LLSR History


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A brief history of the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway

Introduction

The catchment area of the railway companies that were to eventually become the Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway was all that area of County Donegal extending from Derry westwards to Letterkenny and beyond, and northwards to either side of Lough Swilly itself. This vast region comprises large stretches of good farmland bounded by steep hills and mountains on peninsulas deeply cut by sea loughs. West of Letterkenny the north-east to south-west grain of the granite mountains are suitable only for sheep and, on their seawards fringe, for fishing and subsistence cultivation. In all, a most unlikely setting for a railway, yet it was through this very countryside that Ireland's second largest narrow gauge railway network was built, and through which some of the most impressive steam engines to operate on the Irish narrow gauge ran. From the outset, the L&LSR was cash-strapped. Extensions relied on Government grants; economies enforced by the Board of Works in constructing and equipping extensions affected operation and ultimately led to the demise of railway services.

From the early 1920s, the L&LSR management realised that the company's financial and operating future lay in road transport to which they transferred at the earliest opportunity, unlike the County Donegal Railway in the south of the county which battled for so long to maintain rail services. But how did a railway come to be built in such an unlikely location in the first place? To answer this question, we must return to the mid 19th century when a railway for the area was first proposed.

Derry, at this time, had developed as an important trade centre and major port for the north-west corner of Ireland. Improvements in communication between Derry and the land and villages surrounding Lough Swilly had long been considered and from the mid 18th century, a number of options for the construction of a canal connecting the two loughs had been proposed. This was a period when coastal shipping was often quicker than any overland transport system and the sea loughs of Ireland were important arteries for trade of all types. Indeed, many of the small towns along the shores of Lough Swilly had much better contact with Glasgow, by boat, than with Dublin, by cart.

The canal project was only part of the overall improvements considered. A large area of low-lying land opposite Inch Island was regularly inundated by the tides and it was the main concern of the development project to build lengthy embankments to reclaim many hundreds of acres for farming. Accordingly, between 1838 and 1850 four massive embankments were constructed. These were the Trady Embankment linking Burnfoot to Trady Island; the Blanket Nook Embankment just north of Newtoncunningham; and the two stretching across the lough to Inch Island – from Quigley's Point and from just east of Farland Point respectively. Altogether they enclosed almost 3,000 acres of reclaimed land.

The canal was to have been an integral part of this scheme but a combination of cost, engineering difficulties associated with the varying tidal ranges of the two loughs, and the rapid growth of railways elsewhere led the businessmen to move away from the scheme. Instead, a number of railway routes were proposed, the one to succeed was that promoted by the Lough Foyle & Lough Swilly Railway Company. The Act of Incorporation was granted in June 1853, by which time the company had renamed itself the Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway Company.

The L&LSR proposed to run a line from the quayside at Derry along the Skeoge River valley as far as Burnfoot and then along the top of the Trady Embankment to Farland Point where there would be steamer connections throughout the lough and beyond. Construction eventually commenced in 1860, the line being built to the Irish standard gauge of 5ft 3ins. While under construction, it was decided to make a junction just west of Burnfoot and to then turn northwards along the coast to Buncrana.

The line to Farland Point opened on the very last day of 1863 and that to Buncrana sometime towards the end of the following year. Unfortunately, the service to Farland Point was very little used, steamer timings not being under the railway company's control, but that to Buncrana flourished. As a consequence, by 1866, after only three years' service, the Farland branch was abandoned and the L&LSR concentrated all its services on the line to Buncrana.

But, in Letterkenny, things were beginning to move. Since the mid 1850's, several projects had been mooted to bring this important town into the railway network and this led to the incorporation of the Letterkenny Railway Company by act of Parliament in 1860. The two foremost schemes were for a branch leaving the Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway's line running alongside the River Foyle at Cuttymanhill following a westward route, or a line from the L&LSR's abandoned track at Farland Point south-westwards via Manorcunningham and Pluck.

After some twenty years of discussion and delays, the latter route was decided upon, but only after Baronial guarantees were secured. A final funding shortfall was overcome when the proposal to build the line to the 3ft gauge was accepted and accordingly, the Letterkenny Railway Company's narrow-gauge line from Tooban Junction to Letterkenny was opened in 1883. The L&LSR remained with the standard gauge for a further two years so that a change of trains – and gauges – was always necessary at the junction.

