Dublin & South Eastern Railway Back to Irish railways Sadly its not St Kevin

The Dublin & Kingstown Railway and Dublin, Wicklow & Wexford Railway had merged on 1 January 1907, before then the two lines had been competitors. Furthermore, the Kingstown line was associated with Holyhead whilst the DSER provided the Great Western with access to Dublin. The railway had complex beginnings which are not aided by Shepherd's account and Rowledge (on its locomotives) and included the Dublin and Wicklow Railway, subsequently the Dublin Wicklow & Wexford Railway which are cited in earlier works, such as D.K. Clark's Railway locomotives..

Ahrons, E.L. Locomotive and train working in the latter part of the nineteenth century; edited by L.L. Asher. Cambridge: Heffer, 1951-4. Volume 6
Originally published in Railway Magazine 1925/6: PP. 338-49 cover the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway.
Clements, Jeremy and McMahon, Michael. Locomotives of the GSR. Newtownards: Colourpoint, 2008. 384pp.
Fayle, H. The Dublin & South Eastern Railway and its locomotives. Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon Rev., 1944, 50, 57-9; 125-7; 188-90: 1945, 51, 20-2; 57-9; 89-90; 115-16; 153-4: 1946, 52, 11-13; 25-6; 62-4. 29 illus., map.
A list of corrections and additions was published in: Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon Rev., 1948, 54, 111-13 (3 illus.). This discusses 2-2-2T No. 6a Vulcan, 2-4-0 No. 3 and 0-4-2T No. 8.
Fayle, H. The main line train services of the Dublin & South Eastern Railway. Rly Mag., 1938, 82, 335-46. l3 illus.,4 diagrs., map.
Contains brief notes on the locomotive stock.
Shepherd, W. Ernest. The Dublin & South Eastern Railway. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1974. 231pp.
Locomotive development is covered at length. Fayle (above) is not cited but G.H. Wild's Locomotives of the D&SER (J. Irish Rly Record Soc. is cited without date, volume number, etc!)
Shepherd, Ernie and Gerry Beasley. The Dublin & South Eastern Railway; an illustrated history. Midland Couunties, 1998.

2-2-2ST/0-4-2ST

Clark, D.K. Railway locomotives. 1860
Plate 39 illustrates these designs supplied by Vulcan Foundry

Haughton period

0-4-2
No. 48 (15 until 1922) Barrow
Sharp Stewart 1210/1860
Withdrawn in 1925. Last survivor of class of three:
16 Sharp Stewart WN 1211/1860
37 Sharp Stewart WN 2656/1876 or 1877 withdrawn 1923.
They had 5ft 1½in coupled wheeels, 16 x 24in cylinders, a total heating surface of 940ft² and 15ft² grate area. Clements and McMahon page 155..

Meikle period

0-4-2
Nos. 19, 22 (formerly 20), 38, 39 and 48
Sharp Stewart: 1864-
RN 19 and 20 were built by Sharp Stewart in 1864 (WN 1483/90). RN 38-9 were Sharp Stewart 2654-5/1876 and had been named Nore and Suir. No. 48 was the first tender locomotive to be constructed at Grand Canal Street. They had 4ft 9in coupled wheels, 17 x 24in cylinders, 1124ft² total heating surface and 17.25ft² grate areas. Nos. 19, 22 and 39 were Civil War losses. All withdrawn 1925.. Clements and McMahon page 156..

0-4-2T
No. 21
Sharp Stewart: 1864 (rebuilt in 1905)
Similar to above (Sharp Stewart 1489/1864), but rebuilt (presumably at Grand Canal Street) as very pretty 0-4-2T. Named Kilcoole withdrawn 1925. The name was painted in a straight line at the top of the side tank. Clements and McMahon page 157 consider that there is some doubt about the dimensions: the total heating surface (985ft²) and coupled wheel size (4ft 10½in ) being different.

2-4-0T
No. 21
Sharp Stewart: 1864 (rebuilt in 1900)
Similar to above (Sharp Stewart 1480/1864), but rebuilt (presumably at Grand Canal Street) as 2-4-0T named Blackrock (painted in a curve on the side tank. Dimensions quoted by Clements and McMahon page 157 are sufficiently different to suggest total replacement: coupled wheels 5ft 4½in; cylinders 15 x 22in, total heating surface 1032ft² and grate area 15.9ft². Latterly it had worked on the Shillelagh branch.

