Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway The Dublin and South Eastern Railway (DSER), often referred to as the Slow and Easy, was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland from 1846 to 1925. It carried 4,626,226 passengers in 1911. It was the fourth largest railway operation in Ireland oper ...

(DW&WR) 67 (''Rathmore'') was a 4-4-0 locomotive built in 1905 at

Beyer, Peacock and Company Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson, it traded from 1854 until 1966. The company exported locomotives, ...

. It was accompanied by engine 68 (''Rathcoole'') from the same maker. They became the DW&WR's flagship passenger locomotives.

Background

The locomotives were acquired in 1905 about the time DW&WR network expansion to Waterford was complete. They joined the DW&WR's other four 4-4-0s which had been in service for 10 years.

History

The build quality of No. 67 was found to be wanting. It required a new front tube plate after only four years and it transpired the DW&WR had required Beyer-Peacock to cut costs. No. 68 was regarded as somewhat the better engine. No. 68 was targeted hijacked and severely damaged in a head-on collision on 23 January 1923 at during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. Everyone had been disembarked from the affected trains first and there were no injuries. On amalgamation to

Great Southern Railways The Great Southern Railways Company (often Great Southern Railways, or GSR) was an Irish company that from 1925 until 1945 owned and operated all railways that lay wholly within the Irish Free State (the present-day Republic of Ireland). The p ...

in 1925 the remaining engine was renumbered and made the only member of Class 454/D8. A 1948 C.I.E. report described it as "A nondescript engine and the only engine of its class, consequently difficult to place: otherwise it is a fair medium powered passenger engine". It was withdrawn the following year.

Background

History

References

Further reading