Irish Rail 121 Class - Mullingar Turntable - July 1992 

The sound of those GM locomotives takes me right back to my childhood... the 121 type were a classy beast indeed

Ah the auld 121 class. The noise they made was just fantastic, my abiding memory of them would be going down to connoly with my mam, dad, brothers going up the escalators and being unbelivably excited just seeing the inside of the station. Then get the train to Balbriggan, ah the memories. Listening to them ticking over getting off at the station, the smell of the sea air, the sound of the seagulls and hearing it take off again with the sound still audible minutes later as it rounds the headland and into the distance

A great video with excellent sounds, memories of the turntable in Sligo!!! Thanks.

Great footage, In my youth I was lucky enough to help in turning a 121 on the mullingar table,

What a fabulous piece of video recording. A genuine piece of Irish GM locomotive history made all the better that it was the original 121 looking in great shape. Thank you.

The old mullingar trains I remember them well

Lovely seeing everyone turning the engine.

Thanks, the line is single track but at Enfield there is a passing loop which is signalled bi-directional, so trains can passing through the station on either tracks.

A Diesel on the turntable in the modern world? Now that is very rare. Drivers were not keen to drive the class 121 nose first due to visuality problems which is why this engine was always seen running cab first. 121's were always turned around unless they were put in pairs (a cab facing out either end) which eliminated the visuality problem and the need to turn them around. The 121's aren't unlike the Class 20's in England; another commonely seen to go cab first :)

That sound brings me back to Rosslare station, the start of our summer holiday!

Thanks, yes they are General Motors locos, of the GL8 type switcher type. On Irish Rail they were used on mainline trains, cab facing, as opposed to yard shunting. They entered service in 1961, with the last two locos surviving until 2008.

Only two survive,134 is stored at Inchicore Works, Dublin, awaiting preservation, while 124 is stored by the Irish Traction Group at Moyasta, Co.Clare.

Excellent stuff. Terrific footage of the turntable manoeuvre - first time I've seen a 121 class on the turntable! Would love to see more!

What a fabulous piece of video history. It is 20 years old but captures the essence of the 121 single cab loco and its dexterity. It is especially evocative as it is the original 121 and looking in good shape.

Excellent... that takes you back, doesn't it? Thanks so much for sharing this.

Thanks very much, glad you like it.

A nice bit of history there eiretrains.great clip.

@fishplate7 Thanks, yes thought it might be interesting as not many have seen a 121 on the table, including myself!

Ah fantastic stuff. Good old days.....

@AquamarineChili There only two 121 locos left, currently No.124 is stored by the Irish Traction Group at Moyasta, Co.Clare, the other No.134 is stored by the RPSI at Inchicore, Dublin.

@balmesh Glad you liked it!

@metrovick001 Thanks, yep I'll see if there's more of BP's material suitable.

i cant beleve it only takes 4 guys to tern that loco round,,,must be the gunnis they make over there,,,good beer,,,thanks for uploading,,,

Very interesting and historical.

@mikebeckettvids Only wish I'd see the stuff myself! just glad someone recorded it.

@IrishRail123 They were indeed, I live in hope we'll see loco 134 do something similar in the future!

continued: Though having said that Class 20's could be seen running nose first at times but were most frequently cab first :)

No, it's the signalman I think, returning the signal token to the cabin!

@karlr42 Thats right, the service went over the railcar/DMU operation in the early 2000s.

Very good video, what is the reason that the last part of the train runs along the opposite route?? greeting gus

I wonder how fast they could get it spinning if they gave it some serious welly....

I remember back in 1990 a class 121 derailed on the sidings in Balbriggan it was just the engine and I think the driver suffered only minor injuries,does anyone else remember the incident

Do any 121s still exist or were all of them scrapped?

What guage is that track? It looks like a very wide guage like what used to be used in the southern USA.

Why oh why in the name of all things logical did we the supposedly intelligent Irish insist on operating this poor old thing the wrong way around. Drivers said they couldn't see, it was 1962, that sends a shiver down the spine considering some of the older drivers probably operated steam trains, which in normal operation went forward, were they not able to see.

What's that lever on the turntable

Where these.known as Bo Bo locos ?

good video is the turntable in use today have you seen it in real life can you see it

i bet it was hard to trun those loco's, hey

Great to look at but I would not want to rely on them to get me to work every day!

im surprised they could turn it with a train engine on it

DMUs are so much better and effecient and don't require paying 4 guys wages to turnback.

Only two survive; 134 is stored at Inchicore Works, Dublin, awaiting preservation, while 124 is stored by the Irish Traction Group at Moyasta, Co.Clare.