Meikle/John Wakefield

2-4-0
GSR Class 422 G7: Sharp Stewart: 1864/1873
24 WN 1478/1864 Glenmore 1928
25 WN 1491/1864 Glenart 1925 Civil War loss
26 WN 1480/1864 rebuilt as 2-4-0T in 1909 and not taken into GSR stock
32 WN 2304/1873 Glenmalure 1925
33 WN 2305/1873 Glendalough 1925
5ft 4½in coupled wheels; 16 x 22in cylinders; 15.9ft² gratw area and 888ft² total heating surface. Clements and McMahon page 133.

William Wakefield locomotives

0-6-0
GSR Class 447 J7
DSER Nos. 50-1: Vulcan Foundry: 1891
WN 1310-1311/1891. 4ft 9in coupled wheels; 18 x 26in cylinders; 18ft² grate and 1028ft² total heating surface. Reboilered with Belpaire boilers in 1912 and 1915 with 18.5ft² graes and 924.8ft² total heating surface. No. 51 was a Civil War loss and No. 50 was withdrawn in 1930: latterly it had worked freight on the Shillelagh branch. Clements and McMahon page 143.

4-4-2T
DSER Nos. 52-4: Sharp Stewart: 1893
GSR Class 458 C3
These were WN 3909-11, DSER RN Nos. 52-4 and GSR Nos. 458/460/459. They had originally been named Duke of Connaught, Duke of Leinster and Duke of Abercorn (KPJ: it is not difficult to understand why the names were removed). They had 5ft 3in coupled wheels and 18 x 26in cylinders. The original total heating surface was 1226ft² and grate area 17.8ft². In 1913 No. 54 received a boiler with a total heating surface of 992ft² and grate area of 17ft².  It laso received a larger cab with rounded roof and increased water capacity. In 1920 No. 52 received a similar boiler, but was otherwise not modified.. In 1926 No. 460 received a lower-pitched boiler with a total heating surface of 973ft² and grate area 17.5ft².  They were withdrawn between 1953 and 1960. . Clements and McMahon pp. 149-50. They were intended to work boat trains between Kingstown Pier and Kingsbridge. The lever reverse was an awkward feature, but the class was well regarded.

2-4-0T
DSER No. 41
Built 1882.
Built for Dublin, Wicklow & Wexford Railway. At some stage it had been named Delgany, but as shown in Clements and McMahon p158 did not carry a name. Withdrawn in 1913, but not approved for scrapping until 1924. 5ft 3in coupled wheels, 16 x 22in cylinders, 986.5ft² total heating surface and 18.15ft² grate area.

DSER No. 42-4
Built Beyer Peacock: 1883.
WN 2261-3, named Ballybrack, Shanaganagh and Dunleary (illustrated). Last withdrawn in 1927, remainder in 1925. 5ft 1½in coupled wheels, 16 x 22in cylinders, total heating surface 962ft² and 17ft² grate area. They were highly regarded and No. 44 was regularly employed on the 17.15 express to Greystones..  Clements and McMahon page 159 .

GSR 423 G1: 1885-95: built Grand Canal Street

5ft 6in coupled wheels; 17 x 24in cylinders; 15ft2 grate area. In 1929-30 the survivors were still being used on Kingstown boat trains weighing 200 tons, and No. 424 only lost 30 seconds with 272 tons Westland Row and Dun Laoghaire Pier. Nevertheless, there was a very damning report in 1948: They are slow and high in coal consumption and the number in service limits the performance of the whole DSER local service. Clements and McMahon pp. 134-5..
A design for controlling the draught, the invention of the foreman at the Company's Bray engine sheds, was recently experimentally fitted to engine No. 9, a 2-4-0 side tank engine built at Grand Canal Street in 1890. The addition of two supplementary steam chimneys, one at either side of the main smoke funnel, gave the engine a somewhat curious appearance. After exhaustive tests the device had been removed, and the engine was running on the Kingstown local trains in its normal condition. Locomotive Mag., 1913. 19, 28.

2-4-2T
GSR 428 F2: 1888-98: built Grand Canal Street
Some built as 2-4-2Ts, others rebuilt from 2-4-0Ts.  Basic dimensions: 5ft 6in coupled wheels, 17 x 24in cylinders; grate area about 15ft². Some ran for a time with Belpaire boilers. Nos. 28 and 46 are stated to have been fitted with Class 267 type boilers which seems a surprising choice except in so far as there were only 267 Class locomotives withdrawn in 1934 and 1935. Clements and McMahon give vastly more information on pp. 136-7. St Kevin is shown in original condition as DWWR No. 11. From July 1941 to October 1945 No. 430 was on loan to the Belfast & County Down Railway and used on its Ballynahinch branch. The 1948 assessment was that they were slow and high in coal consumption and the number in service limits the performance of the whole DSER local service. .

