Irish Railway Record Society

Irish steam rail-motors and railcars

Michael Collins

INTRODUCTION

From the late 1840s, a number of combined engines and carriages, so-called ‘Steam Carriages’ were built for light passenger work in various parts of the British Isles. The original reason for using such vehicles was that in the early days of railways little passenger traffic existed as people had not yet become used to the idea of travelling by train. It was found that a small engine with its own permanently attached carriage capable of hauling, when necessary, an additional vehicle or two was sufficient for what traffic was available. However, it soon became apparent that these early steam carriages tended to be under powered, too light and too inflexible. For example, the Adams patent well-tank engines introduced on the Londonderry & Enniskillen Railway were so seriously under powered that they attracted the unflattering description of steam perambulators.

As the problems of operating this type of vehicle became apparent, the practice of using them, except for departmental work, ceased until the first few years of the twentieth century when the first effects of road competition began to make themselves felt. By then, the name for this type of vehicle had changed from steam carriage to rail-motor.

 A rail-motor or steam railcar consisted of a small steam locomotive permanently attached to a passenger carriage. A set of driver’s controls was fitted into a compartment at the rear of the carriage, which allowed the unit to be driven from either end. This eliminated the need and the associated delays associated with normal locomotive practice, which was to use a turntable to turn the whole vehicle around, or for the locomotive to run around its train at a terminus. A major disadvantage of the steam rail-motor was the need for exactly the same number of crew as was needed to operate a conventional train. In fact, a passed fireman had to be employed on a rail-motor because when the car was running in reverse he had to carry out some of the driver’s duties. This resulted in a higher wage bill than was required to operate an ordinary train.

 As a rail-motor was intended to run in both directions without being turned, a method of control from the rear end was essential. This usually took the form a wheel or handle for control of the regulator and handles for whistle and brake. Connections from the rear cab to the locomotive footplate were made in a number of ways. In some cases a rod running under the floor was worked by gearing. In other designs, a continuous rope or chain was employed, fixed to the control wheel at the rear and to a wheel or sector attached to the regulator handle on the footplate. In some systems, this cable was carried along the top of the coach on pulleys or rollers, although this configuration exposed the critical gear to damage from the elements unless it was very well maintained and serviced. To avoid this problem the cables were sometimes carried inside the roof. However, the squeaks and rattles of the gear in use this often caused annoyance to passengers.

 When the rail-motor was running in reverse, the fireman remained on the footplate and in addition to his firing duties he also had to obey the driver’s instructions as to notching up the valve gear. Such instructions from the driver usually took the form of a bell code, or in some cases, a device similar to ship’s telegraph was used. Sometimes a speaking tube was installed for the purpose.

 Since many rail-motor halts had low-level platforms, provision had to made for boarding the train at a lower than usual level, and this often took the form of steps, sometimes of the folding variety. Where folding steps were fitted, these would be pivoted along their rear edge and could be retracted or extended as required by means of a lever fitted in the entrance vestibule. In order to avoid damage to the steps or line side equipment by the train moving off with the steps still extended, the lever used for extending and retracting the steps was linked to the vacuum brake pipe so that when the steps were extended the train’s brakes could not be released.

 The power units fitted to rail-motors were of two basic types, rigid and articulated. The rigid type generally had a vertical boiler mounted on a four-wheeled power bogie located in front of the carriage body. Both carriage and power unit were mounted on a single rigid frame. In some instances the power unit was enclosed within an extension of the carriage body and, as with the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) rail-motors, the whole power unit, boiler, cylinders and wheels formed the bogie assembly. In some rigid rail-motors, however, the cylinders, wheels and frames only formed the leading bogie, with flexible steam pipes connecting to the boiler.

 The articulated type usually had a miniature horizontal boilered locomotive of standard configuration with a normal cab, but with the carriage portion attached behind this. The carriage was articulated to the engine, and the whole unit was designed so that the locomotive could be removed from the carriage section for servicing. Rigid and articulated rail-motors, with both types of boiler, were used in Ireland.

 What was being attempted in the early 1900s by the introduction of rail-motors and, as the concept in a later development was called, steam railcars, was a modification of the traditional steam train into a form that was more economical to build and operate. In the opening years of the century it was hoped that they would be able to deal effectively both with the growing threat to passenger traffic posed mainly by the emerging electric tramways in the cities and with finding an economical way to operate poorly trafficked branch lines. For example, rail-motors were introduced around Belfast and Dublin by the GNR(I) to develop commuter traffic while the single Irish-built Great Southern & Western Railway example and the two short-lived Dublin Wicklow & Wexford Railway machines were used both on lightly trafficked branch lines and suburban work.

 A 1906 paper presented by T. H. Riches and S. B. Haslam to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on Railway Motor-Car Traffic gave a series of comparative operating costs highlighting the economical nature of steam rail-motors. These showed that at that time, on an annual mileage of 11,000, a small steam locomotive and coaches cost 23.45d (12.4c) per mile to run, electric battery cars between 15.4d (8.02c) and 20.02d (10.6c), and steam rail-motors 7.74d (4.1c) per mile.

In spite of the failure of the Edwardian rail-motors to live up to their early promise, in the 1920s Sentinel and Clayton steam railcars were introduced by some railways to try and cope with the growing threat posed by the motor bus in both urban and rural areas. The idea behind the development of such railcars was to replicate on rail, the motor bus’s speed, frequency and comfort in a cost-effective way.

 In Northern Ireland the London Midland & Scottish Railway (Northern Counties Committee) hoped that by using one they could stimulate the growth of commuter traffic from the Belfast suburbs, which were gradually extending along their main rail artery into the city. Steam railcars were more popular in southern Ireland; they were chiefly used for branch line work.

