The Irish Traction Group is a railway preservation society dedicated to preserving diesel locomotive

Diesel locomotive

A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...

s from Irish Railways

Iarnród Éireann

Iarnród Éireann is the national railway system operator of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann . It operates all internal intercity, commuter and freight railway services in the Republic of Ireland, and, jointly with Northern Ireland Railways, the...

. It was formed in 1989, with the intention of attempting to preserve at least one example of every type of diesel locomotive to have operated on Irish Rail.

They currently own 13 locomotives, as follows:-

• 001(A) class
  CIE 001 Class
  The Córas Iompair Éireann 001 Class locomotive was manufactured by Metropolitan-Vickers at their Dukinfield Works in Manchester.The 001 Class locomotive was the backbone of mainline passenger and freight train services on the Irish railway network for forty years from 1955 until the mid-1990s when...
  
  : A3R and A39
• 101(B) class
  CIE 101 Class
  The Córas Iompair Éireann 101 Class locomotives, numbered B101-B112, were built in 1956 by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company. They were fitted with Sulzer 6LDA28 engines of , with four Metropolitan-Vickers MV157 traction motors...
  
  : B103
• 121(B) class
  CIE 121 Class
  The Córas Iompair Éireann 121 class is a railway locomotive which was manufactured by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. These locomotives were in regular service on the Irish railway network until 2002, with the last two remaining in service until 2008....
  
  : 124
• 141(B) class
  CIE 141 Class
  The Córas Iompair Éireann 141 class locomotives were delivered in November and December 1962 from General Motors Electro Motive Division , the first consignment being unloaded at the North Wall, Dublin on 22 November...
  
  : 146 and 152
• 181(B) class
  CIE 181 Class
  The Córas Iompair Éireann 181 Class locomotives were built in 1966 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and numbered B181 to B192.These locomotives were virtually identical to the earlier 141 Class locomotives, but fitted with the more powerful 645 engine and thermostatically controlled engine...
  
  : 190
• 201(C) class
  CIE 201 Class
  The Córas Iompair Éireann 201 Class was a class of 34 diesel electric locomotives manufactured by Metropolitan-Vickers at their Dukinfield Works in Manchester. They were a smaller, lighter and less powerful version of the 001 Class and were originally intended for branch line passenger and freight...
  
  : C226 and C231
• 601(G) class
  CIE 601 Class
  The Córas Iompair Éireann 601 Class locomotives were built in 1956-1957, by Motorenfabrik Deutz at Cologne, Germany. They were 3 small shunting locomotives of B wheel arrangement and were fitted with a Deutz V8 F/A8L 714 engine of 130hp, with Voith hydraulic transmission and chain final drive....
  
  : G601
• 611(G) class
  CIE 611 Class
  The Córas Iompair Éireann 611 class locomotives were delivered from the manufacturers, Motorenfabrik Deutz at Cologne, Germany between December 1961 and February 1962, entering revenue earning service in the following August after receiving the new brown / black paint job at Inchicore.Nos. 611 to...
  
  : G611, G616 and G617

In addition the following locomotives where formerly owned by the ITG.

• NIR 1 Class
  NIR 1 Class
  The DH class of Northern Ireland Railways consisted of three diesel-hydraulic shunting locomotives Numbered 1, 2 & 3. They were built by the English Electric Company, works numbers 3954 - 6, at their Vulcan Foundry works in Newton-le-Willows in 1969. They were of 0-6-0 wheel arrangement and fitted...
  
  : 1, 2 and 3.

They are based in Carrick-on-Suir

Carrick-on-Suir

Carrick-on-Suir is a town in South Tipperary in Ireland. As the name – meaning "the rock of the Suir" – suggests, the town is situated on the River Suir. The of the town gives the population as 5,906 and shows that it has grown by 5.7% since 2002...

 in County Tipperary

County Tipperary

County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...

, and operate occasional rail tours on the main line under its trading subsidiary, ITG Railtours Ltd. Current campaigns include fundraising to secure an example of the 141(B) Class

CIE 141 Class

The Córas Iompair Éireann 141 class locomotives were delivered in November and December 1962 from General Motors Electro Motive Division , the first consignment being unloaded at the North Wall, Dublin on 22 November...

 locomotives.

In addition to Carrick on Suir, some of its locos are located at Moyasta Junction on the preserved West Clare Railway, Co. Clare. Locos.A39, 146, G611 and G617 are on loan to the Downpatrick & County Down Railway

Downpatrick & County Down Railway

The Downpatrick & County Down Railway is a heritage railway in County Down, Northern Ireland. The project is based at Downpatrick, on part of the former route of the Belfast & County Down Railway....

, where they are in operation.

External links

• Irish Traction Group home page