CDR Reminiscences


Site Map

CDR Reminiscences

Childhood Memories by Dave Bell

"A day return to Rossnowlagh, please" by Conor Sinclair

Memories of the CDR by John Matthews

The County Donegal Railways by R W A Salter (from Railway Magazine, February, 1931)

Recalling the Heyday of the Donegal Line by P J Lynch (from Meccano Magazine, June, 1960)

The County Donegal Railways (from Meccano Magazine, November, 1950)

Childhood Memories

(From Phoenix no. 3)

by Dave Bell

The date was the late nineteen fifties. I was a young impressionable boy growing up in Letterkenny town. I lived with my mother and father who owned a retail grocery business a stone's throw away from the stations. In those days, two railway stations stood where the shopping centre now stands. The Lough Swilly station and the County Donegal railway station were only a few feet apart. They had a common boundary which ran down between the stations and out to just beyond the engine shed. At this point, the two systems were joined by a short length of track which facilitated the transfer of rolling stock on loan to the rival company. Lough Swilly locos could often be seen hauling a mixed excursion train of Lough Swilly and County Donegal Railway coaches. This section of connecting track was rather representative of my own connection with the two stations. You see my grandfather was the station master on the Lough Swilly station, but I spent all my time on the adjacent CDR platform.

As a young boy, I was thoroughly enchanted with the railway and with the CDR in particular. My interest was fostered by my father and an engine driver by the name of Sam Olivent. I believe Sam's regular fireman was named McFeely, but we had no nickname for him. My sister and I had great difficulty in pronouncing Sam's second name, so until the day he died, he was known as Sam Puff Puff.

Wednesday afternoons were the highlight of the week. Wednesday was half-day closing for the retail businesses so Dad would lock up the shop and would take us down to the station. Father would talk to his cronies while we would patiently wait for Sam to start shunting wagons in the yard. Shortly after the arrival of the afternoon train we would climb into the cab and make our way down to the signal box and back up past the cattle pens to the goods store opposite Oatfields sweet factory. I remember watching my Dad drive the loco and being so proud of him being able to drive a steam engine. Of course, this was highly illegal and Sam could have been in trouble for allowing a non-employee of the CDR to drive the train.

Of course, we children were not aware of the many dangers of the cab. My sister often told the story of the day when she was standing near the fire when the door was open. The engine suddenly came to a stop. She lost her balance and fell towards the fire. Sam managed to grabe her before she hurt herself. I remember on another occasion when we were shunting in the yard, I was enthusiastically leaning out of the cab when Sam again pulled me inside just in time as we came up to some wagons on a parallel siding. The two sidings were very close and I could have lost my head on the oncoming wagon. I suppose enthusiasts could be accused of going loco and losing their heads, but in this case, I could have literally lost the head.

No wonder Dad refused to let me go up to Strabane the following week with Sam on the goods train. It did not matter how much I pleaded, I was just too young to go alone. But I was allowed to go shunting alone with Sam. I remember at the end of the morning shunting, Sam would stop the engine outside the signal box. Under the signal box, among the pulleys and wires, Sam had a place where he kept his teapot, coat etc. Here he would have his lunch. We would go outside with a basin to get hot water directly from the boiler on the train to wash our hands. Then he would fill the teapot for a nice cup of thick strong tea.

As we sat there under the signal box Sam would tell me stories about his early days on the railways. I always remember the story he told me about his time in France during the First World War. Sam and his fireman were detailed to take an ammunition train up to the front. Little did they know that there had been a big push by the enemy during the night. As they approached the line they found themselves under fire so they tried to reverse but a major bridge had been blown up behind them. They were forced to abandon the train and take to the fields. There they found two horses which they used to ride back to the station. Sam was so stiff and sore afterwards that he could not sit down for a week (or so he said!).

We were also friendly with the railbus drivers. I think everyone on the platform knew us. I remember waiting at the end of the platform for the last railbus to arrive from Strabane. I think it arrived about 8.30 pm. After its arrival and when all the passengers had disembarked, we would jump abroad and the driver would reverse down to the turntable by the engine shed. There we would help to push the railbus around, jump aboard again and reverse up to the station ready for the early run the next morning. This became out regular nightly routine. Some evening, when the railbus was running late, we would kneel down on the sleepers and put our ears to the rail to se if we could hear the railbus approaching. I was always afraid that the railbus could be nearer than we thought. So I would put one ear to the rail and at the same time keep a watchful eye on the track ahead.

Those were happy and enjoyable days, but soon they were to end. Very soon the trains arriving were not full with passengers. They had flat cars loaded with lengths of rail and lots of workmen. The Donegal was to close. The track was being lifted. Each morning I would watch the empty trains go out and each evening they returned loaded with rails.

I knew that each day the track was getting shorter and soon they would have lifted the track as far as Letterkenny. I prayed that someone would stop them before all the track was gone. But, within a few weeks, the loco Erne lay rusting in Letterkenny beside piles of rusting rails.

Many years later, as an adult, I was walking through the steam engine graveyard at Barry in South Wales. There amongst the rusting hulks, someone had painted on the front of an engine, two sad eyes with tears dripping down and the caption between the buffers read "Don't let me die". My thoughts went back to Erne sitting in Letterkenny many years ago. All she needed were sad eyes, some tears and the inscription "Don't let me die".

Well, Erne has gone, but the surviving locos will help to make the old Donegal rise again, phoenix-like from the ashes. Yes, we will not let you die.

"A day return to Rossnowlagh, please."

(First published in the Donegal Times, May 1991; reprinted in Phoenix no. 3)

by Conor Sinclair

One of the great treats of my childhood days in the mid '40s was a day trip by Donegal railway to Rossnowlagh. This was usually on a Sunday and early Mass was no trouble, we were awake at all hours anyway. The excitement was too great to allow sleep. This excitement built up as we got nearer the departure time. There was no such thing as "missing the train". We would be there in good time, my sister and myself with an assortment of Hannas an McEnhills from Castle Street.

