Irish Railway Society Bulletin

Irish Railway Record Society

Mallow-Waterford in the 1929

Irish Railway Society Bulletin

Rev. Dr. N.E. Gamble

The Irish Railway Society Bulletin of the 1920s and 1930s is a very rare document, which was circulated by typescript sheets and our Library copy may well be the only surviving copy in existence.

Among the regular items to appear in the early numbers was ‘Running Notes’ by R.N. Clements, which examined train performance on various Irish lines. Similar columns had appeared in Railway Magazine for many years, at this time written by the legendary Cecil J Allen, and at least once a year, usually in the June issue, these concentrated on Irish lines, but mainly on the GNR main line, and less frequently on the Dublin-Cork main line or the NCC line to Ballymena where the W Class Moguls were performing outstanding performance on such trains as the ‘North Atlantic Express’.

These lines also featured in Mr Clements articles, but he also looked at other lines including the Midland line to Mullingar and Athlone and the article we are reprinting now, the Mallow-Waterford line (which closed 40 years ago) and its still surviving link onwards to Rosslare.

The Mallow-Waterford line was a horrific one to operate: not only were the gradients steep, and the curves tight, but it could be said to be infested by level crossings, most of which suffered from bad visibility for rail and road users alike. My first Society outing was the Society’s visit in March 1966 when from the vantage point of the rear compartment of an AEC railcar, there always seemed to be a gradient change and a level crossing in sight. The subsequent breakdown of the set on the way home from engine failure may not have been unconnected with the terrible punishment it received that day on the Mallow-Waterford and the equally steeply graded Waterford-New Ross line! What was also noticeable was that the line was laid out for speed, or rather fast running, with token exchange apparatus and loops laid out for two way running.

It seems strange today when most people cross the Irish Sea in the dubious comforts but undeniable speed provided by ‘soi-disant’ budget airlines, that this difficult line for many years carried heavy boat traffic from Rosslare to the south of Ireland. Trains of up to 10 bogie carriages, including dining cars and vans, laboured over the hills and round the corners (many of them were sharper than the word ‘curve’ generally is taken to mean!), filled with emigrants and holiday makers, some of them ‘day trippers’ from London coming to see the delights of Killarney, reached by an overnight journey disrupted by a change from train to boat at Fishguard in the middle of the night, and undergoing the whole process in reverse next day!

Nowadays the boat traffic is gone and all that survives is a attenuated service operating once a day as a commuter service from South Wexford to Waterford. Its ‘raison d’etre’ is not the number of passengers so much as the length of the detour necessary by road northwards to New Ross to cross the Barrow and then south again to Waterford, while the railways travels straight along the magnificent ‘Barrow Viaduct’ of the Fishguard Railways and Harbour Board.

This material appeared in Bulletin 5, dated October 1929.

‘My article this month has had to be written at rather short notice, so I am using some runs on the Rosslare Boat trains. All are mine except the bad one with 333, which was timed by Mr H.T.W. Clements (his cousin and later also an IRRS member).

No. 333 on her first run had a fairly heavy load for this type of engine, and started remarkably well (the slow time to Kilrane is due to the long crawl off the pier followed by 1/2 mile up at 1/100. After Killinick we rather eased off, but did well enough up the bank to Ballycullane, 1 3/4 m at 1/71, followed by 1/2 ml at 1/119.

No. 333’s other run, with a very light load, was distinctly poor; the time of 9’ 15” from Wellingtonbridge to Ballycullane was extraordinarily bad, except there was some speed restriction in force somewhere.

No. 391 in the third run did well but unfortunately I went to sleep between Killinick and Ballycullane. We were doing 35 at the Strand, got over Ballycullane bank at 33 (good, this with 345 tons) and touched 62 past Dunbrody, slacked to about 45 over the Barrow bridge, and kept up a steady 56 along the at the level into Waterford.

The same engine and load a week later did not do so well. We started slower, then went better through the Strand at 39, but did not go above 41 on the level to Killinick. The 1/2 ml at 1/94 beyond brought us down to 38, and we only did 48 at Bridgetown after 2 miles downhill. I missed the minimum at Duncormick, but then came to the only bright bit of travelling, a maximum of 61 on the 1/2 mile down at 1/79 to Duncormick station. I missed the next minimum again, but at the bottom of 2 1/2 miles down to Wellingtonbridge at 1/95, 1/260 and 1/110 we only managed the poor speed of 46mph. We then fell to 21 1/2 on Ballycullane bank, touched 55 at Dunbrody, slackened over the bridge and ran along the level at 50 - 53 mph, so only barely keeping time.

The run on to Cork was a continuation of this last run of 391, and we did much better after Waterford with the load reduced to 233t. The start out of Waterford is level for 1 1/2 miles, then from Suir Bridge Junction to Gracedieu Junction there is a mile up, of which the second half is at 1/80, followed by 1/2 m down at 1/80 and 1 1/2 level along the river, where we got up 60mph. After this comes a very bad bank up to MP63, mostly at 1/66 and 1/80. Moreover, it consists mainly of 10-chain reverse curves, so that the brakes have to applied before even starting the climb, and speed reduced to about 35mph. There are several downhill bits in it, but as they are each only a few hundred yards long, they are not very much use. However, on the hardest part of the 1/66 at Carroll’s Cross we were doing the excellent speed of 34 mph, but I think the driver then notched up, as we fell to 28 on the final length at 1/82. We got up to 56 on the following 2 1/2 miles down at 1/76 and 1/66, where the curves are easier, but slowed to 45 through Kilmacthomas station. On the final 1/66 of the next bank we were doing 32mph; this, however is a shorter climb and includes 1/2 mile level and 1/4 mile steeply downhill. Between the various slacks for curves we touched 63 going down to Durrow and 61 between there and Dungarvan.

