Guinness Brewery Tramway 0-4-0 Locomotives in Ireland

Class 7 (Locobase 7585)

Data from an article -- Guinness Brewery Tramways by Paul Ellison - published in the Industrial Railway Record in December 1968 (#22, pp 337-347) and archived at [], last accessed 26 June 2006.

Ellison says the tramway was a response by Samuel Geoghegan, who became Head Engineer, to the increased traffic out of the brewery in the 1870s. Much of the system was laid between 1873 and 1877 on a 6-ft height clearance and maximum width of 5 feet. Although 56-lb iron tram rails (straps on longitudinal sleepers over ties) were originally used, they were soon replaced by proper 76-lb steel rails.

After the first 5 locomotives of varying provenance proved inadequate or expensive to maintain, Geoghegan laid out his own design. Ellison's own summary is difficult to excerpt, so here it is:

"The result was an 0-4-0 side tank engine with horizontally mounted cylinders situated above the marine-type boiler driving through a dummy crankshaft and vertical connecting rods, which in turn drove the wheels. Instead of the cylinders being bolted to the boiler, they were fixed to the frames which were carried the full height of the locomotive above the top of the boiler. The side tanks were also attached to the frames. Another novel feature was the independent spring frame which consisted of eight steel leaves in pairs, two pairs on each side of the locomotive and one pair each above and below the axleboxes. It was attached to the front and back stays, so that by removing the pins and connecting rods, and with the locomotive lifted, the spring frame could be wheeled out from beneath the locomotive to receive attention and maintenance. The general layout of these engines was one of accessibility for repair but with maximum protection from dirt."

Avonside delivered the first, but all of the remaining engines came from the Dublin firm shown in the specs. William Spence supplied 7 to 9 in 1887, 10 to 12 in 1891 and 13 to 15 in 1895. A quartet arrived in 1902, followed by 20 and 21 in 1905, 22 in 1912, and the last two in 1921.

All but one served the brewery until diesels were introduced, with half leaving in the late 1940s, most of the rest in 1951. The last (17) was retired in 1962.