Data from "Steam rail motor cars, Midland Railway (Nothern Counties Committee)", Bulletin of the International Railway Congress Association, International Railway Congress Association (Published by P. Weissenbruch, 1906), Item notes: v.20 pt.1 1906, 689-690; and "Steam rail motor cars, Midland Railway (Nothern Counties Committee)", Railway Engineer, Volume 26, No 12 (December 1905), pp. 344-345. See also Michael Collins, "", Journal of the Irish Railway Record Society, #166 (June 2008) formerly at, [], last accessed 20 may 2009. (Thanks to Alexander Blessing for his 1 January 2023 email correcting the wheel arrangment and to Chris Hohl, for his comment as well. Blessing also corrected the coal capacity, passenger capacities, and driver diameter and worked out the steam motor's total wheelbase. )
R M Deeley's design was intended for service on the Greenisland-Antrim line. The vehicle rode on two bogies, the leading one of which had a powered front axle. It propelled the carriage that was divided into the driver's compartment forward, a luggage compartment, and 1st class (6 persons), 3rd class non-smoking (16 riders), and 3rd class smoking (24 persons). The photograph in the report shows that the engine took up most of the front bogie and was separate from the carriage in appearance.
Alas, Michael Collins reports, the traffic department ignored the limitations that such small power units might pose for service other than the light passenger rail-motor operations envisaged when they were bought. Instead, they could be found in front of goods trains between Belfast & Ballymena, which put them in the way of larger trains and forced them to run faster than intended.
"As a result," says Collins, "they were continually running hot driving boxes and big ends, probably exacerbated by the heavy weight of 16 tons 2 cwts[36,064 lb!], carried by the driving axle."
Broken down by this demand, the power units were taken out of service in 1913, seven years after they commenced. The trailing coaches were fitted with a front bogie truck and hauled behind locomotives.
Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media | |
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Class | Steam rail motor car |
Locobase ID | 9699 |
Railroad | Northern Counties Committee (NCC) |
Country | Ireland |
Whyte | 0-2-2+4T |
Number in Class | 2 |
Road Numbers | 90-91 |
Gauge | 5'3" |
Number Built | 2 |
Builder | Derby |
Year | 1906 |
Valve Gear | Walschaert |
Locomotive Length and Weight | |
Driver Wheelbase (ft / m) | |
Engine Wheelbase (ft / m) | 10 / 3.05 |
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase | |
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m) | 48.61 / 14.82 |
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg) | 36,064 / 16,358 |
Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg) | 36,064 / 16,358 |
Engine Weight (lbs / kg) | 87,696 / 39,778 |
Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg) | |
Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg) | |
Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML) | 600 / 2.27 |
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT) | 0.64 / 0.60 |
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m) | |
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort | |
Driver Diameter (in / mm) | 43.25 / 1099 |
Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa) | 160 / 1100 |
High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm) | 9.5" x 15" / 241x381 |
Tractive Effort (lbs / kg) | 4257 / 1930.95 |
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) | 8.47 |
Heating Ability | |
Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm) | 139 - 1.75" / 44 |
Flues (number - dia) (in / mm) | |
Flue/Tube length (ft / m) | 4 / 1.22 |
Firebox Area (sq ft / m2) | 51 / 4.74 |
Grate Area (sq ft / m2) | 7.60 / 0.71 |
Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 313 / 29.08 |
Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2) | |
Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 313 / 29.08 |
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume | 254.35 |
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information) | |
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation | 1216 |
Same as above plus superheater percentage | 1216 |
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area | 8160 |
Power L1 | 5323 |
Power MT |