The station was a magic place. The first excitement was Maggie Walsh's bookstall. If we had any spare money, comics were high on the priority list. Comics were an essential part of life then and were swopped around 'till they fell apart. Our return tickets were purchased through a small window from a man we could not see and it was onto the platform. Goods were in abundance on the platform, two hundredweight bags of sugar, chests of tea, barrels of salted fish and boxes with holes in them from which came forth the "peep-peep" of day-old chicks en route from hatcheries to new homes.

There was a machine on the platform into which you could put a penny and punch out your name on a metal tag. I never found a good use afterwards for those tags bt almost everyone who went to a railway station got one. Also on the platform you'd find a machine that dispensed bars of Urney chocolate. No bubblegum in those days. Posters here and there extolled the beauty of such places as the Giant's Causeway or the Burren.

If you were really lucky you'd see a locomotive or railcar being turned around on the turntable which was over to the right of the platform, or even a loco taking on water from the water tower. We'd look over to the signalbox where the man operated rows of complex levers to change signals and points on the tracks. Our awe for the signalman was beyond description.

Someone would shout, "She's coming" - trains always seemed to be "She". The excitement rose a degree or two. Finally, in she clattered, a railbus and carriage from Killybegs making her way down through what is now the sports track and into the station.

The crafty ones among us always headed for the railbus. You could see the driver - there was another man we held in the greatest esteem. There wasn't a lad among us who didn't want to be a train driver on growing up - we assumed that the railways would be there for ever. Those who got into the carriage would find themselves sitting on shiny wooden seats. Over the seats were framed panoramic views of far away places. Long, narrow sepia-toned prints of railway hotels in Westport and Bundoran, gold courses in Lahinch and Killarney, and the famous Ashleigh Falls in County Mayo. All these were testimony to the joys of rail travel.

A toot on a whistle, a wave of a flag and we were off to the seaside. Up through what is now the Mart and along the back of the picture moulding factory (not there then). Two tracks ran. One led straight on past Gorrell's house and through the Gap but our line veered right, crossed the river on an iron bridge, went on up around the hospital where it crossed under the main road, went on to Laghey and, eventually, Rossnowlagh.

Travelling by railbus was quite unique. First, there was the smell of diesel fuel which, while not overpowering, could be detected and added to the atmosphere of the trip. Then the vehicle, being articulated, rattled and swayed in one direction while the driver's cab bounced in another.

On we went, past level crossings where the keepers waved to us, past hayfields where we waved to the workers and felt briefly sorry for them because they were not having the magic day that we were. Long before we got to it, we could smell it, the sea!

Piling out at Rossnowlagh station we made a mad scramble down to the beach. There they were, the big waves rolling in as they still do today. In the years since then I've taken my own youngsters to Rossnowlagh and now they are taking theirs. It's still a great place to spend a summer day but now you go by car and drive onto the beach where you sit and listen to transistor radios and watch out for motorbikes.

It's still a nice place to go but the magic of getting there on a Donegal railbus is gone forever. Sometimes I walk along the old track, now overgrown and derelict. I sit on what is left of a little bridge below the hospital and in my mind's eye see the brave little bus rattling along with its cargo of excited youngsters heading for "a day at the seaside".

Memories of the CDR

(first published in Phoenix) ("weans" = "wee ones" i.e. kids)

by John Matthews

My late mother left Kilcar many years ago to work in Newry, where I was born. She always liked to "go home" to Kilcar whenever she could manage it and as the weans came along they were duly brought home during the summer holidays.

This was a magical adventure for us, the weans, and there was no part of the journey more magical, more anticipated and more enjoyed than journey on the wee train. We could travel the whole way from Newry to Killybegs by rail, with changes of course, and spend the whole day doing it.

We had to change at Strabane off the big train, GNR(I) to the CDR. The competition amongst the weans was intense as to who was first to glimpse the red and cream colours of the railcars and coaches on our immediate approach to Strabane station on the big train.

The approaches by both rail systems to the station were almost parallel for about 200 yards (or was it meters?). There seemed to be a wait at Strabane, an hour or so, before an ongoing steam train or railcar, ex-Strabane to Killybegs. This wait provided the weans with some refreshment. Part of the magical adventure was dear Aunt Mary who lived in Lifford. She would be waiting for us there on the platform laden down with piles of sandwiches, flasks of hot tea, fruit, sweets, lemonade - a party at Strabane station.

There were always some train movements to be observed during this wait. The coaches on the Derry (GNRI) train, out going to Omagh, were carefully counted as if to make sure none were missing. If Phoenix was busy during this hour then surely she must have spent the whole day shunting, scuttling around Strabane station.

When the time came to join the train and reluctant leaving of Aunt Mary, it was vitally important to find seats in the railcar and not the trailer. Much more fun in the railcar, a driver to observe, the sound of the diesel engine. Being in the trailer was definitely second-rate.

The sound of the diesel engine, now there was a unique noise that came from a CDR railcar, along with the sound of a normal diesel engine was the distinctive clanking of the connecting rods, then a sound, difficult to describe, rather like a crate of bottles rattling around under the floor somewhere. I leave it up to a more technical mind to explain this particular noise but to the weans this was all part of the magical tour. All that sound was wonderfully echoed back at us going under stone bridges or passing close by station buildings.

So, on to Clady. But there is a major obstacle to be overcome at Castlefin. Lying in wait for us is officialdom in the shape of the Irish customs. Now the procedure at Castlefin went something like this: the customs examination table is placed across the platform. Imagine a train composed of railcar, trailer car and one or two red vans, one of these containing all passenger luggage.

