Midleton (Eire), and Jameson's Iron Horse

摘要

Prominently located near the site entrance to Jameson's Old Midleton Distillery in County Cork, Eire, is what purports to be an old steam locomotive displayed together with an attached barrel wagon. There was, on my visit, no information displayed as to the provenance for the exhibit which piqued my curiosity - is it a genuine old engine partially restored, a reassemblage of assorted historic parts from several sources, or merely a modern replica made to add a period atmosphere to the site and simply designed and constructed to look old? As a railway historian I was curious, as it didn't fully ring true as a genuine locomotive, but as it is so predominantly displayed it must, clearly, have either some significance to the site or to the company. During the distillery tour several old photographs of the distillery were displayed; however, in none of these were any rails visible. My questions on the day went unanswered, but this is not a criticism of Jameson's as their PR team did answer and resolve my questions. Midleton is well worth a visit and the railway station is well maintained.