Out of Dungarvan we got up to 52 along the slight rise to Cappagh and fell to 42 before Cappoquin. We did not make the conditional stop at Cappoquin, but had a very bad p.w.r. slowing through the station, in spite of which we attained and maintained the excellent speed of 34mph up the 1/80-1/85 bank to Lismore. Then we got up to 53 before Tallow Road, and fell to 42 on the 1/90-1/110 for a mile and a half before Ballyduff. Maximum going down to Fermoy was only 55.

In the dip beyond Ballyhooley we did 55, then fell to 44 on the mile of 1/104 before Castletownroche, got up to 50 on the similar bank down to the station, and then only fell to 45 on the 3 1/4 miles at 1/100 and 1/150 (with two very short strips down). This was a good piece of work, but we then did not exceed 53 down to Mallow.

On the long 1/140 out of Mallow we got up to a steady 43mph, but ran very disappointedly down to Blarney, not exceeding 62.

The return journey was made the same evening, so that the same engine was on the train, but the load ex-Cork was increased by two six-wheelers to 250 tons. We were piloted to Blarney by No. 117. Our speed at the top of the 1/60 was 25, and the subsequent maximum 45. Restarting from Blarney, we went down the 1/140 to Rathduff at a steady 37mph, and ran very fast down the bank, touching no less than 74 near Mourne Abbey – excellent for an engine of this type. At allow we stopped 30 minutes instead of the booked 7, as the Kerry line train was late. We started rather slowly up the slight rise, but went down the bank at 1/100 - 1/150 at a sustained 60-62mph before slowing to 45 through Castletownroche station. On the mile at 1/100 we fell only from 45 to 43, a very good piece of work. We then ran some distance at 58-60 mph, but slowed to 53 through Ballyhooley station: however, we once more touched 60 before Fermoy.

At Fermoy we picked up another six-wheeler, making 273 tons. The maximum at the bottom of the dip just before Ballyduff was 63, but we slowed to 47 through the station, which is at the foot of a short but steep bank, 2 1/ 2 miles at 1/90-1/165-1/110, which brought us down to 38mph; we then touched 58 before Lismore, but between there and Dungarvan the running was spoilt by the p.w.r. check at Cappoquin, which was very severe and must have cost about 2 1/2 minutes.

After Dungarvan, we got up to about 40-45 on the level -- I missed the exact speed. On the bank up to Durrow, 3 miles at gradients varying between 1/60 and 1/80, we fell to 25 1/2, but recovered to 27. We did 46 on the short drop through Durrow, fell to 25 on a mile at 1/66, got up to 43 on half-a-mile down at the same inclination, and only fell to 23 on the 1 3/4 miles at 1/75 - 1/66 to the summit at MP57. On the following downhill length, speed was kept down to 30-35 on account of the curves; at Kilmacthomas, at the bottom of the bank, we were doing just 30, and then only fell to 26 on 1/2 mile each of 1/80 and 1/66, followed by 1 1/4 m at 1/76, which was not at all bad. Down into Waterford we ran extremely cautiously on the curves, hardly touching 40mph.

I have not tabulated the continuation from Waterford to Rosslare. With then load made up to 345 tons we took a pilot, No. 98, as far as Ballycullane, and ran disappointedly: we did not exceed 52 on the 5 miles level at the start, passed Campile in 14 min, then fell from 44 to 23 1/2 on the 1/2 mile at 1/224 and 1 1/2 at 1/72; this was very poor. The maximum downhill was then 49mph, and we stopped in Ballycullane to detach the pilot in 22 1/4 min from Waterford (13 1/2 miles) Restarting 2 1/4 mins later, we touched 58 down the bank and passed Wellingtonbridge, 4 miles, in 6 1/2 mins. I then went to sleep. We arrived in Rosslare Harbour, 25 miles from Ballycullane, in 36 3/4 mins, 61 min 20 sec. From Waterford, a loss of 1 1/4 min on schedule. I am inclined to think we would have done the journey more quickly without a pilot.

I have dealt with the runs over the Waterford-Mallow section in considerable detail, on account of the extraordinary difficulty of the line, which is, I think, practically the hardest in the British Isles over which express trains are run. Moreover, I believe the curves on the old WD&LR line from Waterford to Dungarvan are uncompensated; hence taking the additional resistance due to a 10-chain curve as 5.7lbs/ton (Morison’s formula), the combination, which frequently occurs, of a 10-chain curve and 1/66 gradients, would be approximately equal to a 1/55 gradient on a straight track.

I believe the 270 mile trip from Rosslare to Cork and back is the longest regularly worked by any Irish engine in one day, unless any engines work through from Kingsbridge to Cork and back.’

In the next issue Mr Trapnell of Rosslare made the following comment:

‘I know the line from here to Waterford very ell, and it is over this portion that the ‘Express’ (as it is always called here) is at its heaviest. There is not much doubt that it is one of the hardest trains to work in Ireland, and from here to Waterford, one of the heaviest. The present winter loading of the Express is 4 bogie vans, 1 six-wheeler and four passenger coaches, one a heavy diner. Added to that, in the morning leaving here, she would be carrying about 10 tons of parcels, mails and luggage, while the evening arrives in with never less than 25 tons, more usually 30 tons, at the very slackest times of the year. Even at its lightest, it is by no means an easy train to work over the grades to Waterford. Of course, after Waterford, the load at present would be only 5 bogies, but it is a terrible road. In the height of summer, especially at weekends, when over 1,000 passengers are landed here on some Saturdays, the Limerick portion is run separately, but even then the Cork train makes up to 12 and 13 bogies, packed with passengers and luggage; the Limerick part is then usually about 8 coaches.

The remainder of this article appears in IRRS Journal number 164, published October 2007.