CDR History


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A brief history of the
County Donegal Railway Joint Committee

Introduction

Of all the distinctive Irish railways that have attracted the admiration and devotion of railway enthusiasts none seems to have captured the imagination quite like the County Donegal Railway.

Stretching for many miles through a remote and mountainous part of Ireland this substantial narrow-gauge railway had a remarkable history of growth and expansion both in routes and motive power.

With an initial broad-gauge section, then subsequently entirely narrow-gauge, with direct railway connections to the city quayside of Derry and reaching into the most inhospitable glens and mountain passes, the Donegal Railway certainly earned that much-overused epithet of "a unique railway".

It ran through broad, rolling farmland and the poorest of mountain valleys, collected fish straight off the boats at Killybegs, cattle and sheep from the farms, and brought cheap foodstuffs, coal and fuel oil to many a hillside homestead. Its first 60 years were exclusively steam-powered and then, through the foresight of its redoubtable general manager, Henry Forbes, it branched out into the new technology of petrol and diesel-powered railcars and survived against the growing road competition for another 40 years.

Throughout the many years of its existence it provided a vital transport service to the communities it served. It was an important local employer, providing jobs for hundreds of people, teaching useful skills and bringing valuable wages into many homes. Even its very buildings contributed to the local scene with families settled and children raised in the station houses and crossing keepers’ cottages.

Alas, though it fought back long and hard, it couldn’t defeat the all-conquering lorry and car and, on the last day of the year in 1959, the sun set on the "Wee Donegal" forever. During 1960 the buses that replaced it carried their passengers past the railway’s remains which were auctioned off for their scrap value. As the years passed these mouldering remnants lay at Strabane, Stranorlar and Letterkenny, slowly sinking into the mire - abandoned at the old station sites. The vandals did their work: carriages were wrecked and burnt, locos stripped of their valuable fittings or even, in one case, simply cut up on site.

But it wasn’t to be the end of the story!

Back in 1960, on the railway’s closure, the Belfast Transport Museum stepped in and secured a number of key vehicles. These were shipped eastwards and displayed at an old linen-machinery works at Witham Street in the east of the city. They are now all on display in the museum’s marvellous new railway hall at Cultra, Co. Down.

In the mid-1960s the North-West of Ireland Preservation Society was established with the firm intention of saving the remaining stock. Through their valiant efforts, and the constructive support of Derry City Council, they have brilliantly succeeded in creating an operating narrow-gauge railway and museum at the site of the GNR’s old station at Foyle Road in Derry.

In more recent years the County Donegal Railway Restoration Society has been engaged in locating, buying and restoring old CDR rolling stock and has secured and restored the only surviving Brake/3rd, no. 28 amongst other items. The Society is now based at its own museum and offices at the old Station House in Donegal town and this is the base for its project to rebuild a section of original CDR line and operate genuine vintage stock.

During the last decade of its existence the Donegal Railway became a mecca for railway enthusiasts keen to sample its unique atmosphere and record the scene for posterity. Many a CDR "bash" started at Strabane and then followed the lines westwards to the little stations on the Atlantic coast. Stranorlar was always a favourite "photo opportunity" as trains were changed or extra vehicles added to the railcar. Then it was off through the wild and magnificent Barnesmore Gap before the run down to Donegal town, picturesquely-set where the mountains meet the sea.

But, what was its beginning? And how did it develop?

The coming of the railways

The origins of the County Donegal Railway owe much to the vision and zeal of Lord Lifford and Sir Samuel Hayes, two landowners from around Stranorlar, who sought to capitalise on the expansion of Ireland's railway network of the 1850's as a means of increasing the prosperity of the region. Their representations secured the necessary Parliamentary legislation for the incorporation of the Finn Valley Railway Company in May 1860 and the construction of a line from Strabane to Stranorlar to the Irish standard gauge of 5'3". This route was duly opened in September 1863.

The railways had already come to the north west of Ireland by this time. The Londonderry & Enniskillen (L&E) had commenced construction in 1845, reaching Strabane in 1847 and Enniskillen in 1854. The Dundalk & Enniskillen (D&E) Railway was completed in 1859, and the Portadown, Dungannon & Omagh railway in 1861. With the opening of the FVR, therefore, Stranorlar, and Donegal, had rail links to Belfast, Dublin and the port of Derry.