 In the following sections, I will deal with each rail-motor and railcar in the order in which they were introduced. I will also give a brief description of such mechanical details as I have been able to discover and, where possible, of the livery in which each vehicle was finished.

EARLY IRISH STEAM CARRIAGES

 In Ireland Adams’ patent well-tank engines fitted with a small stage-coach type body were acquired and used by the Londonderry & Enniskillen Railway. They acquired one in 1850 and six more in 1852. The Londonderry & Coleraine Railway also bought put one into service in 1853.

 In 1857, an engine named Sprite was introduced for departmental work on the GS&WR. It was designed by John Wakefield and had an 0-2-4 wheel arrangement, the wheels being of different diameters. Driving wheels were 4’ 6” diameter, the middle pair 3’ 6” and the trailing wheels 4’ 0”.

The whole assembly of locomotive and coach was mounted on a rigid wheelbase of 8’ 2” + 7’ 2”. Outside cylinders 6½”x12” were located under the footplate driving forward to the front wheels. This locomotive lasted until 1872, when it was replaced by a new unit bearing the same name.

 In 1866 the MGWR 2-2-2 No. 33 Falcon was rebuilt as a tank engine. In the official minutes the conversion was to a “tank with apartment for about 8 persons to be used for inspection, etc.”  No. 33 was originally built by Grendon with 14”x18” cylinders and 6’ 7” driving wheels. Leading wheels were 4’ 5” and trailing wheels 3’ 8”. As rebuilt it was a 2-2-4 tank, with a small saloon over the rear bogie. It was withdrawn about 1874 and sold to an unspecified customer in 1875.

 The second GS&WR Sprite was designed by Alexander McDonnell and was built in1873 at Inchicore. It reused the saloon of the 1857 engine, but with the addition of an open rear platform. This coach portion lasted until 1881 when McDonnell replaced it with a new body of different design, but still with the rear balcony. The locomotive and carriage portions were mounted on a single underframe giving the whole vehicle an 0-4-4 wheel arrangement. The wheelbase was 5’ 6” + 11’ 8½” + 5’ 3”. The coupled wheels of the locomotive were 5’ 0” in diameter and the trailing wheels 3’ 6”. This locomotive had inside cylinders. In 1889, side tanks were added to the locomotive, which was separated from its coach to become an 0-4-2T. The coach was mounted on to a new four-wheeled underframe and close coupled to the engine. The second Sprite in its various manifestations was used both as an inspection vehicle and as a mobile pay office.

 A second similar machine, named Fairy was built in 1894 for the GS&WR. It was like Sprite except that it had 9” cylinders. Both engines were withdrawn in 1927.

 McDonnell also built a steam carriage for the 4½-mile Castleisland Railway in Kerry, which opened in 1875. This line was taken over by the GS&WR in 1879 when the locomotive was renumbered 90 in the GS&WR list. The locomotive’s boiler was similar to that of Sprite but this engine had an 0-6-0 wheel arrangement. It was fitted with inside cylinders 10”x18”. It was a well tank with the tank being carried under the frames, between the rear coupled wheels and the bogie. The saloon had a first-class compartment at the front with 8 seats and a third-class/guard’s compartment with six seats at the rear. The first-class compartment was entered by side doors and the third-class compartment off a rear platform.

 In 1881, McDonnell introduced two more steam carriages, numbered 91 and 92. No. 91 was identical to No. 90, being built for the same service, but No. 92 had a different saloon, an all-third entered off the rear platform. No. 92 spent most of its life as ‘the ‘Cab’ running a shuttle service for staff between Kingsbridge station and Inchicore Works.

 In 1915, No. 90 had her saloon removed and was fitted with side tanks to replace the well tank. In this form, she still exists in preservation at the Downpatrick & County Down Railway. No. 91 was rebuilt in 1924 as a saddle tank. Nos. 90 and 91 were withdrawn from service in 1930. No. 92 remained in original condition, working the Inchicore shuttle, until scrapped in 1945.

GS&WR RAIL-MOTORS

The GS&WR introduced the first Irish rail-motor in 1904. It was designed by R.Coey, the company’s CME, and built at Inchicore. Coey based his design on that of the rail-motors built by Dugald Drummond for the London & South Western Railway from whom he obtained plans before building his own machine.

 Coey’s rail-motor was built for use on the level 5¾ mile Goold’s Cross to Cashel branch that had been opened in 1904. The rail-motor, which was given the number 1, made five trips in each direction daily. It was not a success and was later transferred to the Drumcondra Link Line. This was a poorly patronised suburban service, which linked Dublin Amiens Street (now Connolly) to Kingsbridge with intermediate stations at Drumcondra and Glasnevin. The service was not successful as it was a roundabout route compared with that offered by the trams. The line ceased to have a scheduled passenger service in 1907, although as part of the renaissance of Dublin’s railways it re-gained a timetabled service in 1998.

 Rail-motor No. 1 was prone to frequent breakdowns, gobbled up coal yet was very low powered, being incapable of hauling even a trailer. It was withdrawn in 1912 and the engine portion scrapped in Inchicore in 1915. The carriage section was converted to a normal carriage and became tri-composite/brake No. 1118. This, in turn, was scrapped in 1914. I have not been able to discover why it had such a short life as a coach.

 By contrast, both of Drummond’s two 1902-built L&SWR rail-motors, which had inspired the design of No. 1, gave 20 years service, although only after having their low powered vertical boilers replaced by more powerful ones of conventional configuration.

