The St. James's Gate Brewery belonging to Guinness had what was apparently the longest private factory railway system in Ireland. In total there were 10 miles of track of which 8 miles were narrow gauge. There were some interesting innovations included within the system - a spiral in narrow gauge allowing trains to pass under St. James's Street, an ingenious conversion wagon which allowed narrow gauge locomotive to work on the broad gauge sidings, a unique design of narrow gauge locomotive specifically suited to the needs of the site.

This is another post prompted by reading one of the 1951 editions of The Railway Magazine!

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/04/26/th ... ays-dublin

Thank you for posting this article.

To bring this discussion into the preservation realm, it should be noted that the Guinness broad gauge 0-4-0T No. 3 shown in the fifth photo is in the collection of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) at their museum in Whitehead, Co. Antrim in Northern Ireland. She was the society's first locomotive, acquired in 1965, and is beloved by many.

https://www.steamtrainsireland.com/rpsi-collection/2/no3bg-guinness

RPSI has produced a great video all about No. 3, hosted by curator Edward Friel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psC2fGjw1go

-Philip Marshall

I appreciate the response. There are a number of Guinness locomotives in preservation. ...

For example, there are two of the Guinness Brewery locos at the Ulster Transport Museum near Belfast. Pictures below.

This loco is at Amberley in the UK (c) Les Chatfield

This locomotive is now preserved in the Narrow Gauge Museum at Tywyn station on the Tallyllyn railway in Wales (c) Greywall Productions.

Not only is (some track remains in place in Dublin) the Guinness railway narrow gauge, it is an extremely narrow gauge at 22 inches. One of the engines, no. 15, began steam operations at the Irish preservation project known as the Stradbally Woodland Railway. They later configured the railway to 3 foot gauge, returned two of the coaches to Guinness, and have the 15 on display.
https://stradballyrailway.webs.com/historyoftherailway.htm

For active discussion of other smaller narrow gauges, check out:
https://groups.io/g/18inch

A short note about a couple of publications which focus on the Guinness Brewery Railways. .....

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2020/07/22/th ... blin-again

A 1985 book to look into:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brewery-Railwa ... 0715386050