Throughout it's life, traffic on the FVR was operated by the Irish North Western Railway (the D&E had taken over operation of the L&E and in consequence changed it's name to the INWR in 1862). The FVR entered Strabane over INWR metals and used the station at Strabane, for which an annual rental was paid. Relationships were never easy and at one stage plans were put forward for a separate station for the FVR in Strabane. This never materialised, though the company did at least have the pleasure of seeing its own coaches and wagons, purchased in 1872, bear the FVR logo.

From the mid-1870's representations were made, largely through Stranorlar-based businessman Joseph Kenigan, for the extension of the railway westwards. In July 1879 an act was passed incorporating the West Donegal Railway Company and empowering it to construct a line, eighteen miles in length from Stranorlar, through the Barnesmore Gap to Donegal town. This was to be built to Ireland’s second “standard gauge” of 3'0" - experience with this gauge having been gained in County Antrim with the lines through the glens to the ironstone workings. Although a separate company from the FVR, the WDR chairman was Lord Lifford and many of the officials were also FVR employees. In addition, the FVR were intimately involved in the WDR's finances and agreed to contribute £2,000 per annum. This was to prove a serious drain on the Finn Valley Railway’s slender resources.

Work on the WDR commenced on the 1st August 1880. Progress was hindered by harsh weather conditions and ultimately by lack of money, which Lord Lifford blamed on lack of support from the townsfolk of Donegal. The line was prematurely terminated in a field in the townland of Druminin, close to Lough Eske and four miles from Donegal. This section of the line opened to traffic on the 25th April 1882, passengers being brought the last four miles to Donegal by horse drawn carriage.

To work the line, three 2-4-0 tank engines were purchased from Sharp Stewart & Co (later the Class 1 engines of the CDR). A turntable was installed at Stranorlar but none at Druminin, so engines worked bunker first back to Stranorlar. Transhipment of all passengers and freight to the broad gauge was, of course, necessary at Stranorlar.

Ultimately, finance was raised to bring the line into Donegal and this section was opened in September 1889. Finances did not allow for the construction of a station house in Donegal, for which purpose a separate company was formed!

Extension and expansion

Development of the railway system in Ireland by means of Light Railways was proposed by the Light Railways (Ireland ) Act 1889 whereby promoting railway companies could apply for state aid towards the cost of construction of new lines, in return for a commitment to operate the lines, with profits being divided between the company and the state. The West Donegal Light Railway (Killybegs) Order of 1890 provided for the construction of a 19 mile stretch of 3' gauge track between Donegal and the port of Killybegs while the following year, the Finn Valley (Stranorlar and Glenties) Order authorised the construction of a 24 mile stretch of line alongside the Finn and Shallogan rivers to Glenties. The Killybegs line opened in 1893 and the Glenties line two years later. By this time the FVR and WDR had ceased to be, merging under Parliamentary sanction in 1892 as the Donegal Railway Company. With the opening of these lines, the DR had 75½ miles of track, 14 being broad gauge.

Increasing experience with 3' gauge lines and the problems of transhipment at the mixed gauge station of Stranorlar led to the decision to regauge the FVR section to 3'. Linked to this was the need to reconsider the company's entry to Strabane. Rather than share a bridge with the Great Northern Railway [GNR(I)], who had succeeded the INWR, a separate bridge was built, together with a separate railway station, alongside the GNR(I) station. Regauging of the FVR took place over a single weekend in July 1894. Redundant broad gauge FVR stock was sold by auction to the Dublin, Wicklow & Wexford Railway.

Problems of transhipment at Stranorlar were, however, simply transferred to Strabane and indeed worsened by the need to tranship goods from the Finn Valley section. As Derry was a major port for Donegal, the advantages of securing independent access to the city and quays were soon recognised. Despite opposition from the GNR(l), Parliamentary approval was obtained and the company’s own line from Strabane to Derry was opened in May 1900. At the same time, approval was granted for construction of a branch line 15½miles in length, to Ballyshannon and this opened on 21st September 1905.

