Waterford, Limerick & Western Railway Loco Photos

[Rob R]

I have been trying to collect pre 1901 photos of all the WLWR locos that were passed to the GSWR in 1901.

By trawling the web and searching through the few books on the subject I have in the "library" I have got 38 out of 58 using the list from the loco Magazine (attached).

Does anyone know of pre 1901 photos of the following locos?

4                                Sharp Stewart 042

5 Bee                        SS 042 rebuilt to 060

6 Ant                         SS 042 rebuilt to 060

17 Faugh-a-Ballagh Kitson 442t

18 Geraldine             Kitson 442t

19 Kincora                Avonside 042

22 Era                      Dubs 240

23 Slieve-na-Mon  Dubs 240

25 Verbina              Vulcan 240

26                           Avonside 042

27 Thomond          Avonside 042 rebuilt to 044t

32 Dahlia               Vulcan 240

33                          Avonside 042

35 Duncannon     Vulcan 240

39 Shamrock       Vulcan 240

40 Vulcan            Vulcan 060

43 Knockma        Dubs 240

46 Erin-go-Bragh Dubs 060

48 Granston        Dubs 240

50 Hercules         Dubs 060

 

The books I have looked in are:- CEJ Fryer The waterford & Limerick Railway (Oakwood), Ernie Sheperd Waterford,Limerick & Western Railway (Ian Allen), JE Kite 1850-1925 Vintage Album (Roundhouse),

JE Kite, Vintage Stean (ian Allan), Clements McMahon O'Rourke Locomotives of the  GSWR, Ahrons Locomotive and Train Working in the Latter part of the Nineteenth Century Vol 6.

 

I am not asking anyone to post or send photos, just a pointer as to where they can be found.

Thanks

Rob

Edited October 25 by Rob R
tweaks

[Killian Keane]

Ive also been looking for as much WLWR material as I can acquire, but at the moment the best I can do for you is a photo of 27 Thomond before rebuilding, from, if memory serves the Clare county council website linked here a few months ago

 

[Rob R]

Thanks Killian,

I had that one but it didn't fit into my neat and tidy 1901 "box".

The only other Avonside view I have is a "long shot" from the NLI and as it is at Waterford it could equally be 10 or 11 from the "Central".

I need to get a spreadsheet together with photos and sources, when I get a run of 26 hour days......

[David Holman]

As you say, there really aren't that many. Such a shame for a railway with some really elegant locomotives, especially the Robinson 4-4-0s. Rolling stock also sparse and it was all a long time ago now.

[jhb171achill]

On 31/10/2024 at 7:27 AM, David Holman said:

As you say, there really aren't that many. Such a shame for a railway with some really elegant locomotives, especially the Robinson 4-4-0s. Rolling stock also sparse and it was all a long time ago now.

As for carriages, the remains of saloon 900 at Belturbet can be tken as the standard body shape outline for WLWR coaches. Almost their entire fleet were 6-wheelers. Unfortunately, nothing else survives.

From what very little I've seen, wagons were broadly similar to earlier-era wagons of the day, on other lines. And yes, very elegant locos.

[Mol_PMB]

I have some of the WLWR books you've already looked at, but also quite a good selection of older 'general' Irish railway books. Sadly, very few feature the WLWR; most consider it as part of the GSWR, and without any photos.

• 'Irish Standard Gauge Railways' (Middlemass) does at least illustrate a WLWR loco, 2-4-0 number 11 at Limerick works. But that's not one you need and I think it also appears elsewhere.
• 'Transport in Ireland 1880-1910' (Flanagan) has a lovely photo of Foynes dated 1897, but the loco is very distant. Also a nice photo of Killaloe in 1897 with 2-4-2T either 13 or 14, 5 coaches and a variety of vans and wagons. But again it doesn't help complete your list.

For the record, the following books did not include pre-1900 WLWR photos:

• A regional history of railways, Vol 16 Ireland (Rowledge)
• Railways in Ireland 1834-1984 (Doyle&Hirsch)
• Irish Steam (Nock)
• Railway History in Pictures: Ireland (McCutcheon)
• Broken Rails (MacAongusa)
• The North Kerry Line (O'Rourke)

So, sorry, I can't help!

Mol

[Rob R]

Killaloe is well covered by the NLI indirectly.

The goods wharf beyond the new station features in the backgound of several views of the river and steamers.

There are a couple that show the old station, again in the far background but probably as good as we are going to get and then there is this view with No 3 Zetland and train in the new station, cropped from a more general shot.

Killaloe - Zetland and train

If you are searching the NLI photos just type "Killaloe" and browse through. Keep an eye on the backgrounds though.

Edited November 22 by Rob R

[Mol_PMB]

Ah, that's the same photo of Killaloe I was looking at in the book, but the loco was wrongly identified in the caption. It's a great photo and good to see it in better resolution on the NLI website. Sorry that I haven't helped at all.

[Killian Keane]

Ive come across a photo of 27 after rebuilding in Locomotives and Railways volume 4 (1903), so thats one checked off the list