But in 1885 the logical decision was taken and the L&LSR regauged to 3ft. Buncrana services were suspended for the first week of April 1885 while the work took place. The result was a unified narrow-gauge network some 31 miles long and consisting of two lines linking important towns to the city of Derry. The Swilly re-equipped with 3ft gauge motive power, passenger and freight vehicles and the 5ft 3in gauge stock was auctioned off.

The line to Letterkenny was nominally independent as the Letterkenny Railway Co., although it was worked throughout by the L&LSR. By 1887, after only four years of operation, failure to repay the interest on Government loans resulted in the company being wound up and the line being taken over by the Board of Works. The L&LSR agreed to continue to work the line and so began the company's chequered association with the Board.

The key figures in the railway's development at this time were Messrs McCrea and McFarland who, together, took the business in hand and, through strict economy measures and diligent investment, advanced the company's standing and resources.

The last decade or so of the last century saw many plans for further expansion but it wasn't until the government offered funding for the building of railways in the so-called "congested" areas that any new lines were built. The Congested Districts Act of 1891 sought to improve the economic condition of the poorest areas – those where the land was deemed too poor to support the people who lived there, hence the term "congested". Fishing was encouraged as were improvements in communication between the fishing ports and the main towns and cities. For the Swilly it meant the construction of two lines - the extension north to Carndonagh from Buncrana first proposed in 1885, and the long winding line to far-off Burtonport to take advantage of the improvements to the port's harbour.

Though both extensions were jointly planned by the Board of Works and the L&LSR, the former, as the paymaster insisted on a number of economies, the search for which resulted in a number of frustrating delays for the company. Nevertheless, the Carn line proceeded relatively smoothly, opening in July 1901. Built entirely with grant aid, with the L&LSR supplying rolling stock, the line took the only significant pass through the mountains, north-eastwards from Buncrana station to Drumfree, then veered north-west to Clonmany and Ballyliffin. It then followed the coast before turning east and then southeast to terminate at Carndonagh.

The economies pursued in the construction of the Burtonport line had more serious consequences. Its sole objective was to link the fishing port with the rest of Ireland's railway network by the shortest route possible. Consequently, the line first ran west then north of Letterkenny as far as Creeslough where it again swung westwards towards Errigal, threading a path through the mountains and moorlands to Gweedore and Burtonport. The drive to Burtonport meant that, despite traversing almost 50 miles of the county the railway managed to avoid most of the coastal settlements – at best they were served by stations two or three miles away. From the outset, therefore, the company lacked a catchment passenger population and was reliant on whatever freight traffic it could win – a significant factor in the line's subsequent demise. The company were also unhappy about many aspects of the line's construction and the rolling stock provided by the Board, believing them to be inadequate. Despite these difficulties, the line passed inspection and opened in March 1903.

Relations with the Board had reached an all time low. Service on the Burtonport extension was poor and the L&LSR bitterly complained that this was due to enforced economies in the building and equipping of the line. Claim followed counter claim until in 1909, Sir Charles Scotter agreed to mediate between the L&LSR, the Board and the Treasury, the outcome being the "Scotter Award" whereby some improvements in rolling stock and facilities on the line were obtained.

The early decades of the century thus saw the L&LSR at its most developed with some 99 miles of narrow-gauge line, a developing fleet of locomotives and new coaching and goods stock. Steamers operated up and down the lough and connected with trains at Fahan pier; the services to Rathmullen, Ramelton and Portsalon being the most popular The steamer company, although owned by McRea and McFarland, was never part of the railway company's operations.

But, even as the railway grew and consolidated, the times conspired against it. Successive examinations and enquiries raised doubts about safety and correct working practice while income never generated sufficient profit to justify any reasonable level of dividend for the shareholders.

