DWWR Ariel Class
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The Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway (DW&WR) Ariel Class[a] refers to seven 2-2-2WT well tank locomotives built by Neilson and Company and introduced in 1865.[3]
Ordering
[edit]In 1864 S. W. Haughton retired as locomotive superintendent of the DW&WR indicating the stress of maintenance of the 30 engines of the DW&WR as a factor, the workload being much greater than in 1849 when he had begun that role for the Dublin and Kingstown Railway (D&KR).[b] His replacement, William Meikle, who himself was to retire with ill-heath within the year faced a pressing need to replace the ageing locomotives in use on the Westland Row to Kingstown and Bray services.[c][5]
Meikle had six tenders for the supply of between six and eight locomotives with Grendon of Drogheda quoting the highest at £2,000 per unit. Neilson and Company won with the cheapest quote of £1,564 and initially supplied six locomotives in 1965. A seventh added at a later date seems to be related to Banshee being exhibited at the 1865 Dublin International Exhibition of Arts and Manufactures.[1][6][d]
The engines were given the name of "supernatural personages": Ariel; Elfin; Kate Kearney;[e] Kelpie; Oberon; Titania; and Banshee.[1]
Design
[edit]The locomotives used coal as fuel,[7] as opposed to the earliest D&KR engines which burned coke. They had straight weatherboards and were noted for a generous proportion of brass and copper-topped chimneys. Known to be painted green in the 1870s they were later painted is what was described as "ugly red" and modified with the fitting of cabs and stove-pipe chimneys.[8]
Murray notes the low power design was little better than the prior Burgoyne class.[1]
Service
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| DW&WR Ariel Class | |
 Neilson Locomotive Banshee, the one which appeared in the 1865 Dublin exhibition, in photographic livery Retrieved 18 October 2019 |
They were designed for the Westland Row to Bray coastal commuter route where they operated almost for the majority of their lifetime. Unusually for DW&WR locomotives they bore names rather than numbers though this was consistent practice with the previous practice on the D&KR section for which they were designed.[9]
Ariel was noted as the first to operate over the Dublin Loop Line to Amiens Street and last to be withdrawn.[8][7]
In an incident at Bray Banshee suffered a burst boiler killing both the fireman and driver.[8] The locomotive was repaired and was sold to Fisher and Le Fanu. Oberton and Elfin went to Murphy's Brewery possibly at Bantry and Baltimore respectively.[7]
Murray suggests with their relatively short life and low power they were not a satisfactory investment perhaps evidenced by the fact none were rebuilt and Shepherds almost notes they were likely not successful.[1][3]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Ariel Class is not an official name but a convenient mechanism for referring to the class. The DW&WR in common with most Irish railway companies of the nineteenth century did not formally designate locomotive classes.
- ^ At the D&KR in 1849 he also had other responsibilities
- ^ These would have been drawn from the 11 2-2-2T tank engines passed from the D&KR in 1856, the four 20 ton locomotives of the Burgoyne class and the remainder based on the tank rebuild of the original Vauxhall engine.[4]
- ^ Banshee appears to have been exhibited at the exhibition as a DW&WR locomotive according to the catalogue whilst Murray says it was adopted by the DW&WR afterwards. Neilson had an adjacent stand at the exhibition displaying photographs of their locomotives
- ^ Became known as Kate for short
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Murray (1981), p. 194.
- ^ Shepherd (1974), p. 140,143,199.
- ^ a b Shepherd (1974), p. 140.
- ^ Murray (1981), p. 193.
- ^ Murray (1981), pp. 189, 193–194.
- ^ Committee (1865), p. 5.
- ^ a b c Shepherd (1974), p. 143.
- ^ a b c Ahrons (1954), pp. 41, 43.
- ^ Shepherd (1974), pp. 140, 143.
Sources
[edit]- 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.
- Murray, Kevin (1981). Ireland's First Railway. Dublin: Irish Railway Record Society. ISBN 0-904078-07-8.
- Shepherd, Ernie (1974). The Dublin & South Eastern Railway (1974 ed.). David and Charles. ISBN 0715363611.
- Committee, Executive (1865). Dublin International Exhibition of Arts and Manufactures - Official Catalogue (4 ed.). ISBN 978-0-665-49016-3. OCLC 1041981471. OL 24649433M.
Further reading
[edit]- Ahrons, E.L. (1927). The British Steam Railway Locomotive 1825-1925. Amen Corner, London: Locomotive Publishing Co. OCLC 2329259. OL 6715902M.