 GS&WR No. 1 was constructed on a main channel section frame 50’ long. It had two bogies each with an 8’ wheel-base, the front bogie being the power bogie. Wheels were solid and 2’ 9” in diameter. The locomotive section was an 0-2-2T with outside cylinders and comprised a vertical multi-tubular boiler with a heating surface of 393 sq. ft. with a working pressure of 130 pounds per square inch (psi). The boiler was itself covered on the outside by a semi-circular casing, which did nothing for its appearance. It had inclined outside cylinders 8¾”x12” and the valves were actuated by Walschaert’s valve gear. Drive was to the leading wheels only. The rail-motor carried ½ ton of coal and 430 gallons of water and the whole assembly weighed 32½ tons.

 The coach portion was divided into three compartments. Access to the coach was from a rear platform, which was fitted with fixed vertical steps as no folding steps were provided. An entrance in the rear gave access to a small first-class compartment seating 6 on longitudinal seats. A door from this compartment led to an open saloon seating 48 third-class passengers. A luggage compartment, accessed by double doors was located immediately behind the engine.

 The driving position on the rear platform was open on each side to the elements, although there was a rear screen with two side-by-side windows to enable the driver to see the line. Control from the driving position was by wire cables over the carriage roof. The carriage had a low arc roof, and oil pots provided lighting, a system that was well out of date when the rail-motor was built. Livery of the locomotive section was black lined with red and white, while the coach section was dark crimson lake with cream upper panels, lined in gold.

BELFAST & COUNTY DOWN RAILWAY RAIL-MOTORS AND AUTO-TRAINS

 In 1904 the management of the Belfast & County Down Railway was having to face the strong possibility of an electric tramway being introduced by Belfast Corporation Tramways between Belfast and Holywood, a village about five miles from Belfast on the B&CDR’s important commuter branch line to Bangor. The BCT system had been formed in 1904 mainly out of the assets of the Belfast Street Tramways Company and the new municipal tramway operator had moved quickly to electrify and modernise its network. This new proposal from the BCT for a line to Holywood was a revival of a similar proposal to introduce horse trams on this route, which had been made in 1897 by the BST. If the BCT line had been completed it would have presented serious competition to the lucrative suburban traffic generated by the B&CDR’s ’water level’ route between Belfast and Holywood, which the proposed tramway route would have closely paralleled.

 In order to kill the proposed tramway before it got beyond the planning stage, the directors of the B&CDR decided to buy two steam rail-motors to improve the Holywood suburban service. The contracts for the rail-motors were placed in August 1904 and were of the horizontal boiler type. Kitson of Leeds built the power units and Metropolitan Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. the carriage portions.

 After a trial run with press and dignitaries to the railway-owned Slieve Donard hotel in Newcastle, the two Holywood rail-motors, as they were called, were introduced in 1905, initially on the Belfast-Holywood route. Twenty-seven trips were made each day at 20-30 minute intervals. Three new halts were built, at Kinnegar, Victoria Park and Ballymacarrett, to tap into the traffic between Belfast and Holywood. Rail-motors were single-class and tickets were issued and collected by conductors, on the tramway principle. An order for a third, longer, rail-motor was placed in 1906; so popular were they with passengers. It came into service the following year.

 The rail-motors were regarded as successful and were used not only on the level Belfast-Holywood route but were soon introduced on the moderately graded Belfast-Dundonald suburban route.

 In 1905, the B&CDR had found itself in competition with the Knock extension of the BCT for the heavy commuter traffic in this area. The rail-motors served the suburban stations of Bloomfield, Neill’s Hill, Knock and Dundonald on the B&CDR main line. However, the engines were worked very hard and No. 3 in particular suffered a number of mechanical problems. To try to deal with this, it was swapped with No. 1, which took on No. 3’s heavier coach. In Britain, some companies that introduced rail motors similar to the B&CDR vehicles kept spare power units which they would swap over from time to time. This allowed the rail-motor to remain in service while the power units were overhauled. Probably for reasons of economy, the B&CDR did not follow this policy.

 The Kitson power units were small 0-4-0T engines, which were detachable from their carriage portions. These three identical locomotives had 10”x16” outside cylinders with 3’ 7” coupled wheels and Walschaert valve gear. These locomotives were similar to those by the same makers supplied to the GNR in England. The boilers were of the normal horizontal type with Belpaire fireboxes, the smoke box supported on a separate saddle. Water was held in a 400-gallon tank located under the carriage body. Fifteen cwt (700kg) of coal was carried in side bunkers on the locomotive. Tractive effort was 5,060lbs. The weight of railcars Nos. 1 and 2 was 40 tons while No. 3 was 42½ tons.

 Poor maintenance during the First World War left the three rail-motors worn out by 1918. At that point the carriages were separated from their locomotives, extended by one bay (8 seats), were fitted with a second bogie and in that form were used with ordinary tank locomotives in an auto-train configuration. The Kitson power units were scrapped in 1924.

 During their auto-train phase, the former rail-motor coaches, which were all thirds, normally worked with a couple of 6-wheeled coaches, seconds or first/second composites. Motive power for the set was provided by specially fitted Beyer Peacock 2-4-2Ts Nos. 5, 7 and 27. These engines were capable, in the auto-train configuration, of being able to accelerate from rest to 60 mph over a very short distance, which made them very suitable for this type of work. Auto-trains were used not only on the Holywood-Belfast service, but some went beyond to Craigavad, serving Marino and Cultra further along the Bangor line. They also were used on occasions on the main line as far as the Belfast suburban station of Knock.

