What is the fate of the Mark 3's?

Wiki says the 071/111s are limited to 90mph service speed. I can't find the citation for it but my memory reckons the 201s were pushed to max+10% during commissioning, about 115mph.

In any case, given the weight of those locos I wouldn't want to see them hammer the track any more than they already do even if upgraded to UIC60. On the other hand, I seem to recall when they arrived that the Mark 4 DVTs were mentioned as being capable of conversion to powercars. With the extra powered axles (assuming RSC okays top-tail) you could probably do it with 1200-1500hp per car plus the current HEP generators, one of which could be switched out for redundancy. You'd need to order another 8 obviously, and being single cab would not be easily put to alternative use.

The reality is though that unless IE can find a buyer for the 201s, or there is a Damascene reinterest in rail freight, loco+Mk4+DVT is likely to be the reality for a good while to come.

As frequently discussed before, dealing with issues like Limerick Junction's 25mph limit and making full use of the Kildare Route 4-track is likely to benefit more people in the short run than being able to say that for a short stretch of the Midlands that 125mph is attainable. That's like how Acela is described as 150mph when it is limited to well below that outside of two stretches of track in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

murphaph wrote: »

The problem for IE (not that they didn't see it coming) is that the road network is now anything but 1970's wherease their timings still are (or worse!).

IE WASTED a LOT of money in buying the 201 class AND the MkIVs AND scrapping the perfectly servicable and indeed respected MKIIIs. They should have put that money into 2 things:

1) rebuilding (including down to foundations where neccessary) the Cork-Dublin line to deliver a MINIMUM 100mph through but preferably 125mph running all the way.

2) investing in a fleet of locos that were capable of actually going faster than the ones they bought in the 1960s!! (201 class is rated for 100mph, same as the 071 though apparently the 071s can actually go faster in practice) Should be seeing MKIIIs hauled at 125 mph today on Cork-Dublin

They instead took that money and blew it on flashy new carriages, painting the 201s silver and paying Craig Doyle to tell us all how great it is! Well guess what, it isn't great. It's sh!t. Irish Rail are muppets who are incapable of running a railway.

So we are scrapping 125mph capable coaches, buying new 125mph capable coaches and attaching them to locos that go a bit slower than locos which first ran 40 years ago. Marvellous progress. IE will have killed off the IC network completely in a few short years if left alone to it.

Maybe IE should have started electrifying the intercity routes as era of cheap oil may eventually come to an end.

They wouldn't have to electrify the entire system all at once, instead they could do it line by line, ordering new EMU rolling stock upon the completion of each line.

To be fair, climate change is actually real and tangible, it's just not our fault (and I resent my quality of life being sacrificed to the golden cow of CO2).

murphaph wrote: »

Do you have a point or are you just being pedantic?

The 071s are yes indeed from the 1970's, my bad.

Soooo, assuming the 071s are limited to 90mph (and I believe they are technically capable of the tonne, just limited to 90mph in operation) and the 201s are limited to 100mph, that's a whopping 10mph increase in speed over a period of 30 years. Whoop-de-fcukin.doo for CIE and their bastard child Iarnrod Eireann. Uselss pack of muppets with completely the wrong priorities: All fur coat and no knickers as the saying goes.

They spent their (not inconsiderable) funding in all the wrong places since the start of the boom. They are nothing short of a disgrace.

and that at a price too. 201s destroy track as they are so heavy.

but back to the mk3s....

The 201s would be ok in other countries where the track has been built to take them (they are highly similar to the popular class 66 I believe, which pulls freight most of the time in the UK and you even see them in Germany sometimes on freight duties for private companies). IE bought the heavy ass locos before rebuilding the permanent way to handle them. Like I said...pack of muppets.

murphaph wrote: »

The 201s would be ok in other countries where the track has been built to take them (they are highly similar to the popular class 66 I believe, which pulls freight most of the time in the UK and you even see them in Germany sometimes on freight duties for private companies). IE bought the heavy ass locos before rebuilding the permanent way to handle them. Like I said...pack of muppets.

But the Class 66's are only cleared to 65-75mph depending on the series. They are slower but can haul far more tonnage than our 201s.

Slightly OT, but whats the current count on Locos? Is there a sufficient amount to run the Mark IVs, freight, and any foreseeable Mark III services?

donvito99 wrote: »

Slightly OT, but whats the current count on Locos? Is there a sufficient amount to run the Mark IVs, freight, and any foreseeable Mark III services?

all 34 are still useable but some are stored:
201-205 & 210-216 in storage, the rest active

taken from wikipedia page

me_right_one wrote: »

Just out of interest, I wonder how much it would cost to buy one, just buy it and keep it? Dont some preservation charities do that?

ITG and RPSI do it in Ireland but the likes of these (the 201's) are still only 15 years old and likely to cost over €100k still I reckon. When IE sell 40+ year old ones for anything up to 10k I doubt we'll see preservation societies going near them for at least 20 years. More likey they will be bought buy some rail company or other and put to some real work.

There was a rumour about IE flogging some of the 201s - if that's not going to happen the stored ones should be put to work. The 071s have had some nasty breakdowns lately and it might be time to give thought to either retiring some or overhauling them. Unlike the 201s and their 12-710, their 12-645 engines are no longer in production (and IE offered a tender for their parts, which was ominous) but the 201s can't go everywhere on the network so they can't be completely withdrawn unless replacement lighter axle load power is acquired for ballast trains and the like.

201s have already been used on Ballina-Belview. Acquire the other 50% of the Enterprise power, vans and stock, refit/repaint, put them to work (as four sets) on Westport/Galway/Waterford-Heuston limited stop/KRPfast services to make best use of 201 crew/route knowledge. Enterprise would get 4 22K sets in exchange.