Saturday 22nd August
saw a little bit of history being created at Inchicore Works for the Society
when it took possession of its first working main line diesel locomotive.
The handing over
ceremony took place in glorious sunshine, in front of a large crowd, during
the Staff Family Fun Day. CME Phil Verster did the honours of handing the
pioneer member of class 141 over to the Society. He spoke in very complimentary
terms of what the Society is achieving, and gave an assurance to further
the relationship between Iarnród
Éireann and the Society in any possible way.
Vice Chairman David Houston was on hand to offer the gratitude of the Society to Phil, and all those in the company who had given support, and to thank Murphy Models who have, through a generous donation, made the sale possible.
In addition to the handing over ceremony No.186 was on shed, in steam, and coaches 351, 1142 and 5408 were open for viewing. Also present were a large collection of Irish Rail rolling stock, and three of the Irish Traction Group's fleet.
Locomotive 141 is the first of the double-ended locomotives produced by the Electro Motive Division of General Motors in 1962 and is of national and international importance. The locomotive has just been taken out of service and is expected to travel to Whitehead Excursion station as soon as feasible.
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Meanwhile, 100 miles away... |
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We don't know the exact completion date, but it seemed appropriate to take a break from a busy open day to mark the occasion with a special Guinness engine cake! |
View our Helping Us Page to see how you can volunteer in Dublin or Whitehead and get involved.