IRM Latest! History File; The Gaelic Goddesses of the Great Southern Railway

[Warbonnet]

In 1939, the entry into service of the first of Inchicore’s Class B1a 4-6-0 locomotives; 800 Maeḋḃ (Maedhbh), broke all of Ireland’s previous locomotive building conventions, and has led to the GSR Class 800 locomotives achieving a legendary status not far short of their illustrious namesakes. But is this down to the engineering excellence of the Class, or a legacy of potential unfulfilled?

The three 4-6-0 Class 800 locomotives; 800 Maeḋḃ, 801 Maċa and 802 Táilte, were designed by the Great Southern Railway’s Chief Mechanical Engineer Edgar Bredin and his chief draughtsman, H.C Beaumont and represented a quantum leap forward in Irish locomotive design, being the first three-cylinder express locomotives built in the country.

By the mid-1930s, the top link Dublin – Cork services had reached a critical loading point, where the existing fleet of 4-6-0 locomotives were stretched to their capabilities and beyond, particularly on the steep climb out of Cork. A larger, faster class of locomotive was needed.

The safe bet, based on weight and loading gauge, would have been to take the existing two-cylinder Class 500, add a larger boiler and tender and bring it up to a more modern standard, but Bredin had his eyes on a different approach. A 4-6-2 Pacific design would have been possible, but the extra length would have proved too long for the turntables, and so another solution was sought, that being a three-cylinder 4-6-0 with a 21 ton axle loading; a ‘super’ 2C.

Such was the difference from existing Irish 4-6-0 types, it has long been assumed that Bredin drew inspiration from British locomotive design, but this is not necessarily the case. While appearance would suggest a design based on Stanier’s LMS Royal Scot or Jubilee types, the Southern Railway mechanical designs of fellow Irishman Richard Maunsell and his assistant Harold Holcroft, especially relating to the Lord Nelson and Schools classes, may have been an influence, especially as Maunsell retained informal links with Inchicore and Holcroft was an expert on three-cylinder design. It is also possible that the work of Frenchman André Chapelon in draughting design was an inspiration, as it was for Bulleid and Gresley, especially as the fitting of double chimneys was far from common at the time.

Wherever Bredin and Beaumont drew their inspiration from, it was inspired, and the B1a provided the GSR with one of the most completely handsome 4-6-0s ever built, a locomotive with the presence of a Pacific, but the powerful stance of a Stanier 4-6-0 on steroids. The large 6-wheel 8 ton, 5000 gallon tenders were sat on stylish frames, with the raves curving in gently, which sat well with the spacious cab of the locomotives. At 9’ wide, and with an extended rearwards roof section, the crews were not only protected from the elements, but also from the effects of turbulence which could cause coal and dust to intrude into the cab area. In front of the cab, a large Belpaire firebox provides balance against the parallel boiler (albeit that the boiler cladding itself is tapered), which sits on massive frames, constructed to prevent any flexing. The smokebox, neither too long or too short, sits in balance with the steam pipes and valve chests and the curve of the front frame adds a graceful introduction to the locomotives.

800 Maeḋḃ (or Maedhbh) entered traffic in April 1939, with 801 Maċa (Macha) doing so in November that year, followed lastly by 802 Táilte (Tailtiu) in June 1940 and despite the outbreak of The Emergency in September 1939, all three performed with excellence, their speed and haulage capacity being especially noted, along with their frugal fuel consumption.

The demonstration run for 800 Maeḋḃ was on July 17, 1939, and the locomotive and crew achieved an 8 minute gain on the published schedule, which was a 30 minute gain on the previous haulage timing. The maximum speed achieved on this run was 92mph and later runs with 802 Táilte saw a sustained maximum speed of 95mph being achieved over a 6-8 mile stretch. Haulage capacity on the Mail trains could vary, but OS Nock recorded a run with a 450 ton train in August 1939, with 800 Maeḋḃ still achieving an 8 minute gain on the published schedule between Maryborough and Dublin.

