Abandoned railways of County Donegal
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- Опубліковано 28 лип 2024
- Currently there are five counties in Ireland that have no revenue earning operational railways. These are Donegal, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Cavan and Monaghan. The Navan to Kingscourt branch just creeps into Cavan but unfortunately the last train to traverse this line, the weedsprayer, ran on the 7th of June 2002. Donegal was once served by 225 miles of narrow gauge 3' 0'' railways but of this nothing survives, apart from the three mile long Fintown Railway. In July 2014, while on holidays in Donegal, I visited many of the old railway sites hoping to capture some of these locations on camera, before they disappear forever.
* (0:00) First of all, some footage of what is probably the most spectacular remnant of the railways of Donegal, the Owencarrow Viaduct. This viaduct is 380 yards long and crosses the Owencarrow River near the townland of Drumnacarry. Winds were so strong here (120mph) that on Friday the 30th of January 1925, a passenger train was blown off the viaduct, tragically leading to the deaths of four people: Philip Boyle and his wife Sarah from Arranmore Island, Una Mulligan from Falcarragh and Neil Duggan from Meenbunowen, Creeslough. After this disaster, an anemometer was installed at Dunfanaghy Road station and if winds were too strong, all trains were stopped. This illustrates the wild landscape that navvies had to build this line across and the huge challenges they faced.
* (0:58)The next footage is from the former Creeslough Station. located east of the town. All that remains here is the station building, now a private house, a humpback bridge which once spanned the line and the now barely visible remains of the platform. The trackbed to the north of the station has been filled in and is now part of a field (the owner of which was very careless, leaving the gate open).
* (1:32) Next, at Barnes Gap, the railway once ran on the high ground alongside the road. This required blasting through part of the hillside. I filmed the nearby Barnes Gap Viaduct from this high ground and then ventured into the cutting, which is now very boggy and soft! After extracting myself, we then drove past the remains of the Barnes Gap Viaduct which are very well preserved, although the span has been removed. On the approach to the viaduct, the trackbed can be seen to the right, above the boulders.
* (2:47) At the townland of Cashelnagore, three miles south of Gort an Choirce (Gortahork) the trackbed is clearly visible from an overbridge. A few miles further down this road lies Cashelnagore Station, the best preserved on the line. This station is quite literally in the middle of nowhere, on a bog with no houses nearby whatsoever. This station was used for the filming of The Railway Station Man in the early 1990s ad was cosmetically restored for this purpose. However, within a few years it reverted to its ruinous state. It appears some renovation works were started on the building but were not completed; a burst of Celtic Tiger spending perhaps. The platform and station buildings remain in situ and the trackbed can clearly be seen, some of it being used as an access to a local forestry plantation.
* (4:20) Further back the line, before the aforementioned overbridge, at Fawnaboy, a magnificent embankment can be seen. A superbly preserved underbridge also remains.This amazing site is testament to the workmanship of the navvies who built this line. It is hard to believe trains once ran here, in this place now home only to sheep.
* (5:14) Finally at Clonbeg Glebe, just north of Creeslough and just south of the former Dunfanaghy Road station, the remains of the Faymore Viaduct are visible. The spans, and embankment have been removed here leaving the stone pillars isolated. Dunfanaghy Road Station, known locally as Cloone station due to the fact that it was absolutley nowhere near Dunfanaghy!
Thanks very much for watching, I hope you enjoy this look at some of what remains of Donegal's railway system.
Sun. 13/07/14 & Fri. 18/07/14. - Авто та транспорт
Brilliant Collection of Shots Sean!😃.It is a big shame that Irish Rail have no railway lines running through Co.Donegal today!.
We really need to bring these old rail lines back to life, we need to reconnect these small towns with the rest of the country. Motorways are becoming too congested and with more cars, comes more pollution. I think the surrounding towns could really benefit from rail travel.
I couldn't agree more, I can only hope that with environmental issues becoming more and more obvious, someone in government will realise the short and long term benefits of reopening closed railways!
@@IrishModelRail mom
The Ulster Rail project from Network Rail in Britain was partnership between Translink NI Railways and Iarnrod Eireann to be reactivate and reopened of abandoned railway line in Ulster Province. Including Cavan, Monaghan, Fermanagh, Tyrone, and Donegal. The new railway network was connecting into the western of Ireland.
