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Irish Turf Burner?

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Irish Turf Burner?
Posted by wallyworld on Wednesday, February 28, 2007 8:53 AM

Can anyone fill in the blanks on this locomotive which apparently ran on peat turf and looks like a proto ACE type locomotive. It was active around 1957....in Ireland.

http://abpr.railfan.net/abprphoto.cgi?//april98/04-13-98/cc1b.jpg

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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, February 28, 2007 9:27 PM

.

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Posted by wallyworld on Thursday, March 1, 2007 9:20 AM

Looking at the original prints...I would guess it is a hybrid either a steam electric, turbine or something like it...I have'nt a clue...I wonder how it fared in operation?

 

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Posted by BR60103 on Thursday, March 1, 2007 9:42 PM

To give a quick reply, look up OVS Bulleid. After Britain nationalised the railways in 1948, there was a surplus of locomotive designers. Bulleid went to Ireland. If you want another odd duck, look up his Leader locomotive.

I think the peat burner was pure steam. 

 

--David

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Posted by wallyworld on Friday, March 2, 2007 8:40 AM
 BR60103 wrote:

To give a quick reply, look up OVS Bulleid. After Britain nationalised the railways in 1948, there was a surplus of locomotive designers. Bulleid went to Ireland. If you want another odd duck, look up his Leader locomotive.

I think the peat burner was pure steam. 

 

Thanks for the reference..I followed up and  it looks very certainly like he reconstituted Leader in Ireland. Interesting motive power concept. It reminded me of many other late steam era experimental locos in that teething and prototype testing was abruptly terminated..it's astounding that the others were scrapped without ever turning a wheel. This story reminds me of the book The Red Devil and the enormous amount of frustration and albeit patience that David Wardale must have experienced when the rug was pulled out from under him in South Africa..then China and finally, the U.S...It ( Leader ) certainly was a noteworthy late steam development that escaped my American eyes...I wonder what else has. 

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Posted by wjstix on Tuesday, March 6, 2007 1:48 PM
Burning peat is a common thing (or was at least) in Ireland. The peat-gathering railways were pretty neat, little narrow-gauge steam lines.
Stix
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Posted by trainsopray1 on Tuesday, March 6, 2007 2:32 PM

I rode on a Truf Fired Irish Steam Engine back in the  90's. Several active clubs have laid  fullsize tracks  on loaned land in the Irish  country side. The fuel indeed was truf and is truf

today. Large boghs ,containing truf were surrounded by  rail tracks and the harvested truf was

hauled out of the bog to a Commercial  power plant where the truf was used a fuel to make nationwide electrical power for Ireland. The truf was also  sized for distribution to the  stores

in Ireland (where  you and I would buy some )for  fireplace use at home. The set up was less than an hour from Dublin. If you are planning a visit one day perhaps you would like to run(ride) on

the train then? trainsopray1@aol.com

 

Thomas R. O'Pray Rockville,MD
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Posted by wallyworld on Wednesday, March 7, 2007 12:03 PM
I was in Ireland and completely missed these. Where are they located? And I was in Dublin as well...is it a museum or privately owned?

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Posted by wjstix on Thursday, March 8, 2007 5:02 PM

According to the book "Irish Railways in Colour" the engine from the first post was tested for a few weeks and made one or two revenue runs at most, and then sat on a sidetrack until scrapped in the mid-sixties. In all it was maybe used for 6-8 weeks. Apparently the problem was designing an engine that could handle the high amount of ash peat creates when burning. 

<>I beleive there were 2' narrow gauge steam peat burners (0-4-0's mostly) used in the peat industry into the sixties, several exist now in museum railways or in private hands. 
Stix
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Posted by trainsopray1 on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 9:28 PM

These are located about one hour out of Dublin. They have scheduled runs monthly.

I have a pal who does run the equipment frequently. Give me an E Mail and I will look up his adress and phone #. You can  use my name and coordinate your next visit with their running

the truf powered train. TO'Pray trainsopray1@aol.com

Thomas R. O'Pray Rockville,MD
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Posted by prbharris on Thursday, March 15, 2007 3:31 AM
 BR60103 wrote:

OVS Bulleid. look up his Leader locomotive.

I think the peat burner was pure steam. 

 

The man was a genius - although many of his ideas were unusual. His designs fior the British 'Southern Railway' were fantastic, and had it not been for the WWII, and the privations that these created, would have been developed and been successful. He was also involved in the development of electric multiple units - which are big business for trains around London.

Look out for his Q1 class of 0-6-0 freight - cut down to minimise steel use. Leader was a very interesting developmenmt - with some design faults - but had steam been developed wouid have been the way forward. However, the coal burner had the fireman in the middle of the loco - and got very very hot as he was surrounded by fire and boiling water! Mechanised stoking would have ended this - or oil firing, but the UK was, and still is, very coal dependent, so this was not explored. 

The Turf burner took the Leader further, but again, by the time it was running, steam was on the way out in Ireland too.Ireland has no coal so turf was an important source of fuel. It is still cut for steam generation in power stations. Turf areas have [ or more accurately had, although some are still extant] very interesting narow gauge lines feeding the plants.

Peter 

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Posted by spikejones52002 on Thursday, March 15, 2007 7:44 AM

Ok! the question out there to all the people out there who know people out there.

Is this unusual engine Steam turbine electrtic or Steam turbine mechanical?

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Posted by wjstix on Friday, March 16, 2007 3:39 PM
The "Irish Railways in Colour" book I mentioned just calls it a steam engine, no turbine reference. Confused [%-)]
Stix
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Posted by alexweiihman on Saturday, March 17, 2007 2:13 PM

Speaking of a irish train I thought i should mention this.....

 

 

 Happy Saint Patrick's Day

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Posted by Paul Hibberd 5at on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 12:06 PM

Go to www.5at.co.uk site to read quite a lot about the Irish turf burner.

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Posted by AltonFan on Saturday, March 26, 2011 7:49 PM

Paul Hibberd 5at

Go to www.5at.co.uk site to read quite a lot about the Irish turf burner.

Here is a direct link to the article about the Irish Turf Burner.

Dan

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Posted by jeremygharrison on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 4:28 PM

It was a 'normal', if in many ways unconventional, steam locomotive - no turbine or electric drive. There is an article about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CI%C3%89_No._CC1 .

As to Oliver Bulleid, the comment I read that perhaps sums him up as an engineer was that he had more innovatory ideas than the other CMEs (on the newly formed British Railways) put together, but not the savvy to know which were the good ones... very much a flawed genius.

 

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