NIR 1 Class

In September 1994, the Irish Traction Group purchased the three locomotives from NIR and moved them south to their restoration base at Carrick-on-Suir. Although Nos 2 and 3 were moved to Lisburn on Sunday 11 September 1994 to be reunited with No. 1, paperwork issues with Iarnród Éireann regarding the transport of the engines from Lisburn to Carrick-on-Suir meant that the locomotives did not move until Monday 7 January 1995 to Inchicore Works at Dublin, where they spent a week parked outside the running shed at Dublin Heuston. The move was completed on 14 January when the locomotives were towed from Dublin to Carrick-on-Suir.

When they moved to Carrick-on-Suir by rail, they formed the last recorded un-braked train in Ireland and were regarded as an "Engineers Special". Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the ITG to prevent the locomotives from being vandalised while at Carrick-on-Suir, they were repeatedly attacked during their ten years of outside storage. This has prompted the ITG in recent times to construct large metal covers to protect any engines stored out of doors at Carrick-on-Suir, both from vandals and deterioration caused by the Irish weather.

During this period, it became clear that the ITG could not restore even one of the locomotives to running condition. The major cost was to replace the engine, torque converter and final drive, with prices in the area of £70,000 sterling to replace these components. Several engineering companies also queried whether the locomotives would be made available for sale, though the cost of replacing the engines and related drive components meant that these inquiries did not amount to much more than that. Since, two have been rebuilt for work in Sri Lanka; one is in storage in Wales.

In 2005, the ITG was approached by Beaver Power Ltd, who wanted to buy the three locomotives for re-use in Sri Lanka. After much deliberation, the ITG sold Nos. 2 and 3 to Beaver for export to Sri Lanka, and moved to Merthyr Tydfil for overhaul and regauging to allow them to run on the 5 ft 6 in broad gauge tracks in Sri Lanka.^[1] Locomotive No. 1 was also sent to Merthyr Tydfil for parts recovery to enable the other two to be rebuilt to running condition. At the time, No. 1 was still owned by the ITG, and was not offered for sale until five years later.

In May 2006, Nos. 2 and 3 departed for Sri Lanka to work at a Holcim cement plant in the Puttalam area. The work included regauging to 5 ft 6 in (1676 mm), fitting of a Rolls-Royce CV12 750 hp Diesel engine coupled to a Twin Disc 13800 MS230 torque converter (both engines had lost their Diesel engines, torque converter and final drives in 1991), and repainting in Holcim livery.

In November 2010, the decision was made by the ITG to sell the stripped remains of No. 1 to Beaver, the sale being concluded on 28 November. This locomotive had lost its engine, torque converter and final drive in 1989, and was heavily stripped due to its use by Beaver as a spare parts unit. It is understood that the locomotive will be rebuilt for industrial service, whether in the UK or overseas.^[1]

It is understood that, as of 2010, locomotive No. 3 has been withdrawn and heavily stripped for parts. The locomotive still carries the white Holcim livery that it was painted in when first exported to Sri Lanka, while No. 2 was repainted into a blue and white livery: it is still in service. No. 2 has been named, "Shakhti", and No. 3, "Prince Vijaya" - nameplates adorn the cabsides of each locomotive. No. 2 has received a further repaint and now sports a red and white livery with yellow band.