GNRI Class VS

The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNRI) VS class steam locomotives were 4-4-0 three-cylinder simple expansion steam locomotives built in 1948 by Beyer, Peacock and Company.[2] They were procured in order to operate the Enterprise train service between Dublin and Belfast and were the last series of steam engines ordered by the company.[3]

Great Northern Railway (Ireland) class VS
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerMcintosh
BuilderBeyer Peacock
Serial number6961–6965
Build date1948
Total produced5
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte4-4-0
 • UIC2′B h3
Gauge5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)
Driver dia.6 ft 7 in (2.007 m)[1]
Adhesive weight41 t
Loco weight67 t
Boiler pressure220 psi (1.52 MPa)[1]
Cylinders3
Cylinder size15+1⁄4 in × 26 in (387 mm × 660 mm)[1]
Valve gearWalschaert
Performance figures
Tractive effort21,469 lbf (95.5 kN)
Career
Operators
ClassVS
Numbers206-210
Retired1965
DispositionScrapped

Design

The locomotives of class VS, designed by Mcintosh, were very similar to the compound locomotives of GNRI Class V, built in 1932 by Beyer, Peacock and Company. Unlike the latter, however, they had only simple expansion steam engines with Walschaerts valve gear.[4] Their wheel arrangement was due to the restricted space in the Dundalk workshops. Class VS used the same Belpaire boilers as class V with an evaporation surface of 1,235 square feet (114.7 m2) and a superheating surface of 295 square feet (27.4 m2),[1] and other parts were also interchangeable.[3] The locomotives were equipped with smoke deflectors, rocking grates, hopper ashpans, and self-cleaning fireboxes with a grate area of 25 square feet (2.3 m2),[1] and were fitted with 4,000 imperial gallons (18 m3) Stanier type tenders.[4]

Roster

Five locomotives of this type were built. Their works numbers were 6961 to 6965,[4] their running numbers were 206 to 210.[3] They were named after the rivers Liffey, Boyne, Lagan, Foyle, and Erne.[2]

The VS class shared working the heaviest and fastest expresses on the Dublin to Belfast main line with Class V compounds; and were noted for use on the non-stop Enterprise express services.[2]

In 1958 with the split up of the cross border GNRI Nos. 206, 207, and 209 went to CIÉ whilst acquiring a suffix of N. At the same time Nos. 208 and 210 became 58 and 59 under the Ulster Transport Authority (UTA). CIÉ sold No. 207N to the UTA in 1963 and utilised on both main line and suburban services from Belfast.[2]

All were taken out of service by 1965,[5] none surviving into preservation.[2]

References
  1. J.D.H. Smith. "Great Northern Railway Company (Ireland) steam locomotives". Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  2. Boocock, Colin (1 October 2009). Locomotive Compendium Ireland (1st ed.). Hersham: Ian Allan. p. 71. ISBN 9780711033603. OCLC 423592044.
  3. "Irish Railways: 1946 - 1996. Great Northern Railway (Ireland)". Irish Railway Record Society. 2001.
  4. "Great Northern Railway (Ireland)". Steamindex. 11 January 2015.
  5. "Great Northern 4-4-0 Locomotives in Ireland". Locobase. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.