MGWR Classes C and Cs
The Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) C Class was a class of 4-4-0 locomotives designed and built at Broadstone by Edward Cusack between 1909 and 1915 using parts obtained from Kitson and Company. They replaced the earlier 7-12 class. The class consisted of nine locomotives as follows:
| No. | Name | Built | GSR No. | Withdrawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Ballynahinch | 1910 | 538 | 1950 |
| 5 | Croagh Patrick | 1910 | 539 | 1952 |
| 6 | Kylemore | 1911 | 542 | 1959 |
| 7 | Connemara | 1909 | 540 | 1953 |
| 8 | St. Patrick | 1913 | 541 | 1959 |
| 9 | Emerald Isle | 1912 | 537 | 1953 |
| 10 | Faugh a Ballagh | 1909 | 543 | 1959 |
| 11 | Erin go Bragh | 1915 | 544 | 1955 |
| 12 | Shamrock | 1913 | 536 | 1951 |
Principal dimensions of the class were: 6'3" Driving wheels, 3'6" Bogie wheels, Fixed wheelbase 8' 2", Total Wheelbase 20' 11", Diameter of original boiler 4' 5", Tender wheel base 12', Diameter of tender wheels 3' 9", Cylinders 18"x26", Heating Surface: Firebox 115 sq.ft; Tubes 975 sq.ft; Grate area 16 sq.ft, Working pressure 175lbs, Weight of Engine and Tender 74 tons.
The class was used from their introduction in 1909 principally on trains on the Sligo and Mayo branches until their withdrawal in the 1950s.
Several of the class were rebuilt with superheated boilers and new cabs over their long lives beginning in the 1920s. In 1912 during the coal strike of that year No. 10 was converted to an oil burning locomotive using Holden oil burning apparatus.
Liveries
When introduced the locomotives carried an apple green livery with black edged with white lining. The tender was lettered MGWR with the company seal between the letters G and W. They carried brass nameplates on the lead driving when splasher with the builders plate and number on the cabside. From 1915 after W.H. Morton was appointed Chief Mechanical Engineer of the MGWR the engines were repainted black until the merger of the MGWR into the Great Southern Railways in 1925. From then until withdrawal, all were painted plain grey, initially with cast cabside numberplates (also plain grey), but from about 1949 these were gradually removed with pale yellow painted numerals substituted.