This growth began to take it's toll on the company's finances, which soon reached a low ebb and led to an association of the GNR(I) and the Midland Railway of Britain’s Northern Counties Committee purchasing the system in 1906. Thereafter the CDR became known as the County Donegal Railway Joint Committee (CDRJC). Under the new arrangement, all lines were operated by the CDRJC, although the Strabane to Derry section became the sole property of the Midland’s NCC entirely.

The final extension, a branch line from Strabane to Letterkenny, was opened in January 1909. A separate company, the Strabane & Letterkenny Railway Company, was formed to undertake the construction of this line, though both the GNR(I) and the NCC had financial involvement. Trains were operated by the CDRJC, bringing the total mileage worked to it's peak of 124½ miles. No further extensions were built, though other lines were proposed. These included an extension from Glenties to Ardara and an extension from Killybegs to a proposed new development at Teelin harbour.

Much of the subsequent history of the CDRJC was a consequence of the appointment of Henry Forbes as General Manager in 1910.

Easter 1916 saw the armed rising of Irish nationalists against British rule and, though defeated, this was the precursor to all-out warfare in the years following the First World War. Finally, through negotiation, a peace was arrived at and the country was partitioned in 1921. Six of the nine counties of Ulster were formed into the new Northern Ireland while the remaining three, Monaghan, Cavan and Donegal became part of the new Irish Free State.

This necessarily caused some considerable inconvenience to the CDR as trains now had to negotiate customs inspections at Strabane (Northern Ireland) and Castlefinn or Lifford (Free State) which often led to long delays and timetable disruption. In the years following Partition a line from Killygordon to Convoy by-passing Strabane and the customs clearance checks was proposed but like many such suggestions it vanished into the repository of all railway "might-have-beens".

Meanwhile, Forbes introduced a number of policies and economy measures, including the pioneering development of railcars - both petrol and diesel, which enabled the system to survive longer than many of it's contemporaries and it is perhaps to him that we owe much of the Donegal's charismatic uniqueness. Following his sudden death in 1943, he was succeeded by B L Curran, who remained as General Manager until closure.

After the Second World War, traffic on the system began to fall off - a consequence of the competition from road transport. By 1947, traffic on the Glenties branch did not justify its maintenance costs and the line closed to regular passenger and goods traffic on the 13th December 1947 and eventually to all traffic in March 1952. The Derry section was the next to go. Since 1948 this section had come under the control of the Ulster Transport Authority. As losses mounted, the UTA applied for closure and services were suspended on the last day of 1955.

By now, much of the permanent way was in need of repair. The parent companies could not provide the necessary capital for replacement. In addition, operating losses continued to mount. Application was made for the closure of the Ballyshannon branch in 1957 but due to the poor state of the roads, the Donegal County Council objected and the branch survived until final closure of the entire network. Formal application for complete closure of the system was made in May 1959 and all services ceased on 31st December 1959 when the last train from Strabane, hauled by No 5 Drumboe, pulled into Stranorlar at 8.21 pm.

It truly was the end of an era.

Thereafter, buses and lorries replaced the trains, the CDRJC surviving as a separate transport company until it was absorbed by CIÉ in 1971.

Motive Power

Steam Engines

Six classes of steam engine operated on the CDR. In brief, they were:

Class 1: Three 2-4-0T engines, supplied in 1881 by Sharp Stewart & Co. Useful engines but soon surpassed by the growth of the system. They were named Alice, Blanche and Lydia.

Class 2: Six 4-6-0T engines, supplied by Neilson of Glasgow in 1893. These engines did good work though their small coal capacity gave them a limited range. Withdrawals began in 1927, two surviving until 1937. They were named Meenglas, Drumboe, Inver, Finn, Foyle and Columbkille.

Class 3: Two engines with the 4-4-4T arrangement, the only examples of their kind in the British Isles, were built by Neilson Reid in 1901. Designed for fast running on the Strabane to Derry section, their low tractive effort and high axle loading limited their usefulness. When finally scrapped in 1933, they had lain out of use for many years. They were named Sir James and Hercules.

Class 4: Four 4-6-4T (Baltic) engines were purchased from Nasmyth, Wilson & Co in 1904 to cope with growing freight traffic. Initial performance was poor but was much improved by the fitting of superheaters. They were named Eske, Owenea, Erne and Mourne. No 10 Owenea was involved in the fatal Hospital Halt crash of 1949, sustaining considerable damage. No 11 Erne survived until the end - the last surviving Baltic in the British Isles. Her final duty was to haul the demolition train out to Letterkenny were she subsequently was isolated. She was purchased by Dr Ralph Cox and lay awaiting shipment but was cut up in 1967.

