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(NORTHERN COUNTIES COMMITTEE) WT CLASS 2-6-4T No. 4 Builder: London, Midland and Scottish Railway, Derby, England, 1947 Withdrawn: NIR, 1971 Companies: LMS NCC, RE NCC, UTA, NIR, RPSI Preservation Career: Main line use, 1972-1978, 1984-1991
and 2001-2011
No.4 at Whitehead on 10th July 2011 being prepared to work the "Portrush Flyer" (A Lohoff) No. 4 is a truly historic locomotive, the last steam locomotive to be used anywhere in Ireland outside of preservation. The
most modern of Ireland's surviving steam engines, No.4 is also among
the best travelled and best loved, after many years of service pulling RPSI main line excursions. Click here to read an article describing 4's career up to 2001. No. 4 spent much of the 1990's in the RPSI's Whitehead locomotive shed, undergoing a major overhaul, she was officially relaunched and re-entered revenue earning service on the RPSI's Belfast and Northern Counties May Railtour in 2001.
4 with a train of Cravens carriages passes through Derrycoosh level crossing on the way to Maynooth during the 'Carrowbeg' railtour on 10th May 2009 (CP Friel). 4 was in service for ten years. For most of that time our only other main line engine was 186
- an interesting time to be an RPSI volunteer, for the two engines are
like chalk and cheese. 4 was designed some 68 years later than 186
and even shows signs that the draughtsmen may have
heard of a thing we now call 'ergonomics'!
186
and 4 together at Dublin Connolly yard during the 'Barrow Bridge' railtour in 2008 (M Walsh). A wooden arm rest would be too much to ask from 186 - 4 has convenient hinging ones which can be lifted into place when the side windows are slid open and pop back out again by themselves when the window is shut - a small but interesting feature missing even from latter day BR engines. Her cab provides excellent shelter from the elements - unlike our tender engines on which one feels very outdoors! Many other features such as a rocking grate and flooded injectors make the crew's job easier. 4 may be our most modern engine but in 2009 we were compelled to spend a lot of money bringing her further up to date. New UK legislation meant she had to be fitted with a Train Protection and Warning System to automatically apply the brakes and prevent her passing red signals, as well as On Train Monitoring and Recording. New antennae, sensors and data recorders were duly attached under, inside and on top of No.4 so she could continue to operate legally in Northern Ireland.
A video of 4's last outing, a Portrush Flyer on 31st July 2011 - 178 miles with 8 carriages, nearly all of which was, appropriately, on former NCC lines (Mike Beckett) The
class WT were nicknamed 'Jeeps', and 4's versatility is still a great
asset to us today. With her weight spread over twelve wheels she
does not have the high axle load of, for example, 85,
so route availability is not such a concern. Being a truly mixed
traffic design she is quite a good shunting engine while still easily
capable of the speeds she is permitted to do on the main line.
Perhaps most importantly, she is a tank engine. While nearly all
steam engines are mechanically capable of the same power output in
either direction, 4 is designed to be truly bi-directional, a
big advantage nowadays with so few turntables available to turn an
engine on.
4's last operations before her boiler certificate expired were to be the Santa specials in 2010 but at the last minute it was decided to seek an extension to the certificate to allow her to be used into the summer of 2011. This was granted and 4 put in excellent performances on Steam & Jazz and Portrush Flyer trains before the certificate finally expired on August 2nd. By law the boiler must now be removed from the engine for detailed inspection and overhaul before it can be used again.
Over
the last ten years 4 has travelled over 31,000 miles in about 270
days. She has appeared on televison, in newspapers, and,
inexplicably, the website of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum!
She has been so popular that many people have expressed regret that we could not have preserved more than one 'Jeep'. With hindsight the £1275 we paid for her seems incredibly cheap, but in fact it was very difficult to raise in the early 70s and preserving a second WT was never really a possibility. So strong is this regret that some serious research has been done into building No.4 a sister. Whether such an ambitious and expensive project could ever go ahead is difficult to say - suffice to say it is not impossible. However, we can say with some certainty that we have not seen the last of 4 on the main line. Her power and versatility will always be in demand as long as there is main line steam, and, not least to get our money's worth out of her expensive electronics, it is intended to have her back sooner rather than later. 4's last overhaul took ten years, but it is expected, and fervently hoped, that it won't be anything like as long before we see her back in action again!
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