The TRUE number of different CLASS you have travelled so far on Irish rail and e far

I vetravelled three:
First class Dublin cork

"Standard" class usually.

And un-namable class:.

Metal frame wooden single chairs put in a row down a carriage on a train from Connolly to Mosney on a national school outing special 33 years ago.

cml387

I remember travelling back to Ireland on holidays in the early sixties and the train from Dun Laoighre was in an individual compartment carriage with wooden seats, I'd say a remnant of the 1920's. A bit of a contrast to The Irish Mail to Holyhead.

xtradel

Mostly standard class on Park Royals, MK11, MK111, 22k, 26k & 28k.

First plus on Dub-Belfast on the enterprise

And First class on the Cu Na Mara set when it first started on the Dublin - Galway route when the seating was in a 2+1 config! And then of course IE made them 2+2 config because how dare customers feel a little bit of luxury.

^^^^^ remember the Cú na mara decals myself. We're they ever replicated on model carriages I wonder?

Del.Monte

MkII, MkIII 1st/Super Standard/Standard on CIE, 1st and Std on NIR Enterprise, 1st class on the CIE Cravens was very nice but hard to eat a meal in due to the hunting problems with the bogies. As for luxury, my best experience was Whitehead/Dublin on the RPSI empty stock working for a two-day tour back in 198x (?) in No.50. the Directors Saloon of the Great Northern Railway - just myself and one other enthusiast - and full bar service all the way. Beat that!

L1011

Standard on all types currently in fleet / mothballed (except NIR 4000) + Park Royal, Craven, MK2 & 3. First on Enterprise both pre and post refit. CityGold on Mk3

Standard on whatever the RPSI Dublin set was in like 1993, Park Royal again?

tabbey

cml387 wrote: »

I remember travelling back to Ireland on holidays in the early sixties and the train from Dun Laoighre was in an individual compartment carriage with wooden seats, I'd say a remnant of the 1920's. A bit of a contrast to The Irish Mail to Holyhead.

These were commonly known as dog boxes.
I don't know about the early sixties but by the late sixties, they did have some upholstery, but very little padding. The material looked like it might have been original but probably not.
By the late sixties, the only ones in service were brake standards, nine compartments and a guard's van. Four Park Royals were sandwiched between two of these brake standards. They were loco hauled, to town in the morning and return to Bray or Greystones in the evening. Very rarely they would find themselves on the boat train.

I was on solid wooden seats in Belgium in the 1980s. I expected it to be uncomfortable but in fact it was quite pleasant. The speed was limited to 60 or 70 km/h, the track was perfectly smooth and for a forty minute journey, it might as well have been a well maintained park bench.

tabbey

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I

Metal frame wooden single chairs put in a row down a carriage on a train from Connolly to Mosney on a national school outing special 33 years ago.

They were actually plastic seats rather than wood.

The train was one of the push-pulls converted from the clapped out A E C railcars.

Del.Monte

tabbey wrote: »

They were actually plastic seats rather than wood.

The train was one of the push-pulls converted from the clapped out A E C railcars.

Lest we forget - a younger Del.Monte on a luxurious push-pull - forty one years ago!

^^^^bang on

What I sat on in a full carriage from Connolly to Mosney.

No look out the window.

There were kids from northern Ireland there too that day who arrived by train

Present day me hopes they got a better carriage train.

tabbey

[Deleted User] wrote: »

^^^^bang on

There were kids from northern Ireland there too that day who arrived by train

Present day me hopes they got a better carriage train.

The train from N I would have been mk ii enterprise coaches, almost certainly, or possibly 1974 built D E railcars.
Absolutely no comparison to your train.

Seanmk1

Those converted 2600 railcars were dreadful, I remember them when I was really small. Plastic stacking chairs and usually vandalised to hell.

The best trips to town were always when an intercity got held at the station starter signal. With the slam door trains you could just hop on and ride into town in comfort.

Del.Monte

I'm sure that I've posted this image before but it's always worth reminding those giving out about rolling stock today just how bad things were in the early 1980s. The carriage door featured above was not unique and the carriage was in service when the photograph was taken.

Seanmk1

True that. Great article. I think they rented an NIR class 80 when the 2600 finally gave up the ghost.

I remember going to Cork in 1992. All the mark 3 sets were diverted to Kerry for the Rose of Tralee and we had to change onto a (two carriage! ) Craven set at Mallow. When the rain started we may as well have been still outside for the amount of water that came straight through the roof.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/allyjay2006/29311080438/in/photostream

tabbey

Seanmk1 wrote: »

True that. Great article. I think they rented an NIR class 80 when the 2600 finally gave up the ghost.

They rented three N I R 80 class demu sets from 1987 to 1990.
One was used on the Greystones shuttle, one on the Maynooth line and one for Cobh.
After their return to N I, the Greystones shuttle was abolished, replaced by buses, until electrification.

GerardKeating

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117487939#Comment_117487939

Used to get them to school in the late 70's i think, just before the DART came in