This is incredibly interesting, I am working on a collection at the moment that features photographs of a lot of these places in their heyday...Creeslough Station, Owencarrow, Faymore and Barnes Gap...it is fascinating to see this video (and quite sad too). Thank you for putting it up!
No problem, I'm glad you liked it David.
Nicely shot, as usual. A sad reflection on what was once a great railway system, no more than the line that used to connect Sligo to Enniskillen. Indeed I am from Ballinamore in Co. Leitrim and we own an old CIE house that used to be a water filling tower for steam trains heading from Ballinamore to the coalmines in Arigna.
It seems such a shame to see them lost in time, now. There was talk of a feasibility study to see if a Sligo to Donegal line could be opened but it never got off the ground. The main problem being is that a new bridge would be required over the River Garavogue to allow for it, plus there is limited space on the far side of the river because there are two housing estates on either side of the main road to Donegal/North Sligo now.
Of course, there is a question of whether there would be the passenger traffic to pay for it. Recent experiences with the Galway to Limerick line have left Iarnród Éireann with burned fingers because so few paying (non-pensioner/disabled tickets holders) are actually using it. It's quicker to go by bus. And the fact the train has to go into Limerick and reverse back out. They should of created a triangle outside Limerick to go straight to Limerick Junction for connections to the south. It can take up to 90mins longer to go by train to Cork from Galway than it would take on the fastest bus (3hrs 05mins by bus). Their greatest mistake was not introducing an express train to Limerick instead of the current situation of stopping at half arsed villages with no passenger numbers.
Much like the Beeching Report by British Rail in the 60's which saw almost a third of the UK network close down, CIE did a similar report and hey presto we end up with the network we have now. Highly used in some areas and poorly used elsewhere and very little priority going north to south. Everything is east to west, with Belfast > Wexford line being the only real exception and the line from Galway to Limerick.
For some reason your comment was marked as spam... Thanks very much Carl, the railways really were butchered alright. How much of the railway architecture survives at your house? The North-West has so little. If much of the system had been kept open and services gradually improved, and people didn't turn to road transport so swiftly, the railways would be more efficient. The WRC is a bit of lark alright, although I heard that passenger numbers are up by 38% which is massive. However that includes Limerick - Ennis. Oranmore station is a joke too with no one using it. Then again there are stations like that in Dublin too, Phoenix Park, M3 Parkway and Hansfield spring to mind. The whole system suffers from bad planning and woeful decision making:(
Great story. Needs more dinosaurs
***** The house has a grade II listing so we haven't apart from essential structural maintenance done too much to it. The original range, now over 70 years old is still in the house and cannot be removed either, but you wouldn't want to the heat of it's fantastic. We have pictures of it from many years ago where the water tower was right beside the house. This is now long gone, of course, but still it's a lovely railway cottage.
Fascinating footage Seán, very well put together! Never thought so many feats of engineering existed in those parts.
Thanks Danny:) I was surprised too when I went to Donegal at the Owencarrow Viaduct; it's more impressive than many places on the existing network!
Fantastic video footage of what once was a railway lines in Donegal in the 1960s CIE went true a fit of madness were they closed all the northern lines...and closed stations in the rest of the country....
well done and beautiful scenery
Thanks:)
Nice video Sean, its sad to see railway lines across the country like this when they could be put to good use.
Thanks Stephan:) This line only carried passengers for 35 years. Even if the track had been left in place, it could have been reopened as a heritage railway. Someday, all these places will have disappeared entirely:(
Its terrible the way lines end up like this.
irish rail trains Yeah but at least it's still visible. Some lines have been wiped off the map by roads and other developments:(
Yeah I suppose you have a point.
Such a shame. When you look at these old places you can't help but wonder the stories behind it. How busy these places were and to see an old platform like this one in the video desolate and in ruins or the old bridges with the spans gone makes you think
Thanks for the comment Jonathan, sorry for not replyong earlier, I missed your comment. It does make you think alright. I think my Grandad travelled on this line years ago vut he is long since deceased sadly. It is sad to think that few people alive today can remember the line in use. I was using a guide from the mid 1990s to find the different parts of the line and the authors mentioned speaking to locals who could remember trains running. Beside the bridge at Cashelnagore there was a cottage, mentioned in the guide, but sadly the man had since passed away and the cottage was derelict:(
Sad to see , but some great countryside you have over there , thanks for the tour
Cheers Dave:)
I find all this information very informative, my mother grew up in buncrana. My grandparents are buried in Cockhill cemetery. I will visit this amazing country one day. Thanks for sharing this footage.
