Irish Rail’s two retro-liveried 071 Class locos were requested for two recent railtours, including a first use in multiple.
The two retro-liveried locomotives had been requested by the tour organiser, The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI). Nos. 071 and 073 were duly tested and cleaned at Inchicore Works prior to the railtour, and were both presented in ex-works condition for the unique event.
The two locomotives ran light from Inchicore to Connolly during the afternoon of the 13th while the stock, which consisted of eight RPSI Cravens coaches and ‘BR’ van No. 3173, was transferred from Inchicore to Connolly by GM No. 206 later that evening.
The fully-booked ‘Munster Double’ (400 participants) ran from Dublin Connolly to Cork, stopping at Portarlington, Thurles and Mallow en route. At Cork, the two locomotives (which remained coupled together for the whole tour) ran round then hauled the railtour train to Mallow, where a further run round was undertaken. The train then proceeded to Killarney on the Kerry Road.
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