Bowman Malcolm - Engineering Achievements

Engineering Achievements

Bowman Malcolm shrewdly took an interest in international engineering developments and he saw what von Borries was doing in Germany. Two-cylinder von Borries compound locomotives had been performing sterling service on express trains in Prussia. Thomas Worsdell had followed up the idea on the Great Eastern and North Eastern railways in England and Bowman Malcolm was to bring it to Ireland.

An extensive study of these two-cylinder compound locomotives was created for the BNCR. There were "Heavy Compounds" and "Light Compounds" which included small 2-4-0s with a peculiarly truncated appearance. Noteworthy were the two Class D 4-4-0s Jubilee and Parkmount which had 7-foot-diameter driving wheels (2.1 m). A 2-4-2T version, Class S, was designed for the narrow gauge Ballymena and Larne and the Retreat lines. A good number of these locomotives were to survive throughout the LMS NCC period although many were rebuilt to two-cylinder simple expansion.

Malcolm was interested in steam brakes and took out several patents for improvements to this type of brake.

On the civil engineering side, Bowman Malcolm's greatest achievement must be the railway bridge over the River Bann at Coleraine which opened in March 1924. This was built to replace an older bridge dating from 1860. The construction of this 800-foot-long bridge (240 m) was carried out to his design and largely under his supervision. It included an opening span on the Strauss underhung bascule principle that was to be the first application of its type in the United Kingdom.