Ireland's struggle for independence after the First World War also left its mark. Trains were often used to transport British troops and the local staff frequently refused to operate them. The railway itself was attacked and damaged so as to prevent troop trains from running and on at least one occasion a mail train with plain-clothed British agents on board was attacked and a running gun fight ensued. Following partition, the war of independence continued as a civil war between those who supported the truncated 26-county Free State and those who continued the fight for independence for the whole 32 counties of Ireland. Throughout the L&LSR's area, this war was hard fought and many incidents involved the railway until hostilities largely ended in 1925. A further complication caused by Partition was the introduction of customs checks on every train passing along the line to Derry. Bridge End and Tooban were the site of the Free State checks while Gallagh Road was the home of the Northern Ireland customs officials.

The 1920s and '30s proved to be the crunch period for the Swilly. Further south the County Donegal Railway was already successfully utilising first petrol and then diesel powered railcars but this option was not taken up by the L&LSR directors. Instead, they viewed the general decline in railway revenue as an indicator that the company's future lay with road transport and began the first of many purchases of suitable road vehicles.

1935 saw the writing on the wall with the Carn line north of Buncrana being closed after only 34 years of service. Retrenchment of rail services continued while the road transport fleet rapidly expanded and, it must be admitted, the financial health of the company improved. Dividends of 5% now became possible and these were to grow to 7% as further railway routes were replaced by bus services. The Burtonport line was due to go in 1940 and was already being ripped up when there was a stay of execution caused by a national fuel shortage. Ironically, the Second World War gave the line, at least as far as Gweedore, another seven years of life as a freight line carrying turf and anything else the railway could attract.

But it was only to be a short respite. 1947 found rail passenger services only running from Derry to Letterkenny and freight only to Buncrana. The buses had won! And small wonder, as at least they actually went into the little towns and villages rather than giving them a passing nod from a hillside several miles away. On July 1st 1953, the last train crossed the Strand Road and pulled into Graving Dock. Few were present to witness the end of the railway. The company went over entirely to road transport and has since then continued as a major passenger and freight haulier for the north of the county with its buses still a familiar sight on Donegal roads.

Locomotives and Rolling Stock

Over the years the Swilly owned and operated some of the most powerful locomotives to be found on the Irish three-foot narrow-gauge. Regrettably, all were scrapped when the line finally closed in 1953.

All six of the original locomotives used on the standard gauge system were 0-6-0 tank engines. After regauging, these were no longer of any use and they were either scrapped or sold. Nos 4 St Patrick and 5 St Columb were sold to the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway where they were converted to 4-4-0T engines. Nothing is known of the livery of these engines.

For the opening of the Letterkenny Railway in 1883, the Swilly ordered three 0-6-2 tank engines from Black, Hawthorn & Co. The first engine, No. 1 J T Mackey, arrived in 1882. It later was hired for use in the construction of the Clogher Valley Railway and the CDR's Glenties branch. It was scrapped in 1911. Two similar engines, No. 2 Londonderry and No. 3 Donegal followed in 1883, remaining in service until 1912 and 1913 respectively. No. 4 Inishowen, an 0-6-0 side-tank locomotive arrrived in 1885, also from Black, Hawthorn & Co. For a while, the leading section of it's coupling rods were removed, making it a 2-4-0T. It was extensively rebuilt and renumbered No 17, with removal of the name, around 1914 and survived in this form until 1940.

In 1885 two 2-4-0T locomotives arrived from the Glenariff Iron Ore & Harbour Co in Antrim. They had the distinction of being the first narrow gauge engines in Ireland, arriving from Robert Stephenson & Co in 1873. Numbered 5 & 6, they served for only 14 years, being placed in reserve at Pennyburn in 1899 as Nos 5a and 6a before being scrapped some short time after.

The need for greater power on the Carndonagh extension led to the introduction of what was to become the most popular, and exclusive, wheel arrangement used by the Swilly - the 4-6-2 tank. Eight examples of this type were acquired from three different builders. The first pair were supplied by Hudswell Clarke & Co. of Leeds in 1899, costing £1,850 each (Works Nos. 518 & 519). They took the now vacant Nos 5 and 6 which were changed to 15 and 16 in 1913. Though ordered for the opening of the Carndonagh branch, they were used on the Letterkenny line to improve service - a fact which led to legal proceedings by the Board of Works. Once the new extension opened on 1st July 1901, they moved to take over the work they had been designed for. Both officially survived to the end, though No 16 was out of service for a number of years. No. 15 had the sad task of working the last passenger train into Derry on 8th August, 1953.