Class 5: Five 2-6-4T engines were supplied by Nasmyth, Wilson & Co in 1907 and 1908. They were effective engines, though somewhat limited in range by a relatively low water capacity. Three survived to the end and, after lying derelict for many years, are now scheduled for preservation. They were initially named Donegal, Glenties, Killybegs, Letterkenny and Raphoe but received the names of the class 2 engines when these were scrapped.

Class 5a: Three further 2-6-4T engines, supplied by Nasmyth, Wilson & Co in 1912 were similar to Class 5 but with superheaters and larger water tanks. The three officially survived until closure, though Nos 1 and 3 lay out of service for a number of years. No 2 Blanche, is preserved in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. They were originally named Ballyshannon, Strabane and Stranorlar but received the names of the class 1 engines when these were scrapped.

Railcars:

The CDR was a pioneer in the use of railcars, their use in turn, undoubtedly extending the life of the system. The first, originally a petrol-engined inspection car, supplied by Allday & Onions in 1907, was pressed into emergency mails service on the Glenties line during the coal strike of 1926. From this experience, Henry Forbes quickly realised the potential of railcars to fight off mounting road competition and began the search for larger cars. Two units (Nos 2 & 3) were purchased from the 4'8" gauge Derwent Valley Light Railway (Yorkshire) in 1926, regauged and, with a seating capacity of 17, gave good service until withdrawn in 1934. No 4 was built by the GNR(I), Dundalk and O’Doherty, coachbuilders of Strabane in 1928. It was based on a 30cwt Ford chassis, had a seating capacity of 21 and remained in service for nineteen years. No 5 was a trailer, built to extend the capacity of the railcars. It had 29 seats and survived to the end when, after various uses, it was recovered for preservation in 1993. No 6, a Reo engined, 31 seat car built by GNR(I) and O’Doherty in 1930, operated until 1945, when the engine was removed and the unit was re-built as a trailer.

Two further GNR(I)/O'Doherty buses (Nos 7 & 8) followed in 1931 but with a significant difference. They were powered by Gardner 6L2 engines, making them the first diesel-powered railcars to see regular service in the British Isles. They mainly worked the Ballyshannon branch until withdrawn in 1949. Nos 9 & 10 were ex-GNR road buses which were rebuilt as rail cars in 193 3 at Stranorlar. No 10 was destroyed by fire in 1939 but No 9 survived a further ten years.

In 1932, a steam tractor was purchased from the Clogher Valley Railway. Rebuilt with a Gardner 6L2 engine it was numbered 11 in the railcar series and named Phoenix. It gave useful service to the end, predominantly on shunting duties, and is now in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.

Further second-hand acquisitions followed - a redundant railcar was purchased from the Castlederg and Victoria Bridge Tramway in 1933, given a Reo engine and renumbered No 2. It gave eleven years’ service before being rebuilt as a trailer, in which form it survived until the end. On the closure of the Dublin & Blessington Tramway in 1934, two railcars were acquired and regauged for use. One was converted to a four-wheel, sixteen-seat trailer, number 13, which lasted ten years. The other, a Drewry petrol-engined unit became the second number 3 and operated as a 40-seater railcar for nine years, whereupon it was converted to a trailer and saw service to the end. The final second-hand purchase came in 1942 with the closure of the Clogher Valley Railway. An articulated, Walker Bros railcar, with a capacity of 28 became CDR No I 0 and served to the end. These last two vehicles are preserved at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.

The remaining cars were all articulated Walker Bros units, the coach bodies being built by the GNR(I) in Dundalk. Numbered 12 and 14-20 they were essentially variations on a theme, all carrying 41 passengers (43 in Nos 17 & 18). Nos 12 and 14 (1934/5) had half cabs, Nos 15-18 (1936-40) had full-width cabs while Nos 19 and 20 (1950/1) had full-fronted cabs, completely covering the engine. Nos 12, 14 and 15 had Gardner 6L2 engines while the remainder had the more powerful 6LW unit. No 17 was destroyed in the fatal Hospital Halt crash of 1949. No 18 was severely damaged by fire the same year, but was extensively rebuilt. A number of these cars survive today - 19 & 20 on the Isle of Man Railway, 12 & 18 on the Foyle Valley Railway while No 15 awaits restoration.

