Ирландские паровозы класса 800: История и судьба

The Great Southern Railways Class 800 steam locomotives were built principally for express passenger work on the Dublin to Cork main line of that company. These locomotives were designed under the supervision of E. C. Bredin with his Chief Draughtsman, H. J. A. Beaumont, preparing the drawings. They were the largest and most powerful engines ever to run in Ireland by quite a large margin, and the only three express passenger locomotives to be built in an independent Ireland.

The engines had three cylinders and boiler pressure. The nominal tractive effort was , which corresponded with Great British main line power. Further, it was the only design which exploited the full extent of the extra width afforded by the 5 feet (2 m) gauge. Originally four or five were to be built, named Maeḋḃ, Maċa, Táilte, Gráinne, and Deirdre, but only three were eventually produced 800 Maeḋḃ in 1939, with Maċa (801) and Táilte (802) in 1940, along with a fourth boiler which acted as a spare. They were intended for the Dublin–Cork route, but wartime coal shortages and the early 1950s advent of diesels on main line services resulted in their never having had much chance to show what they were capable of. In the 1950s, they gradually became neglected and even resorted to light goods trains on occasion, with little other work to do. + Locomotive names No. Built Irish name Anglicised name Withdrawn Notes 800 1939 Maeve or Maedhbh 1962 Preserved 801 1940 Macha 1962 Scrapped 802 1940 Tailtiu 1955 Scrapped
The name and number plates were of cast bronze with polished raised lettering and beading on a blue painted background. The nameplates’ lettering was in Gaelic script using dot above in place of the 'h' (see Irish orthography), although at first locomotive 800 was planned to carry an Anglicised name Maeve in Roman type, though it never did. No. 800 Maeḋḃ was withdrawn from service in 1962 and is now on display at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Cultra, County Down.

The engines were turned out in a unique livery, which no other locomotives ever carried. In the height of the Great Southern era, when every single locomotive in Ireland was painted in plain unlined battleship grey livery, these engines were turned out in a smart mid green, with a distinct bluish tint. The green was lined in black and light yellow, and the GSR coat of arms was carried on the tender, flanked by large pale yellow letters "G S", which appear to have been shaded in red and gold. The cabside number plates and nameplates had blue backgrounds, and raised polished brass rims and numerals. In Córas Iompair Éireann days, they received the 1950s standard green, somewhat darker than they had carried before, with black and white lining. In the early 1950s, Táilte was apparently repainted a light green, as an experiment. The colour was not unlike the green used for coaches on CIÉ in the late 1950s, but she was then repainted like her sisters. Maċa and Táilte'''s nameplates and cab side number plates were given red backgrounds in the mid 1950s instead of the dark blue that they had originally, however Maeḋḃ'' retained the blue background. This is the livery the preserved 800 carries, though rather than the CIÉ "flying snail" emblem which would be appropriate to this later livery, it incorrectly carries the earlier "G S" without shading, and a replaced GSR coat of arms.

The locos entered service between 1939 and 1940. Their axle load was 21 tons There is a detailed O Gauge model of engine 800 in the Fry model railway collection.