Northern Counties Committee 0-4-0 Locomotives in Ireland

Class Donkey (Locobase 8026)

Data from W T Scott's article in the Railway Preservation Society's 5-Foot 3 journal, January 1968, reproduced on the web at [] (accessed 23 December 2006).

This locomotive shunted along the Belfast Quay, having been built to supplement the Sharp, Stewart locomotive supplied several years earlier. The "Donkey" was an enduring success, as Scott notes in a charming note on usage: "In her life on the NCC 16 ran a total of 705,696 miles [1,136,171 km],..." -- this is impressive enough, but even more striking in its demonstration of persistence when Scott's qualifier is added, ...which was calculated on a basis of 5 mph [8 kph] average."

Scott also tells a story from the World War II days when many Americans, used to their much bigger locomotives, confronted the little Donkey on its rounds: "The (Donkeyÿ was putting carriages into number 5 at the time and one American asked the driver in a very amused way, 'What is this tiny little engine supposed to be?' The driver, in no way disconcerted and perhaps suspecting his engine was being disparaged, readily answered, (Oh! We only keep her around here for warming our shaving water.' ÿ