Coaching Stock

A total of 59 coaches operated on the CDR. The first eleven, all 31', six-wheel coaches were supplied to the West Donegal by the Railway Carriage & Wagon Company in 1882. Seven of these were converted to wagons in the late 1920's but No 1 survives at the UFTM. Seventeen 3l' bogie coaches, to cope with expansion, were purchased from the Oldbury Carnage & Wagon Company in 1893, all of which survived until closure. A further six, 36' coaches followed from Oldbury in 1901 but when a further nine were ordered in 1905, Pickering Ltd. of Wishaw were the chosen suppliers. Oldbury supplied the next thirteen coaches, ordered for the Strabane & Letterkenny Railway in 1907, bringing the total number on the system to 56. This total remained until the emergence of the railcars in the mid 1920's when a number of conversions to goods vehicles commenced. With the exception of No 9, scrapping did not commence until 1952. The last additions to the stock were three corridor third coaches, purchased for the NCC in 1950. These were supplied to the Ballymena and Larne Railway (wholly owned and operated by the NCC at this time) in 1928 for the Larne narrow-gauge boat trains.

Freight Vehicles

The first freight vehicles ordered came from Oldbury in 1881 and consisted of 40 covered vans, two brake vans and three open wagons. Further orders between 1893 and 1905 brought the fleet size to 233, comprising 135 vans, 75 wagons and 23 ballast wagons. With the partition of Ireland, customs clearance checks led to a strain on the freight stock and to overcome this, Forbes converted ageing passenger carriages to vans. Nineteen coaches were so converted, between 1926 and 1939, many surviving to the end.

The CDR did possess a number of bogie goods vehicles, though only one, No 159 from Oldbury, was purchased new. The remainder were either coach conversions or second-hand acquisitions from the Castlederg & Victoria Bridge Tramway or Clogher Valley Railway. Nine tank wagons were purchased by the CDR in 1954 (four from Shell, five from Esso) though these had in fact been in use on the system for a number of years. Of special interest were the transhipment wagons, specially designed so that the body could be lifted off of its narrow-gauge frame and put onto a GNR(I) frame at Strabane.

In addition the railway used the so-called “red vans”. These were lightweight vans, bought from the C&VBT and CVR for use behind railcars, with the intention of avoiding the need for passenger luggage and light freight to be loaded on the roof.

The Line

The railway’s administrative headquarters were at Stranorlar, where around two hundred men were employed in the various departments. In addition to the impressive station buildings, there was an engine shed capable of accommodating sixteen engines, together with well-equipped carriage and wagon shops. Leaving Stranorlar for Donegal, the River Finn was crossed and a lengthy climb of some six miles at gradients of between 1:50 and 1:60 commenced. The peak was reached at Meenglass, followed by a plateau along the shores of Lough Mourne and through the Barnesmore Gap. This climb was costly on coal, and it was said among CDR workers that this route was only taken to bring the railway past the home of Lord Lifford at Meenglas House! After passing through the Gap, the line descended at 1:60 to Barnesmore Halt, then along the River Eske to Lough Eske and thence down a gentle gradient to Donegal. From here, the Ballyshannon branch followed a relatively gentle course southwards, the ruling gradient being 1:60 between Ballintra and Rossnowlagh.

From Donegal, the “main” line continued west to Killybegs, following the coastline for much of it's course with a combination of stiff gradients and sharp curves. Several stretches of 1:40 were experienced - the worst being on a 7½ chain curve at Seahill, near Dunkineely. The line offered some wonderful views over Donegal Bay and an impressive engineering feature was the road viaduct at Mountcharles.

The Glenties branch from Stranorlar first crossed the Finn by one of the largest single-span bridges in Ireland. This bridge was originally built for a Norwegian railway line of broader gauge than the CDR line but, as a result of a hitch, found it's way to Donegal. A halt, serving Stranorlar's twin town of Balleybofey, was followed by a gradual ascent to Cloghan where began a stiff 6½-mile climb to Ballinamore. Thereafter, the line climbed at a gentler grade through Fintown and along by Lough Finn, to reach the summit just before the halt of Shallogans before descending, at an average gradient of 1:50 to Glenties.

