A3R is one of two CIÉ A Class diesel locomotives based at Downpatrick, both are owned by the Irish Traction Group, the other being A39R. Built by Metropolitan Vickers, Manchester, in 1955 and originally simply numbered ‘A3’, it was actually the first A Class locomotives to enter traffic, doing so on 27th September 1955. Interestingly, A3 was also the last of her class to work under railway company ownership, when it hauled 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, with A3 seeing use on passenger and goods trains all over the CIE network. The A class were also known to work onto Ulster Transport Authority, and later Northern Ireland Railways, metals, being 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) were originally fitted with Crossley engines, which 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 was re-engined as such in March 1971, and it was at this point it became A3R, the R suffix denoting that it had been re-engined. Shortly after CIÉ dispensed with the letter classification system and the A Class became the 001 Class, with A3R becoming 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, as the loco was by then known, would have a relatively uneventful life and made through to 1995 as the former A Class loco fleet were 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. A3R was moved to Inchicore for an Open Day in 1996, at which time it was repainted back into 1970s black and orange livery and renumbered 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, although ultimatley A3R would work one of these, the “Mayo Metrovick”, from Dublin to Ballina and back. It would then spend the next decade in Inchicore Works, before being moved by the ITG 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.
