SLNCR Lough class
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The SLNCR Lough Class was a class of 0-6-4T steam tank locomotives of the Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway (SLNCR).
Development[]
By the end of Second World War the SLNCR's locomotive fleet was in poor condition, but neither the Great Northern nor Córas Iompair Éireann could spare any suitable locomotives for hire.[4] The SLNCR considered ordering a Garratt articulated locomotive to haul heavier trains, but it could scarcely afford one locomotive of such a large size.[5] Therefore, it decided instead to order two more smaller locomotives, on the basis that if one required maintenance the other could still be available for traffic.[5]
In June 1946 the SLNCR ordered just one new locomotive from Beyer, Peacock and Company[4] at Gorton Foundry, Manchester, England. The SLNCR's financial situation was worsening, but despite this it ordered the second locomotive about a year later.[4] The Lough class was a more modern and more powerful development of the , which was also built by Beyer, Peacock but was introduced in 1904.[6]
Delivery and SLNCR service[]
Beyer, Peacock completed both locomotives ready for delivery in spring 1949[4] but by then the SLNCR could not afford to pay for them.[1] The SLNCR therefore asked the Government of Northern Ireland's Ministry of Commerce to lend it £22,000 to pay for the two locomotives.[4] Protracted negotiations between the SLNCR, Ministry of Commerce and Beyer, Peacock eventually resulted in a hire purchase agreement in 1951, and the two locomotives were shipped from England to Belfast in June and July of that year.[4] They were taken first to the GNR's Adelaide locomotive depot in Belfast, where their side tanks were fitted.[3] They were then delivered to the SLNCR's locomotive depot at , County Leitrim.[3]
The Lough class became the last new steam locomotives to enter revenue-earning service with an Irish railway company.[3] CIÉ's turf-burning locomotive entered traffic later, but remained experimental and never entered revenue-earning service.[3] The Loughs could haul trains 25% heavier than the Sir Henrys, and they were worked hard from 1951 until the SLNCR's closure.[2]
The SLNCR had never prospered, and in 1957 it closed to all traffic. On Monday 30 September 1957 Lough Melvin hauled the company's last service, a mixed train from Eniskillen to Sligo.[7]
SLNCR livery[]
By the 1950s the SLNCR's locomotive livery was unlined black.[5] Brasswork was also painted black but the borders and lettering of the locomotive nameplate[[]]s were picked out in red.[5] Coupling rods and buffer beams were also painted red.[5]
Identification[]
The SLNCR did not number its steam locomotives but named them. The Lough Class were named Lough Melvin and Lough Erne.
Name | Builders | Works No. | Date | UTA No. | Withdrawn |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lough Melvin | Beyer, Peacock & Co., Gorton Foundry | 7138 (a) | 1949 | 26 | 1965 |
Lough Erne | Beyer, Peacock & Co., Gorton Foundry | 7242 (b) | 1949 | 27 | 1969 |
(a) : Beyer, Peacock & Co. works numbers 7136/7/8 were originally allocated to three War Department Garratt locomotives.[citation needed] This order was cancelled, 7136 and 7137 were re-allocated to two extra Garratts for the Great Western Railway of Brazil, added to a delayed pre-war order sub-contracted to Henschel & Son.[citation needed]
(b) : The last tank locomotive built by Beyer Peacock & Co., order No.1427.[citation needed]
Sale and UTA service[]
When the SLNCR closed at the end of September 1957 the Loughs were still on hire purchase from their builders.[2] Beyer, Peacock eventually sold the pair in 1959 to the Ulster Transport Authority (UTA).[2]
The UTA designated the Loughs Class Z and numbered them 26 and 27, but they continued to carry their names and nameplates. For a short while the UTA allocated both locomotives to Adelaide shed for service as shunters on the quays and Grosvenor Road goods yard.[2] It then transferred them to York Road,[2] where they eventually replaced NCC Class Y.[citation needed]
On 28 May 1960, locomotive 26 Lough Melvin hauled a two-coach special train from Belfast Belfast York Road to Antrim, Lisburn and via the former Belfast Central Railway to Belfast Queen's Quay, the tour eventually terminating at Great Victoria Street.[citation needed] This was recorded as the first passenger working of an ex-SLNCR locomotive in the ownership of the UTA.[citation needed]
The UTA withdrew 26 Lough Melvin from service in 1965 but did not dispose of it.[2] Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) took over the UTA's railway operations in 1967 and sold Lough Melvin for scrap in 1968.[2] NIR withdrew 27 Lough Erne in 1969.[8]
Preservation[]
The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland bought Lough Erne and used it to shunt its yard at Whitehead until its boiler failed in 1972.[8] Lough Erne remains at Whitehead awaiting extensive restoration.[8]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m Sprinks, 1970, page 89
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Sprinks, 1970, page 91
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Sprinks, 1970, page 90
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Sprinks, 1970, page 31
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Sprinks, 1970, page 70
- ^ Sprinks, 1970, pages 82–84
- ^ Sprinks, 1970, page 37
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway Lough Class 0-6-4T "Lough Erne"". RPSI Locomotives. Railway Preservation Society of Ireland. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
Sources[]
- Various copies of Modern Railways from the 1970s.[clarification needed]
- Sprinks, N.W. (1970). Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway. Billericay: Irish Railway Record Society (London Area).
- Steam locomotives of Northern Ireland
- 0-6-4T locomotives
- Steam locomotives of Ireland
- Beyer, Peacock locomotives
- Railway locomotives introduced in 1949
- 5 ft 3 in gauge locomotives