#2634
GSR Class 800
Northern Ireland ·built by Great Southern Railways· from 1939· class of 3 Irish 4-6-0 locomotives
5 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. GSR 4-6-0 800 "MAEDB": Skimann· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 2. Great Southern Railways Class 800 "Maeve" at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum - August 2014: Reading Tom· CC BY 2.0
- 3. Locomotives at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum - August 2014: Reading Tom· CC BY 2.0
- 4. On the Footplate of Great Southern Railways Class 800 "Maeve" - August 2014: Reading Tom· CC BY 2.0
- 5. Steam train at Transport Museum, Cultra, Co Down. - panoramio: Pastor Sam· CC BY 3.0
what is it?
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.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 87 years ago, in 1939.
- Weighs about as much as 14 African elephants (~6 t each).
- Served for 23 years (1939–1962).
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1939–1940
- in service from
- 1939
- retired
- 1962
- status
- preserved
- number built
- 3
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- Northern Ireland
- builders
- Great Southern Railways, Inchicore Works
- designer
- E. C. Bredin
- operators
- Great Southern Railways, Córas Iompair Éireann
- top speed
- —
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,600 mm Irish broad gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 4-6-0
- weight
- 85.3 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q5514613, Wikipedia: GSR Class 800 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.