Ballymena, Cushendall & Red Bay 0-4-2 Locomotives in Ireland

Class O (Locobase 10227)

Data from "Narrow-Gauge Locomotives of the Belfast and Northern Counties RY," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol VII (May 1902), p. 93. Works numbers were 301-303. [] and [],_Cushendall_and_Red_Bay_Railway for information about the railway.

This trio of small saddle tanks were the only motive power procured by B C & RB. Opeing in May 1875, this mineral-traffic railway connected Ballymena to Retreat, a spot just short of Cushendall on the northeast coast of the Irish Seas. It was a rough profile with a 1,045-ft mountain to scale along the way, the highest elevation negotiated by an Irish railway.

It wasn't long (8 years) before the Belfast & Northern Counties took them in along with the railway. Two years later the B & NC opened the line to Knockanally (later Martinstown) in April 1886 for passenger service and extended passenger availability to Parkmore (13 1/2 miles from Ballymena) four months later.

Through periodic renumberings, the class served as a threesome until 1909, when 103 was scrapped. The other two persisted until December 1923. Passenger service on the old B C & RB line ended in 1930 and the line itself was closed in 1940.