The train stops at Castlefin at a point short of the table. All the luggage is off-loaded on to the platform and passengers are invited, ordered, to take their own suitcase to the table to be examined by the white peaked cap. The train meanwhile pulls forward to a point the other side of the table. On examination, seizure, white chalk mark etc., the passengers then take their baggage back to the wee red van for loading.

On completion of all examination the train proceeds rejoicing to Liscooley or was it the other way round to Clady? No, to Liscooley.

A perfectly reasonable straightforward operation you understand, except that when it first happened to the Newry children they weren't consulted and no explanation was offered to them. So, Mammy left the train with advice to the weans to wait there, she would not be long, there was no cause for alarm ... until the train moved off leaving behind our Mammy out there on the platform never to be seen again, lost!

The Newry tribe (there were four of us at the time), dissolved in bitter tears, inconsolable. That is, until it was realised that the train had moved only a few feet and there was Mammy still visible in a patient queue "fornenst" the white cap. Never could warm to customs officers after that, by all accounts there were some right b...er, formidable officers at Castlefin.

Many's the tale that can be told of encounters with these gentlemen at this station. I can't imagine what Mammy might want to smuggle into the "Free State" but I have vague recollections of valuable contraband such as tea and sugar. Reminds me of a story about customs and the Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway but that's a different rail system.

The magic continued for the weans. Those who could read would chorus out those marvelous names: Liscooley, Killymard, Bruckless, big white letters on dark blue enamel signs. No bi-lingual name boards for the CDR, catering exactly for Newry children whose knowledge of the Irish language was very rudimentary at an early age.

Even at a young age the weans noted the flatness of the land. Promises of towering mountains, still some way ahead but becoming more visible. Also, as we grew in stature and wisdom, we began to anticipate certain places on the CDR system. We soon realised that there was something important about Stranorlar station. It had a "chapel" tower with a clock, didn't it? That was important. It had a bookstall with comics, more important.

Then there was the Stranorlar "shunt". It probably lasted no more than minutes but to the Newry weans it was hours, well, ages! Let's take again our typical train, leading railcar, one trailer car and two red vans which left Strabane quite full in the summer time. But the net loss of passengers at Stranorlar seemed to halve the numbers, the stalwarts remaining for stations to Killybegs.

It appeared to me that it was necessary to drop the trailer can and one van. Thus the shunting began and the weans could see some point to it all because this is exactly what we did with the wee train set at home. These railmen were no mugs, they could go on playing with their train set up to retirement, very old! Shunting about at Stranorlar may also have coincided with an out-going train to Glenties or could it have been the passing up train to Strabane? I supposed the latter would collect the shed vehicles from the down train. The whole object was of course to keep the world on an even keel.

Then it was onward and upward to the Gap. Those who resided west of Barnesmore Gap were deemed to be living "in through". This meant in through Barnesmore Gap and the expression is still heard in Donegal. Mammy would assist our anticipation by telling us what to look out for. So Lough Mourne was pointed out. But to the weans no pointing out was required for the Gap.

This point of the journey was indeed most magical. As we clattered along the stone shelf halfway up the hillside we could see those wee toy cars down there on the winding road (a poor enough road indeed in the '40s and '50s). And there is a wee toy fisherman up to his knees in that river made of silver.

We collectively willed the transit of the Gap of Barnesmore to last as long as possible. Mammy, "and there's Biddy's", chorus, "there's Biddy's". Nowhere on the line was the sway and bounce of the railcar so pronounced as through the Gap, nor the clank and jingle under the floor. Those little streams tumbled down the hill under the wee bridges under the train to join the silver. No culverts in our youth, what's a culvert?

But how the wind could blow on us on that shelf and whistle under the train, sometimes so strong we thought it might blow us off the tracks. And that was a straight down drop on the right-hand side.

We have gathered up a few men coming home from the turf bogs between Lough Mourne and Barnesmore. Biddy o' Barnes is behind us and Lough Eske is next. When there is less to see through the window those of the kids who can read the adverts. Those who can't read look at the pictures. Nice sensible adverts these, Fruitfield Jams and, more sensible, Oatfield sweets. Was there one for Lyons Green label? Did Magee of Donegal feature somewhere? Quality worsted suits? Wonder what worsted means?

Another very important task was to count the telegraph poles, just in case one is missing, the rise and fall of the wires. Do these poles always follow railways? They followed us all the way from Newry this morning.

Then there were those funny wee light shades. They were all along both sides of the railcar. The luggage racks were specially designed, close as possible to the roof, couldn't put much up there.

I was steam hauled on only two occasions on the CDR, once when I was very young, five or six years old, and much later in my teens. Even at the early age I could detect that this was an entirely different experience from passage by railcar. I know I swallowed all of that black smoke leaning out of the window, not too far or I would lose my head, and all the wee black bits in your eyes.

Even we weans noted that the railcars pulled red wagons (vans), well a faded dirty pink, and the steam trains had all grey wagons with big white DR letters. Must keep the train sets right. As a teenager I could very well have occupied a tri-composite vehicle (whatever that is) on the steam train, but my memory is of a damp musty smell in this vehicle.

Our weans are now approaching Donegal Town and excitement is growing. Aunt Brigid might just have come up from Kilcar to meet us at Donegal, bearing gifts, eatable and drinkable and comics readable. A real feast in prospect. The more capable weans might be allowed to pull open the railcar door. Railcar doors were two leaf folding affairs which sprang in and out of position and opened in to the car. There was a good solid grab handle which we weans soon managed to tug open. Two steps down would leave the passenger at ground level or you stepped straight across the platform level or if you were very little you jumped across a deep very wide chasm.

Then there was that one bumper in the middle, couplings and buffers were not part of our vocabulary in those early days but we know the big trains had two bumpers (even dunchers) on the front and back. There was that "snake" hose, we knew it was a hose but not its purpose.