 In the auto-train configuration, the locomotive was at the Bangor end of the train. When driving the train from the motor-coach, the driver operated the locomotive regulator via a three-armed handle set into a floor-mounted support. This handle, which has been described to me as resembling the Manx three legs symbol, was connected to rods running underneath the train, which were in turn linked to the regulator in the engine. The driver also had a brake in the cab of the driving coach. A sign set out the whistle code for communicating with the fireman. A wire from the motor-coach cab ran over the roof of the train to the locomotive thus enabling the driver to operate the whistle.

 The practice of running the carriages in an auto-train formation was ended in 1945 as the result of a bad accident in fog involving one of the auto-trains at Ballymacarrett Junction. In this incident, just outside the company’s Belfast terminus, Queen’s Quay, an auto-train headed by rail-motor No. 3, ran into the back of a stationary train demolishing several carriages full of shipyard workers, resulting in many casualties and 21 fatalities. Shortly after this accident, one of the GNR(I)’s auto-trains crashed into the buffers at Great Victoria Street station, its Belfast terminus. That finally sealed the fate of the auto-trains in Northern Ireland.

 After the Ballymacarrett accident the use of the B&CDR auto-trains was discontinued and a GNR(I) diesel railcar was introduced as a replacement. After the formation of the UTA in 1948, former NCC diesel railcar No. 2 took over this role, although the Ganz diesel railcar, No. 5, also saw use on the Bangor line.

 The rail-motor carriages were given minor modifications and survived in use until the mid 1950s as ordinary open saloons numbered 59, 72 and 173 respectively. No. 72 has survived into preservation at the Downpatrick Railway Museum.

 As noted above, no sooner were rail-motors Nos. 1 and 2 introduced in 1905 (works Nos. 4296/7) than an order was placed for a third, larger vehicle in 1906 (works No. 4383). The coach sections of Nos. 1 and 2 were 50’ long, over mouldings, by 9’ 2” wide by 12’ 8½” over clerestory. They originally seated 52 passengers, all third-class, in an open saloon. The larger No. 3 was the same height and width but was 60’ 6” long and seated 68, again all third-class, in an open saloon. (Seating was increased by eight per vehicle after the locomotives were removed and the carriages extended and then reduced by two per vehicle when the coaches ran as open third/brakes because extra doors had been installed after the Ballymacarrett accident.)  The coaches had clerestory roofs, but instead of the usual glass deck lights, they had a series of hinged wooden ventilators, which were operated by twist handles set into the ceiling. Lighting was by gas and each car was fitted with two gas headlamps at the driving end of the coach. All the gas lights were supplied from a reservoir of town gas fitted under the coach.

 Livery of the coach portion was B&CDR crimson lake. The company’s coat of arms was carried twice on each side at either end of the vehicle the vehicle number above the coats of arms on the waistband. The letters ’B&CDR’ were carried centrally on the waistband. The number was also carried on an oval plate on the locomotive cab side. The locomotive portion was lined green.

MIDLAND RAILWAY (NORTHERN COUNTIES COMMITTEE) RAIL-MOTORS

 On the 1 July 1903, the Belfast & Northern Counties Railway (BNCR) was absorbed by the Midland Railway of England, which decided to manage its new Irish subsidiary through a committee, the Northern Counties Committee (NCC).

 In 1904 James Cowie, the NCC’s first manager and secretary, drew up a scheme by which he hoped to develop the outer suburban traffic between Belfast, Greenisland and Antrim on the NCC main line. He proposed the introduction of a frequent rail-motor service along the main line as far as Antrim town. To develop this traffic new halts were to be built at the villages of Monkstown, Ballyrobert and Muckamore. Rail-motors were regarded as especially suitable for this route since at the time, the cut-off loop at Greenisland had not yet been built and trains running to Antrim from Belfast had to reverse at Greenisland. The potential delays of this track layout would not be a problem using rail-motors.

 Bowman Malcolm, the locomotive superintendent of the NCC, ordered two steam rail-motors to be built by the Midland Railway workshops in Derby. These entered service in 1905. It is not now clear if Bowman Malcolm was actually responsible for the design because the two NCC locomotive portions bore little resemblance to current practice either on the MR or the NCC, although the carriage sections were similar to Midland practice in England. Numbered 90 and 91 in the locomotive series, they were of the horizontal boiler type consisting of a bogie coach of standard design articulated to an 0-2-2T locomotive.

 The rail-motors were designed for short-distance work, Belfast-Greenisland-Antrim, but were not used as originally intended, the traffic department putting them on the Belfast-Ballymena stopping services, often hauling vans. This required a water stop at Antrim and fast running to keep clear of other trains. As a result, they were continually running hot driving boxes and big ends, probably exacerbated by the heavy weight of 16 tons 2 cwts, carried by the driving axle. They were soon worn out and by 1913 were withdrawn. The coach bodies were fitted with new ends and bogies and became brake/first/third composites Nos. 79 and 80.

 Incidentally, the only other rail-motors introduced by the Midland Railway, in England, of the enclosed vertical boilered type, were equally unsuccessful.

 The locomotives had two outside cylinders 9”x15” located under the cab. These drove the front pair of wheels only, which had a diameter of 3’ 7½”. Walschaert’s valve gear was fitted. Trailing wheels were smaller with a diameter of 3’ 3”. The locomotive had a wheelbase of 10’. The total wheelbase, including the coach, was 49’ 3½”. Total length over buffers was 60’ 5¼”. The boiler was 3’ 8”x 4’ 6” with a round-topped firebox 3’ 1” long. The inner firebox was 2’ 2” x 3’ 2” with 139 1¾” dia. tubes, a heating surface of 51 x 262 sq. ft. and a working pressure of 160 psi. Steam was fed to the outside cylinders by an external pipe, which came out of the rear of the dome near its base. This pipe passed down each side of the boiler and under the running plate to the cylinders. The cylinders were placed between the wheels and drove forwards. Tractive effort was 3,798 lb. and total weight, including coach, was 39 tons 3 cwt. Water was carried in a 500-gallon tank under the coach. Coal capacity was 11½ cwt.

