BNCR Class S
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The Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (BNCR) Class S was a class of two-cylinder
compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struct ...
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
s that was introduced for service on the
narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...
s of
County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...
in north-east Ireland.


History

The Class S was a class of six locomotives designed under the supervision of
Bowman Malcolm Bowman Malcolm (1854 – January, 1933) was an Irish railway engineer. He became Locomotive Superintendent of the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (BNCR) at the age of 22 and later took on the additional role of Civil Engineer. He was an ad ...
as a narrow gauge application of the Worsdell- von Borries system of two-cylinder compound locomotives that had been adopted by the BNCR. Limited space between the frames required them to have outside cylinders and
Walschaerts valve gear The Walschaerts valve gear is a type of valve gear used to regulate the flow of steam to the pistons in steam locomotives, invented by Belgium, Belgian railway mechanical engineering, engineer Egide Walschaerts in 1844. The gear is sometimes name ...
unlike their broad gauge counterparts. The smaller diameter high-pressure cylinder was on the left and the larger low-pressure one on the right. Two engines were ordered from
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, ...
in January 1892 and left Gorton Foundry in May 1892 entering service as numbers 69 and 70. They were renumbered 110 and 111 respectively in 1897. The class would only be enlarged after the BNCR had amalgamated with the
Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
to become the
Northern Counties Committee The Northern Counties Committee (NCC) was a railway that served the north-east of Ireland. It was built to Irish gauge () but later acquired a number of narrow gauge lines. It had its origins in the Belfast and Ballymena Railway that opened to ...
(NCC). The next engines were built by the NCC at York Road works to transport valuable iron ore traffic, that had been obtained in 1907, from the mines at Parkmore to Larne Harbour via
Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim. The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...
. Two engines entered service as No.112 in October 1908 and No.113 in March 1909. They were renumbered 102 and 101 respectively in 1920. The last two members of the class were Nos.103 and 104. Outshopped from York Road in September 1919 and March 1920 respectively, they were the last von Borries compounds to be built. Built for service on the Ballymena & Larne and Cushendall lines of the BNCR, various members of the class were transferred to the
Ballycastle Railway Ballycastle Railway was a narrow gauge railway line which ran from Ballycastle to Ballymoney, both in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. History Ballycastle Railway opened in October 1880 and ran from Ballymoney, on the Belfast and Northern Cou ...
following that line's amalgamation with the NCC in 1924. Nos.101 and 102 were rebuilt in 1930 and 1928 respectively with a coal bunker at the rear to reduce the need to store coal inside the cab and had the trailing radial truck extended accordingly; these were reclassified as Class S1. No.110 was heavily rebuilt in 1931 as a with a standard gauge boiler and reclassified as Class S2. Of the three unaltered Class S, 103 had the shortest existence and at the end of 1938 she was
scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...
ped after being out of use for two years. 111 (ex-70) was renumbered a second time in December 1948, becoming No.44. Having spent her latter years on the Ballycastle line she accumulated a total of more than before being withdrawn after 58 years of service. No.44 was scrapped in February 1954. 104 was shedded at Ballymena for many years and was renumbered No.43 in October 1943. Four years later she received a heavy repair and was transferred to the Ballycastle line where she worked until the line closed in 1950. No.43 remained in stock until 1954 when she was scrapped.


Technical details

When starting a locomotive from rest, a simpling valve was opened which admitted steam directly from the boiler to the low-pressure cylinder as well as the high-pressure one. Not only did this provide maximum tractive effort when starting but also avoided problems that might arise if the high-pressure piston was in a dead centre position. Once moving, the simpling valve was closed and the locomotive continued in compound operation.


Livery


BNCR

Under the BNCR, the colour of the engines is believed to have been a dark laurel green lined out in vermilion/light blue/chrome yellow as follows:


MR (NCC)

When the
Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
took control, the engines were painted "invisible green" (a very dark bronze green that looked almost black). Lining appears to have been the same as in BNCR days, i.e. vermilion/light blue/chrome yellow. The initials "MR" in shaded, sans-serif gold capitals were on the side tanks ahead the number plate and the Midland crest- which was the earlier diamond shaped device – was on the cab side.
Buffer beam A headstock of a rail vehicle is a transverse structural member located at the extreme end of the vehicle's underframe. The headstock supports the coupling at that end of the vehicle, and may also support buffers, in which case it may also be k ...
s were vermilion, and the smoke box was black. The brass number plates had an invisible green background.


LMS (NCC)

During
LMS LMS may refer to: Science and technology * Labeled magnitude scale, a scaling technique * Learning management system, education software * Least mean squares filter, producing least mean square error * Leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer * Lenz ...
ownership, the locomotives were painted in LMS crimson lake or maroon. The smokebox was black and the buffer beam was red. The LMS (NCC) crest was carried on the cab side-sheet. The initials "NCC" were sited on the side tanks, in shaded serif gold capitals, placed in front of the number plates. The number plate backgrounds were at first maroon, but were later painted red. The lining was as follows: During World War II, all the narrow-gauge engines were painted unlined black. Only the red buffer beams and number plate backgrounds relieved the somber effect.


UTA

Under the
Ulster Transport Authority The Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) ran rail and bus transport in Northern Ireland from 1948 until 1966. Formation and consolidation The UTA was formed by the Transport Act 1948, which merged the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board (NIRTB ...
, the narrow-gauge engines, for which there was no long-term future, continued in the unrelieved black wartime colour scheme. This was eventually enlivened on Nos.43 and 44 by vermilion and yellow lining: The UTA roundel, 14in in diameter, with "Ulster Transport" in orange block capitals, lined in red, surrounding a white shield bearing the red hand of
Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
, all on a mid-green background, was placed in the middle of the side tanks of Nos. 43 and 44.


Number plates

The number plates were cast in brass, in a horizontal rectangular format with radiused corners. The size was about 18in x 10in and a raised ½in edge surrounded the plate. The plates were mounted on the tank sides level with the front of the cab. The plates of the first BNCR number series (Nos. 69 and 70) which was current to 1897 contained polished, raised, numbers with prominent serifs. The BNCR 1897 renumbering introduced a series of plates which had "BNCR" in small block capitals above the digits. The BNCR style of plates was used throughout both MR and LMS days. The MR (NCC) renumbering of 12/102 and 113/101, and numbering of 103 and 104, gave these engines plates with digits alone, but otherwise they were similar to the earlier series, and this principle was maintained in the last renumbering to Nos.43 and 44.


References

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{{Ireland Steam Locomotives S Steam locomotives of Ireland Steam locomotives of Northern Ireland 3 ft gauge locomotives 2-4-2T locomotives Beyer, Peacock locomotives Compound locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1892 Scrapped locomotives