Having passed through Donegal, on we went, Mountcharles, Inver, Dunkineely and coming to the end of the magical tour. The weans became steadily more tired, fractious and much in need of a privy. We considered Bruckless the second last station, Ardara Road didn't seem to come into our reckoning and then when the sea came into view again we knew Killybegs was just around the corner.

What a glorious station inside a glasshouse. But we are too preoccupied in a stampede for the toilet to admire the architecture. In the early days, Mammy ushered the whole brood into the ladies' waiting room and ladies' toilet, only later on in one's career was permission given to carry on down to the end of the platform to enter the gentlemen's emporium.

What do we find in the waiting room? Brown coloured photos on the wall of the Lakes of Killarney and other wondrous delights of Irish scenery, posters proclaiming the virtues of traveling by the Great Northern Railway etc. Having seen to the demands of the occasion there was then time to explore. No other station had a glasshouse like this. We would walk the length of the platform, at the end where we came in, the train seemed to run just inches from the sea.

But at the other end was the greatest of wonders, that turntable. The wee-est wean knew its name and its purpose. The best thing a train set could have. I saw it in operation only once, what I would give to get down there help them fellers to push it round.

We noted the two tracks that ran round the outside of the glasshouse. There were carriages, wagons and tankers parked round there, one line ran away to the pier and there were sheds and stores beyond the turntable.

We reached the Granny's all right that evening in a state of collapse, but for two days after that we were still rolling, swaying and jolting, the motion of the wee red train took a time to wear off.

Postscript

It must have been the August of 1958 or '59. My brother and I in our mid and late teens, were on our summer holidays in Kilcar. One morning we happened to be at Killybegs having a good look around.

We closely examined the railcar train just about to leave, we scrutinised the notices and timetables and observed what vehicles lay in sidings. The train, far from full, started off and chugged its way out from the shelter of the overall roof.

The last vehicle had just cleared the platform when a late passenger charged into the station and along the platform. A matronly lady, everything in proportion, well laden with bags, loudly lamented her missing the train. Now, I'm not quite sure how the driver became aware of the latecomer, he could hardly have heard her loud lamentations above the noise of the engine. However, the train was stopped, I don't recall seeing any signal box at Killybegs (there was a ground frame).

Could they have thrown up the signal. The train duly reversed fully into the station and she of the bags and lamentations was hoisted on board. Due deference of course to Lord Lifford and his imposter, and the journey was resumed.

The CDR had a worthy reputation for excursions and not many of these had Killybegs as a destination. But such was the case the year (or two) before the demise. Neither did the railway authorities discriminate between the carriage of Donegal Orangemen (and there were a few), nor the green ones. Now, for those not of the parish, it is as well to explain that the Catholic Nationalists equivalent to the Orangemen are two august bodies known as the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Irish National Foresters.

It is the practice and custom of this body to gather annually on a Sunday in August in a different unsuspecting provincial Irish town, 1957 or '58 was Killybegs' lucky turn. The day consists of attendance at Mass, bands marching, banners displaying, stirring Nationalist music, speeches and a limited degree of inebriation. The Foresters called it a convention.

The brother and meself supervised the arrival of one train. I believe it was too long for the platform so there was a phased disembarkation. The CDR certainly had to draw on resources to find vehicles for this great event. Of course we were on the look-out for the worthies from Newry branch - "John Mitchell", from Rostrevor branch - "St Bronagh", etc.

It was hardly possible to cram all this gear into a wee red train: band instruments, big drums, the banners, bums on seats, where did they stow the banner poles? Naturally, we had to superintend the removal of this motley collection at the end of the day. If it was hardly credible to unload this lot then it was almost impossible to reload.

Judgment being ever so slightly impaired, the insertion of drums and banners in doorways was accomplished with great difficulty. Eventually the whole lot steamed away from Kilybegs bar a few of the assembly who were still to be seen wandering around the town for a couple of days. This I venture to say would have been the last demonstration or parade transported by the CDR, orange or green.

The County Donegal Railways

from Railway Magazine, February 1931

by R W A Salter

A glance at a map of Ireland will show Strabane to be the most important railway junction in the north-west area of that country. It is here that the Great Northern Railway expresses from Dublin and other big towns make connection with the Joint Committee’s services to and from the Donegal Highlands. The adjoining stations of the GNR of Ireland and the Donegal Committee at Strabane are connected by a covered footbridge. Each station is self-contained, that of the Committee consisting of an island platform, with the usual offices, etc., and a refreshment room that is controlled by the railway.

From the junction, the main line is carried over the River Mourne by a steel bridge, erected when the Donegal Railway was extended to Strabane in 1893. Thence, turning west, the line traverses a stretch of fairly level country, passing over a fine steel bridge of 130-feet span, built in 1924, and marking the boundary between Northern Ireland and the Free State. Within about four miles the line reaches Clady, the headquarters of the Free State Frontier Officials, to whom the waiting room has been made over. After Clady a series of minor gradients are negotiated, and three more stations – Castlefinn (the Customs Post), Liscooly, and Killygordon – are passed, before Stranorlar (13¾ miles) is reached, after rounding a slight curve.

The instructions contained in an old rule-book of the Finn Valley Railway (now merged in the Joint Committee’s system) for 1872 make interesting reading. Engine drivers are notified that "all trains must creep into Stranorlar cautiously, so as, under any circumstances, to pass over the facing-points leading into the market, and the second set of facing-points, at a speed under three miles per hour; and so as to make perfectly sure that the engine will come to a stand before reaching the turntable." The italics are in the original.

The layout at Stranorlar Station was greatly improved during 1925. The eastern end of No. 1 platform is what once formed the terminus of the broad-gauge Finn Valley Railway. Abutting on this platform are the station buildings and the general offices of the Committee, and adjoining the latter is a locomotive tank, with gravity water supply and auxiliary pumping engine.

