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.[1]
MGWR Class 1
The MGWR Class 1 were supplied by Thomas Grendon and Company from April 1847 with Dunsandle performing the trials and opening run.[1][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.[1][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 withrawn within 10 years apart from Orion which was converted to a tank engine in 1852.[1]
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.[1]
The MGWR Class 4 from Fairbairn were 2-2-2Well Tank locomotives ordered for the MGWR's Galway extension in 1851. One of the original order of 4 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.[1]
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.[1]
The final set of six 2-2-2 locomotives for the MGWR designated Class 13 built by R & W Hawthorn of Leith, Scotland. They had 15 in × 22 in (381 mm × 559 mm) cylinders and their driving wheels at 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) were the largest of any MGWR 2-2-2 locomotive. They were renumbered 43-48 in 1873 and displaced to branch line services.[1]
^ abcdefghijklmnShepherd, Ernie (1994). The Midland Great Western Railway of Ireland – An illustrated History. Midland Publishing Limited. pp. 82–84, 123, 131. ISBN1-85780-008-7.
^Shepherd, Ernie (1994). The Midland Great Western Railway of Ireland – An illustrated History. Midland Publishing Limited. p. 12. ISBN1-85780-008-7.
