A much loved performer on our steam trains, steam loco No. 1 was originally one of nine shunting locomotives built for Cómhlucht Siúicre Eireann, Teoranta (Irish Sugar Company, Ltd.) to work in their sugar beet factories. There were three factories, at Mallow, Thurles and Tuam (a fourth existed at Carlow, which utilised locomotives built by Cockerill & Co) and each received three locomotives. Confusingly, each factory also numbered their locomotives independently of each other, creating three No. 1s, three No. 2s, and three No. 3s!
CSET assigned No.1 to Thurles originally, but the locomotives swapped factories regularly by hitching rides on the back of CIÉ goods trains and it finished its career in the Mallow factory. The locomotives could be distinguished from one another as the factories applied their numbers in different ways. Thurles applied small brass numbers on the tanks of its locos, such as No.1.
Renowned German locomotive builders Orenstein & Koppel built these locos. No. 1 rolled off the production line in 1934 as part of CSET’s first order of six locomotives. The loco carried the works number 12475. CSET ordered three more in 1935. The sugar company chose O&K due to pressure from the Free State government to avoid conventional British manufacturers because of the ongoing Anglo-Irish trade war. The surplus of beef in Ireland bought about by this debacle meant that the first batch of locomotives were paid for by barter. Two shiploads of cattle sufficed as payment.
No. 1’s appearance certainly doesn’t betray its continental origins, and is instantly recognisable in Ireland thanks to its funnel-shaped chimney (designed to accommodate a spark arrestor), outside valve gear, sanding dome, and unusual combination of side tanks and a well tank. She is of 0-4-0T+WT wheel arrangement and has a top speed of around 30mph. No. 1 originally carried both a live steam injector and a mechanical water pump. We replaced the latter with another during restoration as it was temperamental.
No. 1 spent most of its life in Thurles as a shunter. It also spent some time in the late 1950s as a static boiler used to power machinery within the refinery. CSET, like CIÉ started ti replace steam engines with diesels in the 1950s. The sugar company took No.1 out of service in 1962. It stayed at Thurles factory until 1974. A Dublin metal dealer then purchased it alongside Thurles No. 2 (12476) and Mallow No. 3 (12662). This was on behalf of a private owner who wished to eventually operate them in England.
CIÉ moved the trio by rail to Dalkey. However, the transport company soon required that siding for the DART electrification project. The owner then made an arrangement with CIÉ for the locomotives to be stored at their Broadstone bus facility. The owner sold Thurles No. 2 to a scrap dealer in 1977 to pay for transportation here. The scrap company in question recognised the waste in No. 2’s demise and offered it for sale. However, they scrapped the engine in October 1978, there having been no takers.
The owner then moved Nos. 1 and 3 to he site of Ballynahinch Junction in 1978. They realised at this point that the tank engines were the wrong gauge for an English railway! As such, they remained in situ until 1987, when the fledgling DCDR purchased the pair and moved them to Downpatrick for use on our heritage railway, as part of our long term strategy to run steam train services.
After many years of restoration, including a boiler overhaul at Whitehead, steam loco No. 1 finally returned to traffic in 2012. It has been the stalwart of our steam trains ever since, hauling tourists and visitors every weekend. In a fitting touch of authenticity it currently wears an original O&K headlamp, which once belonged to Tuam No. 1. Our friends at the Cavan & Leitrim Railway donated this. Our two unique O&K locomotives continue to keep alive an interesting aspect of our shared history that ended almost six decades ago. Nos.1 and 3 are thought to be the last ‘full-sid’ examples in the world. They are very different to the locomotives you’ll find on any other steam train in Ireland or Northern Ireland.
We withdrew No.1 from traffic at the end of 2022 due to the expiry of its 10-year boiler ticket. It is currently awaiting overhaul at Downpatrick.
