NCC Class A1
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The LMS (Northern Counties Committee) Class A1
4-4-0 4-4-0, in the Whyte notation, denotes a steam locomotive with a wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels. First built in the ...
passenger
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...
s were rebuilds of
Belfast and Northern Counties Railway The Northern Counties Committee (NCC) was a railway that served the north-east of Ireland. It was built to Irish gauge () but later acquired a number of narrow gauge lines. It had its origins in the Belfast and Ballymena Railway which opened ...
Class A two-cylinder
compound locomotive A compound locomotive is a steam locomotive which is powered by a compound steam engine, compound engine, a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. The locomotive was only one application of compounding. Two and three ...
s. They operated services throughout the NCC’s
broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...
system in the north-east of
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
.


History

The Class A1 locomotives were rebuilds of the Class A "Heavy Compounds" that had been designed by the BNCR Locomotive Engineer Bowman Malcolm. The first Class A locomotive had been built by the BNCR at York Road, Belfast in 1901 shortly before amalgamation with the
Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...
and building continued with the Midland Railway constructing six at their
Derby works The Derby Works comprised a number of British manufacturing facilities designing and building locomotives and rolling stock in Derby, England. The first of these was a group of three maintenance sheds opened around 1840 behind Derby railway sta ...
. The locomotives were built as two-cylinder compounds using the Worsdell- von Borries system, the high pressure cylinders having a diameter of and low pressure ones of , both with stroke. Following the end of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
the state of the locomotives operating in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
was well below that which was needed to run the services effectively; many needed replacing but, however, cost was a major factor. It was decided to implement a "Renewal Programme" in which, not only would new locomotives be built but also suitable classes of locomotives would be rebuilt, in the main following the style of the Midland Railway and the LMS. As part of this "Renewal Programme" members of Class A were rebuilt as two-cylinder simples (i.e. not compounds). Those reclassified as Class A1 were rebuilt with a Midland Railway type RG6 boiler and new cylinders both of diameter by stroke. The boiler was higher pitched than the original to allow the firebox and ash pan to clear the rear driving wheel axle and an extension of to the smokebox saddle was needed to offer support. Although the effect was less striking than that of the similarly rebuilt Class B3, the modified appearance was such that these locomotives would be included among those that gained the nickname of "
Whippet The Whippet is a British breed of dog of sighthound type. It closely resembles the Greyhound and the smaller Italian Greyhound, and is intermediate between them in size. In the nineteenth century it was sometimes called "the poor man's raceh ...
" because of a perceived resemblance to the racing dog. All the class were officially named after mountains although that allocated to No. 58, ''Lurigethan'', was never carried. The majority of the Class A1 engines were coupled to what was known as the "Standard" tender which could carry of coal and of water. No.34, however, ran with one of the three "Medium" tenders that had a water capacity and No.62 acquired a spare built up tender with a capacity of . No.58 acquired a tender cab which led to her being a regular visitor on the Dungiven branch where tender first running was required. Nos.33, 58 and 69 later received boilers with a working pressure of in place of . This led to their being allocated to the
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
area during the late 1930s where duties were more onerous. No.33 was shedded at York Road while the other two were at Larne. No.65 worked in a spare capacity at York Road and No.62 was based at
Cookstown Cookstown (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the fourth-largest town in the county and had a population of 12,546 in the 2021 census. It, along with Magherafelt and Dungannon, is one of the main towns in the Mid-Ulster ...
. The builders plates showing dates in the late 1920s and early 1930s belied the age of these engines and the heavy traffic that they handled during World War II showed up their weaknesses more than newly built locomotives. Nevertheless, the majority of the class survived to be taken into
Ulster Transport Authority The Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) ran rail and bus transport in Northern Ireland that operated from 1948 until 1967. Formation and consolidation The UTA was formed by the , which merged the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board (NIRTB) ...
stock and were scrapped in the mid 1950s.


Building and withdrawal data

Rebuilding and naming information for the members of Class A1 are shown in the table below: * Allocated the name shown but this was never carried.


Livery


LMS NCC

The Class A1 locomotives were painted in crimson lake with yellow and black lining. The LMS crest was carried on the upper cab sides. The initials "NCC" in shaded
serif In typography, a serif () is a small line or stroke regularly attached to the end of a larger stroke in a letter or symbol within a particular font or family of fonts. A typeface or "font family" making use of serifs is called a serif typeface ( ...
gold capital letters were placed centrally on the tender sides. Number plates were brass with raised digits and edge; they were carried on the lower cab sides with another placed centrally on the back of the tender tank. On the named engines, curved nameplates were fitted above the leading driving wheel splashers.
Buffer beam A headstock of a rail vehicle is a transverse structural member located at the extreme end of the vehicle's underframe. The headstock supports the coupling at that end of the vehicle, and may also support buffers, in which case it may also be ...
s and number plate and name plate backgrounds were painted red. The
engine number Engine number may refer to an identification number marked on the engine of a vehicle or, in the case of locomotives, to the road number of the locomotive. The engine number is separate from the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). Automobiles E ...
was applied to the front buffer beam in shaded gold digits. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the locomotives were painted black with red buffer beams and number plate and name plate backgrounds providing relief.


UTA

Under the
Ulster Transport Authority The Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) ran rail and bus transport in Northern Ireland that operated from 1948 until 1967. Formation and consolidation The UTA was formed by the , which merged the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board (NIRTB) ...
, the engines were painted black with vermilion and yellow lining. Buffer beams, name and number plate backgrounds were red and the practice of putting the number on the front buffer beam was continued. The UTA roundel, in diameter, with "Ulster Transport" in orange block capitals, lined in red, surrounding a white shield bearing the red hand of Ulster, all on a mid-green background, was placed in the middle of the tender sides.


References

* * *
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ncc Class A1 A1 Steam locomotives of Northern Ireland 4-4-0 locomotives 2′B h2 locomotives Steam locomotives of Ireland Passenger locomotives 5 ft 3 in gauge locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1901 Scrapped locomotives