Locomotives

Kerr Stuart 0-4-2T steam locomotive No. 1 "Dromad"
Builders No. 3024
Built in 1916 by The Kerr Stuart Locomotive Company
Rebuilt in 1993 by Alan Keef Ltd

Built by Kerr Stuart in 1916 for Balfour, Beatty & Co. Ltd., a big U.K. civil engineering contractor. The locomotive was used in the construction of the Lochaber Water Power Scheme in Scotland, and in 1918 was sold to the British Aluminium Company who were operating on the same site. By the early 1960's "Sir Murray" was out of use and was sold to the Hampshire Narrow Gauge Railway Society in 1970 for the princely sum of £60 - the scrap value! After being stripped for useful parts the remains passed on to Alan Keef Ltd.

In 1988 the Irish Narrow Gauge Trust located the remains of the locomotive, negotiated its purchase and commissioned Alan Keef Ltd., to carry out a complete rebuild of it. Restoration work has been ongoing since then as finances allowed. Over the years, what was simply a frame and wheels gradually became a locomotive once again. On the 3rd of June 1994 the 'new' loco was steamed for the first time, and on the 28th of June passed its boiler inspection. On the evening of the 10th of July the locomotive arrived at Dun Laoghaire (via Holyhead) and reached Dromod in the early hours of the 11th of July. It was successfully steamed on the 13th and 14th of July 1994. It has proved its worth on passenger trains since then.

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Fowler 4 wheel diesel No. 3900011 "Dinmor" - 3ft gauge
Weight 9 tons, 40 h.p.
Built By John Fowler & Co. (Leeds) in 1946

This locomotive was supplied new in March 1947 to Penmon Quarry on Anglesey, North Wales, which was operated by Dinmor Quarries Ltd. There it was never a success - difficult to start, a rough rider and poorly built. By April 1954 it had a broken axle, and while a new beefed up axle was supplied by Fowlers and no more breakage's occurred, little further use was made of the locomotive.

The Quarry rail system was abandoned in favour of dumpers in the 1960's and the Fowler lay unwanted until 1972 when it was purchased by Alan Keef Ltd (Cote Bampton, Oxfordshire). It left the quarry on the 20/9/72 for Oxfordshire, from the 3/7/73 until 1978 it was on Alan Keefs' Cotswold Light Railway, at South Cerney in Gloucestershire. This line did not reopen in 1979 and the loco returned to Alan Keefs' works in Oxfordshire on the 30/7/79. In November 1986 it was transferred to Alan Keefs' new Works near Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire.

The Irish Narrow Gauge Trust purchased "Dinmor" in 1988 and it arrived in Ireland in February 1989. It was the stored at Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, form 27/2/89 until 9/6/91 when it was transferred to Cahir Museum in Co. Tipperary. It ran on the short line at the museum until the last day of operation there on the 22/11/92. The loco was then moved to Dromod on the 13/1/93. "Dinmor" now carries the number F511 which might have been the next series of narrow gauge diesel locos had the West Clare Railway survived.

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Hudson Hunslet 4 wheel diesel No. 2659 - 2ft gauge
Weight 3 tons. 16 h.p McClaren engine.
Built by Hudson Hunslet circa 1942 for the British War Dept.

The early history of this locomotive is still being researched, but it appears to have been purchased at a Dublin auction in the late 1950's by Pope Bros., for their peat bog at Longfordpass near Littleton, Co. Tipperary. The bog at Longfordpass opened in August 1959, but the locomotive appears to have seen very little service as it is recorded as being derelict more than twenty years ago. It eventually passed into the ownership of the Narrow Gauge Railway Centre in Blaenau Ffestiniog, North Wales, but remained on the bog at Longfordpass where it became something of a landmark adjacent to the main Dublin/Cork road.

The Trust purchased the loco in January 1989 (for £100) and recovered it fronm the bog on the 30/4/89. It was then stored at Dungarven, Co. Waterford, until the 15/2/01 when it was moved to Cahir Railway Museum. During its sojourn at Cahir it was completely rebuilt and it now in good working order. The loco was transferred to Dromod on the 13/1/93. Carried the No. 5. when in service with Pope Bros.

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