 The carriage portion had a luggage compartment with double doors at the forward end and was a tri-composite, seating 46, 6 in first-class in two longitudinal seats, 16 in two eight-seater second-class (non-smoking) compartments and 24 third-class (smoking) in an open saloon. Access to the third-class saloon was through the second-class compartments. Lighting was by gas.

 When the coaches were later separated from their locomotive, they were lengthened and seating was increased to 70 in two classes, 6 in first and 64 in third. The rear driving compartment became the brake/guard’s van.

 Livery was MR maroon on the coach, with the locomotive portion in black. The vehicle number was carried on a plate affixed to the locomotive cab side. The company crest was carried on the coach side. Class designations were carried on the door waist panel in words.

GNR(I) RAIL-MOTORS & AUTO-TRAINS

 The GNR(I) was the largest operator of rail-motors in Ireland with a total of seven machines. They obtained three rail-motors of the enclosed vertical boilered type in 1905 from the North British Locomotive Co. of Glasgow and, in 1906, a further four from Manning Wardle of Leeds. Coachwork for the North British type was by T. Pickering of Wishaw and that for the Manning Wardle vehicles was by Brush Electrical Engineering Co. of Loughborough. The two batches were basically of the same design but differed in details. Vehicles in the earlier batch were 58’ long while the later batch was 3’ 6” longer. Nos. 1-3 had no luggage compartment, the third-class saloon abutting onto the engine compartment whereas with Nos. 4-7 there was a luggage compartment immediately beside the engine compartment.

 The North British units were to be used in the Belfast area on the Belfast-Lisburn suburban work and the Manning Wardle units in the Dublin area on the Dublin-Howth suburban service. However there is photographic evidence that the Manning-Wardle units later operated in the Belfast area.

 On both routes, there were opportunities for increasing traffic. In the Belfast area, this increase came from the spread of housing along the Belfast to Lisburn main road (originally a turnpike road when the railway was first built), which the railway closely paralleled. It also came from the developing town of Lisburn itself and from intervening villages such as Finaghy and Dunmurry. The main competition was the municipal tramways, which from Belfast ran about three miles as far as the village of Balmoral, where the GNR(I) had a station close to the tram terminus. Shortly after its establishment in 1905, the BCT put forward plans to extend its services beyond Balmoral and as with the ‘Holywood’ rail-motors of the B&CDR, this spurred the GNR(I) to introduce steam rail-motors and, in 1907 to construct additional halts at Finaghy, Derriaghy and Hilden for their use.

 In Dublin, the Howth branch, which is 3½ miles long, left the main line 4¾ miles north of the city and was built to serve the residential areas of Sutton and Howth. All the trains made connections with the GNR(I)’s Hill of Howth trams at both Sutton and Howth. Stations between Dublin Amien’s Street (now Connolly) and Howth Junction station on the main line north were also sources of suburban traffic.

 The main competition for the Howth traffic came from the Clontarf and Hill of Howth Tramway. This company’s line abutted end-on to the Dublin United Tramway Co.’s line at Clontarf and ran to the east pier at Howth harbour, close to the station. Trams ran right through from Sackville (later O’Connell) Street in the centre of Dublin to Howth, although the railway and the tramway ran close together only from Sutton Cross to Howth. The tram route between Malahide Road and Sutton took the coastal route, while the railway ran further inland via Raheny, Kilbarrack and Howth Junction.

 The GNR(I) rail-motors were fitted with low-level steps, which meant that alighting from them would have been easy. This should have meant that normal station platforms would have been unnecessary at the halts specifically constructed for the use of the rail-motors. However, the GNR(I) still found it advisable to provide such platforms in order to avoid possible litigation from clumsy passengers.

 Each rail-motor could operate alone or with a trailer coach attached. When running with another coach they ran with the power bogie adjoining the trailing coach. Four special saloon coaches were built to operate as trailers for the rail-motors. Each trailer coach had a driving compartment fitted to one end. Five similar vehicles were built for push-pull operation.

 Once in operation, the rail-motors were not regarded as a great success being uncomfortable in running and giving a lot of trouble in maintenance. They ran only for a short time on the Dublin-Howth services before being replaced by larger capacity auto-trains. On the Belfast-Lisburn service, they were regarded as rather more successful, apart from the maintenance problems and vibration. However all seven were withdrawn in 1913 and converted into normal, if somewhat longer than standard, coaches. The Dublin coaches became Nos. 204-207 and the Belfast ones became Nos. 201-203.Seating capacity in the rail-motors was 59, 20 first-class and 39 third-class.

 The power units fitted to the GNR(I) rail-motors were similar to those fitted to the GWR rail-motors in Britain. The Manning-Wardle power units had vertical multi-tubular boilers, a heating surface of 653.1 sq. ft., 11½ sq. ft. of grate, and a working pressure of 175 psi. They had four coupled wheels of 3’ 9” diameter, on a wheelbase of 8’ with outside cylinders 12” diameter by 16” stroke and steam distribution by Walschaert’s valve gear. Water was carried in a 550-gallon tank suspended under the floor of the coach and coal capacity was 1 ton.

