2419 was built at Inchicore in 1956 as one of four buffet carriages. It had seating for 39 second class passengers, split across two saloons at each end of the carriage with the buffet counter in the middle. Initially it ran as part of an AEC railcar set, with a cocktail bar and trolley service. However, they would also have seen use on steam trains and later loco-hauled diesel sets.
After three decades of use across the Irish railway system behind a variety of steam and diesel locomotives and railcars, 2419 was withdrawn in 1987 and purchased for preservation by DCDR the following year along with two other CIÉ coaches, 3223 and 1918. Our first attempt to move the three to Downpatrick from Dublin failed due to the haulier sending the wrong type of lorry, and so instead they were moved by rail to Adelaide yard in Belfast from where they could then complete the journey to Downpatrick by road.
By December 1989, 2419 was in service as our buffet train. It served in this capacity until overhaul in 2000, after which it promptly resumed its duties. Being a 1950s design, it makes for an authentic buffet carriage on both diesel and steam train services. As with the rest of the buffet set, 2419 was taken out of everyday use in August 2018 having been replaced by 458. For various reasons however, 458 is not yet ready for winter operations and so 2419 continues to be used as part of our buffet train during our Lapland Express Santa train season. This carriage is currently undergoing some structural maintenence in our workshop to reverse the effects of being stored outside for many years. Once 458 is ready, we plan to take the buffet set fully out of service to allow for a full overhaul to be undertaken.