Class 121 (CIE) Profile and Models

Class 121 (CIE)

No. 134 at Inchicore Railway Works in August 2004. ©Manfred Kopka

The Class 121 locomotives were produced by General Motors for use on the Irish railway network. The design is of a typical American-style single cab "road switcher" and was very different to other Irish diesels of the time. Due to poor visibility, the locomotives were often operated with the cab leading and in later years, they were converted to allow multiple working with two locomotives coupled nose to nose, like the British Rail Class 20s. The locomotives were heavily used on passenger services, with some modified for use with BR Mk3-based push-pull train units. The 121s also saw use a shunters and on maintenance trains in their twilight years.

(Information provided by Wikipedia)

Type of Locomotive

Diesel-Electric

Builder

General Motors EMD, Illinois, USA

Build Dates

1960 to 1961

Total Built

15

Tractive Effort

44,000 lbf

Power Output

960 to 1,100 hp

Top Speed

77 mph

Wheel Configuration

Bo-Bo

Operated By

Córas Iompair Éireann
Iarnród Éireann

Main Duties

Mixed Traffic

In Service Until

2008

Surviving Examples

2