Great Northern Railway (Ireland) - Growth and Partition

Growth and Partition

In the early 20th century increasing traffic led the GNRI to consider introducing larger locomotives. The Great Southern and Western Railway had introduced express passenger locomotives with a 4-6-0 wheel arrangement, and the GNRI wanted to do the same. However, the lifting shop in the GNRI Dundalk works was too short to build or overhaul a 4-6-0, so the company persisted with 4-4-0 locomotives for even the heaviest and fastest passenger trains. This led to the GNRI to order a very modern and powerful class of 4-4-0's, the Class V three cylinder compound locomotives built by Beyer, Peacock in 1932. This class has been compared with another notable V class, that introduced by the Southern Railway in England in 1930.

The Partition of Ireland in 1921 created an international frontier through the GNRI's territory. The new border crossed all three of its main lines and some of its secondary lines. The imposition of frontier controls caused some service disruption, with main line trains having to stop at both Dundalk and Goraghwood stations. This was not eased until 1947 when customs and immigration facilities for Dublin–Belfast expresses were opened at Dublin Amiens Street station (renamed Dublin Connolly in 1966) and Belfast Great Victoria Street station.