No. 28 (built in 1887 as a 2-4-0T) was converted in 1910 to a 2-4-2T and a note in Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon Rev., 1910, 16, 22 observed this and that work to convert Nos. 45 and 46 similarly had started.

Nock, O.S. Irish steam: a twenty-year survey, 1920-1939. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1982. 207pp.
"It was at this time also that the practice of naming locomotives began, the selection of titles being made by Miss Ida Pim, a niece of the Chairman of the company, Frederick W. Pim. ...Ida Pim had an almost obvious choice for the first new locomotive turned out by Richard Cronin, for the 2-4-2 tank No 3 was completed on St Patrick's day 1898. Naturally it was named St Patrick"

Former LNWR locomotives
Accoiding to Clements and McMahon six former Webb 2-4-2Ts were sold to the Dublin, Wicklow & Wexford Railway in 1902. The price was £1550 per locomotive. Nos. 59-63 were returned to Mainland Britain in 1916-17. No. 64 was acquired by the GSR, but before that it had participated in the Civil War when it was armoured and named Faugh-a-ballagh.For a time it was used at the Mallow sugar beet factory and led a protracted existence as a boiler for washing outs at Inchicore. The locomotive had begun as a 2-4-0T in 1877 and was rebuilt as a 2-4-2T in 1896.

Changing the gauge of rolling stock. Rly Mag., 1942, 88, 186. 186.
Notes submitted by E. Williams record that six 4ft 6in 2-4-2Ts were converted to 5ft 3in gauge at Crewe Works for delivery to the Dublin, Wicklow & Wexford Railway. In 1917 three of these were acquired by the British Government and reconverted to standard gauge and used at the train ferry terminal at Richborough. Two of thse were eventually sold to Cramlington Colliery.

Grierson period
Grierson biography

4-4-0
DSER Nos. 55-8: Vulcan Foundry: 1895-6
GSR 450 Class D9
Vulcan Foundry WN 1448-9/1895 and 1455-6/1896. RN 55-8 (GSR 450-3). Locomotive Mag., 1898, 3, 9 states that coupled wheels were 6ft diamater, cylinders 18 x 26in, heating surface tubes 935.4ft² and firebox 91.5ft², grate area 19.65ft² and round top boiler 150 psi.Clements and McMahon (page 145) state that similar to design for an English railway (either Midland or L&YR suggested), but with smaller diameter cylinders. The DSER locomotives had 6ft 1in coupled wheels, 18 x 26in cylinders, and when rebuilt with Belpaire boilers from 1906, 18.25ft² grate area and 1096ft² total heating surface. No. 58 was more extensively rebuilt with new frames, a modified wheelbase and a Belpaire boiler with a total heating surface of 1143.8ft² and a grate area of 19.7ft²: it was classified D8.. For a time they carried the names: Rathdown, Rathmines, Rathnew and Rathdrum. They were withdrawn between 1929 and 1940: No. 58 being the last survivor.

0-6-0
GSR 448 Class J1
DSER Nos. 4 and 5: Kitson: 1908
GSR Nos. 448-9: rebuilt from 0-6-2Ts (below) at  Grand Canal Street in 1908. They became GSR Classs 448 (Nos. 448-9) and lasted until 1950 and 1940. They were reboilered with Belpaire boilers in 1924 and 1926. They had 4ft 9in coupled wheels, 18½ x 26in cylinders, 21ft² grates and 1149ft² total heating surface. Clements and McMahon (page 145)

0-6-2T
DSER Nos. 4 and 5: Kitson: 1897
WN 3686-7/1897. Very similar to locomotives to Lancashire Derbyshire & East Coast Railway. Grierson considered that tender locomotives were not required for freight working, but locomotives were too heavy and the rear axle bearings tended to run hot. They were rebuilt as 0-6-0s at  Grand Canal Street in 1908. They became GSR Classs 448 (Nos. 448-9) and lasted until 1950 and 1940. They were reboilered with Belpaire boilers in 1924 and 1926. They had 4ft 9in coupled wheels, 18½ x 26in cylinders, 21ft² grates and 1149ft² total heating surface. Clements and McMahon (page 145)

Cronin designs

0-6-0

GSR Class 440 J20: Grand Canal Street: 1899
DSER No. 17 Wicklow: 5ft coupled wheels; 17 x 24in cylinders, 17.75ft² grate area, and 894.2ft² total heating surface. Sometimes regarded as rebuilt from an earlier 0-4-2 of 1864. Reboilered in 1920, but withdrawn in 1929 when boiler transfered to 2-4-2T No. 438. Clements and McMahon page 140.