Having only experienced a few months of ‘normal’ running, slower schedules became an operating necessity during The Emergency, as fuel supplies were curtailed and this situation continued post-Emergency, as the 800s struggled to re-attain their top link status but in October 1950, Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) revised the Enterprise service to operate Belfast-Dublin-Cork, with a locomotive change at Dublin’s Amiens Street station, and the 800s were again rostered to run non-stop from Dublin to Limerick Junction, a distance of over 100 miles.

Unfortunately, CIÉ was an early adopter of diesel on mainline services and the introduction of the A Class relegated the 800s to secondary and freight services, an ignominious epitaph for a thoroughbred locomotive and 802 was withdrawn from service in 1955, 801 in 1957 and 800 in 1962, although fortunately 800 was preserved, and now resides at the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum at Cultra.

Although built as a class of three locomotives, there is some interesting circumstantial evidence that more locomotives were planned for the class. Four boilers were built under Order 3056, and in a bigger class, operating as a fleet over large distances, this would not normally be unusual, but given the nature of the traffic undertaken by the 800s, and their diagramming, a fourth boiler as a spare seems a little extravagant, and would seemingly support the notion of a fourth locomotive being constructed, had The Emergency not taken place.

Of even greater interest is the allocation of two tender numbers in the number range associated with the 800s. Tender numbers 80, 81 and 82 were allocated to 800, 801 and 802 respectively, but the GSR tender list also includes two ‘spare’ numbers of 83 and 84, which logically would suggest allocation to locomotive numbers 803 and 804, making a class of five locomotives.

Rumours regarding names for additional locomotives in the class, based on lists from ‘sources’, suggest possible names of Aífe (Aoife), Derdriu (Deirdre) and Gráinne, all of which follow the theme of Irish mythological naming.

Over the course of their short lives, there was a degree of variation with liveries and plate background colours, starting with 800 Maeḋḃ in fully lined photographic grey, with details picked out in white and carrying the legend G and S either side of a mounted GSR Crest.

All three locomotives; 800 Maeḋḃ, 801 Maċa and 802 Táilte went on to have a fully lined GSR Mid-Green livery and blue backed nameplates, with the tenders variously showing either the legend G and S either side of a mounted GSR Crest, or just the mounted crest, or just the G and S legend!

Under CIÉ in the 1950s, 800 Maeḋḃ, 801 Maċa and 802 Táilte received lined CIÉ Standard Green, however 802 Táilte first received an experimental Light Green livery with solid black edging, before getting the Standard Green. Both 801 Maċa and 802 Táilte had their nameplates backed in red for a period, before reverting to a blue background, however those on 800 Maeḋḃ remained constantly blue. The tenders received the CIÉ’s Flying Snail emblem reasonably quickly, but by withdrawal this was missing from 801’s tender.

There were very few changes to the external appearance of the three locomotives, and those most obvious were in the smokebox area. As built, all three received double chimneys, however 802 Táilte carried a single chimney between 1949 and the end of 1951, while 801 Maċa carried a single chimney from 1954 until withdrawal. There was also a difference in rivet patterns on the leading edge of the smoke boxes, as well as the join angle, in the later years. Across all three, there was also a difference in grab handle positions and styles; a useful identifier in case of obscured numbering. Both 800 and 801 certainly received speedo sensors under CIÉ, but whether 802 did is unclear from reference material available.

The 800s, short lived and under-utilised as they were, had a presence and style that not only gave pride to the GSR in its final years, but also to CIÉ, with the publicity departments of both companies featuring them in publications far and wide, making them instantly recognisable to the Irish public, a symbol of class on Ireland’s railway.

 

 

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[Patrick Davey]

Great article - such a loco!

[Galteemore]

7 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said:

Great article - such a loco!

Begging for a Planxty really, Patrick…..