Railway Preservation Society of Ireland - Fleet

Fleet

The RPSI owns a total of nine steam and six diesel locomotives, a mixture of large main line and small industrial shunting types, all to the Irish gauge of 5 ft 3in. In addition it has had No. 85 Merlin, last of the GNR(I) Class V, on loan from the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum since the 1980s. The society also owns or cares for a large collection of carriages and wagons of varying ages.

At present, the group has two operational mainline steam locomotives, GSWR Class 101 0-6-0 No. 186 (last overhaul completed 2004), and DSER K2 class 2-6-0 No.461 (last overhaul completed 2011). No. 461 is the only surviving mogul locomotive to have inside cylinders in either Ireland or the UK. Normally, one locomotive is based in Dublin and one in Whitehead, with locomotives occasionally being swapped round to suit local requirements.

The RPSI has recently set up a diesel department with a view to running a few railtours a year using vintage diesel locomotives. 141 class locomotives Nos. 141 and 142 were acquired in 2010, repainted in original CIÉ black livery. It is planned to acquire another 141 class locomotive, No. 175, along with 121 class locomotive No. 134 in the near future.

As of 2011, the society has in operation three distinct rakes of carriages. One is made up of a mixture of NIR and BR Mark 2 vehicles, based at Whitehead. This locomotive is painted in the RPSI's dark green livery. In Dublin, there exists two further rakes of carriages. One, the "heritage set", is mainly made up of 1950s vintage CIÉ Park Royal and laminate stock, along with some ex-GNR(I), GSR and GSWR vehicles (including 1st corridor No. 1142). These are mostly painted in 1950s CIÉ green livery. The other is made up of ex-Iarnród Éireann Cravens coaches, along with a BR steam heating van. These are being repainted in the RPSI's own blue livery with yellow lining.

The society's founder members still perform regular maintenance tasks and undertake full engine restorations. They are joined regularly by new volunteers who assist in tasks from boiler repair to carriage painting. Volunteers are always welcome to visit and help at either of the engineering depots.