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 204 Antrim on a passenger train leaving Omagh, 7 June 1957 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The GNR(I) class U was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives built for the Great Northern Railway (Ireland).
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| 204 Antrim on a passenger train leaving Omagh, 7 June 1957 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The GNR(I) class U was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives built for the Great Northern Railway (Ireland).
Five were built by Beyer, Peacock and Company in 1915. The class was so successful that an additional batch of five was built in 1947, making them the last inside-cylinder 4-4-0 locomotives to be manufactured anywhere in the world. [1]
The earlier locomotives were initially unnamed. However, after the later locomotives were delivered with names of counties along the GNR(I) route, the earlier locomotives received names of Loughs.
All were still in service in 1958 when the GNR(I) was divided between the Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) and Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ), with each receiving five locomotives.
No. 198 Lough Swilly was the first to be withdrawn in 1959 before its CIÉ number (198N) was applied. CIÉ withdrew steam traction in 1963, whereas the UTA withdrew their U class fleet between 1961 and 1965. None of the class were preserved.
| BP serial No. | Date | GNR(I) No. | Name | Named | 1958 owner | 1958 No. | Withdrawn | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5904 | 1915 | 196 | Lough Gill | 1953 | UTA | 64 | 1961 | |
| 5905 | 1915 | 197 | Lough Neagh | 1949 | CIÉ | 197N | 1962 | |
| 5906 | 1915 | 198 | Lough Swilly | 1950 | CIÉ | — | 1959 | 198N allocated, but not applied |
| 5908 | 1915 | 199 | Lough Derg | 1949 | CIÉ | 199N | 1963 | |
| 5907 | 1915 | 200 | Lough Melvin | 1950 | UTA | 65 | 1961 | |
| 7244 | 1948 | 201 | Meath | New | UTA | 66 | 1965 | |
| 7245 | 1948 | 202 | Louth | New | UTA | 67 | 1965 | |
| 7246 | 1948 | 203 | Armagh | New | CIÉ | 203N | 1962 | |
| 7247 | 1948 | 204 | Antrim | New | CIÉ | 204N | 1963 | |
| 7248 | 1948 | 205 | Down | New | UTA | 68 | 1965 | |
An 00 gauge model of No. 205 Down is currently available as an etched-brass kit from Studio Scale Models. It includes transfers, brass etches and cast white metal parts.
Oliver Vaughan Snell Bulleid CBE was a British railway and mechanical engineer best known as the Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the Southern Railway between 1937 and the 1948 nationalisation, developing many well-known locomotives.
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A wide variety of steam locomotives have been used on Ireland's railways. This page lists most if not all those that have been used in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Irish railways generally followed British practice in locomotive design.
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The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) was an Irish gauge railway company in Ireland. It was formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway (INW), Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. The governments of Ireland and Northern Ireland jointly nationalised the company in 1953, and the company was liquidated in 1958: assets were split on national lines between the Ulster Transport Authority and Córas Iompair Éireann.
The GS&WR Class 2 was a lightweight 4-4-0 steam locomotive used by the Great Southern and Western Railway in Ireland in the late 19th and in the first half of the 20th century. They were the first locomotives of type 4-4-0 in Ireland.
The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) is an Irish railway preservation group operating throughout Ireland, founded in 1964. Mainline steam train railtours are operated from Dublin and Belfast, but occasionally from other locations as well. The society has bases in Dublin and Whitehead, County Antrim, with the latter hosting a museum and occasionally operating short steam rides within the confines of its site. The society owns heritage wagons, carriages, steam engines, diesel locomotives and metal-bodied carriages suitable for mainline use.
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The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) class S was a class of five 4-4-0 steam locomotive that the Great Northern Railway introduced in 1913 to haul Belfast – Dublin express passenger trains. They were followed two years later by the three similar class S2 locomotives.
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The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) T2 class was a class of 4-4-2T tank locomotives. The GNR(I) had introduced the T class numbered 185–189 in 1913. They were designed for both suburban services and longer runs such as Dublin to Drogheda and Belfast to Armagh. They proved so successful that a further twenty were commissioned in 1921, 1924 and 1929. Although externally identical in appearance to the T, they were classified as the T2 class having larger tanks and higher boiler pressure, and were used successfully on both fast passenger work and freight.
The Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) 2600 Class were Associated Equipment Company (AEC)–engined diesel multiple units that operated InterCity and suburban services on the CIÉ system between 1952 and 1975. Many were later converted for push–pull operation with diesel locomotives, finally being withdrawn when displaced by the electric Dublin Area Rapid Transit service in the mid-1980s.
The CBSCR Bandon Tanks were a class of 4-6-0T mixed-traffic locomotives built for the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway (CB&SCR) between 1906 and 1920. The Bandon Tanks were the only 4–6–0 tank locomotives to be built by Beyer, Peacock and Company. The class went on to serve with the CB&SCR's successors: the Great Southern Railways from 1925 and Córas Iompair Éireann from 1945.
The Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway Leitrim Class was a class of five 0-6-4T locomotives built by Beyer, Peacock and Company between 1882 and 1889 for the SLNCR.
The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNRI) VS class steam locomotives were 4-4-0 three-cylinder simple expansion steam locomotives built in 1948 by Beyer, Peacock and Company. They were procured in order to operate the Enterprise train service between Dublin and Belfast and were the last series of steam engines ordered by the company.
