If you were following the “Moyexit” saga over the summer, you might have thought that we were finished collecting rolling stock when A3R arrived back in July. But yesterday we found ourselves welcoming another new vehicle to the railway, one that was thankfully much smaller and logistically easier to manage: ex-Iarnród Éireann “cement bubble” No. 25199.
One look at the wagon and you’ll quickly see why they were nicknamed ‘bubbles’! Ours was the last to be built in the class of 150 wagons, rolling out of Inchicore Works in 1972. For over 30 years they were a distinctive sight on cement trains all over Ireland.
When the cement traffic ended in 2009, the bubbles were withdrawn and all scrapped. Or at least, that’s what most people thought. Unbeknownst to just about everybody, one bubble, No.25199 (the last bubble constructed) was spared the cutter’s torch thanks to the efforts of one dedicated enthusiast and moved to a secret remote collection. For 16 years, it remained undisturbed and undiscovered. Anybody who knew what cement bubbles were simply assumed they were all gone, a piece of Irish industrial heritage lost to time.
This all changed last month, when the wagon’s owner approached DCDR to offer it to our collection. It was too good an opportunity to pass up – Whilst we might not have much need to carry cement on our network, it’s safe to say that most enthusiasts and members of the public who remember them have a soft spot for these iconic wagons. We accepted the offer, and began fundraising to cover the costs of transporting the wagon. We were blown away by the level of support, including a very generous sponsorship arrangement with Accurascale UK/Irish Railway Models, who produced models of these wagons in 00 gauge (you can order them on their website here).
On Friday 3 October the bubble wagon set off on the long journey to Downpatrick, arriving just after 9am the next day. It was craned off the lorry and touched down safely on DCDR metals less than 45 minutes later. Our thanks to David Baker for the expert transport and delivery of the wagon – a truly professional operation.
After delivery, the bubble was quickly shunted to the Cathedral Siding, where it will be fully visible to our passengers from the platform. In time it will be cleaned up and mechanically inspected, with a view to getting it out on demonstration freight trains.
A huge thank you to everybody who donated to the bubble appeal; and to its previous owner Mike Murphy for keeping it safe all these years and generously donating it to our collection. Our ‘bubble appeal’ will remain open for one more week if you would like to make any final contributions to the wagon’s upkeep. You can make a donation here.
Any donations received after Sunday 12 October 2025 will be put towards other DCDR activities.