The railway divides in the middle of the station, an arrangement rendered necessary to enable a suitable crossing of the Finn to be made when the branch line to Glenties was constructed. No. 1 platform thus serves the Glenties trains, as well as the down main-line trains. No. 2 platform accommodates the up main-line trains.

On the south side of Stranorlar Station are carriage sheds and general stores, and about 100 yards east are the Locomotive Shops and Running Sheds. The latter have three roads, each providing accommodation for six engines. Normally about 100 men are employed here on locomotive, coach, and wagon repair work.

On leaving Stranorlar the main line crosses the River Finn by a stone viaduct built in 1881, and immediately begins a steep ascent to Barnesmore Gap. For a distance of 5½ miles there is a ruling gradient of 1 in 50, with not infrequent stretches of 1 in 39 and 1 in 40, which, needless to say, call for exceptional performance. Passing Meenglas Halt Errigal, the highest peak in Donegal, becomes distinctly visible on the horizon distinctly visible on the horizon away to the north-west, although it is 60 miles distant. Then, at an altitude of 600 feet, the railway reaches a plateau, and for three miles skirts Lough Mourne, a charming sheet of water, surrounded by moorland.

At Derg Bridge (21½ miles) the line enters the magnificent defile known as the Barnesmore Gap, where stupendous masses of rock rise to a height of 1,700 feet on each side. From the summit there is a quick descent of 1 in 60 to Barnesmore Halt. Thence, following the winding of the Eask River, the line runs to Lough Eske Station, where an enchanting view of the lough greets the eye. The next halting-place is Clar Bridge Halt, and thence a continuous switchback descent brings the railway to Donegal (31½ miles from Strabane).

Donegal, which in itself has an interest that is chiefly antiquarian, is an excellent centre from which to explore the picturesque country and the wild coast scenery for which this corner of Ireland is justly famed. A branch line of the County Donegal Railways, 15½ miles long, runs to Ballyshannon, with gradients that are less severe than those on the other sections of the system. Ballyshannon is also served by the Bundoran branch line of the Great Northern Railway.

Continuing from Donegal, the main line of the Joint Committee skirts the coast, and is here a remarkable combination of stiff gradients and sharp curves, the worst being a 7½-chain curve on a 1 in 40 gradient at Seahill. Killymard Halt is followed closely by Mountcharles, and Inver, the next station, precedes Dunkineely, a popular sporting and tourist centre, where the trains have to negotiate the Seahill curve mentioned above. Proceeding, the railway passes through Bruckless and Ardara Road stations, and shortly reaches Killybegs (50½ miles), an important herring fishery centre and the eastern terminus of the County Donegal system.

On leaving Stranorlar, the branch line to Glenties describes a sharp turn to the north-west and crosses the Finn by one of the largest single-span bridges in Ireland. The bridge was originally intended for a Norwegian broad-gauge railway, but, a hitch arising, it eventually found its way to the Donegal lines. With a gradual ascent, the railway passes Ballybofey, Glenmore, and Cloghan, and then begins a stiff climb of 6½ miles to Ballinamore Station, where the scenery changes from woodland to moorland. Finntown, the next station, is close to Lough Finn, the wild and beautiful sheet of water from which the village takes its name. Across the lough, the mountains of Scraigs and Aghla, 1,961 feet high, rise abruptly from the water’s edge. Skirting the lough, the railway turns south-west and attains its summit about a mile from Shallogans Halt, thence descending, with an average gradient of 1 in 50 to Glenties (24½ miles from Stranorlar).

In addition to the services over its own lines, the Committee supplies engines, carriages and wagons for working over the Londonderry and Strabane section of the LMS (Northern Counties Committee). Trainmen are also supplied in this connection. From Victoria Road, Londonderry, to Strabane the distance is 14½ miles. The Joint Committee works also the Strabane and Letterkenny Railway, which was opened in 1909 and is 19½ miles in length. At its northern terminus this line connects with the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway. The following locomotives and rolling stock are owned by the Committee: 20 tank locomotives (12 with superheaters), 6 (4-6-0), 2 (4-4-4), 4 (4-6-4), 8 (2-6-4); 53 passenger vehicles; 318 goods wagons and miscellaneous vehicles, and three petrol rail cars.

Traffic is mainly heavy goods, but all trains are mixed and scheduled running time has to be maintained. The earliest narrow-gauge locomotives on the County Donegal Railways were of 2-4-0 side-tank type, known as class 1, and having the following dimensions: cylinders, 13 in. x 20 in.; working pressure, 120 lbs.; heating surface, 555 sq. ft.; capacity of tank, 500 galls.; capacity of bunkers, 1 ton; total weight in working order, 20 tons. One of these engines was still in service for shunting purposes, and giving very good results, up to July 1918, when it was loaned to the Cork, Blackrock, and Passage Railway. Since its return to the Joint Committee it has been retained as a reserve. The other engines of this class – two in number – have been scrapped. The class 2 engine followed in 1893. This had a 2-6-0 wheel arrangement, with 3 ft. 6 in. driving wheels; cylinders, 14 in. by 20 in.; heating surface, 604 sq. ft.; grate area, 8.75 sq. ft.; working pressure, 150 lb.; and total weight, 30 tons.

After a brief period of service, both class 1 and class 2 engines were found to have inadequate fuel and water capacities, and in the ensuing class 3 material improvements were made in these respects. The class 3 are of 4-4-4 type, and the main dimensions are as follows: cylinders, 14 in. by 20 in.; working pressure, 150 lb.; total heating surface, 713 sq. ft.; grate area, 11.5 sq. ft.; capacity of tanks, 1,000 galls.; capacity of bunkers, 2½ tons; total weight, 38 tons. These engines had at first to be confined to the Londonderry-Stranorlar section of the line, where the rails were 60-65 lb., compared with the 45 lb.

