- NCC Class WT
-
Northern Counties Committee WT class Power type Steam Designer H. G. Ivatt Builder LMS, Derby Works Build date 1946–1950 Configuration 2-6-4T UIC classification 1'C2'ht Gauge 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) Leading wheel
diameter37 in (0.940 m) Driver diameter 72 in (1.829 m) Trailing wheel
diameter37 in (0.940 m) Wheelbase 37 ft 9 in (11.51 m) Length 46 ft 5 3⁄4 in (14.17 m) Width 9 ft 3 in (2.82 m) Height 13 ft 2 in (4.01 m) Axle load 17.5 long tons (17.8 t) Weight on drivers 52.58 long tons (53.42 t) Locomotive weight 87 long tons (88 t) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 3.5 long tons (3.6 t) Water capacity 2,500 imp gal (11,000 l) Boiler G8AS Boiler pressure 200 psi (1.38 MPa) Heating surface:
Tubes1,042 square feet (96.8 m2) Heating surface:
Firebox129.75 sq ft (12.054 m2) Heating surface:
Total1,416.75 sq ft (131.620 m2) Superheater area 246 sq ft (22.9 m2) Cylinders Two (outside) Cylinder size 19 × 26 in (483 × 660 mm) Valve gear Walschaerts Tractive effort 22,160 lbf (98.57 kN) Factor of
adhesion5.3 Locomotive brakes Steam Train brakes Automatic vacuum Career Northern Counties Committee
Ulster Transport Authority
Northern Ireland RailwaysNumber in class 18 Number 1-10, 50-57 Nicknames Jeep Last run April 1971 Preserved No.4 Current owner RPSI The Northern Counties Committee WT class is a class of 2-6-4T steam locomotives built by the NCC's parent company, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway for service in Northern Ireland.
Contents
History
Preserved No. 4 at Mallow in May 2006
18 Class WT locomotives were built at Derby Works in England to the design of George Ivatt between 1946 and 1950. They were numbered 1–10 and 50–57. They were a tank engine version of the NCC Class W moguls. A tank engine did not require turning at termini and the LMS had produced a series of successful 2-6-4Ts. Like the LMS Fairburn 2-6-4T built at the same time, they had a hopper bunker and absence of plating ahead of the cylinders. They were based on the LMS Fowler 2-6-4T by Sir Henry Fowler.
In December 1962 locomotive No.50 received a boiler from one of the ex-NCC 2-6-0 tender locomotives, the boiler and firebox being overhauled and repaired at Derby.
In early 1966 and towards the end of their careers, the Class WT locomotives were involved in working notable traffic. This was on spoil trains that transported fill for motorway construction from the Blue Circle cement works at Magheramorne to Greencastle near Belfast. Three trains of twenty hopper wagons each were made up, with a Class WT locomotive at each end. Each train when filled carried 600 tons of rock and in all, some 7,600 trains had carried 4¼ million tons of material by the time the contract ended in May 1970.
The last of the Class WT locomotives were officially withdrawn in 1971 the last time one was in traffic being 22 October 1970. This made them the last steam locomotives in mainline operation in the British Isles; Córas Iompair Éireann steam in the Republic of Ireland having ended in 1962 and British Railways steam in Great Britain having finished in 1968,
One of these locomotives, No.4, has been preserved by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland which operates it on special mainline trains. It is currently based in Dublin for use on the society's trains there.
The RPSI is also looking at the possibility of building a new member of the class (No.58) to give them a second mainline tank locomotive considering the low availability of turntables on modern day lines.[1]
"Stopped" (date last used) dates for WT class. Although all officially passed to NIR those marked @ never worked for that company
1 27.08.66 @ 10 10.10.69 2 19.06.65 @ 50 25.01.70 3 18.03.69 51 16.10.70 4 22.10.70 52 12.01.66 @ 5 00.04.70 53 02.05.70 6 23.04.70 54 04.04.67 @ 7 00.04.65 @ 55 28.03.70 8 12.10.65 @ 56 29.04.69 9 01.02.67 @ 57 27.08.66 @
Technical details
The locomotives were built with many LMS standard features such as a self-cleaning smokebox, rocking firegrate, self-emptying ashpan, side window cab and a simplified footplate together with others which followed NCC practice, such as a water top-feed on a parallel boiler (as opposed to the taper boilers being used by the LMS at the time), Dreadnought type vacuum brake gear, Detroit sight feed cylinder lubricator and a cast number plate.
References
- ^ RPSI Newsletter June 2010.
- Arnold, R.M. (1973). NCC Saga. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0 7153 5644 5.
- Currie, J.R.L. (1974). The Northern Counties Railway, Volume 2: 1903-1972. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0 7153 6530 4.
- London Midland and Scottish Railway (Northern Counties Committee). Class WT general arrangement drawing. Belfast: LMS (NCC).
External links
Steam locomotives of Ireland Belfast and County Down Railway (1846–1948) 1 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 8 • 9 • 14 • 22 • 26 • 29 •Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (1860–1903) Northern Counties Committee (1903–1949) Sligo, Leitrim and Northern Counties Railway (1875–1957) Great Northern Railway (1876–1958)Dublin and South Eastern Railway (1854–1924) 24, 25, 32, 33 • 52–54 • 3, 10, 11, 28, 45, 46 • 1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 10, 28, 44–47, 49 • 50, 51 • 42–44 • 55–58 • 20, 34, 35 • 65, 66 • 8, 12, 27, 29, 30, 40 • 4, 5 • 13, 14, 18, 65, 66 • 17 • 18 • 69, 70 • 15, 16Midland Great Western Railway (1847–1924) D • E • H • K • L & Lm • Ln • P • W • A, As & A1 • B • C & Cs • C & C1 • F, Fa & FbGreat Southern and Western Railway (1845–1924) 2 • 21 • 47 • 90 • 91 • 92 • 101 • 203 • 204 • 52 • 60 • 33 • 37 • 201 • 27 • 211 • 213 • 301 • 305 • 309 • 321 • 333 • 341 • 351 • 355 • 362 • 368 • 257 • 400 • 900 • 500 • Great Southern Railways (1925–1944)280 • 372 • 393 • 700 • 850 • 495 • 670 • 710 • 342 • 800Córas Iompair Éireann (1945–1962) Turf Burner No. CC1Categories:- Northern Counties Committee locomotives
- Northern Ireland Railway locomotives
- 2-6-4T locomotives
- Rail transport in Northern Ireland
- Steam locomotives of Ireland
- Railway locomotives introduced in 1946
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