CIE 801 Class
Encyclopedia
The "Type K", number 801 was a diesel locomotive
which was allocated to Córas Iompair Éireann
(CIÉ) following the disbanding of the Great Northern Railway Board (GNRB) in 1958.
It was built by German builders Maschinenbau Kiel
(MaK), who built over one hundred of these Type 800 D locomotives between 1953 and 1965. It was delivered free of charge for trials and unloaded at North Wall, Dublin on December 14, 1954. The locomotive closely followed German practice being fitted with an 800 hp MaK diesel engine
, feeding power to the rails through a Voith
torque converter. The locomotive shared many similarities with the less powerful Deutsche Bundesbahn
class V65, it had a "D" (8-coupled) wheel arrangement and was controlled from an off-centre cab.
The locomotive underwent trials on both goods and passenger trains over various parts of the GNRB system and on some of the Ulster Transport Authority
's former Northern Counties Committee
lines. Following the trials, it was purchased by the GNRB for the sum of £29,500.
Following the dissolution of the Board in 1958 it was allocated to CIÉ and renumbered K801. Trials between Dublin and Kildare and on Dublin–Bray passenger trains followed before K801 was transferred to Cork, where it worked mainly on the Cobh and Youghal lines. K801 was stopped on September 7, 1967, but reinstated over seven years later on a date variously reported as September 30 or October 1, 1974. After reinstatement, K801 worked in the Drogheda area but was stopped again shortly thereafter, on November 1.
It was withdrawn in 1976 and acquired by the Galway Metal Company as a static power source, being partially scrapped around 1995. The remains of this unique loco were cut up in February 1999.
) V65. This is available from ROCO http://www.bahn.hfkern.de/Roco/Dt_V265.html in HO scale. Steve Johnson’s site has more detail, http://website.lineone.net/~sjohnson40/Loco%20Profiles/KClass.html.
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
which was allocated to Córas Iompair Éireann
Córas Iompair Éireann
Córas Iompair Éireann , or CIÉ, is a statutory corporation of the Irish state, answerable to the Irish Government and responsible for most public transport in the Republic of Ireland and, jointly with its Northern Ireland counterpart, the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, between the...
(CIÉ) following the disbanding of the Great Northern Railway Board (GNRB) in 1958.
History
The single locomotive of this class was acquired by the GNRB in December 1954 and became their number 800.It was built by German builders Maschinenbau Kiel
Maschinenbau Kiel
Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH designed, manufactured and marketed marine diesel engines, diesel locomotives and tracked vehicles under the MaK brand name. The three primary operating divisions of Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH were sold to different companies in the 1990s.Rheinmetall acquired the military...
(MaK), who built over one hundred of these Type 800 D locomotives between 1953 and 1965. It was delivered free of charge for trials and unloaded at North Wall, Dublin on December 14, 1954. The locomotive closely followed German practice being fitted with an 800 hp MaK diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
, feeding power to the rails through a Voith
Voith
The Voith GmbH, which is headquartered in Germany, is a family-run corporation in the mechanical engineering sector with worldwide operations....
torque converter. The locomotive shared many similarities with the less powerful Deutsche Bundesbahn
Deutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...
class V65, it had a "D" (8-coupled) wheel arrangement and was controlled from an off-centre cab.
The locomotive underwent trials on both goods and passenger trains over various parts of the GNRB system and on some of the Ulster Transport Authority
Ulster Transport Authority
The Ulster Transport Authority ran rail and bus transport in Northern Ireland from 1948 until 1966.-Formation and consolidation:The UTA was formed by the Transport Act 1948, which merged the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board and the Belfast and County Down Railway...
's former Northern Counties Committee
Northern Counties Committee
The Northern Counties Committee was a railway that served the north-east of Ireland. It was built to Irish gauge but later acquired a number of narrow gauge lines...
lines. Following the trials, it was purchased by the GNRB for the sum of £29,500.
Following the dissolution of the Board in 1958 it was allocated to CIÉ and renumbered K801. Trials between Dublin and Kildare and on Dublin–Bray passenger trains followed before K801 was transferred to Cork, where it worked mainly on the Cobh and Youghal lines. K801 was stopped on September 7, 1967, but reinstated over seven years later on a date variously reported as September 30 or October 1, 1974. After reinstatement, K801 worked in the Drogheda area but was stopped again shortly thereafter, on November 1.
It was withdrawn in 1976 and acquired by the Galway Metal Company as a static power source, being partially scrapped around 1995. The remains of this unique loco were cut up in February 1999.
Model
The K Class model is based on the DB (Deutsche BahnDeutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
) V65. This is available from ROCO http://www.bahn.hfkern.de/Roco/Dt_V265.html in HO scale. Steve Johnson’s site has more detail, http://website.lineone.net/~sjohnson40/Loco%20Profiles/KClass.html.