NIR 1 Class

The NIR 1 Class, also called the DH class, was a class of three diesel-hydraulic shunting locomotives that English Electric built at its Vulcan Foundry works at Newton-le-Willows in 1969 for Northern Ireland Railways. Numbered 1 to 3, they had a 0-6-0 wheel arrangement and Dorman 12QTV engines of 620 horsepower, and were English Electric standard Stephenson-type machines bought for shunting, trip freights and engineer's trains. They entered service between July and October 1969 but were not particularly successful because their engines overheated regularly. All three were withdrawn in the late 1980s and later passed to the Irish Traction Group, and two were rebuilt for work in Sri Lanka.