Two more 4-6-2 tanks from Hudswell Clarke & Co. followed in March and April, 1901 (Works Nos. 562 and 577), costing £2,100 each and numbered 7 & 8. These were virtually identical to the original pair, the only significant modification being the introduction of Allan Straight motion (the only Irish application). No. 8 lasted to the end of the line, still in running order, and was finally cut up in the spring of 1954. No. 7 hauled the Royal Train engine in July 1903, for which it was named Edward VII. It had frequent heavy repairs in the 1920's and was scrapped in 1936.

For the Burtonport Extension, a batch of four 4-6-0 tanks were purchased from Andrew Barclay Sons & Co. in 1902. by the Board of Works. These were believed to be inspired by and were virtually identical to the Class 2 of the County Donegal Railway. The Swilly argued that the fuel capacity of these engines, together with the inadequate watering facilities on the extension, made them unsuitable for through working. Despite this they were excellent and reliable engines. Numbered 1 - 4 they survived to the end with the exception of No 1 which was scrapped in 1940.

Two further tank locomotives the Pacific wheel arrangement arrived in 1904 this time from Kerr Stuart & Co. (Works No. 845-6) They were given railway numbers 9 and 10 and given the names Aberfoyle and Richmond, though these were removed about ten years later. They worked on the Derry-Letterkenny line, No 9 surviving only until 1927 though No 10 lasted to the end.

The next engines to arrive were the most notable members of the fleet - the two 4-8-0 tender engines, nos 11 and 12. They had the distinction of being the only tender engines ever to run on an Irish narrow-gauge line and also the first engines in Ireland to have eight coupled wheels. They arrived in 1905 from Hudswell Clarke & Co. of Leeds at a cost of œ2,750 each. No 11 was already worn out by 1928 and finally scrapped in 1933. No 12 lasted to the end, though there was little work for her after the closure of the Burtonport extension.

The next pair of engines, once more of the 4-6-2 tank wheel arrangement, were purchased in 1910 from Hawthorn Leslie & Co. Ltd., at a cost of £2,050 each (Works Nos. 2801-2). Numbered 13 and 14, they were given additional water capacity to enable through working to Burtonport. This, however, made them top heavy, with a high centre of gravity, causing them to roll a lot at speed and giving an uncomfortable ride to the crews. They were also poor steamers and heavy on coal. No. 14 was the engine involved in the Owencarrow Viaduct disaster of January 1925. She was scrapped in 1943. No. 13 was derailed and damaged in the Trouble of 1921. She had a history of heavy repairs and was finally scrapped in 1940.

The last two engines to be acquired were two 4-8-4T locomotives - the only steam engines with this wheel arrangement to work in these islands. Supplied by Hudswell Clarke in 1912 at a cost of £2,765 each, they were, essentially, a tank version of two 4-8-0 tender engines and assumed the now redundant Nos 5 and 6. They were the most powerful engines on the Irish narrow gauge and the pride of the Swilly. Officially for the Burtonport Extension, they were often to be found on heavy passenger trains on the Derry Buncrana route. No 6 was subject to a number of heavy repairs, including a heavy overhaul at the CDRJC's workshop in Stranorlar. Both officially survived until the close, though in latter years they seldom left Pennyburn. No 5 was employed on lifting trains following closure. Both were advertised for sale in running condition, but found no buyers and were subsequently cut up.

The Swilly did request the loan of one of the CDR's Class 5a 2-6-4T tank engines for demonstration purposes in 1922. It appears this was with a view to acquiring new engines. However, the request was refused and, in fact, no further motive power was ordered.

Early livery on narrow gauge engines was a bright green with red buffer beams on which the number was painted in yellow. However, between the wars, they were repainted black as overhaul became due, with a variety of lining schemes, some remaining unlined. By 1940 they were beginning to revert to green, although the actual shade, and lining pattern, varied from locomotive to locomotive.