 The North British units were again of the vertical boilered type with a tube heating surface of 623 sq. ft. They had four coupled wheels 3’ 9” in diameter with bogie wheels 3’ 7½” diameter on a wheelbase of 8’. Outside cylinders were 12” diameter by 16” stroke and Walschaert’s valve gear. Water was again carried in a tank suspended under the floor of the coach.

 The weight on the motor bogies was 25½ tons. The total weight of Nos. 1-3 was 36¾ tons and Nos. 4-7 was 40½ tons.

 The layout of the coaches was similar, except for the provision of the luggage compartment mentioned above. Nearest the engine was the third-class compartment seating 39. Beside this was the first-class compartment seating 16 in rail-motors Nos. 1-3 and 20 in Nos. 4-7. Between the two compartments was the main entrance, which was open and fitted with folding iron gates. A second entrance, also protected by folding iron gates on Nos. 1-3, but fitted with a standard door on the other cars, gave access to the first-class compartment and the rear driving compartment. Folding steps, interconnected with the vacuum brake, were fitted to both entrances.

 All cars were electrically lit and were fitted with electric head and tail-lights and an electric bell communication system between driver and fireman.

 The GNR(I) replaced their rail-motors on this suburban work with auto-trains. Auto-trains were also used on other duties. For example, coach No. 10 was used on the Keady-Armagh branch shortly after it opened. A GNR(I) auto or push-pull set consisted of a standard BT class 4-4-0T locomotive placed between two specially devised coaches, which provided driving compartments at each end of the train. The locomotive was controlled by shafts and levers, and a telegraph in the locomotive cab was used to indicate to the fireman the required position of the reversing lever. These two-coach units could accommodate 124 passengers, 30 in first-class and 94 in third-class. If required the engine could run with a single coach. The BT class tank engines were fitted with 4’ 7½” coupled wheels, cylinders 15”x18”, and weighed 31 tons 10 cwt.

 The auto-trains were regarded as a success by the GNR(I) but, as noted above, were finally withdrawn after two accidents involving such trains, the Ballymacarrett accident on the B&CDR and the Great Victoria Street accident involving one of the GNR(I)’s own auto-trains.

 Livery used on both rail-motors and auto-trains was varnished mahogany lined in gold and blue. Numbers and lettering were in gold blocked in blue. The GNR(I) coat of arms was carried twice on each side. Class designations were by word and carried on the waistband and the fleet number at each end and on the waistband.

DUBLIN WICKLOW & WEXFORD RAILWAY RAIL-MOTORS

 In August 1906, the DW&WR acquired two rail-motors from Manning Wardle of Leeds. They were designed by Richard Cronin, Locomotive Superintendent of the DW&WR. Both were articulated, of the normal horizontal boilered type and were allocated the numbers 1 and 2. They were built for use on a new service between Bray and Greystones south of Dublin on the main line. However, the first of the two entered service operating, for a week, between Lansdowne Road and Ballsbridge sidings in connection with a show at the Royal Dublin Society Showgrounds. It was then transferred to the work for which it had been designed.

 The rail-motors made ten return trips daily, with one intermediate stop at Bray Head halt, taking 13 minutes for the journey. However, they were not successful and had very short operational lives. This was chiefly because their riding characteristics created extreme discomfort for passengers, particularly those in first-class. As Kevin Murray has wryly stated in his book Ireland’s First Railway that was probably the worst defect they could have had!  Both cars seemingly suffered from excessive vibration, in fact an extreme version of a problem which afflicted many steam rail-motors. This was due to the effects of the hammer-blow and oscillation, associated with any short wheelbase steam locomotive, being transmitted to the close-coupled carriage section. No. 1 was withdrawn in 1907; No. 2 in 1908 and the locomotive portions were separated from their coaches.

 As originally built, both rail-motor engines were 4-coupled with Belpaire boilers, 12” x 6” outside cylinders and 3’ 7” driving wheels. No. 1 was fitted with Walschaert’s valve gear and No. 2 with Marshall’s valve gear. Both were fitted with well and side tanks. Boiler pressure was 160 psi; grate area 9¾ sq. ft.; tractive effort 7,287 lbs; weight 26 tons 14 cwts. Five hundred gallons of water was carried in side tanks on the locomotive and 1 ton of coal on the footplate.

 After withdrawal as rail-motors, the locomotive sections were renumbered 69 and 70 respectively and were used for shunting. No. 69 was rebuilt in 1914 as a 2-4-0T and again in 1925 as a 0-4-0T. They were later named, No. 69 as Elf and No. 70 as Imp by the Great Southern Railways. No. 70 was sold to the Dublin & Blessington Tramway but was later returned, and No. 69 finished up in Limerick as station pilot. No. 69 was withdrawn in 1928 and No. 70 in 1925. Both were scrapped in 1931.

 The coach portions, which were constructed by the company in its Canal Street Works, Dublin, were 44’ long and weighed 22 tons. They had four doors on each side. At the rear was the driving compartment, then a first-class saloon seating 16 and finally a third-class saloon for 39 passengers. There was non-smoking accommodation in both first and third-class. Gas lighting was fitted.

 The driver, when operating from the rear driving compartment, communicated with the fireman on the locomotive footplate via a telegraph similar to those used in ships. He also had a brake at the coach end.

 After withdrawal, the carriage portions were converted into composite coaches. That of No. 1 was renumbered 19 (GSR 209D), and that of No. 2, 20 (GSR 212D). As coaches 19 and 20 they are recorded as being tri-compo with one third-class, four second-class and two first-class compartments. They remained on the books until 1960.

