NIR General Motors 111 Class

The Prototype

By the late 1970's, the Hunslet 101 Class were becoming a little tired working the 'Enterprise' express trains. NIR decided to buy two new locomotives and opted for the General Motors JT22CW model which NIR classified as the 111 Class. Virtually identical to CIÉ's 071 Class, these two locomotives arrived in 1981. Powered by the same 12-645 E3B V12 two stroke diesel engine of 2,475hp, transmission to the Co-Co bogies is electric. In 1984, one further locomotive arrived bringing the total up to three. All are named after former Northern Irish railway companies. These locomotives were themselves displaced from the 'Enterprise' express in 1995 with the arrival of the 208 Class.

The Model

Details of the availability and basic modelling of these locomotives is the same as the CIÉ 071 Class. The transfers, paint and nameplates can all be supplied by MIR. My particular model, No.111 'Great Northern', runs on the Athearn SD9 chassis.