Not at all, thanks for watching!
There were many old rails near where I lived in Cork, unfortunately they're gone now.
Really interesting - my maternal grandfather was the last Station Master in Killybegs and I have fond memories of walking down past the station buildings when I was a child - that was of course 50 years ago.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! It must be great to have those memories, its sad the railways have been gone from Donegal for so long.
Very interesting scenes, the Burtonport line was legendary with the scenery, bridges and viaducts, I've not yet explored Donegal region.
Thank you Ciarán, I only captured a very small bit of it, there looks to be many more locations where the line can be seen. Yes noticed that from your website, It's very far away unfortunately, a bit beyond a day trip:/
***** Yes would need a week or more to cover the area with so many long lines and hard to get it.
I was at Glasnevin Junction today and it appears they have sealed off the filming spot:(
I remember the black steelwork over the pillars shown in the middle of your video, on my holidays in Port Na Blagh in 1958 to 1961. I’d love to know when all that steelwork was dismantled. I also recall similar steel girders in Letterkenny on the road in from Lifford. That steelwork was red or orange. The masonry for that structure is still there.
Nice one! That first shot is literally about a mile from a house my uncle has up in Donegal. :)
Thanks Nathan. Really? Have you ever visited the viaduct? It is a breathtaking sight.
No problem mate. We haven't really visited it as such, but we've drove up that road you took the shot from and I've really only took a look at it out the window. But next time we go up I will have to go and see it properly as it's not that far from my uncle's location up there as we usually do go up every year. :)
A railway route though Donegal, abandoned for very long time. Nature has taken it over
I don't know whether to give this a thumbs up or a thumbs down🤔 so sad to see, all that work that went into it; abandoned. I wonder if someone with enough money, imagination and clout would set up a railway, private or otherwise using the same alignment or even most of it would anyone object? Irish Rail probably would citing using "their" land despite them closing lines all the time.
It wasn't abandoned at all ! There's viaducts are a reminder of a train that was partly blown of the tracks due to a storm years ago in which one if not 2 carriages fell to the ground below and there's no rail connection whatsoever now in Donegal
This is fantastic work. Would you mind if I used a few seconds of your footage? I'm making a montage that calls for the reopening of disused Irish railways, and this is exactly what I'm looking for. I'll give you a credit in the description.
Wonder why it was necessary to dismantle some of the viaducts as the old railway course would make a superb green lane for walkers, horse riders etc.
Indeed it would, its a shame the powers that be at the time didn't have more foresight. Some railway lines in in the West and the Midlands have been converted to cycleways but Ulster seems to have missed out which is a terrible shame. Thanks for the comment!
IrishModelRail I have been living near Derry for 6 years now. It’s seems to me that a lot of people have become very health conscious. There seem to be so many joggers and walkers about. So given the generosity of the EU in some things, maybe the government could persuade them for a grant to reinstate the old lines as walk and cycle route. The joy of such routes is that they are flat and ideal for the older generation.
I completely agree, they would be perfect for cycle or walkways, they're sheltered and flat as you say. I would rather see trains on them of course but converting them for use by the public would be the next best thing!
Very interesting.
Thanks!
How wonderful the train journeys would have been....
Indeed!
All railway lines throughout Ireland should be done up and reopened to trains to prevent car accidents, road deaths and traffic jams.
And pollution.
In 2018 there's hope for more closed railways to reopen to trains.
Unfortunately I think that's unlikely, but hopefully!
The western rail corridor firstly must reopen to Tuam before spreading into counties Mayo & Sligo.
All lovely. Cashelnagor is now a holiday let. Captions would have enhanced the video.
I miss home😢
is there anything still standing of the owencarrow viaduct. ? and if so do you know where it is.
Only the pillars 'm afraid, as you can see. The spans have been removed as well as the track on either side.
What an amazing walk that could be. Let's reclaim it for public use.
IF SOME IDIOT DIDN'T INVENT THE CAR THEY WOULD STILL CHUGGING ALONG. THANKS FOR THAT
What a shame
Indeed it is.
why were they abandoned , cant believe Donegal has no railways
makolic1 they thought that it was going out of fashion. how wrong they were. imagine if donegal had railways. it would be so easy to access small areas like gwedoree and fanad and derry as well
Wheteos it