CIÉ J15 No. 186

Built by Sharp, Stewart & Co., Atlas Works, Manchester, in 1879 as a 101 class tender 0-6-0 (six-coupled) standard goods engine. Capable of speeds in the 60s, cheap to build, maintain and simple to operate, the engine and its class were a sure-fire success. She was reboilered in 1932 with a superheated Belpaire boiler, which she still carries today. 
No. 186, and her sister locomotive No. 184, are examples of what was by far the most numerous class of locomotive (diesel or steam) ever to run in Ireland. 111 were built between 1866 and 1903 with only minor modifications between batches. The great majority were built by the GS&WR at Inchicore, though the construction of some examples was contracted out to Beyer Peacock and Sharp Stewart, both famous Manchester based locomotive building firms.
The J15s survived long after many more modern locomotives were scrapped and when CIÉ abandoned steam haulage at the end of 1962 they were still the most numerous class with nearly half their number still in traffic. They were to be found all over the broad gauge lines of the Republic on all duties from shunting to main line passenger turns.
No. 186 was acquired by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland in 1965. In 1966 No. 186 went into the York Road works of NIR to have some work done. This work was to make the loco fit for a filming contract (which never came to fruition). It appears that NIR occasionally used the loco as the York Road pilot engine. 
The locomotive returned to the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland in 1966 and was extensively used on the Society's railtours between 1967 and 1980. She was externally restored for exhibition at the Open Day celebrating the 150th anniversary of Inchicore Works in 1996, when she was painted in a light green livery, similar to that carried by GS&WR No. 90 while she was on static display. This gave way eventually to black, and after 1925 they were painted unlined battleship grey, the standard of Great Southern Railways, and later CIÉ, livery. Later No.186 was painted black and it was in this color she was passed to the RPSI. In the late 1970s in RPSI service, No.186 carried a fictional livery based on the South Eastern Railway in England, specially to appear in the 1979 film "The First Great Train Robbery" which was shot at several locations in Ireland. She currently wears the unlined battleship grey. 
Not too many years after arrival the RPSI obtained a bigger tender for No. 186 which has given greater capacity and allowed the engine to travel all over Ireland. Unfortunately, the tender is not a J15 tender (which may be from a 400 class). By 1971, No. 186 was the only steam locomotive in the British Isles both capable of and permitted to run on a mainline. In 1980 No. 186 dropped her fire for the last time after running shuttles to bring people from Belfast's York Road station to Whitehead in connection with a steam and vintage transport gala. She has not been steamed since that date, largely because she was deemed too weak for the long haul, all day tours which became part of the RPSI's bread and butter running during the 1980s and 1990s. 
The locomotive had been in storage from 1980 but was used as a stationary exhibit at the 150th anniversary of Inchicore Railway Works in Dublin in 1996, where the locomotive then stayed for a few years. 
No. 186 returned to Whitehead in 1999 to begin the long process of overhaul. Thanks to the skills of RPSI volunteers and staff, and the facilities at the Henry Dunleath Workshop, she was restored as good as new. For most of the 10 years from 2004 to 2014, No. 186 was based at the Whitehead Railroad Museum to haul the RPSI's northern trains before coming out of service once more in 2014. 
Hopefully one day the engine can be returned to service.
==Gallery==
File:GS&WR No 186 in Preservation.jpg
File:J15.jpg
File:Steam passing Drumbane Crossing - geograph.org.uk - 314482.jpg
Category:0-6-0 steam locomotives
Category:0-6-0 locomotives
Category:Ireland
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Locomotives featured in media
Category:United Kingdom
Category:Preserved locomotives
Category:Built in 1879
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:RPSI
Category:CIÉ locomotives
Category:Six-coupled locomotives