Locos of Allmans Distillery

[Westcorkrailway]

Allmans distillery was Whiskey Distillery in Bandon Town, located near the modern Day Mart, Many buildings still survive to this day.

 

the company was very proud of its Railway connection to the C&BR the illustration below making sure to show it

 

the line was finished in 1876, a track ran parallel from Bandon Station and diverged off cutting across the main cork-Bandon Road. Within the site there was a spur for the engine house, main yard, and later it appears a loco shed was built with its own spur.

 

At first a CBSC loco was hired but in 1885 a manning wardle 0-4-0 was purchased from Contractors. It had built the Drimoleague-Bantry, Clara-Banagher and Clonakilty branches and was named “Bantry” during its line construction career. However in Bandon, it would be unofficially called by locals and railwaymen and “the allmans Coffee Pot”. The line was worked as a tramway, meaning a flag man had to be present. There was no runaround so wagons were pushed into the site and pulled out.

 

 

In 1920 the company would acquire a new Loco to replace its aging Manning wardle with and 0-4-0 Peckett in 1920. The timing would prove unfortunate as the probation in the USA and Anglo Irish Trade wars Killed exports and the company would stop producing in 1925, the last bottles left the site by train in about 1929. 

Interestingly CSET were at one point pursuing purchase of the site for a sugar beet facility. Its rail connection and distance to the beet growing districts of cork certainly would have been ideal, however this never came to pass.

 

id love to see a photo of 495 working in Bandon but none has ever come to my possession but the GSR, strapped for cash and needing young locomotives for its ageing fleet purchased 495. 
 

the loco wasn’t even repainted as evidenced above (look around the number plate)  it did however get a cast number plate and a Bell and began work. It could travel on the tight curves on the lesser used branches of the Cork City Railway like the Corn Mills and the Quays. it was involved in a Fatal Collision in the 1940s on a freight transfer from Glanmire Road when it pinned a Horse and cart against the wall at Albert Quay 

it’s hard to Keep track of what locomotives were up to in Albert quay, as something withdrawn waiting for scrap one day is all of a sudden working the next 10 years the next day. But if I were to guess it was sent to inchicore, given a minor overhaul and worked for a small few years before being scrapped in Inchicore in 1949

https://flic.kr/p/2pwnTBo

Interestingly as it’s being scrapped here in 1949. You can see after all these years, the original lined Green Peckett livery was STILL on it, and it had just been covered in grime for the last few years. 

https://flic.kr/p/2pwoK8Q

 

[Colonel]

Food for thought 're small shunting layouts, even 7mm scale possible - though not by me!

[Galteemore]

A not dissimilar, slightly larger Peckett may be had RTR in O gauge….

Edited January 10 by Galteemore