Elsewhere on the system. The growth of goods traffic necessitated a more powerful type of engine, and a class 4 was therefore introduced. Like class 3, operation of these much heavier engines had to be restricted to the Londonderry-Stranorlar section, until, in 1907, the rest of the system was relaid with 60 lb. BSS rails. Class 4 engines have 21 in. cylinders, a working pressure of 160 lb., heating surface of 723 sq. ft., grate area of 12 sq. ft., and tank capacity of 1,000 galls. Their total weight in working order is 44 tons. The class 4 engines were converted into superheaters in 1923 in Stranorlar shops.

Further improvement in locomotives was effected when class 5 was designed, a type that has proved most adaptable to all-round conditions. A boiler similar to that in class 4 was adopted, the cylinders were lengthened by 1 in., and the boiler pressure increased to 125 lb. Per sq. in.; whilst an extra pair of coupled wheels was added and a radial truck substituted for the bogie in front. The class 5 type are being converted into superheaters.

To keep abreast of traffic developments it was found desirable to provide engines with an even greater tank capacity than that of class 5, and a big step forward in this direction was made in 1912 when a very sturdy 2-6-4 type, class 5A, was introduced. These and the class 4 and class 5 engines are claimed to be the only narrow-gauge ones in the British Islands fitted with Schmidt superheater. Their dimensions are as follow: cylinders, 15½ in. by 21 in.; working pressure, 160 lb.; total heating surface, 724 sq. ft.; grate area, 11.5 sq. ft.; capacity of tanks, 1,500 galls.; capacity of bunkers, 2½ tons; diameter of coupled wheels, 4 ft.; total weight in working order, 50 tons. These engines will haul a fully-loaded passenger train from Derry to Donegal, a distance of 46 miles, without a stop for water, at an average speed of 35 m.p.h., with a maximum load of 230 tons. The latest addition to the tolling stock consists of four rail motor cars of the Sentinel-Cammell type.

All of the Committee’s locomotives are painted black, with red lines, and the same colour has lately been adopted for passenger rolling-stock. Some of the crimson-lake coackes are still to be seen, the effect of the pleasing colour being heightened by a handsome reproduction of the Committee’s coat- of-arms. Second-class was abolished in January, 1922, with the result that trains can now be made up of two coaches, instead of the three that obtained formerly. This has enabled a further economy to be effected, in connection with coachwork, in that letters to distinguish third-class carriages are now dispensed with, an example that might be followed by British railways. As a matter of fact, this practice has been followed on the District Railway of London.

The Committee’s coaching stock sets a high standard for the Irish Free State. When the Finn Valley Railway was regauged in 1893, all the broad-gauge coaches were purchased by the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway (now the Great Southern Railways), otherwise all vehicles acquired during and since 1881 are still on the line. The older carriages are paneled outside in teak, but pine matchboarding or aluminium sheets now enter largely into this feature of carriage construction. A number of coaches are six-wheeled, the centre wheels having a lateral movement, which affords very smooth running. First-class compartments are upholstered, but third-class are not. Steam-heating of carriages has recently been adopted. Lighting is by acetylene gas, supplied from a generator fixed at the end of each coach. To encourage tourist travel, a rear-end observation car was introduced in 1909, and there are few other railways in the British Isles from which the passenger can obtain such remarkable prospects of attractive scenery as on the Donegal line.

All goods wagons have a capacity of 7 tons, and, considering that the average tare is 4 tons, they are, it would seem, relatively as efficient as the standard-gauge stock in England. Ten of the open and two of the of the covered wagons are transship trucks, the bodies being adapted to transfer to standard- gauge, in order to carry perishable and other special traffic expeditiously to and from the standard- gauge system. All goods wagons are fitted with the automatic brake. Recently some of the coaches, displaced by the four rail-motors, have been converted to covered goods wagons; container transport has also been introduced.

The County Donegal Railways are single-track throughout, and the electric train staff is used, miniature instruments being employed on the main line and important branches. The trains being mixed, considerable ingenuity has to be exercised in marshalling and organising the traffic, so as to prevent delay in the services. In recent years the old-fashioned needle telegraph instrument has been substituted by telephones, which are installed all over the system.

Mr Henry Forbes, secretary and traffic manager of the County Donegal Railway Joint Committee, began his career with the clerical staff of the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) at Armagh station under the late Mr Thomas Shaw, the then manager of the Ulster section. Following a wide experience in various capacities at Portadown, Armagh, Belfast and Dublin, in July 1910, Mr Forbes was appointed secretary and traffic superintendent of the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee, and in March, 1918, his title was changed to that of secretary and traffic manager. In January, 1923, the executive organisation of the Committee was altered, the secretary and traffic manager being given disciplinary control of all departments, the technical details being looked after by the engineers of the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) and the Northern Counties Committee of the London Midland and Scottish Railway.

Recalling the Heyday of the Donegal Line

from Meccano Magazine, June 1960

by P J Lynch

Donegal is a thinly-populated and rather bleak, though not unlovely, county in the north-west corner of the Irish Republic. Its deeply-indented coastline, open to the Atlantic gales, is dotted with tiny fishing villages and holiday resorts.

Rivers abound and it was alongside the Finn that the first railway in the county was opened in 1863. This was the Finn Valley Railway laid to the standard Irish gauge of 5 feet 3 inches, connecting Stranorlar with Strabane, just over the border in Northern Ireland, on the main line to Londonderry.

It was not until 26 years later that Stranorlar was connected to Donegal, the county town, by the 3 ft gauge West Donegal Railway. Financial difficulties were encountered, but branches were laid from Donegal to Killybegs in 1893 and from Stranorlar to Glenties in 1894. During this period the Finn Valley Railway, which had, in 1892, been amalgamated with the West Donegal, was converted to narrow gauge.

