MkIV Control Car No.4003 on a previous railtour. Photo: Ed Fahey.
A railtour first is to take place on Saturday 16th November, when Táilte Tours runs a special involving the first ever passenger working of a mkIV passenger set over the Limerick Junction-Limerick line, once the mainline of the Waterford, Limerick & Western Railway. While the carriages were tested over the route when they arrived in the mid-2000s, so far they have never operated on the route in passenger service, being mainly confined to the Dublin-Cork line. For track bashers, the tour will cover some unusual track such as Millstreet loop on the return.
Standard Class €90/Under 16 €50.
The “Great Southern Railway Centennial” railtour will make a detour into Limerick on its way to Killarney, another rare destination for the carriages. A 201 class GM locomotive will haul the train, themselves now rare visitors to the Limerick and Kerry branches since railcars took over in the late 2000s. The event is unlikely to be repeated.
Niall Kelly, Co-Founder & Marketing Officer of Tours CLG, commented:
"This is definitely one for the history books. We’re always looking for new railtour ideas, and had quite a few requests from enthusiasts for a mkIV run over the Limerick line. This tied in nicely with the theme of the Great Southern Railway Centennial, enabling us to visit a few of the historic company’s main routes. Thanks to the wonderful cooperation of the Sales and Planning teams in Iarnród Éireann, we’ve been able to make this happen”.
The tour is being run to commemorate the centenary of the initial amalgamation of the Great Southern Railway in November 1924. This initial amalgamation involved the Great Southern & Western Railway, the Midland Great Western Railway and the Cork, Bandon & South Coast Railway. The addition of the Dublin & South Eastern Railway in 1925, along with most of the country's narrow gauge lines, saw it become the Great Southern Railways (plural) from 1st January that year.
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