County Donegal Columbkille steamed in the 70s?

Having just reactivated my subscription to the Railway Magazine Archive (which I would highly recommend although it's a good way to make an afternoon disappear..), I found this picture of Columbkille looking like it is in steam supposedly in 1975 at Victoria Road, Londonderry. I am fairly certain that the caption is a typo (1955?) but can anyone shed any further light on this? (Photo copyright of the Railway Magazine).

 

Must be pre-1955 as station closed 1st Jan (says the internet).
Loco has not steamed since withdrawal on closure of the CDR: http://www.steamtrainsireland.com/locomotives/lococdr5.htm

 

nice photo though....

 

Thanks for the info, Andrew. Having done a bit more research myself, I found an article in 'Narrow Gauge Times' no 5 (Winter 76/ 77) which includes an article about the North West of Ireland Railway Society taking a lease on Victoria Road station and setting up a museum. There are pictures of Columbkille being delivered in November 1974 along with railcars, wagons etc. and a comment that it could steam again but that it needs new tubes. Don't have a complete set of NGT so don't know if there is a report of it steaming.

So Columbkille definitely made it to Victoria Road in the 70s (I think the NWIRS moved out in the early 80s and equipment moved to Shane's Castle when the site was redeveloped) but no evidence (other than the pic) that she was steamed unless anyone knows differently. The pic certainly looks like she's in steam but (assuming the date is correct), I guess the steam could be coming from a lance cleaning it or similar.

Your link btw is to Drumboe which is at the RPSI awaiting funding to finish her restoration. I think Columbkille is in the Foyle Valley museum at Londonderry but I stand to be corrected! Interestingly, the link does say that Columbkille had been stored inside the general store at Stranolar which I suppose adds some fuel to the fire that it probably was in reasonable condition/ few parts missing when it went to Londonderry.

 

The location is correct. Columbkille and Blanche (in UFTM) are both complete locos. Drumboe is now well on the way to recovery, but will need another chunk of funds to repair the boiler, and of course the Donegal town group don't have a line to run it on yet. I seem to recall Columbkille was used on the dismantling trains which is why she was still in good order at the end.

Keith

 

Hi folks, I was looking around for information about the old NWIRS today and stumbled upon your conversation. I was a young member of the NWIRS in the 1970s and can confirm that No. 6 (Columbkille) was definitely steamed in 1975. I was 11 at the time and remember that we spent much of a Saturday putting water in the side tanks from a hose and the fire was lit and steam generated on the Sunday, when there were no visitors around as it was a step into the unknown! So far as I know she didn't move under her own steam, but pressure was definitely raised on that occasion. So the date in the caption on the photo is correct.

Hope this helps.

 

Sadly I've never been to Ireland, north or south, but I can date the photo to about 1975, because the track is Bullhead, which appears in photos of the museum, but the old CDR was all FB rail.

 

Thanks for the reply, Alan - that’s quite a turn up for the books (I was fairly certain the date was a typo)! I don’t suppose you can remember why steam was raised can you (I’m guessing it was just to test things/ ‘because we can’!)? Would be great to know if she was able to move.

 

I believe the steaming was just to test things in order to see what worked and what didn't as well as what might be needed to bring her back into action. As I said, I was only a lad at the time but I can remember things like rust holes in the side tanks which were temporarily 'patched' with a nut and bolt and a couple of rubber washers. So far as I'm aware, she didn't move under her own power so presumably there was insufficient pressure or too many steam leaks to drive the pistons. If some of the older NWIRS members are on here, they may be able to give a fuller picture through a better understanding at the time. I just enjoyed working around the rolling stock and doing odd jobs in the museum every Saturday.
We also had two diesel railcars (nos. 12 and 18) and they were definitely runners, despite having been out of service for 20-odd years!

 

Very interesting. I guess there were probably a few "lets steam it and see what happens" occasions in the early days of preservation which have been lost in the mist of time (or were best quietly forgotten about!)
I visited the Foyle Valley museum in Londonderry during a quick tour around former CDR territory back in July so was able to see Columbkille and she is still in pretty good nick even now. Her sister Blanche, in the museum at Cultra, still pretty much looks as if you could put a fire in her and see what happened!

Chris