THROUGH THE ARCHIVES: Engineers travel on passenger train pulled by locomotive powered by ‘condensed’ peat fuel

From the Belfast News Letter, June 30, 1862
The Belfast to Kingstown Mail Train of the late 1910s and early 1920s with S class 4-4-0 No 172 "Slieve Donard" in charge. The Travelling Post Office carriage is next the locomotive. Sister loco No 171 "Slieve Gullion" is now in the care of the Railway Preservation Society of IrelandThe Belfast to Kingstown Mail Train of the late 1910s and early 1920s with S class 4-4-0 No 172 "Slieve Donard" in charge. The Travelling Post Office carriage is next the locomotive. Sister loco No 171 "Slieve Gullion" is now in the care of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland
The Belfast to Kingstown Mail Train of the late 1910s and early 1920s with S class 4-4-0 No 172 "Slieve Donard" in charge. The Travelling Post Office carriage is next the locomotive. Sister loco No 171 "Slieve Gullion" is now in the care of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland

‘Condensed’ peat fuel had been used to drive a locomotive from Belfast to Ballymena during the weekend past reported the News Letter on this day in 1862.

The “ordinary” passenger train had left Belfast at half-past nine that morning for Ballymena and the locomotive was powered by the fuel which the paper noted was manufactured in Ballymena under the management of Mr Ponsonby Moore and Mr Tennent.

On board were a number of notable who travelled on the train that day to Ballymena to assess the use of the fuel.

These included Mr Stephenson, resident engineer of the Ulster Railway Company, Mr Domville, resident engineer of the County Down Railway Company, and Mr Yorston, the locomotive superintendent of the Northern Counties Railway Company.

It was also noted the quality of the fuel used on that day was of “a superior quality” to that which had been used during a previous occasion when the fuel had been tested.

And the choice of route from Belfast to Ballymena had been chosen in order to ensure that the new fuel was up to the task.

In fact, noted the News Letter, from Carrickfergus Junction “where the gradient is nearly 1 in 70” steam was sustained at 100lbs while on the rest of the line this rose to between 110lbs and 120lbs.

The engine driver and fireman, reported the News Letter, had expressed to the paper’s representative that they approved of the new fuel and that they “would be only too happy to have it for constant use” and stated that they would prefer it to either coal or coke.