MGWR Classes F, Fa, and Fb
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The MGWR Classes F, Fa and Fb are a group of similar classes of
0-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. This was the most common wheel arrangemen ...
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 of the Midland Great Western Railway of Ireland which were designed and built between 1921 and 1924. The locomotives could be used to handle goods and also for passenger traffic.


History

The Midland Great Western Railway was looking to modernise its motive power fleet, and turned to their Chief Mechanical Engineer,
Walter H. Morton William Herbert Morton (14 September 1877–1947) was a British locomotive engineer who rose to the position of general manager of the Great Southern Railways (GSR) in Ireland. He previously held the chief engineering positions for GSR and M ...
, to design a locomotive which could be capable of handling goods, and if required, for local passenger traffic. The specific official need for the new class was to replace the poorly performing
MGWR Class C The Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) C Class was a class of 4-4-0 locomotives designed and built at Broadstone railway works, Broadstone by Henry Edward Cusack, Edward Cusack between 1909 and 1915 using parts obtained from Kitson and Company. ...
4-4-0 4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four po ...
locomotives on passenger and limited mail services on the MullingarDublin section of the line. The resulting design from the Broadstone Works (Dublin) Drawing Office was for a six-coupled (
0-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. This was the most common wheel arrangemen ...
) tender locomotive, and the first appearing from the works in 1921, the last in 1924. There are some thoughts the design may have been influenced by the availability of cheap surplus parts following the First World War. This was the last complete class of locomotives designed and built at Broadstone before closure and transfer of work to Inchicore Works. The only other locomotives to follow from Broadstone were the first of the "kit-built" Woolwich Moguls ( GSR Class 372) before this was also transferred to Inchicore. There was a total of 23 members of the class, the first three were Class F, the next ten (including the five Armstrong Whitworth built locomotives) were Class Fa, and the last ten with raised running plates were Class Fb. All were classified by the
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 ...
(GSR) as Class 623, or Class J5. All passed to the Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) on its formation in 1945. Examples of the class survived until 1963, almost to the end of steam on the CIÉ.


Oil firing

In the severe winter of 1946/47 coal was in short supply and, with services disrupted, the CIÉ. took the decision to convert 97 locomotives to oil-burning, the main classes chosen for this being the various
2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. ...
s and the 623s, although this was extended to some
4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abse ...
s. Locomotives which were converted to oil-burning had a white circle painted on the smokebox and tender sides. A supply of coal from America arrived in March 1947 but it took a further three months to build up stocks before normal services could be resumed.


Service

Although initially fitted with steam heat for passenger and limited mail services, and noted for ability to perform GSR Class 372 mogul
2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. ...
services when required, it was also observed they had a high level of wear and attrition when used on such work. In practice they were predominantly employed on freight work, proving to be able to successfully work heavy livestock trains at moderately high speeds, albeit with a somewhat high maintenance requirement.


Livery

Since 1913 the MGWR had been painting all locomotives black with red linings so they being built from 1921 they would not have carried the bright emerald green of other MGWR locomotives. Unlike most MGWR engines they were not named and they carried painted rather than cast iron cabside number plates. On their first visit to the workshops following the 1925
amalgamation Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan am ...
to form the GSR the class were repainted into the standard "dark battleship grey" colours of the new company.
Buffer beams A buffer is a part of the Buffers and chain coupler, buffers-and-chain coupling system used on the railway systems of many countries, among them most of those in Europe, for attaching railway vehicles to one another. Description Fitted at the ...
were vermilion. Following the absorption of the GSR into CIÉ in 1945, and CIÉs nationalisation in 1950, the only changes which took place were the addition of the light green CIÉ "flying snail" logo to the tender sides. The grey livery, like on most CIÉ locomotives, remained until withdrawal in the early 1960s.


References

* Modelling Irish Steam by Drew Donaldson. "Model Railways" magazine, 1978 * Irish Railway Modelling.Yuku.com (Response to a "Request for information" on liveries) {{DEFAULTSORT:MGWR Class F Armstrong Whitworth locomotives 0-6-0 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1921 5 ft 3 in gauge locomotives F Scrapped locomotives Steam locomotives of Ireland