 Livery was lined black for the engine, which carried the legend No. 1 (or 2) on the centre of the side tanks. Coach livery was reddish brown with gold lining with the legend ’DUBLIN WICKLOW AND WEXFORD RAILWAY’ and in capitals along the waist panels, the full length of the coach. The number appeared again on the coach end nearest the engine, on the waist panel. By the time of the rail-motors’ withdrawal, the DW&WR had been re-named the Dublin & South Eastern Railway, but it is unlikely that in their rail-motor form they would have carried the D&SER livery.

D&SER’s ‘BUS COACHES’

 In 1922, under continuing pressure from tramway and growing bus competition, the D&SER converted 6 bogie coaches to what they called ’bus-coaches’ for use on the Dublin-Greystones route. They had accommodation, smoking and non-smoking, for both first and third-class passengers. The coaches were fitted with centre vestibules with sliding doors and it was intended that conductors, tramway style, would issue tickets.

 In the event, they were not used as intended, being operated with normal 6-wheeled carriages carrying luggage and parcels. The conversion probably only served to deprive the company of the use of valuable bogie vehicles.

1920s STEAM RAILCARS – A SECOND BITE OF THE CHERRY

 The introduction of Sentinel, and the slightly later Clayton, steam railcars in the 1920s, represented a second attempt by various railway companies in Britain and Ireland to make something of the rail-motor concept in spite of the failures of many of the steam rail-motors introduced during the Edwardian era.

 Sentinel and Clayton railcars were designed specifically to counter the increasing competition from road vehicles. Sentinel, for example, claimed that its railcars could be operated at less than half of the running costs of a conventional locomotive-hauled branch line train. It also claimed to be able to offer lower operating costs per seat-mile compared with a road bus.

 The Sentinel railcars introduced into Ireland by the NCC and later the GSR were all of the first-generation ‘lightweight’ type without proper draw gear. None of the later heavier and larger Sentinels, such as those used by the L&NER, ever operated in Ireland.

LM&S(NCC) SENTINELS

 On 1 January 1923, the NCC found itself part of the LM&SR. The new owners decided to keep in place the system of management for their Northern Irish subsidiary set up by the MR, namely the Northern Counties Committee. The manager and secretary of the NCC at this time was James Pepper, a Derby-trained Englishman appointed in 1922 by the MR. On taking up office in Belfast, Pepper decided to institute a broad programme of economies and improvements across the NCC.

 As part of this programme, two steam units were ordered in July 1924 from Sentinel Waggon (sic) Works Ltd. of Shrewsbury. One of the NCC vehicles was a light locomotive for working branch line trains, the other a steam railcar for local services. The railcar was numbered 401 in the coach series and the locomotive 91, the number of one of the two earlier Edwardian steam rail-motors. Both machines went into service in 1925.

 The carriage portion of the railcar was built by Cammell Laird & Co. of Nottingham and seated 44 passengers. The vehicle was 56’ 5” overall. In fact this railcar was part of a larger group of orders for 13 units placed with Sentinel by the LMS between 1925 and 1927 although the LMS(NCC) version seems to have been introduced a year ahead of the vehicles in the main LMS order.

 At the time that railcar No. 401 was acquired, the NCC built additional halts on the Belfast-Larne line. These were all in the Carrickfergus area, at Clipperstown, Barn, Downshire Park and Eden, all close to the main Belfast to Larne coast road. These new halts would have been located specifically to tap into the growing commuter traffic between Carrickfergus and Belfast.

 However, when introduced by the NCC in 1925, the Sentinels proved to be badly underpowered, suffering continuously from shortage of steam due to the smallness of the boilers. In addition, the driving chains broke too frequently. The gradients that the Sentinels were required to operate over proved to be too severe for this particular type of unit. Consequently, both Sentinels were regarded as very unsuccessful. This is surprising considering how successful Sentinel units were in other parts of Britain, particularly on the L&NER, and elsewhere in the world.

 A possible explanation is that the NCC vehicles were early versions of the later successful Sentinels, based on the units provided to Jersey Railways. Sentinel had only begun to manufacture these types of locomotives in 1923, the first examples being sold to Jersey Railways in that year. In fact, an early railcar supplied to the L&NER in August 1924 for trials, exhibited similar problems to those experienced by the NCC vehicles. Sentinel vertical boiler units came to be regarded as the most successful of this type of configuration, and the company produced far more than any other maker and were only superseded in the market by diesel railcars in the 1930s.

 The NCC Sentinels were both withdrawn in 1930 and scrapped in 1932. The body of the railcar had a longer and more successful life as a scout hall in Maghera, surviving until the early 1980s.

 In spite of the failure of their Sentinel railcar, because of increasing road competition the NCC stuck with the railcar concept and enthusiastically developed successful internal combustion engined versions in the 1930s.

 Both locomotive units acquired by the NCC were of the vertical boilered type, with boilers 2’ 8½” dia. x 4’ 4½”, working pressure of 275 psi. Cylinders were 6¾” x 9” and driving wheels were 2’ 6” dia. The wheelbase of the locomotive was 8’ 8”. A chain driven transmission from the vertical cylinders was used. Water capacity was 300 gallons and coal capacity was 13 cwts. The carriage section of the railcar was articulated to the locomotive, which weighed 20 tons.

 Livery of the railcar was LMS maroon. The vehicle number was carried on the power unit at waist level. The legend ’LMS NCC’ was carried half way along the coach portion also at waist level.

 In an article entitled ‘Recollections of the B&CDR’, published in Vol.3 of the JOURNAL, W. Robb relates an interesting anecdote from his boyhood: “Another early memory is of coming home from school one day and hearing a vehicle with a very unusual sound coming along the line; this turned out to be what I later learned was the NCC Sentinel locomotive having a trial run on the B&CDR”. This is the only reference to the B&CDR being interested in Sentinels that I have ever come across.

