BCDR 4-6-4T

Last updated

BCDR 4-6-4T
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
Builder Beyer, Peacock & Company
Build date1920
Total produced4
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 •  Whyte 4-6-4T
 •  UIC 2′C2′ht
Gauge 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)
Driver dia.5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) [1] [a]
Loco weight81.6 long tons (82.9 t; 91.4 short tons)
Fuel type Coal
BoilerG8AS
Boiler pressure170  psi (1.17  MPa)
Cylinders Two (outside)
Cylinder size 19 in × 26 in (483 mm × 660 mm)
Valve gear Walschaerts
Performance figures
Tractive effort 19,340 lbf (86.03 kN)
Career
Operators
Number in class4
Numbers22–25 → 222–225 (UTA)
NicknamesBaltics [2]
Last run1953 [3]
[3]

The Belfast and County Down (BCDR) 4-6-4 T were a class of four 6-coupled tank locomotives build by Beyer, Peacock & Company in 1920. [4] Generally reliable and well-liked but with mediocre performance, they spent their lives on the Queen's Quay, Belfast to Bangor until withdrawal in the early 1950s. These were the only class of 4-6-4 T wheel arrangement to work on Ireland’s broad gauge lines. The County Donegal Joint Railway Committee’s Class 4 used the same arrangement on narrow gauge. [5]

Contents

History

At the end of World War I, the BCDR needed more powerful locomotives, and the directors were impressed by the LB&SCR L class express tank engines used on the London to Brighton line. Petterson thus ordered locomotive superintendent R. G. Miller to construct a class of similar engines. [2] When the locomotives arrived in 1920 from Beyer, Peacock & Company they were inherited by Miller's successor Crossthwait. The BCDR locomotives were smaller than their English basis, with 19 in × 26 in (483 mm × 660 mm) cylinders and 5 ft 9 in [a] driving wheels compared to 22 in × 28 in (559 mm × 711 mm) cylinders and 6 ft 9 in driving wheels. [2] Despite this, at over 81 tons the locomotives were noted for being very heavy. [2]

Numbered 22 to 25, they were allocated to heavy commuter trains on the 12+1⁄4 miles (19.7 km) Belfast Queen's Quay to Bangor line. [6] [b] In service, the class was reliable but performance was mediocre and coal consumption was very high. [2] Boocock has described them as "handsome" and "well-liked" and suggests the problem may have been due to short-travel piston valves rather than drafting. [8]

The BCDR was absorbed into the Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) on 3 September 1948, and the class was renumbered 222 to 225. [9] [3] Class WT 2-6-4 T tank engines were transferred to the Bangor line from summer 1949 and their performance was substantially better, after which they began to replace the BCDR engines. [10] With the introduction of UTA MED diesel railcars, the Bangor line lost all steam working by 1953. [11] Only one worked past 1952, [3] with No. 222 surviving [c] on the former Northern Counties Committee network with the remainder being withdrawn at Queen's Quay sidings. [10] All were ultimately scrapped in 1956. [10]

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Patterson & Rowledge claim the driver diameter was 5ft 9in, Bookcock claims 5ft 6in
  2. ↑ There was a trail train to Ballynahinch when they first arrived and one was noted working in the former Northern Counties Committee network c.1953. [7]
  3. ↑ Boocock says No. 222 did not work after 1953 whereas Patterson does not specify a date but his prose suggests a later date. [3] [10]

Footnotes

Sources

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