Thomas Fleming Bergin (died 1862) was an Irish civil engineer and early Irish railway official. He was the Company Clerk of the Dublin and Kingstown Railway (D&KR),[1] the first public railway in Ireland.[2] He was also responsible for the design of the Bergin Patent Spring Buffer, the buffering system that it used.[3]
Dublin Penny Journal 1835-12-26 Dublin & Kingstown Railway Second Class Carriage by E. Heyden
Bergin, who was by profession a civil engineer, was to join the Dublin and Kingstown Railway (D&KR) in 1832, replacing James Pim as company secretary.[4][5] Lyons notes Pim and Bergin as "two of the most valuable engines the D&KR possessed, although other individuals also played an important part."[6] Murray notes Bergin was to have a "large part of the daily management of the railway", and also notes the Bergin and Pim made an excellent team.[5] Bergin was to remain loyal to the D&KR despite offers from other railways.[7]
Thomas notes the D&KR Chief Clerk (aka Bergin[a][9]) was sent to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR)[b] in June 1833.[9] Dawson notes Bergin observed the sprung buffer/connection system used on the L&MR and determined to develop his own design for the D&KR.[10]
On 16 December 1834 Bergin was to place advertisements in the Dublin newspapers as Clerk of the Company proclaiming the public opening of the D&KR with an hourly service from 9am to 4pm inclusive from Westland-Row to Blackrock and Kingstown.[8]
Bergin was additionally appointed Mechanical Engineer in 1835, though as that position was found to be needing a full time appointment Bergin was to revert to Clerk.[7] Bergin retired when the operation of the D&KR was taken over by the Dublin and Wicklow Railway in 1856.[7]
↑Thomas actually uses the term Chief Clerk but as Lyons notes that as Bergin style's himself Clerk of the Company Bergin is the only reasonable candidate here.[8]
↑The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was in the 1830s the first, and perhaps for a few years only, example of a significant and effective railway with both freight and scheduled passenger operations; additionally it was a relatively short distance from Dublin by steam packet
Baker, Richard, and Denis Gill. "Men, microscopes and meetings—the nineteenth century Dublin microscopists and their work." The Irish Naturalists' Journal (2017): 110-115.
Dawson, Anthony (2021). Locomotives of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Transport. ISBN9781526763983. OCLC1190858980.
Lyons, Garrett (15 October 2015). Steaming to Kingstown and Sucking Up to Dalkey: The Story of the Dublin and Kingstown Railway. Dublin: Londubh Books. ISBN978-1907535772. OCLC932822091.
Mulligan, Fergus (1990) [1983]. One Hundred and Fifty Years of Irish Railways. Belfast: Appletree Press. ISBN9780862812331. OCLC20525095.
Murray, Kevin (1981). Ireland's First Railway. Dublin: Irish Railway Record Society. ISBN0-904078-07-8. OCLC25224606.
Thomas, R. G. H. (1980). The Liverpool & Manchester Railway. London: B. T. Batsford. ISBN0713405376. OCLC6355432.
