The annual Downpatrick Diesel Gala took place on Saturday 29th August. Not one to rest on our laurels after the debut of 124 the previous year, the ITG team saw to it that the 2026 event had a number of firsts. Not least of these was the first passenger working in preservation of loco 190, the only surviving member of the 181 Class introduced in 1966.
190 was paired up with 146 to haul a loaded ballast train as part of the runpasts. Later in the day, the same pair hauled the final passenger service. In addition, one of the earlier trains was hauled by 124+146. The day turned out to be a festival for lovers of Irish GM locomotives.
Making a cameo appearance was G617, in use as the ‘Inch Abbey pilot’. Its job was to shunt release double GM locos (only one will fit in the headshunt).
While the weather didn’t co-operate, everyone seemed to have a ball regardless. The question now is: what are we going to do for 2027?
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