers, the first unit would be delivered toInchicore in July 1954.[1][2]
The first of the class to enter service was A3, which entered service on 27 September 1955.[3] The Crossley engines soon proved to be unreliable, and CIÉ would seek to replace them with engines from theElectro-Motive Division ofGeneral Motors. GM reluctantly agreed to supply 2 engines as a trial in 1967.[1]
Trials over 1968 would prove to be a success and the entire class would be re-engined over the following years. Relegated to secondary duties after the introduction of the071 Class, the class would be withdrawn following the delivery of the201 Class,[4] with the last unit withdrawn on 5 April 1995, and a 'farewell'railtour hauled by 039 occurring on 23 September 1995.[3]
Initially they were fitted with eight-cylindertwo-stroke, port-controlledCrossley engines. These were aloop scavenge type, which utilised a patented principle that recycled the normally wastedexhaust-pressure pulse to boost charge air in the cylinder. They produced 890 kW (1,200 hp) at 625rpm and could do 120 km/h (75 mph). The originalsandboxes, which were used to improve traction with the rail, were removed after a few years.
Their Crossley engines proved to be notoriously unreliable from the start. Amongst a plethora of problems were:
There were also problems with generator and motorflashovers.
Similar problems were also encountered on the Crossley-enginedWestern Australian Government Railways X Class andBritish Rail Class 28 locomotives.
These problems were tackled between 1968 and 1971 through the progressive re-engining of the entire class with a 1,650 horsepower (1,230 kW) 12-cylinderEMD 645E engine (a similar process was implemented for the original201 Class). However, this power output stressed the ability of the original cooling and transmission systems and the engine output was reduced to 1,325 horsepower (988 kW) for improved reliability. When built, these locomotives were originally numbered A1 to A60, and as locomotives were re-engined, they had the suffix 'R' added to their number. From 1972, the prefix letters were dropped and the locomotives were renumbered 001 to 060.
Four A class locomotives survived into preservation, the details of which are outlined in the table below:
| Number | Owner | Location | Operational | Livery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A3R | Irish Traction Group | Downpatrick | No | Black and Tan (Low bands) |
| A15 | West Clare Railway | Moyasta | No | Unlined green |
| A39R | Irish Traction Group | Downpatrick | Yes | Black and Tan (High bands) |
| A55 | Castlerea Railway Museum | Castlerea | No | Lined green |
The A Class is available as a 4mm scale (OO) ready-to-run (RTR) model from Irish Railway Models. Announced in October 2018, it was released in October 2021. In the past it has been made as a00 gauge kit by Silver Fox Models.[7]