In later years, the distinctive Swilly logo, a diamond shaped outline containing the ornate lettering "LSR" was added to some. The Burtonport stock bore simple L&BER lettering.

Carriages, vans and wagons

While some of the locomotives on the Swilly may have been the most impressive and powerful of their time, the same cannot be said of the passenger coaching stock. The carriages were rather shabby, invariably in need of repair, a good coat of paint and general tidy up. Some of the earliest six-wheel coaches remained in service right through to the line's closure and were really showing their age. Seating was rarely comfortable as most of them were of the wooden slatted type. The Swilly neglected to provide other simple creature comforts, such as heating - steam heating was never installed. A small quantity of foot warmers were supplied to passengers from time to time and even these came second-hand from the Midland Great Western Railway. A further 29 were eventually bought from the County Donegal Railway.

Carriages were initially lit by oil lamps and, later, by acetylene gas burners mounted through holes in the roof with gas lighting generators housed in a metal box on one end of the carriage. As these eventually wore out, they were replaced by electric lights powered from batteries, which came from the Swilly's growing fleet of road buses.

Not a lot can be said about the rolling stock of standard gauge days from. There are no known drawings or information on their livery. This lack of documentation is probably due to the fact that the rolling stock was hired by the Swilly from the local businessman John Cooke and, later, by the contractor McCormick who was responsible for ballasting the track. These individuals came to the aid of the Swilly when the company was not then in a position to pay for the rolling stock it had ordered.

In contrast, the L&LSR had a large selection of narrow-gauge rolling. At the peak, around 1930, the company possessed a total of 317 assorted vans, wagons and carriages. Records of the narrow gauge stock are again poor and complicated by the fact that stock used on the Burtonport extension was numbered separately. Indeed, at one time no less than six separate series of numbering existed! Also, damaged or worn out vehicles were recycled, reappearing in a different guise - coaches rebuilt as goods vans for example. This extended their useful working life - a practice common on the neighbouring CDR system.

All Swilly coaches were wooden framed with timber planked sides and built on a metal chassis. The first carriages from Oldbury Carriage Co were six wheelers, numbered 1 to 22 and supplied between 1884 and 1899. Nos 1, 4, 6-19 and 22 were 3rds, Nos 2, 3, 5 and 21 were 1st/2nd composites and No 20 was a tricomposite. None of these vehicles had any luggage or brake compartments. They were all divided into five separate passenger compartments. Seven of these carriages were damaged in the Springtown Accident of 1891. No 12 was damaged in the Owencarrow accident of 1925. Dates of withdrawal are uncertain, though a 1925 census omits Nos 9 and 14-16.

Fourteen bogie coaches, Nos 23 to 35 were purchased from the Lancaster Railway Carriage and Wagon Company in 1901, for the opening of the Carndonagh Line. Of these, Nos 23, 26-29 and 35 were 6-compartment 3rds, Nos 25 and 32-34 were Brake/3rds and Nos 24, 30 and 31 were tricomposites. Again, little is known of dates of withdrawals. Most of the series underwent major rebuilds in the 1920's. No 23 was converted to a hut in Pennyburn in the late 1930's.

For the opening of the Burtonport extension, twelve bogie carriages were purchased from Pickerings of Wishaw in 1903. A thirteenth followed in 1910. They were numbered 1 to 13 in a separate L&BER series, with a "B" prefix. Of these, Nos 1-5 and No 13 were 6-compartment 3rds, Nos 6-9 were Brake/3rds and Nos 10-12 were 6-compartment tricomposites.

The Swilly owned a total of 110 flat wagons or timber flats as they were also known, built up with three-or four-plank sides. Twenty-six of these had centre doors. There were also 56 goods vans, some with parts of their roofs cut away and covered by canvas to facilitate loading by hand crane. The company's more unusual possessions included a single horse box van, a mess and tool van, a stores van, a travelling crane, a stone engine and stone breaker. There were, in addition, six oil tank wagons owned by BP which were numbered in their own separate series.