In 1900 Strabane and Londonderry, already linked by the Great Northern Railway of Ireland, were connected by narrow gauge too, and in 1905 the Donegal to Ballyshannon line was opened. By this time the powerful Midland Railway in England had become interested in the narrow gauge railway in Donegal and, in 1906, the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee was formed to operate the lines, three members being provided by the Midland Railway and three by the GNR(I).

In 1909 the last passenger-carrying narrow-gauge line to be constructed in Britain [sic] was opened between Strabane and Letterkenny, bringing the total mileage of County Donegal railways to 125 and making it the largest narrow gauge system in these Islands.

The headquarters were at Stranorlar, a small town boasting a large station with locomotive sheds and workshops nearby.

Perhaps the most interesting stretch of line was that from Stranorlar to Donegal, through the Barnesmore Gap with its long, formidable gradients and howling winds. Beyond Donegal the branch to the fishing village of Killybegs afforded some lovely views of Donegal Bay.

Unlike some of the narrow gauge railways the County Donegal did not keep its original locomotives to the end. The first 3 ft gauge stud, operated by the West Donegal, was scrapped by 1926 while a later batch built in 1893 had all gone by 1937. Two rare 4-4-4 tanks built in 1902 lasted only until 1933, but the next engines to appear were more successful. They were four 4-6-4 tanks built by Nasmyth Wilson & Co., in 1904. Finally numbered 9 to 12 they bore the names of Donegal rivers Eske, Owenea, Erne and Mourne.

Even more competent were the 2-6-4 tanks, built by the same firm in 1907, which later became Nos. 4-8, respectively named Meenglas, Drumboe, Columbkille, Finn and Foyle. Finally, in 1912, came a batch of three superheated 2-6-4 tanks, the first narrow gauge locomotives in Britain to be so equipped. Again Nasmyth Wilson & Co. were the builders, and the success of the superheated engines led to the same firm’s earlier engines being similarly fitted. The 1912 batch finally becomes Nos 1 to 3 and were named Alice, Blanche and Lydia respectively, thus perpetuating the names of the original West Donegal locomotives.

When the County Donegal Railways were closed last year seven of the Nasmyth Wilson tanks survived, although only two or three were in use for freight and occasional excursion work, and most handsome they looked in their geranium red livery.

During the General Strike of 1926 the County Donegal used a six-seater petrol-driven inspection vehicle for carrying passengers on the Glenties branch. This proved such a success that the Committee brought two petrol railcars from the Derwent Valley Light Railway, in Yorkshire, and later three more railcars, all with petrol engines, were built for the line. This small fleet of railcars was numbered 1 to 6.

In 1931 No. 7 appeared and this was the very first diesel railcar to operate on a British [sic] Railway. [We feel we really must point out that No. 7 operated within Northern Ireland – between Strabane and Clady – and the Irish Republic, neither of which areas constitute part of "Britain"; Northern Ireland, after all is officially part of the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". No railcars ever operated north of Strabane.] Like its twin, No. 8, it had a 74 horse-power Gardner engine and carried 30 passengers. Railcars 9 and 10 were again Ford-engined petrol vehicles, being actually rebuilds of road buses, but No. 12, which entered service in 1934, was a bogie diesel railcar, the forerunner of all those subsequently built for the County Donegal Railway. These were numbered 14 to 20 and appeared between 1935 and 1950.

Unfortunately No. 17 was destroyed in an accident in 1949 and in the same year No. 18 was burnt out, later being replaced by a similar vehicle. No. 10 had been destroyed by fire in 1940, but in this case the blank was filled by the purchase of a diesel railcar from the Clogher Valley Railway, which closed in 1941.

It was also from the Clogher Valley Railway that locomotive No. 11 originated. This interesting specimen was originally a steam tractor but the County Donegal rebuilt it with a 74 horse-power diesel engine. Appropriately named Phœnix, it could usually be found busily shunting at Strabane.

The seating capacity of the railcars was often insufficient to cope with the passenger traffic and numerous trailer vehicles were available. These included an interesting box-like vehicle, with a 2-2-2-2 wheel arrangement, that had once been a petrol-engined car of the 5 ft. 3 in. gauge Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway.

All the passenger-carrying vehicles , and Phœnix, were painted geranium red with cream upper panels. The freight stock, which was plain grey, included some quite massive bogie vans.

During 1959 it became apparent that much of the permanent way of the County Donegal system was in urgent need of renewal if the railway was to carry on. The expense of this work could not be justified and on December 31 last year the line was closed, although the County Donegal Railway Joint Committee will continue to operate a fleet of buses and lorries.

In their heyday the narrow-gauge railways of Ireland totalled no fewer than 560 miles. With the disappearance of the County Donegal system only the remote West Clare Railway, comprising about 50 miles of line, remains at the moment of writing.

The County Donegal Railways

from Meccano Magazine, November, 1950

Donegal, one of the largest counties in Ireland, is famous for the beauty and variety of its coast and hills, but tribute must be paid also to its two narrow gauge (3 ft.) railways, the larger of which is operated by "The County Donegal Railways Joint Committee."

This, as its title indicates, is a Joint Committee with members appointed by the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) and the British Transport Commission. The Railway began in 1863 as the Finn Valley Railway Company, which was merged in 1892 with the West Donegal Railway, then ten years old, to become the Donegal Railway Company. In 1906 the latter company was acquired by the Joint Committee, the Midland Railway being then the contracting party whose interests were passed on to the subsequent LMS and later to the British Transport Commission.

