aA3R is one of two CIÉ A Class diesel locomotives based at Downpatrick, both are owned by the Irish Traction Group, the other being A39R. Metropolitan Vickers constructed this locomotive in in 1955. It was originally simply numbered ‘A3’. A3 was actually the first A Class locomotive to enter traffic, doing so on 27th September 1955. Interestingly, A3 was also the last of her class to work under railway company ownership. This movement involved it hauling a short leg of the Irish Traction Group’s “Flying Pig” railtour at Limerick on 7th October 1995, just over 40 years later.
A lot happened in between those dates. A3 hauled passenger and goods trains all over the CIE network. The A class also worked over Ulster Transport Authority, and later Northern Ireland Railways, metals. They were common locos on the ‘Enterprise’ Dublin-Belfast service along with cross border freight workings. Some even made it to the former Belfast & County Down Railway line to Bangor on excursion trains, so having A Class locomotives on a former BCDR route is not as incongruous as one may think.
The A Class diesels (and C Class) originally carried Crossley engines. However, these proved to be quite unreliable in service. More than observer has commented on their ability to produce enough smoke to rival that of a steam engine. Eventually, CIÉ made arrangements with General Motors to re-engine the A and C Class fleets with GM power units at Inchicore Works. A3 received such a new engine in March 1971. A3 became A3R; the R suffix denoted that it had been re-engined. Shortly after CIÉ dispensed with the letter classification system and the A Class became the 001 Class; A3R became 003. This coincided with their repainting in a new ‘SuperTrain’ livery in association with the introduction of new mk2d coaching stock on mainline services.
003 led a relatively uneventful life and made it through to 1995. The early 1990s saw the former A Class loco fleet gradually run down. As mentioned, 003 was actually the last of her type to work a train while in railway company ownership, bringing down the curtain on 40 years of A/001 Class operation on Irish railways. It spent much of her latter days in the Limerick area.
Following withdrawal, the Irish Traction Group (ITG) purchased the locomotive, still based in Limerick, for preservation. An Iarnród Éireann locomotive hauled A3R from Limerick to Inchicore for an Open Day in 1996. ITG violunteers repainted the loco back into 1970s black and orange livery and renumbered it back to A3R. Following the Open Day A3R returned to Limerick, briefly making an appearance at special event in Thurles in April 1998. In 1999 the ITG operated a series of mainline railtours using their A Class locomotives. Ultimately A3R would work just one of these, the “Mayo Metrovick”, from Dublin to Ballina and back. A3R then spend the next decade in Inchicore Works.
In November 2009, the ITG moved A3R to Moyasta, Co Clare, for long term storage in November 2009. In May 2025, work began on prepping the locomotive for transport to Downpatrick. A3R finally arrived at our railway on 27th July 2025.
