Model of locomotive "Alexandra", Dublin and Kingstown Railway

Made:
1851 in Dublin

Model railway locomotive, Dublin & Kingstown Railway, 2-2-2 tank locomotive, "Alexandra", 1851, said to have been named "Alexandra" after pulling the train used by the Prince and Princess of Wales on their official visit to Dublin in 1865.

This is a model, made to scale 1:6, of a tank locomotive for the Dublin and Kingstown Railway. The Dublin and Kingstown Railway was the first railway in Ireland when it opened in 1834. It was about six miles long and was built to the British standard track gauge of 4ft 8.5in. In 1855 it was altered to the Irish standard gauge of 5ft 3in. The first locomotives were made by G. Forrester and Company of Liverpool, but from 1841 to 1851 the Railway built their own locomotives at Grand Canal Street Works, Dublin. The model is of a Dublin-built tank locomotive of 1851 which is said to have received the name Alexandra when it conveyed the Prince and Princess of Wales to Dublin in 1865. It was made by T. H. Goodisson of Dublin, evidently before the track gauge was altered in 1855.

The model later belonged to Mr. J. Wakefield, a locomotive superintendent of the Railway between 1865 and 1882. It was purchased by the Science Museum from a member of the Wakefield family in 1935.

Details

Category:
Railway Models
Object Number:
1935-653
Materials:
steel (metal), copper (metal), brass (copper, zinc alloy) and wood (unidentified)
Measurements:
overall: 24.8031 x 18.8976 x 49.8031 in.; 630 x 480 x 1265 mm
type:
model - representation and locomotive
credit:
A. Wakefield