Steam Locomotives of a Leisurely Era – 1939 3-Cylinder 4-6-0 – Great Southern Railway

No.801 as running in 1948.

Three engines built in 1939 for working the heaviest expresses over the main line between Dublin and Cork. They were named after the Queens of Ireland, No.800 ‘Maeve’, 801 ‘Mocha’ and 802 ‘Tailte’, and were destined to be the last new conventional steam locomotives constructed for the GSR or Coras Iompair Eireann, as it later became. They were the most powerful express locomotives ever built for an Irish railway, and their remarkable similarity to the English rebuilt ‘Royal Scots’ will be noted.
Since dieselisation there has been little suitable work for them, and No.802 was broken up in 1957. As a matter of interest the dimensions of the LMS rebuilt ‘Royal Scots’ are shown for comparison.
GSR 800 class – Driving wheels – 6’ 7”, Cylinders (3) – 18½”x 28”, Pressure – 225 lb., Tractive effort – 33000 lb., Weight 84 tons
LMS rebuilt ‘Royal Scots’ – Driving wheels – 6’ 9”, Cylinders (3) – 18”x 28”, Pressure – 250 lb., Tractive effort – 33150 lb., Weight 83 tons

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The Waterford and Tramore Railway, Southern Ireland – 2-2-2Ts

The Waterford and Tramore Railway

2-2-2Ts – 1855Map of the line – 1872

 The Waterford and Tramore Railway was an independent line which opened on September 5, 1853, connecting Manor St. in the city of Waterford, Ireland, to the seaside resort of Tramore, 7.25 miles (11.67 km) away. Construction began on February 10, 1853. The Waterford business community financed the 77,000 pounds cost. The William Dargan Construction Company completed the line in 7 months – a considerable achievement as a section of line just outside Waterford ran over deep bogland covered in bulrushes.No.483 at Tramore in 1932 – H.C.Casserley

The first two engines were a couple of single-wheeled well tanks built by Fairbairn & Son in 1855, and numbered 1 and 2.  Both lasted to be absorbed into the Great Southern railway in the 1925 amalgamation, and they were allotted GSR numbers 483 and 484, but No.2 was scrapped in 1928 without being renumbered.  As No.483 however, the other engine was still in active service in 1936.  In that year, it was derailed while travelling at speed and plunged down an embankment, into such a position that it was considered uneconomical to try and re-rail it and it was cut up on the site.  But for this unfortunate occurrence it might well have attained its centenary as it was a good little engine and quite capable of dealing with all but the heaviest summer loads.  At the time of its demise it was noteworthy as being the last single wheeler in regular traffic in Great Britain and Ireland. (Two 2-2-4Ts on the North Eastern Railway lasted until 1936/7, but they were normally only used in hauling inspection saloons.)

Driving wheels – 5’ 0”,  Leading and trailing wheels – 3’ 6”,  Cylinders – 13”x 19”, Pressure 130 lb. No.1,  125 lb No.2,  Weight – 26 tons,  Weight on driving wheels – 12 tons.

In 1925, the line was amalgamated into the Great Southern Railways (GS&WR), which subsequently became part of CIE. On September 27, 1960, CIE announced closure of the line and, on December 31, it was permanently closed, to be replaced by a bus service. To avoid demonstrations, the last scheduled train did not run. The final trains thus were the 1.25 p.m. from Waterford and the 2.10 p.m. from Tramore.

During the first half of 1961, all the tracks were lifted – locally it is believed for shipment to Nigeria^. The sleepers were sold for protection against coastal erosion. One of the few remaining traces of the railway is the Station house, which currently serves as the offices of Tramore Failte.Train at Bath Street Crossing gates 1928 – Jack O’Neill