East from Stranorlar, the line to Strabane traversed the fairly level countryside of the lower Finn Valley, with only gentle gradients being encountered. Castlefinn was the Free State (later Republic) customs post. Uncertainty as to the correct spelling of the station name may have resulted in one platform bearing the sign "Castlefin" with "Castlefinn" on the other. Similar discrepancies appeared on tickets and timetables. Strabane was entered across the Mourne bridge, built when the CDR gained independent access to Strabane in 1893.

The CDR's own independent route to Derry ran northwards and immediately to the west of that of the GNR(I) but on a rising embankment. It then swung sharply eastwards before turning northwards again through the rolling countryside of west Co. Derry, passing through a number of villages and farming hamlets and then rejoined the east bank of the Foyle at New Buildings on its final approach to the city. The CDR station, Victoria Road, was at the south-eastern corner of the double-deck Craigavon Bridge and was one of four stations possessed by Derry, all of which were connected together and with the quayside by the mixed-gauge tracks of the Harbour Commissioners' lines.

Back at Strabane, the S&L line swung sharply away from the station, crossed the river Foyle and re-entered Co. Donegal at Lifford, where there was a Republic of Ireland customs post on the station platform. Essentially level to Coolaghy Halt, the next seven miles saw a steady climb with grades of 1:45 and 1:50, to be followed by an equally steep descent to Letterkenny where the Donegal Railway met its more northern neighbour, the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway.

But that’s another story!

The remaining CDR rolling stock and where to see it.

Foyle Valley Railway Centre - Currently closed
Foyle Road, Derry, Co. Derry NI. Tel: A marvellous museum and operating narrow-gauge railway (along the old GNR(I) trackbed) operated jointly by the NWIRPS and Derry City Council.
Class 5 locomotives: No. 4 Meenglas (on display outside, cosmetically restored); No. 6 Columbkille (undergoing complete restoration); Railcar 12 (currently being refitted); Railcar 18 (fully restored and operational); Coach no. 14; Trailer no. 3; Red wagon no. 19.

Ulster Folk and Transport Museum
Cultra, Holywood, Co. Down BT18 0EU NI. Tel:+44 (0) 28 90242 8428
UFTM now sports the brand-new - and big - railway hall containing its entire collection of Irish railway vehicles and much more besides arranged around a 5'3"-gauge turntable connected by a spur to the NIR line to Bangor. Apart from the CDR stock there is a wonderful collection of other railway locomotives and rolling stock including class B1 4-6-0 Maebh, Cavan & Leitrim's Kathleen and the Fintona Horse Tram - unmissable! A second massive hall is now open and houses the tram, trolleybus and bus collection.
The CDR exhibits include: Class 5A Blanche; Director's saloon no. 1; Railcar no. 1; Railcar 10 (ex-CVR); Phoenix (no. 11).

County Donegal Railway Restoration Limited
The Old Station House, Tyrconnell St, Donegal, Co. Donegal, Ireland. Tel: +353 74 97 22655
A developing museum and heritage centre concentrating on the CDR and, as it grows, bringing in the Lough Swilly and GNR(I) lines in Donegal. The headquarters for the society's project to restore a section of original CDR track and operate original vintage stock. Rolling stock on site undergoing restoration: Class 5 loco Drumboe; Brake/3rd no 28; Trailer no. 5. Not on site and unavailable for viewing: Railcar no. 15.

Retracing the railways of Donegal
Many of the old railway stations do still survive along with lengthy stretches of trackbed and other features such as bridges and viaducts. The CDRRL is gradually surveying the entire length of all the lines that ran through County Donegal and its neighbours and publishing these in a series of visitor's guides so that they can be seen and enjoyed by everyone. For more details please contact the society's office.

And, of course, what else is left out there hidden in the mountain glens and farm sheds keeping the hens dry or just tucked away until "found useful"? We'll keep looking, and let you know.

Quoted from The County Donegal Railway: A Pictorial Review by Steve Flanders, published 1996 by Midland Publishing.

See CDRRL Bookshop for details.