A total of 35 flat wagons and 51 covered vans were on the stock list of the Burtonport line, the greater number of covered vehicles highlighting the importance of the fish trade on this line. Carriages were painted in a variety of sombre colours over the years. At first they were adorned with dark brown above and light brown below followed, in 1902, by cream upper panels and dark red below. At some point they were painted entirely black but, finally they received a coat of light grey and which lasted until the close of the railway in 1953.

The Course of the Line

The Derry terminus was at the Graving Dock - an uninspiring, cramped and run-down looking station. After a short run along the quay, the line crossed the Strand Road by an oblique level crossing and entered Pennyburn, the site of the administrative offices and workshops. The Act of Incorporation forbade the Swilly to run engines over this crossing, though the company was quick to ignore this and technically operated illegally until 1918. Then an Act permitting the construction of a new terminus at Pennyburn also granted statutory powers for the operation of steam locomotives over the Strand Road. The new terminus, however, was never built.

Leaving Pennyburn, open country was soon reached and the line followed essentially a level course all the way to Buncrana, crossing the Donegal border some three miles out. Bridge End station lay just over the border and housed the Free State customs following Partition. From here the line crossed boggy land, reclaimed from the sea by the embankments, to Tooban Junction where the line to Letterkenny turned westwards and that to Buncrana curved to the north. Continuing northwards, the line hugged the coast, passing Fahan, where the original Farland pier was re-erected in 1868, to reach Buncrana, the terminus for all but the thirty four years the Carndonagh extension was in existence.

The Carn line, on leaving Buncrana, crossed the main road and the Mill River, curving round to the north to swing round the town towards Ballymagan. After crossing open moorland and passing Kinnego Gates it headed for the only significant pass through the mountains, north-eastwards to Drumfries, climbing continuously for seven miles at grades of up to 1 in 50. The summit, at 332 ft above sea-level, was followed by a descent of four miles as the line turned north-west to Clonmany, the passing point. Another short ascent and eastwards turn to Ballyliffen was followed by a descent to sea-level at Rashenny, the northernmost railway station in Ireland, where the line continued eastwards to Carndoagh then south east to enter Carndonagh.

The Letterkenny Railway, on leaving Tooban Junction, crossed the reclaimed salt flatlands first on the Trady and then the Farland embankments, passing Carrowen Station. These were followed by a short undulating stretch to the crossing station of Newtoncunningham. Past Newton was a steady three mile climb with grades of up to 1 in 60, to a summit just before Sallybrook whereupon the line descended steeply into Manorcunningham. The descent continued thereafter, though in a gentler, undulating fashion, reaching level ground about a mile from Letterkenny. Here the Swilly was crossed by the CDR's Strabane & Letterkenny extension coming up from the south and the two lines continued side by side to their adjoining stations in Letterkenny.

The Letterkenny & Burtonport Extension first headed in a south-westerly direction along the valley of the Swilly river skirting the south of the town and passing Old Town station before sweeping west to New Mills station. Here the line swung north-west and began a steady three mile climb at grades of up to 1 in 50, plateauing briefly between crossing gates 2 and 3, before dipping to Church Hill station. Further steep climbing followed through Kilmacrenna, to a summit just before Barnes Gap then a sharp descent at 1 in 50 and a tight northwards curve to the Owencarrow Viaduct. Creeslough and Dunfanaghy Road were followed by a five-mile steady climb to the summit of the extension near Errigal. Thereafter, the line descended to Falcarragh before climbing to another peak at Cashelnagore station, remotely perched on the mountainside high above Gweedore, Dunlewy – and everything else! A long undulating descent followed through Gweedore, Crolly and Dungloe Road stations as the railway swung westwards through the Rosses before terminating at the fish quay at Burtonport some 74½ miles from Letterkenny.

Road Services

From early days, improvements in road transport coupled with the shortcomings in construction and equipping of the lines it operated, brought the Swilly to recognize that the company's future lay in road rather than rail transport. It began acquiring road vehicles in 1931 following an agreement with both Governments whereby the company acquired competing road services within the area in return for a further limited period of subsidies. The Irish Free State Transport Act of 1933 facilitated the take over of a large number of goods carriers By the end of 1935 the company owned 37 buses and 56 lorries. A period of scrappings and withdrawals followed but during World War lorries were acquired as opportunity permitted so that 60 were in use by 1946 while the number of buses had fallen to 32. By 1950, after a series of new purchases, the Company possessed 59 lorries, four mail vans and 52 buses.

