Belfast & County Down 0-6-4 Locomotives in Ireland

Class 29 (Locobase 8028)

Data from "New 0-6-4 Side-Tank Locomotive, Belfast and County Down Ry", Locomotive Magazine, Volume XXIX [29], No. 375 (15 November 1923), p 317. See also 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).

Scott saw the 29 on the Northern Counties Committee railway after that railway purchased her from the BCDR in 1949. He comments: "She was certainly a very strong engine of massive appearance accentuated by her very small wheels. I remember seeing her shunt on many occasions and she always impressed me with her competence in handling a big load." A profile that hid all the motion inside except for the coupling rods, tanks that partially hid the Belpaire firebox, full cab, and relatively large bunker behind contributed to the purposeful bulk.

After 1948, 29 was fitted with a larger blastpipe orifice (5" replacing 3 1/2"), which was said to have reduced her 90-lb-per-mile (25.36 kg/km) coal consumption rate. She ran a relatively low number of miles on the NCC, compiling only about 41,000 miles.