Tribute to 071 Class

Ham'nd'egger

Introduced in 1976, the greatest ever locos in Irish Railway history are in their 31st year of mainline operation. A ruggedly handsome well built loco, they are still delivering the goods with the utmost reliability, dealing with any duty that is thrown at them, be it powering to Waterford at notch 10, climbing the foothills towards Dundalk on a match special, the Ballina Liner, zinc from the Navan Mines, Limerick cement or even a humble Pilot duty, never a job too large or too small for 071. 18 of these 2,450 HP GM locos were delivered to Dublin; all 18 are in service and showing no signs of retirement.

Today, inspite of the 34 strong 201 Class, these locos are the choice of drivers the length and breath of Ireland, put and 071 on the head of any train and your getting home same and well!

Let's hear it for 071 Class!!:D

rlogue

I think I'd disagree on the "greatest" loco title - what about the classic GSR 800 class of 4-6-0s, Maeve, Macha and Tailte?

Sadly only Maeve is preserved up at the Transport Museum in Belfast and has never steamed since - however as far as Diesel-Electric locos go, I would agree that the 071 class are a fantastic group of locos.

loyatemu

irish railway news is that way, guys
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Ham'nd'egger

loyatemu wrote:

irish railway news is that way, guys
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Sorry, I forgot this forum is only for moaning and whining and complaining:rolleyes:

On Bredin's splendid looking 800 Series, there is little doubt that they were an excellent steam loco on paper; however wartime coal shortages saw to it that they never saw their fullest potential in their youth; diesel eventually nailing their coffins in the 50's. I recall reading that one was clocked doing 91MPH at Dromin on the GNR mainline; few diesels could rival such power and speed until our friends, 071!

AlekSmart

Jeepers....Ham....Eggs.....and now big beefy Locomotives...!
Men or Gods ..?
Mind you I agree about the 71`s.....tho I always had a sneaking regard for them oul Sulzers that ended their days rottin away at the back of the works !!!....Shed a tear lads.... :rolleyes:

Navan Junction

Well, I have to agree that anything that can pull 12 by 75 ton wagons (think it's 75 tons for Tara Mines or is it 95?) is impressive.. Suppose it is a change to the stuff that goes wrong - or just doesn't arrive....

It's funny when you see the loco from the Buttevant crash heading past your house - part of the living museum that is often mentioned in releation to Irish railways?

As a matter of interest, if the 071's are more reliable than the 201's, why don't they get used on the Enterprise anymore, or is a question of compatability etc?

And in relation to that, what else does that 201 do better that makes it so popular with railway enthuasiasts? Is it just the look, Miriam Lord's "throb" reference or just that it is older?

John R

Navan Junction wrote:

Well, I have to agree that anything that can pull 12 by 75 ton wagons (think it's 75 tons for Tara Mines or is it 95?) is impressive.. Suppose it is a change to the stuff that goes wrong - or just doesn't arrive....

It's funny when you see the loco from the Buttevant crash heading past your house - part of the living museum that is often mentioned in releation to Irish railways?

As a matter of interest, if the 071's are more reliable than the 201's, why don't they get used on the Enterprise anymore, or is a question of compatability etc?

Not Push-Pull compatible and no head-end power to run the coaches.

Really there are more than enough 201s to go around so they are just not needed for many passenger workings anymore, apart from that they have less power (more than enough to keep up with any IE passenger diagram but that's another discussion) and a lower rated top speed.

Kintarō Hattori

As a matter of slight interest, can anyone provide some links on these particular locomotives? Not knowing what I'm really looking for isn't providing me too many useful results.

enterprise

Take a look at http://www.ie071.co.uk/

Ham'nd'egger

John R wrote:

Not Push-Pull compatible and no head-end power to run the coaches.

Really there are more than enough 201s to go around so they are just not needed for many passenger workings anymore, apart from that they have less power (more than enough to keep up with any IE passenger diagram but that's another discussion) and a lower rated top speed.

You are right in saying that 071 has no HEP, John R. Part of the issue with them was that 201 Class were part funded by the EU with the intention that they were to just run on the Enterprise; 4 locos are painted in the Enterprise livery and were intended just for this run alone.

071's have an offical top speed on their dial of 90MPH, yet mysteriously, the manula for same quoted 89MPH. Stranger again, they get trains home quicker than this, and God knows how that can be so

Victor

enterprise wrote:

Take a look at http://www.ie071.co.uk/

ARRRGGHhhhhhhh......

I think someone needs lessons in website design.

Red Alert

unless I'm mistaken the 071's do in fact have a higher rated top speed than the 201's, but that was hearsay so i'm not sure about that. the 201's do have more BHP. IE initially had the idea that they'd use the HEP facility on the 201's to get rid of the ageing gen-vans, and bought the DeDeitrich coaches before seeing the error of their ways. In fact the new cork train is fully compatible with the de deitrich coaches (IE did actually think of specifying that, fair play) so a few extra generator-equipped DVT's could be ordered.

they are multiple-unit capable but are not allowed to run in this mode for some unknown reason by IE when in service. i'm not an expert on any of the GM classes, but i'd presume the kit to receive the signal for push-pull is basically the same as the multiple-unit stuff. so i'd nearly say with a tiny bit of work the 071's could in fact run push-pull.

this is purely subjective, but any train i've been on that has nailed it home in advance of schedule has always been a Mk2 or Mk3 set with an 071. they are an incredible piece of work.

i hope IE don't resort to the scrapping mania with the 071's that seems to have caught on with the baby-GM's. i would love to see a private operator be allowed use them to run freight services that IE's short-sighted poor-quality management do not want to. however the 071's will probably be around for a bit to rescue the new poor quality stock when it breaks down.

parsi

rlogue wrote:

I think I'd disagree on the "greatest" loco title - what about the classic GSR 800 class of 4-6-0s, Maeve, Macha and Tailte?

Sadly only Maeve is preserved up at the Transport Museum in Belfast and has never steamed since - however as far as Diesel-Electric locos go, I would agree that the 071 class are a fantastic group of locos.

That of course should read "Maedbh" or indeed "maedb" where b is actually a b with a wee dot over it.

Either way she's well worth a visit - have they moved the loco section out to Cultra yet ? I rememebr visiting the city location during the bad old days...

popebenny16

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!



And yes, Enterprise as well, ah jaysus.

I'm going to take up Heroin as a tribute to the 071 class.

So what, are we going to take one out for a pint, maybe I should head over to Lisduff and see if one will come over to my place and watch some traction DVDs?

Shall we all stand manfully around one and strike up a fecking song, all holding hands? Perhaps we should fornicate with one.

And to think P11 gets slagged for being trainspotters..............

Navan Junction

Ah well.

Thanks for the info lads.