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Donegal Town
by Andy Cundick
A selection of photos showing Andy's fine 00n3 4mm-scale model of Donegal
Town. There is a variety of rolling stock, concentrating on a good range of
the different railcars that were so characteristic of the CDR. Notice that the
bus garage in the yard across from the station house only appears in a couple
of the photos, some of the shots were taken while Andy was still developing
the model. The other thing to note is that the track to Killybegs goes straight
on past the station and then curves to the left in order to suit the model;
the real thing curved in the opposite direction immediately at the end of the
platforms, crossed the road at an angle and then swung even sharper round to
the right.
The two lines coming towards the photographer (photo 1 for example) were, from
the left, the headshunt for the goods yard and the main running line. Photo
2 shows the junction with the Ballyshannon branch heading to the left and the
main line to the Barnesmore Gap and Stranorlar continuing on towards the photographer.
Photo 3 shows the main buildings: the two-storey station master's house, the
single-storey station offices, and the white-painted goods store. All are still
standing.
Photo 4 depicts the station yard and buildings while no. 5 gives the view from
the track side, looking over the water tower and the old loco shed, abandoned
by the time this model is set (and cut short at an angle for the model). The
loco shed was built for the smaller class 1, 2 and 3 locos and fell out of use
when the class 4, 5 and 5A locos were introduced. Originally there was a small
turntable on the shed road immediately in front of the doors.
Photo 6 is a view overlooking the island platform. Railcar 7 stands on the siding
once covered by a simple carriage shed. Photos 7 and 8 give overall views while
photo 9 concentrates on the loco and railcar facilities. Only the long-defunct
loco shed still stands today.
The model is a real gem and has perfectly captured the atmosphere and spirit
of the old station. The character standing on the footbridge - complete with
duffel coat and aged camera - is John Langford; we have the photo that he took
from that spot in 1959 in the archive! You can see him in the top right-hand
corner of photo no. 7.
If you have a model of any aspect of the CDR that you'd like us to feature
here just send us the photos and details. We'll return the photos as soon as
we've scanned them in.
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