Built: 1976 by GM, La Grange Illinois works USA.

18 of these Co-Co locomotives were delivered to CIE carrying the 1970s black & orange 'Super Train' livery, and entered service on principal routes of the Irish Rail system to Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway, displacing many first generation 001 Class locos.

The 071 Class themselves are now principally freight locomotives, and have a new 'RF livery' of black & silver applied, having been displaced from their diagramed passenger services by the 201 Class locos and second generation diesels railcars/DMUs.

The 071 Class still however operate some passengers services, mainly to Galway, Limerick and Waterford, but these are not regularly diagramed. Freight services include timber, Norfolk Liner containers, Tara Mines ore and cement trains.

Built: 1960 by GM, La Grange Illinois works USA.

15 of these Bo-Bo locomotives were delivered to CIE in 1961, designated as the B Class, and first carried an unusual grey & yellow livery, quickly superseded by black & tan colours after 1962.

The 121s were the first GM locos to work on the Irish Rail system, and had an US style 'switcher' loco appearance with one single cab. The 121s ran bonnet first on trial, but after an accident early in their career ran cab front almost all the time from then on. The locos displaced CIE steam engines entirely from mainline services, mainly to Cork, Sligo and Galway. In the mid-1970s, the class were fitted with multiple operation, with additional hand rails on the side gangways.

The last remaining 121 Class locos Nos.124 & 134 were withdrawn from service in March 2008.

Built: 1962 by GM, La Grange Illinois works USA.

37 of these Bo-Bo locomotives were delivered to CIE in 1962 following the success of the 121 Class, also designated as the B Class. The 141s also carried the then new black & tan livery on delivery, a variation of which was applied right until 2005 on Irish Rail.

The 141 Class is basically a double cab version of the earlier 121 Class, and this made them a lot more versatile. The 141s could also work in multiple within its own class and later with other GM locos such as the later batch of 181 Class locos.

The 141s worked all over the Irish Rail system and included services on the Dublin-Belfast Enterprise, and in later years worked Dublin suburban trains from Maynooth, Arklow and Drogheda. Their last passengers duties were on cross country services. The remaining 141s are still employed on freight and permanent way trains.

Built: 1966 by GM, La Grange Illinois works USA.

12 of these Bo-Bo locomotives were delivered to CIE in 1966 to complement the earlier batch of 141 Class locos, again designated as the B Class. The 181 Class also carried on the new black & tan colours on delivery. The 181 Class locos are externally similar to the 141 Class, but had upgraded 1100hp engines compared to that of 950hp on 141 and 121 locomotives. Again the 181s could also work in multiple within its own class and with other GM locos.

As you might expect, the 181 Class locos worked all over the Irish Rail system and included services on the Dublin-Belfast Enterprise also, and in later years worked Dublin suburban trains from Maynooth, Arklow and Drogheda. Their last passengers duties were also on cross country services. The remaining 181s are still employed on freight and permanent way trains.

Built: 1994/5 by GM, London, Ontario, Canada.

34 of these Co-Co locomotives were delivered to Irish Rail in 1994/5, the 201 Class are the newest and most powerful locos to work in Ireland. The 201 Class quickly began operating services on the principal routes of the Irish Rail system shortly after entering service to places such as Cork, Galway, Waterford Westport, Limerick and Belfast, displacing many 071 Class hauled passenger trains.The 201 Class also hauled Dublin suburban pushpull trains until displaced by 2900 Class railcars in 2002.

The 201s are the heaviest diesel locos to operate on Irish Rail and have a max speed of 100mph, which can be achieved on Dublin-Cork services utilising new Mk4 pushpull rolling stock. The 201 Class also hauled many freight trains, including liner container and ammonia workings, now gone, and therefore the 201s now work almost exclusively passenger trains, and have a new 'Intercity' livery applied of silver & green.

Built: 1955 by Metropolitan Vickers, Dunkinfield Works, Manchester, Great Britain.

60 of these Co-Co locomotives were delivered to CIE in 1955 as part of the first large scale dieselisation of the Irish Rail system, and were designated the A Class. Fitted with Crossley diesel engines and delivered in a striking new silver livery, these locos displaced mainline steam locomotives from the outset. Unfortunately the Crossley engines were not a success and frequently broke down, often giving the silver wearing locos a tarnished image, both from oil leaks and the rugged Irish weather. Thus between 1968 to 1971, the entire A Class were re-engined at Inchicore with GM power units, and fitted with a high intensity GM front headlamp. The suffix 'r' was then applied to the locos, which were by then in CIE's new black & tan livery.

 In 1972, the A Class were renumbered as the '001 Class'. They became reliable locos after been re-fitted with GM engines, and were the first locos to receive the CIE's 1970s black & orange 'Super Train' livery. The 001s ventured all over the Irish Rail system and undertook mainline, suburban and freight duties. Largely displaced by the arrival of the 071 Class, the 001s worked services to Rosslare in later years, as well as heavy freight & sugar beet trains. Their final duty were hauling ore trains from Tara Mines. The arrival of the new 201 Class locos in 1994 finally saw the remaining 001 Class engines withdrawn, the last been No.003 in 1995.

Built: 1956 by Metropolitan Vickers, Dunkinfield Works, Manchester, Great Britain.

34 of these Bo-Bo locomotives were delivered to CIE in 1956 as part of the first large scale dieselisation of the Irish Rail system, and were designated the C Class. Fitted with Crossley diesel engines and delivered in a striking new silver livery, these locos displaced steam locomotives from rural branch lines of the network. Unfortunately the Crossley engines were not a success and frequently broke down, often giving the silver wearing locos a tarnished image, both from oil leaks and the rugged Irish weather. Thus between 1968 to 1972, the entire C Class were re-engined at Inchicore with GM power units, and fitted with a high intensity GM front headlamp. The suffix 'r' was then applied to the locos, which were by then in CIE's new black & tan livery.

 In 1972, the C Class were renumbered as the 'C201 Class'. They became reliable locos after been re-fitted with GM engine, but unfortunately many of the branch lines they were designed to work on were closed, and soon the class were semi redundant. In the mid 1970s however, the C201 Class were fitted for pushpull operation in conjunction with conversion of former 1950s AEC railcars to driving trailers for work on Dublin suburban trains. Following DART electrification of the main Dublin suburban line in 1984, the C201 class were once again made redundant. They remained in use on engineering and pilot trains until withdrawal in 1987, however six of the locomotives of the class were purchased by Northern Ireland Railways and designated the 104 Class, and were used by NIR on pilot and engineering trains until their final withdrawal in 1995.

Built: 1970 by Hunslet of Leeds/BREL Doncaster, Great Britain.

Built: 1950-51 by CIE, Inchicore Works, Dublin.

Built: 1957-63 by CIE, Inchicore Works, Dublin.