As with the railway, every possible economy was employed with road operations. Area controllers looked after both passenger and goods traffic, old station buildings were employed as local offices, crews would take several of the buses home with them and servicing and refuelling was done at places like Letterkenny and Moville during lay-over periods. At Derry, the former railway engineering shops were adapted to supplement bus running sheds erected in 1942, when the original L&LS garage was requisitioned by the US Navy, never to be returned. As far as possible vehicles based at, and west and north of, Letterkenny, were overhauled in area workshops at the old company station in Letterkenny.

Cross border operations presented some difficulties with the need for customs clearance. Schedules allowed time for customs clearance, but delays were inevitable. Special passes were required for each of the two customs posts. As a proportion of the cross-border movements took place after normal customs hours, large annual sums in supplementary fees were charged. Also, although the Swilly taxed each vehicle in the country in which it was normally stationed, they all operated at some time in the other state, and therefore had to be inspected annually by the public service vehicle inspectors from both Governments. Both the driver and the conductors had to hold PSV licences for both countries and vehicle insurances had to satisfy dual requirements. A further financial penalty was the import duty levied on road vehicles brought for the first time into the Republic – as much as 150 per cent on second-hand bodies, though less when chassis or body was imported in "knocked-down" condition to be assembled by local labour.

In its operating area, the Swilly handled nearly all the Republic's Post Office work, drivers or conductors delivering and collecting from post offices on or close to a bus route. Mail formed a substantial part of the revenue with, from time to time, buses carrying mails alone, thus avoiding what would otherwise have been an empty trip.

An attempt to extend bus services to Dungloe and Burtonport in 1931 proved premature when roads and buses inflicted heavy damage on each other, the company receiving a large compensation claim from Donegal County Council as a result. Following the country-wide rail strike of January 1933, the initial steps necessary to close down the Carndonagh Extension were taken. By now, the company could provide the alternative road services for both passengers and goods necessary to comply with existing legislation.

Steps to end the remaining rail services began on 3 June 1940 with the closure of the entire Burtonport Extension and the removal of the line-from the Burtonport end. War-time restrictions in petrol and oil imports brought a temporary reprieve, the line re-opening as far as Gweedore.

After the "Emergency" the Swilly developed its rail-to-road plan at an increased rate and transferred all its passenger, freight and postal services to buses and lorries. By 1953, when the train services were ended, the road network was already well established.

Live link with the past

A real, live link with the great days of the narrow-gauge Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway; and very much part and parcel of everyday Donegal life. That's the Swilly of today – a bus and lorry transport system working north and west of Derry with its vehicles proudly and firmly lettered "L&LS Rly", just to remind all concerned that tradition counts.

Since the railway closed in 1953, the Lough swilly on the road has survived change and challenge in plenty.

The buses were at their most railwaylike during the 1960s when conductors were the norm, known as "guards" of course, and likely to be ex-railway staff too. Insert Setright ticket machines were in use printing card tickets which spoke of their railway ancestry.

Parcels and mail traffic was there in plenty and long queues of Swilly buses waited at the quayside at Derry for the arrival of the boat from Glasgow, to transport hundreds of returning Rosses exiles home on the last lap of their journey back.

These were the days when roof racks were piled high. And it was the same story when youngsters headed west by the Swilly buses, racks piled high with bicycles for the summer stay in the Gaeltacht.

The last decade has seen the company change hands and the fight for survival intensify. But the Swilly buses have survived the worst effects of the punt/pound problem, the troubles in Derry and competition from new operators on its patch.

The Swilly is still here! In the best traditions of the railway that gave the buses and lorries life in the first place.

So, that, come the millenium, it will still be possible to buy a return to Buncrana on the vehicles of Ireland's oldest railway company and follow the route which was first opened by the company as long ago as 1853. Few Irish transport operators can boast as fine a pedigree as that!

Quoted from material prepared for The Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway: A Pictorial Review by Joe Begley, Hugh Dougherty and Steve Flanders, published by Midland Publishing in 1997.