Railway Preservation Society of Ireland facts for kids
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The RPSI's oldest locomotive, No.186, a GS&WR Class 101, at Whitehead.
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| Abbreviation | RPSI |
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| Formation | 1964 |
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Membership (2022)
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ca. 1,000 |
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Main organ
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Five Foot Three |
The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) is a group that works to save and run old trains. It started in 1964 and operates across Ireland. The RPSI runs special steam train trips on the main railway lines from Dublin. They also offer shorter train rides at their base in Whitehead, County Antrim. Since 2023, the group sometimes runs trains in Northern Ireland using diesel trains they rent from Belfast.
The RPSI has main locations in Dublin and Whitehead. The Whitehead site also has a museum where you can learn about trains. The society owns many old railway vehicles. These include wagons, carriages, steam engines, and diesel locomotives.
Where the RPSI Works
The RPSI has had several places where they keep and work on trains over the years. Today, they mainly use three locations: Whitehead, Inchicore, and Connolly.
Current Locations
Whitehead Site and Museum
Whitehead, which is close to Belfast, has always been a popular spot for train trips. The RPSI has built a special workshop there for steam engines. They also added a museum to this site.
The Whitehead Railway Museum opened in early 2017. It took five years to build and cost a lot of money. The museum welcomed 10,000 visitors in its first year. By 2018, 15,000 people had visited. Inside the museum, there are five different areas to explore. Visitors can see many old steam and diesel trains. You can also watch people working to fix up old railway carriages. Guides from the RPSI are there to help and answer questions.
Inchicore in Dublin
The RPSI uses Inchicore Works in Dublin to store some of its trains. They also do maintenance work on their vehicles there.
Connolly Shed
In 2015, the RPSI made a deal to use a train shed near Connolly in Dublin. This shed is used to store and maintain their diesel locomotives.
Past Locations
Mullingar
The RPSI used a train shed in Mullingar starting in 1974. They kept steam engines 184 and 186 there. They also fixed up carriages at this location. Later, this base was no longer used. The RPSI decided to focus its money on the Whitehead site instead. The Mullingar site was eventually given back to the local council and Irish Rail. The remaining carriages were moved to other places.
Sallins
Before using Mullingar, the RPSI had a base at Sallins Goods Shed.
Whitehead and Belfast Mainline Trips
The Society used to run steam train trips on the main lines from Whitehead and Belfast. These trips stopped in 2023. The RPSI is now working with Northern Ireland Railways to start these trips again. Whitehead still offers short train rides within its yard. Maintenance work on the mainline carriages and locomotives continues there.
Trains and Other Vehicles
The RPSI owns nine steam locomotives. One more is operated by them but belongs to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museums. Usually, only a few of these trains are ready to run at any time.
Steam Locomotives
Passenger Locomotives
The RPSI has three Great Northern Railway of Ireland passenger locomotives. No. 131, a Q class, was built in 1901. The others are S class no. 171 Slieve Gullion and V class No. 85 Merlin. No. 85 is on loan from the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum. These locomotives are good for long trips on the main lines.
Large Tank Locomotive
The RPSI's Northern Counties Committee (NCC) WT class No. 4 is very special. It pulled the last steam passenger train on Northern Ireland Railways. It also pulled the last stone goods train in 1970. The RPSI got it in 1971. Since then, it has worked on most of the remaining railway lines in Ireland. They also own a SLNCR Lough class locomotive.
Goods Locomotives
The Society has three goods locomotives. These are suitable for pulling passenger trains at slower speeds. Two of them are from the 101 (J15) class. Over 100 of these were built between 1866 and 1903. They were used until steam trains stopped running regularly in 1963. The RPSI has two of these strong and reliable engines: No. 184 and No. 186. No. 461, a DSER 15 and 16 Class, is the only one of its kind that has been saved.
Shunting Locomotives
Shunting locomotives are small engines used for moving trains around in the yard. They are also used for short passenger rides at Whitehead. These include the 0-6-0ST .3 'R.H. Smyth', also known as Harvey. It has even been used to pull ballast wagons for NIR. There is also No3BG "Guinness," which was given to the Society by Guinness in 1965.
Diesel and Other Locomotives
The RPSI plans to build a collection of old diesel trains for mainline use. They have bought four General Motors diesel locomotives. These are CIÉ 121 Class number 134 and CIÉ 141 Class numbers 141, 142, and 175.
The RPSI used to own two NIR 101 Class Hunslet diesels, numbered 101 and 102. They scrapped 101, and 102 was moved to the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum.
The RPSI also has some small diesel shunting engines. These include a Ruston from a sugar factory and a Planet diesel from Irish Shell.
Carriages and Other Stock
In the 2000s, new safety rules meant the RPSI had to get metal-bodied carriages. These are used for their special train trips on the main lines.
Freight Wagons and Other Stock
At Whitehead, there is a collection of old wagons. This includes a GNR brakevan called Ivan, which was restored by the RPSI's Youth team. There is also a Guinness van, an NCC handcrane, a GSWR ballast hopper, and an oil tanker from Irish Shell.
How the RPSI Operates
Train Trips
The main goal of the RPSI is to keep old steam trains running. They organize special train trips around Ireland. These trips became very important after regular steam train services ended.
Films
The RPSI has helped with movies that need train scenes. They provide suitable old trains for filming in Ireland. One of their first big movie involvements was in 1978 for the film The First Great Train Robbery.
Publication
Five Foot Three is the magazine for RPSI members. It is published once a year.
Incidents
On November 7, 2014, an RPSI train blocked a level crossing in Midleton for over 25 minutes. This happened because the train was too long for the station's platform.
On July 7, 2019, an incident happened at Gorey. Locomotive No. 85 ran out of water, and a safety plug in its firebox melted. Emergency services had to cool down the boiler. The crew left the train safely, and another diesel train came to help.
See also
- List of heritage railways in Northern Ireland
- List of heritage railways in the Republic of Ireland
- Irish Steam Preservation Society
- Irish Traction Group