GSR Class 441 J14: Grand Canal Street: 1901
DSER No. 36 Wexford: 5ft coupled wheels; 18 x 24in cylinders, 17.75ft² grate area, and 894.2ft² total heating surface. Fitted with a Phoenix superheater between 1911 and 1915 and found 20% more powerful when tested against No. 17. Clements and McMahon page 141.

GSR Class 442 J8 1904
DSER Nos 13 (GSR 442); 14 (GSR 443); 18 (GSR 444): Grand Canal Street: 1904, 1905 and 1910
DSER Nos. 65-6 (GSR 445-6); Beyer Peacock: WN 4647-8/1905
With the exception of No. 18 all had 5ft 1in coupled wheels: No. 18 had 4ft 11½in wheels which had come off at least one 0-4-2. It was fitted with Ross pop safety valves. They had 18 x 26in cylinders; 20ft² grates and a total heating surface of 1183.2ft². Nos. 18 and 66 ran with Class 351-type boilers for a time. No. 442 was withdrawn in 1925. In effect a DSER version of the 101 Class. Very popular with footplate crews who liked their well-laid out cabs, good steaming and excellent riding due to being fitted with volute springs throughout. Mainly worked freight berween Waterford and Wexford via Macmine and the day goods from Dublin to Wexford.  Clements and McMahon pp. 142-3..

Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Ry, Locomotive Mag., 1904, 10, 134.
0-6-0 No. 13 Waterford built at Grand Canal Street works. Cab had side windows and a larger boiler.

4-4-0
DSER Nos. 67; 68: Beyer Peacock: 1905
GSR Class 454 D8
WN 4545-6. They were named Rathmore and Rathcoole. No. 68 was a Civil War Loss. 6ft 1in coupled wheels; 18 x 26in cylinders. 20ft² grate area and a total heating surface of 1193ft². The surviving locomotive was rebuilt with a 450 Class-type Belpaire boiler in 1935, and with a 453-type boiler in 1939: it was withdrawn in 1949. Clements and McMahon page 146 includes a photograph by W.A. Camwell of No. 454 at Woodbridge in 1938.

4-4-2T
DSER Nos.20 Grand Canal Street 1911
Nos. 34/35: Beyer Peacock: 1924
GSR Class 455 C2

Contemporary
NEW tank locomotive, Great Southern Railways, Ireland. Rly Mag., 1925, 56, 192. illus.
PASSENGER tank engines, Great Southern Ry. [sic] of Ireland, Dublin and South-Eastern Section. Loco. Rly Carr. Wagon Rev., 1925, 31, 31-2. illus.

Retrospective
The 1911 locomotive, named King George, had 6ft 1in coupled wheels and Clements and McMahon pp. 147-8 note that 4-4-2T engines were "fashionable" at that time noting the Marsh I3 class, but this is unfair on the Brighton locomotives which enjoyed the advantages of superheating and were intended for express work: a more apt comparison would be with the earlier and smaller Marsh 4-4-2Ts which tended to live under a cloud. The locomotive had 18 x 26in cylinders; 20ft² grate area and 1193.2ft² total heating surface. The boiler was built by Kitson.  No. 20 experienced difficulty in started heavy trains and its route availability was restricted. The Beyer Peacock locomotives were the final additions to DSER stock and had WN 6204-5 and came with Belpaire boilers with 20ft² grate area and 1183.5ft² total heating surface. They received GSR numbers 455-7. They were reboilered several times receiving Class 351 round-top (1247ft² total heating surface and 20.4ft² grate area) or Class 451-type Belpaire type boilers (1094ft² total heating surface and 18.5ft² grate area), and even DESR round top boilers (No. 457 between 1935 and 1941). Nos. 455 and 457 were briefly fitted with ash ejectors in 1949: Clements and McMahon p. 121...