GSR SENTINEL STEAM RAILCARS

 The GSR introduced four steam railcars and two locomotives also supplied by the Sentinel Waggon Works Ltd., in late 1927. The railcars were numbered 354 – 357 in the GSR coaching stock series.

 One of the railcars was used on Cashel-Goold’s Cross branch, on which Coey’s ill-starred rail-motor No. 1 had been introduced in 1904; others were used in the Limerick area on local services. The GSR railcars were fairly successful machines, one, No. 356 being still at work on the Foynes branch in 1939. The two locomotives were used as shunters.

 They all remained on the books until the early 1940s, although probably out of use during the last few years of their lives.

 Like the NCC cars, both shunters and railcars were fitted with a four-wheeled, chain-driven, power bogie equipped with a vertical boiler and vertical cylinders. The dimensions of the cylinders on the GSR cars were 6¾”x9”. Boiler pressure was 275 psi. Driving wheels were 2’ 6” in diameter. They were fitted with vacuum brake cylinders on the power units operating expanding brakes on all four wheels fitted with brake drums. The 400-gallon water feed tank was positioned above the driving bogie and filled through a panel on either side of the car. Coal bunkers were located at the front left hand side opposite the controls and had a capacity of 15 cwts. This gave the cars a range of about 120 miles.

 On the railcars, the totally enclosed power bogie unit was articulated to the carriage portion, which accommodated 55 third-class passengers.

 All these vehicles were built in 1927. Nos. 354 and 357 were officially withdrawn in 1941 and Nos. 355 and 356 in 1942. Both shunters, Nos. 281 and 282, were withdrawn in 1948.

 The railcars were turned out in the GSR coach livery of dark purple-brown with straw lining. The fleet number was carried on the power unit, mid-point along the waistband and near the rear, on the waistband above the rear bogie. The GSR arms were carried half way along the carriage portion, just below the waistband.

GSR CLAYTON STEAM RAILCARS

 The GSR also bought six steam railcars in 1928 from Clayton Wagons Ltd of Lincoln. They were identical to those used on the L&NER except that the GSR cars carried a small number of first-class passengers whereas the L&NER cars were third-class only. They were supposed to be capable of a speed of 45 mph. These were to be the only Clayton railcars to run in Ireland.

 Their numbers were also in the coaching stock series, 358 - 363 following on in sequence from the Sentinels. They were used on the Dublin Westland Row (Pearse)-Dalkey suburban service and the Dublin Harcourt Street-Foxrock suburban service, as well as the Cork-Macroom line (closed in 1935) and on the Mullingar-Sligo line.

 Unlike the Sentinels, the Clayton cars were not regarded as a success. R. N. Clements, in a JOURNAL article on these vehicles, gives a valuable insight into the practicalities of working the Clayton cars. He noted that No. 360, when in use on the Foxrock service, was very unpopular with the crews. It seems it could not make enough steam to cope with the severe gradients on the line. The boiler tubes were close together and as the canal water used at Harcourt Street was of poor quality, this required the boiler to be washed out frequently. This problem was compounded by the inaccessibility of the washout plugs.

 Clements also noted that the firemen complained about the difficulty of firing the vertical boilers. The boiler was fired from the top, through a stoking tube, and firemen said that this arrangement gave him little control over the placing of the coal, which just piled up in the middle, un-burnt. However, Clements believed that the main problem here was that the firemen had not enough experience of firing these cars and were putting on too much coal at one time. Coal consumption on the Harcourt Street line was said to be 19 lbs per mile, and on the Westland Row line, 25 lbs per mile. This contrasted very unfavourably with the maker’s claim of 10-11 lbs per mile.

 When withdrawn in 1931, the power units were removed and the coach portions converted into three two-car articulated sets, which then had a further but more successful lease of life on the Waterford to Tramore line.

 The Clayton cars used essentially the same standard engine and boiler unit as was fitted to the Clayton ’undertype’ road wagons of the period. The boiler was of the vertical cylindrical water-tube type and was fitted with a superheater. Working pressure was 300 psi. As mentioned above, it was fired through the top via a stoking tube.

 The engine was of the non-compound type, with gear transmission. It was a two cylinder, horizontal, high-pressure, totally enclosed unit. The cylinders, crankcase and the gearbox for the reduction gearing were bolted together to form one unit. There were two double-acting cylinders 7” x 10” to which steam was distributed by piston valves beneath the cylinders. The valves were operated by eccentrics mounted on a layshaft driven by spur gearing from the crankshaft. The cut-off was variable in forward and reverse between 80% and 30%.

 The engine drove the wheels by a crankshaft pinion in connection with a spur wheel on the axle. The two axles of the driving bogie were connected by outside coupling rods. Bogie wheelbase was 7’; driving wheels were 3’ 6” in diameter. The boiler assembly was located over the rear of the driving bogie, within the front part of the car body.

 The body and underframe were built as a unit with steel framing and exterior panelling. Unlike the Sentinels, where the locomotive portion was articulated to the passenger coach, a Clayton car’s body was mounted on two four-wheeled bogies, one of which carried the power unit. Swing-bolster bogies were fitted, with laminated side-bearing springs and helical bolster springs. Clayton cars were, in effect, rigid railcars with pivoting power bogies.

 The water tank and coal bunker were mounted forward of the engine bogie, outside the car body. The water capacity was 550 gallons and coal capacity was 15 cwts. Total weight of the railcar was 25 tons. They could be driven from either end. Seating was 9 first-class and 55 third-class.

Copyright © 2008 by Irish Railway Record Society Limited
Revised: March 04, 2010 .