CSET No. 3 is a mainstay of our steam train services. Cómhlucht Siúicre Eireann, Teoranta (Irish Sugar Company, Ltd.) ordered nine such engines in the 1930s. O&K built the locos at the their Berlin factory, and this particular engine emerged in 1935 as one of the last batch of three. There were three factories, at Mallow, Thurles and Tuam (a fourth existed at Carlow, which utilised Belgian-built locomotives) 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! Their German design made them quite distinct from other Irish steam engine types.
Our own No. 3, works No. 12662, originally worked in the Mallow sugar factory. Unlike its sisters which tended to swap between factories, it finished its career there too. The locomotives could be distinguished from one another as the factories applied their numbers in different ways. For example, our No. 3 carries large yellow painted numerals on the tanks like the other Mallow engines.
No. 3’s appearance certainly doesn’t betray its continental origins, and is instantly recognisable in Ireland thanks to its funnel-shaped chimney, sanding dome and well tank. No. 3 is of 0-4-0T wheel arrangement with a top speed of around 32mph. Although not unheard of, 0-4-0 was not a particularly common wheel arrangement when it comes to Irish steam engines.
The Sugar Company started to replace its steam locos with diesel traction during the 1950s. CSET withdrew the loco in 1962. A preservationist purchased it the following year. The same individual also bought Thurles No. 2 and Thurles No. 1. The three locomotives moved from place to place while their new owner, based in England, tried to raise the funds to get them across the water.
The owner later moved the locomotives to Broadstone on the north side of Dublin. They sold No. 2 for scrap to pay for the transport. No.’s 1 and 3 ended up at the site of Ballynahinch Junction in 1978. At this point their owner realised they 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.
The RPSI, Whitehead overhauled the loco for us in the late 1990s. No. 3 entered traffic for the first time in nearly 40 years in 2000. After reaching the end of its 10-year boiler ticket she was once again withdrawn, and its boiler was once again sent to Whitehead in 2016 for overhaul. By the end of 2018 No. 3 was back in steam, and after a few days of testing returned to passenger service on the last Christmas trains of that year. She has been a reliable performer on our steam trains ever since.
