MGWR Class 1

MGWR Classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 13
Class 13 R&W Hawthorn No. 49 at Castlebar
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Grendon Fairbairn Longridge Hawthorn Build date 1846-1852, 1862[a]
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 2-2-2[a] Gauge 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) Driver dia. 5 ft 7 in (1,700 mm) Frame type inside Fuel type Coke Tender cap. 1,200 imp gal (5,500 L; 1,400 US gal) Cylinders 2 Cylinder size 14 in × 18 in (356 mm × 457 mm)
Career Operators Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) Locale Ireland
Details for Class 1 (Grendon)[1]

Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) Classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 13 were 2-2-2 locomotives acquired over the period 1847-1862 serving the railway in its formative years.^[2]

The MGWR Class 1 were supplied by Thomas Grendon and Company from April 1847 with Dunsandle performing the trials and opening run.^[2] These engines were a replacement for a cancelled order from J & R Mallet of Seville Ironworks Dublin and arrived before the earlier order for MGWR Class 2 from Fairbairn. Juno was later converted into a 2-2-2T tank locomotive.^[2][3]

Fairbairn supplied 6 engines in response to a quote in 1846, the engines being delivered from June 1847. They seem to have accumulated less average mileages than MGWR Class 1 and were all withdrawn within 10 years, apart from Orion which was converted to a tank engine in 1852.^[2]

The six MGWR Class 3 locomotives were also supplied by Fairbairn in 1848. Built to a different design, they had a longer service life than the Fairbairn Class 2.^[2]

The MGWR Class 4 from Fairbairn were 2-2-2 Well Tank locomotives ordered for the MGWR's Galway extension in 1851. One of the original order of four was believed to have been sent to Brazil. They had a long service life of nearly 50 years, with some remaining in use as stationary boilers up to 1906.^[2]

With the exception of Class 13, all subsequent locomotive builds for the MGWR were of engines with the driving wheels connected by coupling rods for better adhesion. The MGWR Class 5 engines were themselves rebuilt as 2-4-0s beforce withdrawal and renumbered in the range 88-93.^[2]

The final set of six 2-2-2 passenger locomotives for the MGWR designated Class 13 built by R and W Hawthorn of Leith, Scotland. They had double-sandwich frames, outside springs and 15 in × 22 in (381 mm × 559 mm) cylinders.^[2] Their driving wheels were the largest of any MGWR 2-2-2 locomotive, being 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) in diameter. They were renumbered 43-48 between 1871 and 1873, switching the number range with MGWR Class 12 so all passenger engines could be numbered 1 to 48.^[2][4]} Their final years saw them displaced from main line to branch services.^[2][4]

• Shepherd, Ernie (1994). The Midland Great Western Railway of Ireland – An illustrated History. Midland Publishing Limited. ISBN 1-85780-008-7.
• Ahrons, E. L. (1954). L. L. Asher (ed.). Locomotive and train working in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Vol. six. W Heffer & Sons Ltd.