Irish Enterprise South is the second half of the Irish Enterprise project from the dedicated Irish team at Making Tracks and can be linked to Enterprise North to recreate the entire route from Belfast to Dublin.

The Route

This part of the route runs from Dundalk to Dublin and features the suburban Dart system which starts at Malahide in the Dublin area.

Enterprise South leaves Dundalk through gently rolling countryside until Drogheda and the River Boyne. Drogheda is the location of the diesel railcar depot and is the Northern limit of the Northern line commuter services. The now disused cement works branch line to Tara Mines is also modelled.

Moving further south the route passes Mosney, a station originally built on a bi directional loop which is still used to provide some extra capacity.

From Drogheda, the route continues south, through a string of small stations, many of which retain original GNR(I) buildings and features despite their use as increasingly busy commuter stations. The line skirts the coast in several locations and the beach can be seen in places.

After passing Maldahide and the extreme reach of the Dart commuter system, Howth junction marks the beginning of urban Dublin. Here a branch line links to the select and up market coastal town of Howth.

Locomotives & Multiple Units

Locomotives and Rolling Stock included in the package encompass a wide selection of the those used in recent years on the route to enable users to recreate prototypical operations.

201 Class

The 201 class were delivered between 1994 and 1995 from General Motors London, Ontario works. They have 12 cylinder 710G3B engines of 3200 horsepower. Some are equipped to provide “Head End Power” (HEP) to power “Enterprise” coaching stock, although most other Irish rolling stock uses a generator van to provide power. They have a maximum speed of 100mph (160kmph).

IÈ Class 071

These locomotives were built by General Motors of the United States at La Grange, Illinois in 1977. They have 12 cylinder 645E3C engines developing 2475 hp, and work mainly freight and secondary passenger services since the delivery of the 201 class. They have a maximum speed of 90 mph (144kmph).

NIR 111 Class

These two locomotives were bought by NIR in 1981 and 1984 to replace the “Hunslet” locomotives of 1970 on the cross border service. They are basically to the same design as IÈ’s class 071, and are increasingly used on infrastructure, peak hour commuter services using the “Gatex” stock and occasional charter work. Both have spent extensive periods on loan to IÈ where 112 acquired IE style large marker lights, both have also spent some time out of service. The locomotives also have a lower top speed of 70 mph (kmph).

IÈ 29000 Class DMUs

These units were introduced in 2001-2003 and are the latest four car commuter DMU (called “Railcars” in Ireland) handling most of the intensive and heavy traffic north from Connolly towards Maynooth, Drogheda and Dundalk, the units have also worked intercity services to Sligo. In the past the units have worked to Belfast and do occasionally stand in for failed “Enterprise” sets. Built in Spain by CAF, they are fully air conditioned, have MAN engines and Voith hydraulic transmission (similar to the UK Class 170) and have a 75mph top speed.

NIR 450 “Castle” Class DEMU

Prior to Translink’s latest Spanish built CAF Series 3000 DMU sets (which are completely different to the Irish 29000 units from the same manufacturer) the 450 was the nearest thing to a modern train in Northern Ireland. Sometimes erroneously called an Irish Sprinter, they are in fact a bit like a dodgy back street second hand car welded together from a number of scrap donors! What outwardly looks like a BR 1980’s emu or Sprinter is actually a new “Sprinter” type body welded onto an ex BR Mk1 coach chassis, powered by an English Electric 550hp engine and motor bogie rescued from scrapped 1968 build “70” class units! Despite the cost cutting exercise in recycling, the typically s hard low backed seating and some questionable heating, the units have gone on to provide a vital commuter role mainly on the Portadown, Larne and Bangor lines

8100/8300 LHB Dart

Introduced in 1983, the original 2 car Dart electric multiple units (Class 81/8300) were built in Germany by Linke-Hoffman Busch with GEC electrical equipment. The electrification of the Dublin Bay commuter lines through Connolly revolutionised commuting into the city, and the trains soon became an icon for the city. Originally planned as a network of lines, the Dart (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) has since been extended from the original termini of Bray and Howth to Greystones and Malahide, but the Dart electrification was never extended out onto other lines.

Passenger & Freight Stock

Having a selection of locomotives is great but it's always good to have something to pull with them!

NIR “Pre-Gatwick Express” stock

Prior to the introduction in 2001, of the “Gatwick Express” rake, NIR retained a short rake of the 1970s “Enterprise” Mk2b stock for use on peak hour extras, excursions and relief/emergency Enterprise duties. The stock comprised three ex BR Mk2b Corridor Firsts converted to open-plan second class seating (although still retaining the first class legroom and seating 56) and two Brake First Generator cars, one of which was subsequently rebuilt for use with the “Gatex” stock.

IE Mk2 “Supertrain” stock

Introduced in 1972 to a modified BR Mk2d air conditioned design, the “Supertrain” stock as it was called by CIÈ’s marketing people bought revolutionary levels of comfort to Ireland’s railways and was quickly drafted onto the Belfast route. They differ in a number of ways from their UK cousins, with composite and buffet designs (the composite having central doors and a cross passageway between the two passenger saloons) which never appeared on British metals. Probably the two biggest differences are that they are powered from a separate Generator Van and the fitting of vacuum brakes.

IE Mk3 Push-Pull

Introduced in 1988-9 using parts supplied by BREL to the BR Mk3 design, but built in Inchicore, the coaches are a classic piece of Irish ingenuity to get round a lack of finance. The growth of Dublin in the late 1980’s was putting pressure on commuter rail services, the Dart had raised expectations on stations beyond the Dart wires and the rising cost of housing in the Dart corridor was leading to increased long distance commuting. At the time IE used a motley collection of 1950’s wooden framed coaches designed by OVS Bullied and built by Park Royal, but following two serious accidents in which wooden framed coaches disintegrated with substantial loss of life, IE came under pressure to replace the wooden bodied stock on high traffic main lines

Freight Stock

The pack also contains a selection of freight rolling stock, including a four wheel gypsum hopper, ballast hopper and brake van along with the large Tara Mines bogie hoppers.

Please remember this product is an add-on for Microsoft Train Simulator and you must have Microsoft Train Simulator installed on your system for this product to work.