The main line of the County Donegal Railways leads westward from Strabane, where the narrow-gauge Derry line of the former NCC runs into the same station. This station accommodates also the Strabane and Letterkenny trains, and it adjoins the station of the Irish standard gauge GNR Derry line. At Stranorlar are the headquarters of the system and the locomotive shops and sheds. On leaving Stranorlar the main line crosses the River Finn and immediately begins the steep ascent to Barnesmore Gap where the gradient is 1 in 50 for a distance of over five miles. The moorland water of Lough Mourne is encountered at an altitude of 600 ft. At Derg Bridge the line enters the defile of Barnesmore Gap where railway, road and river just manage to squeeze through the narrow rift. After the summit there is a rapid descent from Barnesmore Halt at 1 in 60, and a continuous switchback road brings the line down to Donegal, 31½ miles from Strabane.

At Donegal the track divides and the main line goes to Killybegs, a sharply curved and steeply graded length. The other route, referred to as the "Branch" in the railway’s working timetables, stretches for 15½ miles to Ballyshannon. The gradients on the branch are less severe than elsewhere.

Today the County Donegal runs five services each way per day between Strabane, Stranorlar, Donegal, Inver and Killybegs, a distance of 51 miles, with four services each way between Donegal and Ballyshannon, 16 miles. The Strabane and Letterkenny Railway, opened in 1906, also is owned and controlled by the Joint Committee, and seven return services are operated each way over the 19 miles between Strabane and Letterkenny. A further branch line 25 miles in length between Stranorlar and Glenties is only open for livestock traffic, passengers and merchandise being conveyed by road.

The County Donegal have the unique distinction of having pioneered serious internal combustion railcar working in Great Britain and Ireland. As a consequence of the 1926, they first introduced this mode of traction by the operation of a small petrol road bus with railway wheels substituted for those of normal road type. The experiment was so successful that it was continued and developed considerably so that today passenger services are covered by modern railcars powered by six-cylinder diesel engines of 102 h.p.

Locomotive-hauled trains operate "mixed" and excursion services, but the economy of the system is centred on railcar working. To see these vehicles in operation is convincing proof of their amazing adaptability; it is common for them to haul a coach or trailer car and two wagons of luggage or perishable merchandise despite the heavy gradients they have to negotiate.

The latest railcar, No. 19, follows generally the design of the previous units of the separate power bogie type, the first of which went into service in March 1934. In this latest vehicle, however, the driver’s cab is built right out to the rounded front to enclose the engine, and there is a separate entrance door each side for the use of the driver. The car provides accommodation for 41 passengers on tubular frame seats, beautifully cushioned and upholstered.

As with the previous cars, with power bogie complete with cab, which is of timber construction, was provided by Walker Bros. (Wigan), the passenger body, underframe and rear bogie being built in the Dundalk Works of the Great Northern Railway, Ireland. The unit is powered by a six-cylinder Gardner engine of the type that has been standard since 1936 for County Donegal railcars. Transmission is through a clutch and four-speed gear-box, thence through a shaft and worm drive mounted on the rear power bogie axle. The drive is connected to the leading wheels by coupling rods, as usual.

Previous railcars had the fuel tank mounted just above the engine with the filler opening in the driver’s cab. On No. 19 the fuel tank is carried below the floor of the power bogie on the left-hand side and has an outside filler. The tank capacity is approximately 33 gallons.

The body is panelled in aluminium on the outside, the inside being finished in a special hardboard the surface of which has an imitation Spanish leather effect. The luggage rack which runs along each side and also above the rear seat has been increased in width, and water heating pipes run the full length of the car. These pipes are connected to the engine cooling water system, rubber pipes being used to allow for the articulation "Airvac" ventilators with chromium-plated interior grids are fitted in the roof.

The radiator is in the normal position in the front, as the car runs one way only. Thus a turntable has to be visited at each journey’s end. The car includes a quick-release brake which makes use of a vacuum chamber, allowing a number of brake applications and releases to be made without "revving up" the exhauster.

The "deadman" control handle operates through the throttle-control. Thus the throttle-handle, if released, goes to the shut position and in addition to operating the engine stopping lever it makes a full application of the vacuum brake. A pin is provided for locking the handle in the engine "idling" position. Standard central type buffer, drawgear and side chains are provided at the rear, and a vacuum brake connection, as the vehicle is sometimes required to haul a passenger trailer and perhaps one or two wagons. A rear ladder and roof loading rack for luggage are fitted.

Observation vehicles with rear end windows were provided as long ago as 1909. In addition there are several other cars of lighter construction [trailers] that are more suitable for running in conjunction with diesel railcars. Observation cars are regularly conveyed on certain services between Stranorlar and Strabane, and they are used also as required by traffic. These smartly-kept and somewhat unusual vehicles afford a particularly good view of the scenery.

The County Donegal is a self-contained system, and extremely useful work is done in overhauls and repairs to rolling stock in their locomotive, railcar, carriage and wagon repair shops. Here one finds that the art of craftsmanship is not gone, and that team-work is the keynote. "Make do and Mend" has been a common cry in recent times but the County Donegal can claim to have been the originators of this policy many years ago. There is ample evidence of adaptability and ingenuity in the maintenance of their plant and equipment. All the work is done with quite remarkable thoroughness.

The steam locomotives on the County Donegal Railways are not numerous but they are tough; they have to be. There are eleven engines, all tanks. They are divided between the 4-6-4 type and the 2-6-4 type. The general design involves outside cylinders, as is usual in narrow-gauge construction, and the wheel frames are outside as well. The 4-6-4s, however, have bogies with inside frames. The 4-6-4s are the older type and their service dates from 1904. Of the 2-6-4s, those most recently built, in 1912, are notable as being the only narrow-gauge engines in Ireland to be provided with superheaters. A ride on the footplate of one of these sturdy tanks is a thrilling experience, particularly when the engine is putting forth its best efforts on the climb to Barnesmore.

County Donegal steam locomotives are painted a brilliant shade of red, and the coaching stock and railcars are painted red and cream. This smart colour scheme is a pleasant change from the usual tendency on local systems of this kind to paint the stock in more or less undistinguished colours.