2-4-2T
GSR Class 434 F1: Grand Canal Street: 1901-09
Nos. 12 St Brigit (435), 40 St Selskar (439) and 8 St Brendan (434) were built in 1901 to 03 with round-top boilers, and were followed by Nos. 29 St Mantan (437) in 1906, No. 27 St Aidan (436) in 1907 and No. 30 St Iberius (438) in 1909 which had Belpaire boilers. They had 5ft 6in coupled wheels, 17 x 24in cylinders and a grate area of 15ft² for the original round-top, and 17ft² for the Belpaire. All were eventually fitted with 4ft 4in diameter Class 101 type boilers from 1925. They were withdrawn between 1950 and 1952. The illustrations show locomotives with volute springs on the leading radial axle. Clements and McMahon pp. 138-9.
No. 29 St. Mantan had left the shops after repairs, and was running on the local express trains on the Westland Row line. This was the last of the 2-4-2 tank engines to be removed from the main line services, their places having been taken by the newer 4-4-0 express engines and the rebuilt Vulcan bogie engines. The following alterations in the names of locomotives had been made :-No. 28 St. Laurence, formerly St. Lawrence; No. 27 St. Aidan, formerly St. Aiden. Locomotive Mag., 1913,19, 28

0-4-0T/2-4-0T
DSER Nos. 69/70: 1908
Imp Class M1 (M2 after introduction of Sentinel shunters)
Derived from the engine units of former steam railcars supplied by Manning Wardle in 1906. They were named Elf and Imp on the GSR. They had 3ft 7in coupled wheels and 12 x 18in cylinders. No. 69 was built with Walschaerts valve gear, rebuilt as a 2-4-0T in 1914, reconverted into an 0-4-0T in 1925 and was withdrawn in 1931. No. 70 was built with Marshall valve gear, was sold to the Dublin & Blessington Tramway in 1918, but was acquired by the GSWR in 1921 and named Elf. It was withdrawn in 1928. Clements and McMahon pp. 153.4..

Steam railcars Nos. 1 and 2: Manning Wardle: 1906
GSR Inchicore classifiaction M1
The locomotives were separated from the carriage sections in 1908 and converted into 0-4-0Ts Nos. 69 and 70. They were WN 1692-3.. The ride of the steam railcars was extremely poor. Clements and McMahon pp. 153.4.

Wild designs

461 Class K2: Beyer Peacock: 1922
Freight engines conceived as an 0-6-0 design, but modified by the addition of a pony truck. WN 6112-13; RN 15-16 (GSR 461-2).

Contemporary
"MOGUL" freight locomotives, Dublin & South Eastern Ry. Loco. Rty Carr. Wagon Rev., 1923, 29, 93. illus.
NEW goods locomotives for the Dublin & South Eastern Railway. Rly Engr, 1923, 44, 263-4. illus., diagr. (s. el.)
2-6-0 locomotive, Dublin & South Eastern Railway. Rly Mag., 1923, 52, 414 + plate f.p. 347. illus.

Retrospective
Clements and McMahon pp. 151-2 list the dimensions of the locomotives as built: 5ft 1in coupled wheels; 19 x 26in cylinders with 8in piston valves and superheated Belpaire boilers working at 175psi (tubes 952ft², firebox 134ft² and superheater 164ft² with 20ft² grate area.. In 1940 No. 462 received an N type superheated Belpaire boiler working at 160psi with tubes708ft², firebox 120ft² and superheater 168ft² with 19.5ft² grate area. They were delivered during the Civil War and stored in Adelaide shed in Belfast. They were fitted with volute springs and large comfortable cabs which were appreciated on the open stretch between Bray and Wicklow. They worked the heavy overnight Dublin to Wexford freight. No. 461 was withdrawn in 1965 and is preserved: No. 462 was withdrawn in 1963. It was fitted with an automatic ash ejector: see Clements and McMahon page 121. .

Proposed 4-4-0
Wild and the DSER Board considered a 4-4-0 passenger version of the Moguls to be constructed by Beyer Peacock. This would have shared the wheel diameter, superheated boiler and 8in piston valves of the Moguls, but would have had 18½in x 26 cylinders. Action was deferred in October 1923 and never revived. Clements and McMahon page 152..

0-6-0T
Blackburn
Manning Wardle 1099/1888
Locomotive had been employed on major civil engineering works in the Bray/Greystones area by Naylor Bros.of Huddersfield and was acquired by the GSR with the DSER. The latter had been using it for departmental work, but the GSR sold it for scrap. It had been used by T.A. Walker, including on the Manchester Ship Canal construction and had been sold to Fisher & Le Fanu in 1894 who used it on several Irish contracts. Clements and McMahon page 160