IRISH PACIFIC TANK LOCOMOTIVES
The 4-6-2T or Pacific tank locomotive was used by some railways in Britain but this wheel arrangement was rare in Ireland. There were no steam locomotives of the Pacific tender type to be found on any of the 5ft 3in railways of Ireland. On the narrow gauge lines of Ireland there were eight Pacific tank locomotives to be found on the 3ft gauge railways of Ireland. The curious fact is that these Pacific tank locomotives were all to be found on the same railway, the Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway (L&LSR). Between 1899 and 1913 the ‘Lough Swilly’, as it was commonly known, ordered eight Pacific tanks in total with two locomotives each, from four different designs, supplied by three different builders. The L&LSR had an independent streak and during this same period it ordered another eight steam locomotives with three different wheel arrangements, such as the largest steam locomotives on the Irish narrow gauge with its 4-8-4T locomotives.
Early days on the ‘Swilly’
Between 1883 and 1885 the L&LSR was converted from a broad gauge line to a narrow gauge railway in two stages. From 1885 to 1899, the Swilly had only 6 steam locomotives in total to operate about 30 miles of railway from Derry/Londonderry to Buncrana, with a branch to Letterkenny. The steam locomotives used were no larger than an 0-6-2T and some were even second-hand. In 1899 approval was given for an extension from Buncrana to Carndonagh, which meant that more powerful steam locomotives were required and this led to first example of a Pacific tank locomotive to be used on any Irish railway. The success of these first Pacific tank engines led to orders for further locomotives of the same wheel arrangement up to 1913. To understand the story better, we need to look more closely at the four different types of Pacific tank locomotives in a bit more detail. Each class is listed by year of delivery.
The 1899 class 4-6-2Ts
No.5 (15) Built 1899 HC 518 Withdrawn 1953, scrapped 1954
No.6 (16) Built 1899 HC 519 Withdrawn 1940, scrapped 1953
Both locomotives renumbered in 1913 and No.15 was fitted with a Belpaire firebox from about 1945 until 1954 (possibly from No.14).
These were the first Pacific type locomotives built for any railway in the British Isles by Hudswell Clarke of Leeds at a cost of £1,850 each. Their design appears to have based upon some 2-6-2Ts for a 3ft 6in line in Australia which had been built a few years earlier by the same builders. Government funding had been granted to build an extension of
