Letting Off Some Steam!

I am going to write a couple of articles about topics which as a young boy became ingrained in my mind and still remain within my ever-aging memory bank. This first one concerns my experiences of steam trains, especially between my Northern Ireland home town of Dromore, County Down and my favourite seaside town (even to this day) of Newcastle, County Down. The second article will be based on my experience on board an ancient steam paddle boat which sailed along Belfast Lough between Belfast and the holiday town of Bangor. The B&CDR ran this daily service until 1915 (no I am not that old!)

The Belfast & County Down Railway formed in 1848 had several key lines but as I lived in a country town of Dromore, the main line from Belfast to Newcastle was ‘my’ railway line, especially as my love of Newcastle, County Down has never waned. This particular line opened in 1869 and as was the case through the Victorian railway heyday period, the railway companies built grand hotels at the end of key rail terminals. Such was the case in Newcastle with the building of the impressive (and today, totally marvellous) Slieve Donard Hotel in 1897 (see picture). To see the opulent splendour of this hotel today have a look at this site. At the same time they also helped form the Down Royal Golf Club now considered to be one of the finest golf courses in all Ireland.

The steam locomotives were mainly constructed by Beyer Peacock except for two which were built in Belfast by Harland & Wolff. The carriages, I remember well, were simple six wheelers, non-corridor with gas lighting, replaced later by a slightly more modern but similarly designed carriage. A few years before the line closed in 1950, they introduced the first diesel-electric locomotives. When very young I used to hide in the waiting room when, as I then saw the huge, black, soot and steam emitting ‘monsters’ come into view at the Dromore station. Here is a picture of a typical B&CDR steam locomotive at Newcastle station.

As a kid I was fascinated by Newcastle station; although small it had a massive wooden water tower and a mechanically operated locomotive turning table. I also had the opportunity recently to ‘step aboard’ the footplate of one of these old steam engines when I visited the fantastic Ulster Folk & Transport Museum at Hollywood, near Belfast. Here I am, fulfilling one of my childhood dreams.

Of course as excited young boys, my brother and I were for ever poking our heads out of the carriage window which usually resulted in us getting particles of soot being ‘deposited’ in our eyes. The main means of removal was for our mother to lick the end of her hanky and poke out the offending ‘soot build up’ – such simple but happy excursions!

It perhaps is somewhat ironic that today my company Primasonics offers an equally innovative, if much more modern means to prevent soot build up (also ash) within industrial boilers, superheaters, economisers and air heaters etc within the power generation industry. Our range of Acoustic Cleaners, also referred to as Sonic Horns, use sound waves to debond the ash from the heat tubes thus significantly increasing the overall thermal efficiency.

This is an effective, economical means of preventing ash build up without any fear of causing physical damage to the heat tubes or structures. Hope you find our web site as interesting and exciting as young Donald found his steam train trips to the seaside!