Builder: GNR(I), Dundalk, 1923

Companies: GNR(I), GNRB, UTA, NIR, RPSI

Model No.202, photographed at Dundalk in 1937 or 1938 for Meccano Magazine (Duffner / official GNR(I))

SG3 No.202 The real No.202 was one of 15 SG3 class locomotives, the last of three classes of 0-6-0 goods engines descended from the S class express passenger engines.  She was built by Beyer, Peacock in Manchester and delivered in March 1921.  They were heavier and more powerful than the preceding SG and SG2 classes.  They were nicknamed 'Big Ds', after their power classification. The real No.202 in 1956 along side the Fitting Shop at Dundalk, having been renumbered 41 (P Mallon Collection) The SG3s were numbered in an eccentric manner, making use of unallocated locomotive numbers that ranged between 6 and 202.  Passenger engines were labelled in more logical order, so in 1948 No.202 was renumbered 41 in order that the new batch of class U 4-4-0s could be numbered 201 - 205.  Like many other GNR engines, the number was changed again when the Ulster Transport Authority took over in 1958.  The engine ran for another seven years as No.35.  Following the closure of the 'Derry Road' in 1965 the UTA disposed of large numbers of steam engines, and No.35 was withdrawn in May of that year. The Model The SG3 model was made in 1923, apparently for instructional purposes at Dundalk.  The GNR(I) was already making extensive use of models for training; in 1920 a six-wheeled carriage was fitted out as an 'instruction car' which contained both sectioned and working models of various locomotive components - sectioned models of a complete engine and tender may have been seen as a logical next step.   The SG3 model with its maker Jimmy Webster, in the upper level of the tool room at the Fitting Shop in Dundalk (P Mallon collection) The model was to a scale of one and a half inches to the foot, resulting in an engine four feet long and tender two feet nine inches long, with accompanying track to a gauge of about 7¾ inches.  The right hand side was complete in every detail, while the left side was extensively cut away from running board level upwards to reveal the interior of the tender tank, firebox, boiler, smokebox, and one of the valve chests.  The regulator valve could be seen in operation, the reverser could be used to link up and down the valve gear, and there were many other small moving parts. Mr J.A. Webster, senior fitter in the tool shop at Dundalk, was probably in overall charge of the model's construction.  He is known to have made the valve gear, and may have had the assistance of some apprentices for the project. Minute cab details on the SG3 model Exactly where and how the SG3 was used in training remains something of a mystery, although a letter surviving from June 1925 raises the intriguing possibility that it may have journeyed overseas!  It is a letter of introduction for Mr Webster from GNR(I) Chief Mechanical Engineer George T Glover to the Chief Assistant Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway.  Apparently Mr Webster was supposed to have travelled to Darlington with the SG3 model, but nothing further is known about this, including whether the trip ever took place. The restored locomotive on temporary display at Headhunters Museum in Enniskillen in 2009 In 1938 the model was exhibited to the public for the first time at Amiens Street (now Connolly) station in Dublin.  It was protected by a glass case made at Dundalk and propped up so that its wheels did not touch the accompanying track.  An electric mechanism was fitted by Dundalk electrician P Minogue, which turned the wheels for a fixed period upon the insertion of an old penny.  The proceeds from this were donated to the Railway Benevolent Institution.  The case could not be seen from both sides, but it was fitted with a large mirror so that the right-hand (complete) side could be seen. In 1947 the model was moved to Great Victoria Street station in Belfast, where it remained for the next two decades - many a railway enthusiast has fond memories from this period of plying it with pennies! However, the Troubles had a part to play in the model's history.  In 1972 it was damaged by one of many bomb attacks on Great Victoria Street, and moved instead to York Road station.  Whether the slot machine mechanism was still operable is not known, but presumably it would have seen little use anyway after decimal coinage was introduced in 1971. York Road was also frequently attacked.  The model was damaged again and withdrawn from display.  NIR sent the engine to a model maker in Holywood, who made a start on repairs but had to give up the project due to ill health. In the 1990s, RPSI Locomotive Officer Peter Scott took over the remains of the engine, and, with the help of other RPSI volunteers, began a gradual restoration.  Click here for Peter's unabridged account of his work to date. A large number of bomb-damaged parts were renewed, including several wheels, as well as safety valves, whistle, buffers, brake gear, pipework and splashers.  New coupling rods also had to be made, a task to which Tony Ragg was a major contributor. The tender was in an even worse state.  One of the wheels had to be renewed, having been rendered oval by the blast.  Little was left of the superstructure, which had to be recreated from scratch. The restored tender nearing completion in 2009 While the tender was nearing completion the engine spent some time on display at Headhunters barber shop and railway museum in Enniskillen. In 2010, NIR made a generous contribution in the form of a new display case for the model, made by Sydney Swann of the Joiners Shop at York Road Works. The right-hand (complete) side of the model, seen at Whitehead, next to the tender of its rather larger cousin 85 Merlin! There are still a few minor details to be completed, such as reinstatement of the fire irons, painting of the numerals and replacement of the dome cover - or rather half of it!  There are no plans at present to replace the electric mechanism. The model and case are now on loan to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, since there is at yet nowhere appropriate to display it at Whitehead.   As the site is developed over the coming years, the SG3 will become one of the prized exhibits in the new RPSI museum, representing a locomotive class sadly lost to us, and continuing to fulfil its original purpose - teaching the footplate crews of the future how a steam engine works!. The SG3 back on public display at last at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum